Jesus and Children: Mark 10:13-16

Jesus is going to teach us about children today.

Mark chapter 10, our sermon series.

Mark 10 · chapter mention

Mark chapter 10, verse 13.

Mark 10:13

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them.

And the disciples rebuked them.

But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, Let the children come to me.

Do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.

And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

This is the reading of God's holy, perfect word that we all desperately need to hear today.

Let's pray.

Lord, even as we sang, speak, O Lord, as we come to you to receive the food of your holy word.

Lord, we're asking you to feed us from your word by your spirit.

We need you to feed us.

Every one of us.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Here we find Jesus once again on the road with his disciples.

I'm fascinated by the subjects that he brings up, that he talks about, that he addresses.

Surely there are things in this gospel account that we would not have brought up on our own.

We would not have thought about.

He does.

Using object lessons like children here today to talk about important matters.

And once again we see the unvarnished truth.

The disciples are being exposed once again, aren't they?

That's just one way you know that this really is the Word of God.

These authors don't write themselves in to look good.

If this was coming from them, no.

It reminds me of the story from Winston Churchill.

There was a time in his career where a famous artist was going to draw his portrait, and the artist had a question for Winston Churchill.

He said, Mr.

Churchill, should I paint the warts also?

And Churchill said, Yes, warts and all.

Well that's what we see in the scriptures.

This is not about people trying to look good, because oftentimes the disciples don't look good.

They remind us of us.

Sometimes we don't look good.

Sometimes we really mess up too.

And we learn, we learn.

And so we have a lot to learn today.

What do the scriptures have to say that we need to learn about children?

Jesus' attitude toward children.

You might be tempted to think, well, I'm single, or my kids are out of the home.

This isn't for me.

You could not be more wrong.

I hope to prove that more toward the end of the sermon, especially.

Remember, Jesus was single.

Jesus didn't raise a family.

No, this is for every one of us this morning.

He loved children.

So why is this conversation recorded in this gospel?

What does Jesus want us to know?

Three things.

There is a bringing, there is a rebuking, and there is a blessing.

There is a bringing of our children to Jesus.

Clearly, that's you can't miss that in the text.

And they were bringing children to him.

And the Greek words are very clear, not teenagers, although Jesus loves teenagers.

Little ones, Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record this passage, this conversation.

Luke's word is babies, infants.

The word here certainly includes toddlers.

So little ones.

It's interesting too, the Greek seems to suggest that it was in the masculine, it was probably fathers that were bringing them.

We don't know for sure.

But it would seem as though the fathers were involved in this as well.

Surely there were mothers that were bringing their children, but probably both.

We don't know much about these parents.

What did they expect Jesus to do on this occasion?

And it's not the first time that we find Jesus ministry to children.

If you've been with us in our Mark series, you may go back to Mark chapter 5.

Mark 5 · chapter mention

There was a ruler named Jairus in the synagogue, and he had a little daughter that was desperately sick.

And Jairus knew that he had to get his daughter to Jesus so that she would not die.

And Jairus got Jesus to his daughter, and Jesus brought her back from the dead.

The power of Jesus.

And then we find also in Mark chapter 7, you remember the story about the Cyrophoen woman?

Mark 7 · chapter mention

Syrophoenician means that she was not an Israelite.

She was outside of the land of Israel.

And yet she had a daughter that was being tormented by demons.

And she went to Jesus and she said, Jesus, I need you to touch my daughter.

And you remember on that occasion, the disciples were trying to shoe her away.

Jesus said, No, I came to touch little girls like this.

Jesus loved children.

It's all over the pages of the gospels.

Word was spreading that Jesus could do things for children that no one else could do, certainly not their parents.

So I have a question for you right out of the gate this morning, parents.

Why did you bring your children to church this Sunday?

Can we just pause for a second?

Why did you bring your children to church this Sunday?

Today?

Because that's just what you do?

Because of tradition?

Well, my parents took me to church.

So it's probably the right thing to do for me to bring my children to church.

Okay.

But that's not enough.

Or did you bring them to Jesus this morning that Jesus would touch your children?

By faith that Jesus would spiritually touch your children.

Perhaps that Jesus would heal your children.

Someone might say, well, yeah, but church isn't Jesus.

I know that.

Some churches do a horrible job of this.

And you shouldn't go to those churches.

You shouldn't put your children in a church where they're not safe.

You shouldn't put your children in a church where they don't actually come to Jesus.

And there are many such churches today.

But not this church.

You bring your children to Jesus in this church.

You bring your children to receive the touch and the love of Jesus because they need it.

Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom to his church.

There is no perfect church.

Don't keep your kids at home because you haven't find the perfect church.

But you take your kids, Jesus says, you bring your kids to a church that loves Jesus, that knows the power of the gospel through Jesus.

You bring your children today, just like then.

Find a church where Jesus shows up and works through his people, where the children are loved and where the children are taught.

Jesus still touches children in faithful churches today.

And church nurseries, when his people hold their children in their arms lovingly and teach them the truth.

Last Sunday was my opportunity.

I don't get many opportunities to be downstairs while you're upstairs.

Last week I was.

I could not have been more encouraged to be downstairs in the nursery last Sunday.

I had the opportunity to move around the rooms, the three nursery rooms from the babies to the toddlers, and then the two children's church rooms.

Your kids are in really good hands here.

They really are.

I just was moved to see how those children are loved downstairs while you're upstairs.

And thank you for so many of you.

I understand the nursery volunteers are up around 130.

I'm guessing we could use more.

You might consider that an opportunity to minister to the children of this church.

Why not you?

You gotta get trained, okay, yeah, but you can do that.

Aaron and Stephanie, you guys are doing a great job.

And Jesus sees it.

Parents, you bring your children to Jesus when you actually bring them to the church, not for a program.

You're not bringing your children simply for programs.

You're bringing your children so that Jesus might touch them through the truth of God's word by the power of the Holy Spirit.

For the touch of a Savior who died for them, who longs to hold them, for the Holy Spirit's working in them, creating faith in them.

This is why we bring our children to church.

It's that beautiful French Reformed church covenantal blessing that we oftentimes recite together when we baptize our children.

You remember that, right?

Oh yeah, you remember.

If you've been here, you remember it.

Let me read it again.

For you, little ones, the Spirit of God moved over the waters of creation, and the Lord God made covenants with his people.

For you, little ones, the word of God became flesh and lived among us, full of grace and truth.

For you, Jesus Christ, suffered death, crying out at the end, it is finished.

And for you, Christ triumphed over death.

He rose in newness of life and ascended to rule over all.

All this was done for you, little ones, though you do not know any of this yet, but we will continue to tell you this good news until it becomes your own by faith.

I love that line.

We will continue to tell you this good news until it becomes yours by faith.

And so the promise of the gospel is fulfilled.

We love God because He first loved us.

This is why we bring our children to Jesus.

So let's go back to Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 7, that the children heard earlier with you.

Deuteronomy 6:7

How often do you talk about Jesus in your home?

That's a fair question.

I don't apologize for the question.

How often do you talk about Jesus in your home?

In the car.

In the living room.

When you put them to bed, around the dinner table?

I have another question for you.

Are you a bridge or are you a barrier to your children?

We all have to answer that.

Are you a bridge to lead your children to Jesus or are you a barrier that gets in the way of that?

I like the way the message paraphrase this.

The people brought children to Jesus hoping he might touch them, and the disciples shooed them away.

But Jesus was irate and let them know it.

Don't push these children away.

Don't ever get between me and them.

Man, that's good.

Don't ever get between me and them.

He's talking to you.

He's talking to me.

So are you a bridge to your children, or are you a barrier?

We need to take that seriously.

It matters.

Secondly, there's a rebuking, verse 13.

But the disciples will have none of this.

And so they rebuke the people bringing their children.

You know when we find this word housewise in the Gospel of Mark?

When Jesus rebuked the demons.

The same word is used.

Jesus rebukes the demons, and now, and now the disciples are rebuking those who bring them.

They would not have it.

Why would they rebuke these parents?

Well, you have, first of all, you have to remember the culture that day.

It was not a really kid-friendly culture back then, 2,000 years ago, in Israel.

Most of the history of the world, most of the history of the world in most places, it's not been a child-centered culture.

You know that.

Children are to be seen and not heard.

Kind of, that's just been more, that's been around the world for the history.

And it certainly was in the time of Jesus.

It's changed a lot in the last 50 years in this country.

Some families, I hope not yours, but some families, everything revolves around the child.

He doesn't want that.

He doesn't want you to worship your children.

That would be deadly.

He doesn't want you to put your kids first above him.

He wants you to love your children, but he wants you to be willing to be interrupted for the sake of your children.

I call them holy interruptions.

See, the disciples were saying, Jesus, you don't have time right now for this kind of interruption with these children.

Jesus, we don't have time right now to be interrupted by the children because what we're doing is more important than that.

Did you hear that?

That's exactly what they were saying to Jesus.

And to the ones that were the parents that were bringing their kids.

So let me come back to the children's sermon.

Do you have time?

I know you do.

Are you taking the time for holy interruptions with your children?

And I know sometimes it can come at inconvenient times.

Like when you're doing your taxes, or you're paying your bills.

Or you're just really, you're really in that cave in your mind of your job.

Is there space in your life for those holy interruptions?

When your kids can say, Dad, mom, I have a question about the Bible.

I have a question about God.

Let me ask you a follow-up question.

Are you building a relationship?

Are you building relational capital in your children's lives so that they would dare to ask that question?

That's a different question.

Are you communicating to your children that you want to hear their questions?

Are you building relational capital?

Are you building a bridge into the hearts of your children so that they would want to ask you?

If they don't, that's not a good sign.

This is what Jesus wants.

This is what Jesus wants us to do with our children.

And not just when they're tiny, but as they grow, they never get too old.

They never get too old for you to keep bringing them to Jesus and praying for them and teaching them God's beautiful word.

Verse 14, Jesus became indignant when he saw what was going on with the disciples.

This is the only passage in the Gospels that says that Jesus was indignant.

It means to be aroused to anger.

Rather than sending them away, Jesus assigns them the highest honor.

This is where we read these remarkable words.

For to such belongs the kingdom of God.

That pronoun means of this kind, of this sort, of this class.

What class?

Babies, infants, toddlers, yes, teenagers.

Of such belongs the kingdom of God.

Now, theologians, theologians speak to this.

What does that mean?

What it means is there are little ones in the kingdom of God.

And some of my Baptist friends here, you know, if you grew up in other churches and traditions, you might say, well, that can't happen.

You've got to reach that age of accountability, right?

No.

No.

Because the Holy Spirit is so powerful that the Holy Spirit can give your child a new heart anytime he desires, according to the will of the Father.

His normal operation, his normal way of operating is when they become older and they listen and they hear and they understand the gospel.

That's the normal way that he works.

But he's not limited.

When he says this, for of such belongs the kingdom of God, these little ones, these little ones, he can regenerate their hearts anytime he wants.

Because salvation is monergistic.

It's God action.

It's not synergistic.

It doesn't require us cooperating.

We can talk about that.

If that confuses you, we can talk about that.

Come on, let's sit down and talk.

But it's true.

Because they are among Christ's people.

They belong to the covenant community.

We make covenantal promises in this room.

We're going to make them next month.

Covenant children are not as much a mission field as they are precious children born into covenant community with covenantal promises, members of this church.

The kingdom of God includes such as these.

Take that in.

That's why there's a rebuke.

Jesus is saying, Don't you dare get in the way of my kids, my children.

Lastly, there's a blessing to receive.

Verse 16, and he took them in his arms, Jesus did, and he blessed them, laying his hands on them.

What are these blessings?

First and foremost, salvation.

He wants these children that they would experience the gift of eternal life, that they would know that they are sinners who need a savior, no matter how cute they are.

Cuteness doesn't get anybody into the kingdom of heaven.

Only the new birth does that.

What are these blessings?

Prayed for and to be prayed over.

To be part of a spiritual family.

Here we are in the shadows of DC.

How many of you have your children or grandchildren in the same city with you?

You don't have to raise your hand, but not many of us.

I've pastored here a long time.

I know the vast majority of us here are biological families are far away from us.

And I also know that that has a factor, that is a factor why so many of us, you, find this church community as your family, and thank God you do.

These are your spiritual uncles and aunts and parents and grandparents.

Look around.

Kids, look around.

I want to be a spiritual grandfather to you guys.

As much as I can.

And the elders do, and the deacons do, and the deaconesses, they want to be there.

And the teachers on Sunday nights.

This is a family.

You're part of it.

Sometimes our elders, when we interview people for membership here, actually, more than sometimes, oftentimes, we hear, I don't have much of a testimony.

I grew up in the church.

I came to Jesus at an early age.

I don't have much of a testimony.

And like inside of me is like, stop! No! You got that so wrong.

I usually restrain myself.

And you know, you know what I'm saying.

They hear testimonies of people that were converted as adults, and they can be powerful testimonies, but they're not better testimonies.

I want you to hear that.

What could be a better testimony than the faithfulness of God to put you in a covenant home, to raise you with parents who love Jesus, who teach you the Word of God, who disciple you, who bring you to Jesus, who bring you to church.

What better testimony of how much God has protected you from so much stuff in this world?

That's not a better, there's not a better testimony.

Your testimony is the right testimony for you.

But don't look down.

I'm speaking to my friends who grew up in Christian homes.

Thank God for that testimony.

How he's protected you.

How he's preserved you.

How he's brought you to himself.

It said, as much as I can find, understand from the research, about 80% of all Christians became Christians by age 18.

Did you know that?

Like, wow.

Almost 80% of people who become Christians by about age 18.

What does that say?

It just supports everything we're talking about this morning.

The power of covenant community, the power of bringing your children to Jesus early, the power of bringing your children to Jesus.

That's what it testifies to.

How Jesus uses that.

I read a story one time of about a Scottish shepherd.

And the story goes that this sheepherder had a heavy heart.

A friend of him asked him why he was so low.

He said, I lost 65 of my best lambs last night.

The wolves got in and got them.

And how many sheep did they get?

The friend asked.

The shepherd said, Oh no, they didn't get the sheep.

A wolf will never take an old sheep when he can get a young lamb.

There's something to that, isn't there?

The enemy loves young lambs.

The enemy wants to pounce on young lambs.

The enemy wants to do everything he can to keep those young lambs away from Jesus.

There's a Chinese proverb I heard years ago that really sticks with me.

One generation plants the trees, and the next generation gets the shade.

You get that?

Right?

One generation plants the trees, and the next generation gets the shade.

I didn't plan to say this.

There's a lot I said I didn't write in my notes.

The Spirit just kind of instructed me.

I'm standing here today because there were a lot of trees planted in the Holiday family.

There were a lot of trees that were planted in the Holiday family.

Generations.

I got so much shade.

And my prayer and my desire is that my children and my grandchildren get more of the shade because of the trees, by God's grace, Sharon and I are planting now.

That's the way it's supposed to work.

If you don't have any trees that you planted yet, you know what I'm going to say.

It's time to plant.

It's never too late to plant.

If you say, I I, boy, the holiday legacy, that's something, it is.

I'm the beneficiary.

But what about you?

If you look around and say, but I don't see many trees.

We are not from really Christian families or backgrounds.

Plant a tree by the grace of God.

You ask God to show you how to plant that tree and start bringing your children to Jesus.

You don't know.

You don't know how that's going to affect the next generation or the next generation.

Your job and my job is to plant the trees by the grace of God, by the power of the Spirit, by the teaching of God's word.

It's true.

And then as we close, there's verse 15.

Okay?

Every kid in the room.

Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.

What did he mean by that?

Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not get into the kingdom of God.

What does this mean?

Is he likening children to be these cuddly, cuddly, cute?

Is he saying unless you get cuddly and cute, you're not going to get to heaven?

No, he's not saying that.

It's not their virtue as children that is stressed here, but the helplessness of children that is stressed here.

It's the helplessness of children.

Little children can't do anything for themselves.

You know that.

You have to wake them up, you have to help them get dressed.

You have to give them breakfast.

You have to do so many things for them.

Jesus says, unless you see yourself as that child, you're not going to be in heaven.

Children come as they are, small, powerless, often overlooked.

To receive the kingdom of God as a child is to receive it as one, as somebody said, who has no credits, no clout, and no claims.

And that's our problem, isn't it, adults?

That's where we really swallow hard.

To receive the kingdom of God as a child is to receive it as one who has no credits, no clout, and no claims.

We're just too proud sometimes, aren't we?

We want to come on our terms.

We want to come with our resources.

We want to come and point to what we did.

And that's not how you get into heaven.

None of us.

We come by faith and we come by grace.

Because there's a God who created you for his glory, who wants you to come to him.

A little child has nothing to bring.

Only empty hands can be filled.

So my last question to you this morning is this.

Are you small enough?

Are you humble enough to receive God's grace?

We finished where we started this morning from Galatians chapter 4, verse 4 to 7.

Galatians 4:4–7

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem.

Redeem means to buy back people who were sold into spiritual slavery.

Every one of us was sold into spiritual slavery.

Jesus came to unlock the prison.

To free us, to have real life.

So that we might receive adoption as sons.

You don't earn it, you receive it.

And you say thank you, Lord.

This is the gospel.

And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, into our hearts, crying out, Abba, Father.

Let me ask you, when was the last time you cried out from your heart, Abba Father, I need something from you?

Or are we just too reserved?

We just don't get stirred like that in our hearts.

That's a problem.

That's a you problem.

When was the last time?

You cried out from your heart by the work of the Holy Spirit.

Abba, Daddy, Father.

I know you're my father.

And this is what I need.

That's a good thing.

So how many children in the room today?

Kids?

Those parents sitting next to you, they're kids in God's sight.

And God loves his kids.

God loves his kids.

Do we?

Father, would you please stir our hearts?

Holy Spirit, would you teach us truth?

Would you give us faith to believe these truths?

Would you give us courage to live out these truths?

Would you give us humility to receive these truths?

In Jesus' name.

Amen.