Discipleship and Children

Well, this text is likely for most of us a familiar passage.

You can find its parallels in Matthew 19 and then again in Luke 18.

You'll see this rehearsed by those gospel authors as well.

And really the passage can be incredibly helpful to us

as we are considering difficult questions that relate to a theology of children

and how the gospel relates to children.

We can utilize this passage for a lot of reasons.

We can appeal to Jesus' teaching here when we're thinking about

whether or not children can actually understand the gospel and be saved.

You know, that's a question for a lot of people.

At what point in life can a child actually understand the gospel?

Should we actually put limits on ages when we take seriously a confession of faith

for a child or a young adult?

Should we put limits on ages for baptism and so on and so forth?

And lots of churches take different approaches to that.

And we can appeal to Jesus' teaching here as we're thinking through those things

and thinking through how the gospel relates to children.

That in turn helps us understand the appropriateness of baptism for children

as we will celebrate and enjoy today.

If a child can be saved, then that means that their profession of faith

then can be seen as credible, which means there's really no reason to withhold from them baptism.

And we celebrate that with Clementine just here after the service this morning.

It helps us as we consider Jesus' teaching,

and really Jesus' actions here in this passage,

to think about the eternal destiny of young children who die.

Luke emphasizes in his account, in Luke chapter 18,

Luke 18 · chapter mention

that some of the children being brought to Jesus in this particular moment were infants.

Mark uses a word, paideia, which is just generally used for children.

He used that earlier in the book to describe the 12-year-old girl who was dead that Jesus raised to life.

So it could mean referencing children up to about 12 years old.

Jewish custom would have pronounced a person as an adult at age 13 at that particular time.

So it could be kids up to age 12.

But then Luke uses a different word.

He doesn't use paideia.

He uses a different word that emphasizes infancy,

those who literally would have had to have been carried to Jesus at this moment.

Which just becomes incredibly helpful to us, doesn't it?

Because Jesus in this moment pronounces that such children actually belong to his kingdom.

I know some of you have experienced the excruciating grief of losing a child.

And here, Jesus assures our hearts that there are children who may not intellectually be able to understand

everything there is to understand about the gospel,

and yet they can still belong to the kingdom.

And so I think this passage is really helpful to us in a lot of ways.

The bottom line is that a comprehensive theology of children in the gospel

is going to have some type of emphasis from this particular passage.

But as we dig into the verses this morning,

I think we'll find that their significance here,

the significance of this teaching of this event,

is about far more than children.

It's not just a passage about kids.

It's actually much greater than that and much more significant than it.

So if we take this text for what it is,

we discover that it's a wonderful passage on the grace of God and who can receive it.

That's really the point.

What is God's grace in salvation?

And who can actually receive this grace?

And of course, one of the immediate applications relates directly to children.

We learn here that Jesus loves children.

It's as clear as can be as we read through this particular case.

Perhaps you remember singing the chorus,

Jesus loves the little children,

all the children of the world,

red and yellow, black and white.

They are precious in his sight.

And Jesus loves the little children of the world.

Maybe he sang that in Sunday school growing up.

And of course, it's absolutely true.

And we know it's true because when we come to Mark 10,

we see the great love and tenderness that Jesus had towards these kids.

He loves them.

We not only learn that Jesus loves children,

but we also learn in this passage,

I believe that children can indeed possess an authentic, vibrant, saving faith.

Jesus broadens here even the entrance to the kingdom of God

to include people who will come like children.

And he uses these babies and kids here symbolically in this lesson.

Here, they're representing all true disciples.

It's not just about them.

It's about who they represent.

They represent all true disciples of Christ.

And of course, children can be included in that group.

But at the end of the day,

the passage is really about the gospel of God's glorious, sovereign grace.

So let's dig in.

The first thing, if you want to keep notes,

the first thing is this.

We see the tension here in this text.

The tension.

Look with me at verse 13.

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

Mark doesn't tell us where exactly these events unfolded,

but we at least know they were somewhere in the area of Judea

or the Transjordan region of Perea.

Jesus was now finished with his public ministry in Galilee.

He is moving ever closer to Jerusalem and to the cross.

Luke says his face is set toward Jerusalem,

meaning he is focused now on heading to the cross to make an atonement for our sins.

And on his way there, he moves through Judea.

That's where we found Mark's narrative moving last week in our text.

And he's doing the same things as he goes to Judea and Perea.

He's ministering to the people.

And masses of people are coming to him.

He was spending his days teaching the crowds.

He was healing the sick, Matthew tells us.

And then he was also confronting the religious apostates,

the Pharisees and Sadducees and some of the Herodians as well.

But it's here that Mark introduces a facet of Jesus' ministry

that we haven't been introduced to yet.

We haven't seen this yet, at least in Mark's gospel.

We haven't seen this.

Parents were bringing their children to Jesus

so that he might touch them and bless them.

And we've noticed this before, but it's worth stating again

that Jesus became known among the people for his compassionate touch.

Think back in Mark's gospel.

How many times does Jesus come to a particular area?

And the narrative tells us that people were coming to him

in order that he might touch them.

And of course, what they're looking for is blessing.

They're looking for healing in that touch.

They're looking to experience the power of his touch.

But the very fact that he was willing to touch them

said a lot about Jesus.

It was a distinctive feature of his ministry

that set him apart from the other rabbis of the time.

He was tender.

He was compassionate.

He embraced the people.

Those who came to him, even the worst of the worst,

those with deadly, contagious diseases like leprosy,

when they came to Jesus, he embraced them.

Those are the people that everyone avoided.

Even those people Jesus is embracing.

He was known for his touch.

And here are these parents.

They're bringing their children to Jesus

because they expected and anticipated

that he would show that same tender compassion towards them.

But what specifically were these parents hoping

to achieve in this touch or in this blessing?

Spiritual blessings were deeply rooted

in the historical traditions of the Jewish people.

You remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

all pronouncing blessings on their children.

You'll remember that the priest commonly would bless the people

as they came for worship.

In fact, we use Aaron's blessing often.

We'll use it today as a benediction to our service.

May the Lord bless you and keep you

and make his face shine upon you.

That was pronounced by the priest on the people

as they would come for worship,

making sacrifices to the Lord God.

They were significant blessings.

In Jesus's day, it wasn't uncommon for parents

to take their newborn babies to the temple

or to the synagogue where a respected rabbi or priest

would pronounce some sort of blessing on their children,

similar to a dedication service like we would have here

in our services.

These blessings were significant.

They weren't just well wishes for the kids

or for the people who received them.

They were prayers to God.

Prayers on behalf of the people,

but they were prophetic in nature.

Think back to the story of Joseph and his brothers.

Remember at the end of Jacob's life, Israel's life,

he's in Egypt now,

and he calls in Joseph and all of his brothers,

and what does he do?

He pronounces the blessing on them,

and he goes one by one,

and it's not just that he says,

I hope things go good with you when I'm gone.

He actually prophesies what God

was going to do with their lives,

and he goes one by one.

These blessings many times had a prophetic nature to them.

So what is it exactly that these parents are looking for

when they come to Jesus?

They're looking for Jesus to pray to his father

on behalf of these kids,

and that his blessing would be prophetically relevant

to their child's spiritual life.

So this is an important thing to them,

and look what happens when they come.

Verse 13 again,

and they were bringing children to him

that he might touch them,

and the disciples rebuked them.

They rebuked them,

and this rebuke is significant to the story.

It wasn't like the disciples,

using this word that Mark uses, rebuke,

it wasn't like the disciples were seeing these parents come,

and they were just very politely kind of taking them

to the side and saying,

you know, Jesus is very busy,

and he's got a lot of teaching on his schedule today.

There's a few sessions that he's going to be performing

here on the hillside.

There's a number of really sick people

that need his attention at this moment.

Maybe you could consider waiting to the end

or perhaps coming back later.

That's not what the disciples are doing here.

These parents are coming,

and they're bringing their children to Jesus,

and Mark says they rebuked him,

and this word rebuke is the word that Mark typically uses

when he's talking about Jesus casting out demons.

It means to chide someone.

It's not just that they're saying,

hey, this is really not a good time.

We'll have to wait and do that later.

No, they're actually angrily,

in the same way that Jesus rebuked demons

that were destroying people's lives,

that was the spirit with which these disciples

were rebuking these parents

for bringing their children

to receive a blessing from Jesus.

But why would they do that?

Why?

It doesn't make sense.

Well, just like in the previous passage

on divorce and remarriage,

the disciples had imbibed the cultural view of children.

Hellenistic society thought their thoughts

were very different than the sentimental notions

that we have toward children today.

They were based entirely,

their thoughts on children,

based entirely on their benefit to the family.

And if there was no benefit to the family,

there wasn't much holding them back

from perhaps even killing their children in the process.

In Roman culture, infanticide wasn't uncommon.

In fact, there's a piece of,

a famous piece of papyrus

that has survived from about the time of Jesus's birth.

It was written from a Roman man to his pregnant wife.

And they didn't know, of course,

what the gender was until after the birth.

But he wrote that if it was a boy to keep it,

but if it was a girl to cast it out, destroy it.

The common thoughts toward children in that day

was that they're insignificant.

They don't matter.

They're needy.

They're helpless.

They contribute nothing.

So unless they're actually gonna benefit our family

somewhere down the road,

there's no reason for us to keep them around.

And there were many people that would actually just,

at least in secular culture in that time,

would be more than willing

to even put these children to death

or to cast them on the street if necessary.

Now, the disciples weren't going that far with it,

but they were beginning to imbibe

the cultural understanding and view of children.

So to them, these kids were only a distraction.

They were insignificant.

They didn't want them bothering Jesus

because it was gonna keep, in their minds,

Jesus from doing the, quote,

real work of the ministry.

And to them, children didn't fit real gospel work.

They were just in the way.

And so these parents bring them,

and it's almost as if, how dare you?

Why would you ever think that Jesus,

someone so important as him,

would care anything about your children today?

Don't you care about all these other people?

He rebukes them.

We're not always so unlike the disciples.

I don't know of any churches

that would outright reject children,

not at least like the disciples did here.

Still, I'm not convinced

that every children's ministry

and every church is really focused

on helping kids follow Jesus

as much as it is about getting the kids

out of the way

so the adults can do the real work of ministry.

We market our kids' programs.

We want to do that.

We want to let everybody in the community know,

hey, bring your kids.

We got all of this stuff that they can do here.

But I'm not always convinced

that it's really with the priority

of the spiritual health of those children

as much as it might be

an incentive to just get their parents in the door.

And the spirit behind it sometimes is,

at least the unfortunate message

that is sometimes conveyed subliminally in this,

is that your children are welcome at our church.

They're just not welcome in the worship of our church.

You can bring them,

but we've got this other place over here set aside.

And you can take them there

and you can check them in

and we've got some games for them

and we're gonna tell them some Bible stories

and stuff today,

but don't bring them into the auditorium.

That's reserved for real worship.

It's not a place for children.

There'll just be a distraction there.

That's the message that we send at times.

Don't get me wrong.

I am not against children's ministry.

The very opposite is I think is the case

as we come to this passage today.

We need to love them and care for them

and serve the gospel to them in every way possible.

What I'm against is an attitude

that would only pretend to care

about the spiritual health of a child

when really what they only want to do

is just get them out of the way

so that they can get on with more adult things.

That's not right.

And so sometimes we can actually be

a little bit more like the disciples than we think.

We can find their attitude

at least partially revealed in our hearts.

And we have to consciously fight against that.

We can't view gospel ministry to kids

as lesser ministry than any other ministry

because in Jesus' eyes in Mark chapter 10,

Mark 10 · chapter mention

it's as significant as gospel ministry to anyone else.

Today, we celebrate today in Clementine's baptism

the fruitfulness of gospel ministry to children.

And it's not just one.

And it begins with Andy and Amy

and the time that they invest in reading their Bibles

and praying with their kids

and making sure their kids are involved

with the things of the Lord.

It moves on to our Lakeside Kids Discipleship class

that happens every other week

as we're teaching, catechizing them

and teaching them the Bible

and teaching them songs about the Lord

that they'll carry with them through life.

It goes to vacation Bible school

in the mountains

when she goes to class night by night

and here's the gospel preached

so that she can go to grandma

and say, I think I want to know Jesus.

That's the fruitfulness of gospel ministry to kids.

I'm not saying that that's a problem.

I'm saying let's actually care about it,

legitimately care about it.

Let's not bring kids in.

I know this is,

I'm preaching to people

that this doesn't apply to, I feel like,

because our church, all the kids are here.

But it's on my mind.

I love that our kids are in our worship.

I want them here.

I don't care if they cry.

And if they cry too loud,

we can go to the cry room

just like Abby just did.

That's fine.

We actually moved the speaker in there this week

so they can hear me at the same time.

And if they get too loud in there,

maybe the speaker will drown them out.

I want the kids in here.

But they need to know what worship is.

They need to hear the truths of the Bible.

We don't need to shove them in a corner somewhere

because they're a distraction.

They're a problem to us.

No, let them come.

Let them come.

And then let's take opportunity

as much as we can

to emphasize the truth of God's word

on their level.

They must be welcome to church.

They must be welcome to genuine worship.

We have to teach them these things.

And then let's serve them the gospel

in every way that we possibly can

because it makes a difference.

Just look at Clementine.

It makes a difference.

I love that story so much

about the Blevins riding down the road

and Gus telling Winnie,

you don't know God.

And Winnie, who's probably two at the time,

says, yes, I do.

He's the creator of everyone and everything.

And she may not know what that means,

but she hears it every other Sunday night

when they go through their catechism

and Lakeside Kids,

and she's two years old at the time,

and she's saying this every week.

What is God?

God is the creator of everyone and everything.

And listen, when she's 12 and 15 and 25 and 45,

if you go to Winnie and say, what is God?

She may not believe it,

but she'll at least be able to say,

he's the creator of everyone and everything.

Our kids need that.

They need that.

They need to stand next to you Sunday by Sunday

and sing, thou who was rich beyond all splendor,

all for love's sake became as poor.

They need to see the expression on your face

and the passion that you have for the gospel

and what Christ has done for you.

They need to see you open your Bible in a service.

They need to see how you interact with other people.

They're not a distraction.

They're not a problem.

They're gifts.

And we need to view them that way.

Well, I'm meddling.

Listen, notice how Jesus responded.

Verse 14, I love this.

When Jesus saw it, he was indignant, it says.

When he saw it, he was indignant.

And again, the word Mark uses here is significant.

It's the only place in the gospels,

this word for indignant,

it's the only place in the gospels that it's ever used.

It means to be incensed.

Jesus' anger with the disciples,

it wasn't the product of sentimentality toward children.

That's not what it is.

It wasn't that he was just good with kids

better than most people, even though he was.

It's not just that.

It's not just that he loved them more

than other people loved them,

even though that's true.

This anger wasn't the product of sentimentality.

His anger was toward the disciples

because they were intentionally keeping people away from him.

It wasn't about the kids

so much as it was about his chosen

preventing other people from getting to him.

And very few times in the gospels

do we read about the severity of Christ's righteous anger.

Two of those times we find taking place in the temple in Jerusalem,

we recognize them all the time

because Jesus drove out the money changers.

He was frustrated and angry at the corruption of their worship.

This is the other time that we see it.

And what is it that he's angry about?

Not just the kids.

He's angry that his disciples

are actually keeping people from the gospel.

They're keeping people from him.

So if we want to know what makes Christ angry,

what really sets off the righteous anger of Jesus,

it's when we corrupt his worship

and when we prevent people or hinder them

from receiving the gospel.

The disciples were representatives of Jesus.

And if they rejected these kids,

it was as if Jesus himself was rejecting them.

But nothing could have been further from the truth.

Jesus wanted them.

Which brings us to the next point.

Number two, the correction.

The correction.

Look with me at verse 14.

Jesus corrects the disciples

and in the process answers two important questions here.

The first one is this.

To whom does the kingdom of God belong?

To whom does the kingdom of God belong?

Answer, to such as these children.

Verse 14.

He said to them,

let the children come to me.

Do not hinder them.

For to such belongs the kingdom of God.

So the first part of this correction,

it has two imperatives

and then a statement to ground the imperatives.

And you can almost imagine Jesus,

almost like a frustrated parent,

emphatically maybe clicking through

or clapping through this instruction to his disciples.

Let them come to me.

Do not hinder them,

Jesus says.

Imperative statements.

Serious statements.

Let them come.

And then he grounds it.

Why?

Because such as these children

belong to the kingdom

and the kingdom belongs to them.

The kingdom of God is a,

it's a reference to the sphere of salvation

over which Jesus is the king

and he rules over all those in the kingdom.

It includes every person

who has received forgiveness of sins

and eternal life.

And Jesus here is emphatically proclaiming

that this salvation belongs to people

such as these kids.

The disciples thought that the kids were insignificant.

Jesus puts them on equal ground.

Remember the disciples have this elitism problem

at this point.

We've already seen it in other passages

and the way that they dealt with other believers

that weren't a part of their little group.

And here we see it again,

except it's about a generational thing.

The kingdom is actually for us

is what they're thinking in their minds.

And then Jesus says,

no, the kingdom belongs to them,

which means that the disciples

and these children

are then put on equal ground.

This is a shocking statement to them.

And Jesus doesn't mean

that all children are saved

just by the fact that they're a child.

That's not what he means.

But what he means is that children

can indeed receive the gospel

and be saved.

They can know Christ.

Kids, listen, give me your eyes.

You don't have to wait till you're an adult

to know Christ.

You don't have to wait till you're old like me

to figure that out.

You can know Jesus.

You can follow him.

You can be his disciple.

And I'm not just saying that

because it's what I think.

I'm saying it because it's what we just read together

in the Bible.

Did you see it in your own Bibles?

You've got them open.

What does Jesus say to these children?

He says that the kingdom can belong to you.

You don't have to wait.

Cast yourself on him.

Believe him.

Follow him.

Not only does Jesus love children,

but he affirms and respects their personhood

and their spirituality.

They can't know Christ.

They must know Christ.

Spurgeon, perhaps with a touch of hyperbole,

wrote this about children in his church.

He said,

I'll say broadly that I have more confidence

in the spiritual life of the children

I have received into this church

than I have in the spiritual condition

of the adults thus received.

I will go even further than that

and say that I have usually found

a clearer knowledge of the gospel

and a warmer love to Christ

in the child converts

than in the man converts.

I will even astonish you still more

by saying that I have sometimes met

with a deeper spiritual experience

in children of 10 and 12

than I have in certain persons of 50 or 60.

You ever known a child that was more serious

about the Lord, it seemed,

than even their parents?

Now I told you that this verse answers the question

to whom does the kingdom belong?

And part of Jesus' answer here is that,

well, children can be saved.

Children can be a part of the kingdom.

But he doesn't mean that the kingdom

is exclusive to children.

Here's his point.

That no one is too insignificant

for the gospel.

No one.

No one is too insignificant

to come to Christ.

No one is too insignificant

for the kingdom.

Salvation belongs to all

who come to Jesus

like those kids came to Jesus.

Which brings us to the next question

in verse 15 that Jesus answers,

or at least the ones I came up with

that he answers here.

Not only does he say

to whom does the kingdom belong,

well, it belongs to people

such as these children.

But then he says,

how can one enter the kingdom?

Answer, by becoming like a child.

That's the only way in.

That's the only way in.

By becoming like a child.

Verse 15.

Truly I say to you,

whoever does not receive

the kingdom of God like a child

shall not enter it.

Just read that again.

Let that settle in your mind.

Truly I say to you,

says the Lord of all creation

in this moment,

whoever does not receive

the kingdom of God like a child

shall not enter it.

How can one enter the kingdom?

How can one be saved?

How can one receive salvation?

You can't do it

unless you receive it like a child.

And notice the seriousness of this.

He opens with truly or verily

as you might read in your Bible.

What does he mean?

He's not just saying

that this is more trustworthy

than other statements he would make.

That's not what he means.

He's bringing a certain gravity

to the conversation here,

Jesus is.

He's saying,

listen to me,

essentially.

Listen,

get what I'm telling you right now.

This has gospel implications.

This has eternal implications,

this lesson Jesus is saying.

And then the seriousness is seen even further

in the final statement.

Shall not enter it.

It's impossible.

You can't do it.

You won't slide in any other way.

It's impossible for you to have salvation

and enter the kingdom

unless you do it like a child.

But what does that mean?

How can one receive salvation like a child?

There's other passages that teach us

that faith like a child

is really what results in eternal salvation.

But I don't think that's what Jesus means here.

He doesn't say anything about a child's faith here.

His reference is,

unless you come in the same condition

as these children.

Kent Hughes,

I think,

clarifies it.

What Jesus has in mind here

is an objective state

that every child who has ever lived,

regardless of race,

culture,

or background,

has experienced.

Here's the state.

Helpless

dependence.

That's what Jesus is getting at here.

He's not saying you have to come

and be dedicated like these children.

That's not what he's saying.

He's not saying that you have to go through

a certain traditional religious type of formality

in order for it.

He's not even saying that you can't think deep thoughts,

that you have to be base

in your intellectual agreement with the scripture.

That's not what he's saying.

He's saying that the only people

that experience salvation,

the only people that enter the kingdom,

are the people that are seeing themselves

in the same condition as these children,

helplessly dependent.

To receive the kingdom as a child

is to recognize how desperately hopeless

you are without Jesus

and to cast yourself wholly,

entirely on him and his mercy.

A child can do nothing for himself.

He can only rely on the power of others to survive.

And so it is with salvation.

You can do nothing for yourself.

You can't earn your way to heaven.

No amount of religious activity

will get you there,

will forgive your sins.

You can't atone for your sins

in any possible way

except to go to hell forever.

You're helpless.

You're hopeless in and of yourself.

And like a child,

you must rely entirely

on the power of Jesus alone to save you.

That's what Jesus means.

Another way to think about this

is to say it this way.

Only one who is helplessly insignificant

like a child

would ever come to Jesus.

And only those who come to Jesus

will enter the kingdom.

You won't ever come to Jesus

unless you realize you need Jesus.

And only Jesus.

And only those who come to him

with that kind of faith

enter the kingdom.

We sing about this all the time.

We sing Rock of Ages a lot.

I like this song.

There's one verse that goes,

Nothing in my hands I bring

Simply to the cross I cling

Naked come to thee for dress

Helpless look to thee for grace

Foul I to the fountain fly

Wash me, Savior, or I die

Isn't that what salvation looks like?

At least in the process of conversion

Someone finally getting to the point

where they cry out to God

and say,

If you don't wash me

I'll die

If you don't forgive me

I'll go to hell

If you don't give me grace

It's over

For me

I have no hope

I'm helpless

So who

To whom does the kingdom belong?

To people such as these children

Well how can one enter the kingdom?

Become like a child

How do you become like a child?

Realize how much like a child you already are

And come to him

Come to him

He wants you as much as he wants the kids

He wants you

Come to him

Finally we see the gospel

We've seen the tension in the passage

We've seen the correction from Jesus

And now we see the gospel of grace

The gospel of grace

Verse 16

Notice what Jesus does

This is so wonderful

He took them in his arms

And he blessed them

Laying his hands on them

We see this tender compassion of the Lord once again

He corrects the disciples

Luke says he then calls ahead to the parents

Bring them to me

Bring them here

And what does he do?

One by one they come to him

And he takes them up in his arms

And he holds them in his arms

Imagine what that moment would have been like

For these kids

They probably don't even

They don't even realize what's happening

He takes them up in his arms

As their parents look on

And he blesses them

And he touches them

MacArthur is helpful here

He notes that

God never blessed someone in the scripture

Who was cursed

And Jesus never pronounced a blessing on someone

Who didn't belong to him

What's Jesus doing?

This wasn't sentiment

It wasn't meaningless

It wasn't just being nice

I think Jesus was claiming that these children

That he was in that moment

Taking into his arms

Belonged with him

In the kingdom

I think that's what he's saying

He's blessing them

He's claiming them

He's saying

They're mine

And I am theirs

But how can he do that?

What could those kids have possibly done

To earn that kind of favor from God?

That's the point

Nothing

Nothing

They did nothing

This was all of Christ's grace

It was all grace

Nothing else

They didn't do something good

It wasn't that they were so

Doggone cute

It wasn't that they were morally innocent

Because all of us with children

Know that they're exactly not that

These were sinful kids

These were depraved kids

They hadn't yet experienced the extent of that depravity

But if kids didn't

If kids aren't born

With a depraved heart

Like the rest of us

Then there would never be a kid who dies

But children die

Why?

Because they have sinful hearts

That must be redeemed

Well how are these kids redeemed?

Not because they did something

Because Jesus did something

Imagine maybe 15 years later or so

Perhaps a little girl

Taken in Jesus' arms that day

Goes with her parents

Maybe she's hearing Peter preach now

Last time her parents saw Peter

Peter was fussing at them

For bringing him to Jesus

And now they're watching and listening

As he preaches the gospel

This is all hypothetical

And this little girl

May be enamored with the message of the gospel

And she looks at her parents

Did I ever meet Jesus?

Yeah actually

He took you in his arms

And he pronounced a blessing on you

And he claimed you as his own

To which the girl would

Inevitably respond

Why?

Did I do something?

I must have said something really funny

You know I was a pretty smart kid

No you didn't say anything

In fact you didn't even want to go

It was hard for us to get you to go

But he took you in his arms

Why?

Because he did

Because he did

Why did Jesus love me?

Because he loves you

Well what did I do?

Nothing

It's his grace

That's salvation

That's the gospel of grace

That's why so many theologians

Come to this particular passage

And they say

There is not a better picture

In all of the Bible

Of the grace of God

And salvation

Than this one

Because these kids did nothing

They did nothing

To earn it

God just gave it to them

And so it is for each one of us

Who know Christ

He didn't do anything to earn that

Well why does he love you?

Because he loves you

Why have you received grace?

Because he's gracious

And he's kind

And you may wonder

How Jesus could have actually

Shown this kind of grace

To people who did nothing

To earn it

It all seems too good

To be true

But his grace

Didn't come without a cost

It just wasn't the kids

Who paid it

Jesus could pronounce

These children

Belonging to him

Because he was planning

To go to the cross

To pay the price

For their sin

The grace in the gospel

Is not God coming to you

And saying

Oh I'm so glad that you came

I'm just going to turn

A blind eye to your sin

That's not what happens

Sin must be paid for

Every single sin

Must be paid for

And those who belong to Christ

It's not that God

Turns a blind eye

It's that he takes your sin

And he puts them

On his righteous son

He puts them on Jesus Christ

On the cross

That's the significance

Of the cross

Without it

You have no forgiveness

Why did Jesus come?

Why do we celebrate

This incarnation?

He came to die

He came to make

An atonement

For the sins

Of his people

And when we come

To him in faith

The grace that we receive

From him

Is not him

Turning a blind eye to us

It's him taking

The sins that we have committed

And putting them

Justly on his son

And then in return

He takes the righteousness

Of his son

And he puts it on us

So now

He does not view you

Anymore

As a result of your sin

He views you

Through the lens

Of the righteousness

Of his own son

Jesus Christ

That's why Jesus

Could proclaim this

Because he was paying

For those kids' sin

It's all of grace

And this is what

We come to reflect

As we celebrate

And gather around

The Lord's table

This morning

It all ends up

At the cross

It's all of God's grace

It's only received

Through faith

That faith

Only comes

In the heart

Of those

Who recognize

Their deep need for it

Which in itself

Is a grace of God

And then it leads

Them to the cross

Because that's where

It was accomplished

And that's where

We rejoice this morning

And that's where