READING: MARK 10:1-16

Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.

Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’

‘What did Moses command you?’ he replied.

They said, ‘Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.’

‘It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,’ Jesus replied. ‘But at the beginning of creation God “made them male and female”. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’

When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.’

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

REFLECTION

Good morning, or afternoon, or evening in fact, depending on when you’re listening to this. Today is the last day in January and we’re starting chapter 10 of Mark’s Gospel. The passage is from the start of the chapter through to verse 16. I’m going to focus on verses 14 and 15. These verses come just after the disciples have tried to stop people from bringing forward little children to be blessed by Jesus:

When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

I love these verses. There are similar passages in both Matthew and Luke’s Gospel. This means that whatever Jesus is saying here, it’s important. I led the Kids Church here at STC for four years and over that time I thought a lot about what this passage means. I’m going to try and share some of those thoughts this morning.

This month America inaugurated a new president. Donald Trump succeeded Barack Obama in a job that arguably makes him the most powerful man in the world. Let’s not get distracted by politics here, but I do want us to think briefly on the people that have met with President Trump since he won the election and became destined for this power. His team has had to work out who is worth his time. Who is famous enough, clever enough, rich enough, powerful enough to earn a few minutes with the new president. Which foreign leader is going to be first? What can they offer him in return for his time? Can they be persuaded to give their investment, their support? This is simply what the disciples were doing with Jesus. They were trying to control who got close to Him. The questions may have been slightly different, who needed Him the most, who would make a good addition to the team? But they were still seeking to control access to the people they thought were best or were most worthy of Him meeting their needs.

To be fair to them, the disciples make logical choices, but Jesus stops them. Let the little children come to me He says. The little children who have no right to be ahead of others in the queue. They’ve not earned their way there. They have no rights or significance in this particular culture. They cannot offer Jesus anything in return. And yet Jesus says let the little children come to me. You see with Jesus, it’s not about what we can bring. It’s not about how much or little we think of ourselves. It’s not about whether we feel we fit in at Church or whether or not we have incredible skills we can use to serve with. Jesus opens His arms and says come to me.

We often get caught up in what verse 15 means, you must receive the Kingdom of God like a little child. I’ve heard people wonder if that means we must be naive, or accept Jesus blindly. I disagree. In a nutshell I think we need to look to the reaction of the children. From the few words we have in this passage I’ve inferred one simple thing. The children just accept the blessing Jesus gives them. I worked with children long enough to know that some would have been at the front of the queue, some a little bit shy at the back. Some hanging off Jesus’ every word, some getting distracted. Some would have listened while others asked questions. No doubt some silly questions mixed in with some incredibly profound and deep questions. But at the end of the day, after all the questions, I’m willing to bet that they all accepted the blessing Jesus gave them. And then the next day trusted Him entirely. For me childlike faith doesn’t exclude questions and doubts, but once we’ve made it decision, we stick to it, we believe it, and we act on it in everything we do.

I could talk about this verse for a long time but I’m sure we all have things to do so I’ll finish with this. Do we come to Jesus freely like He invited the children freely? Are we holding anything back from Jesus today?

PRAYER

Father God, thank you that You sent Your Son Jesus to show us how much you love us. Help us to remember that You always welcome us to come to you. Please help us to trust you with our whole lives today. Amen.

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