Jesus has a special love for little children. He rebuked his disciples for hindering them.

“Now people were bringing the little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them, and the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and told 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 does 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.” Mark 10:13-16 (Matthew 19:13–15; Luke 18:15–17)

The ministry of Jesus was by no means limited to adults. He had only very recently used a little child to emphasize a very important truth in The Kingdom of God. (Mathew 18:1-14) And the child, on that occasion, had willingly submitted to His kind advances. (Mark 9:36).

That He was a friend of the children appears also from Matthew 21:15-16, where the little children sing His praises. In this case the mothers brought their little children to Him.

Their request was suggested as much by their manner as by any words they may have spoken. They wanted Jesus to lay His hands upon them in token of kindly blessing.

His prayer over them would be their fitting consecration to God. There is no question in the minds of the mothers as to the faith living in the hearts of the little ones, even as Christ had expressly stated that they could believe in Him. (Matthew 18:3-6).

The disciples had not taken the recent lesson to heart very seriously, or else they had managed to forget it very quickly, for they spoke to the mothers of the little ones in a very harsh way for disturbing their Master with trifles and for worrying Him, whose thoughts were engaged, as they supposed, with far too weighty matters to bear such an unwelcome interruption. A similar excuse is made by people for not presenting all their difficulties to The LORD in prayer. (^©Kretzmann)

Even little children born to an unbelieving spouse are holy when the other spouse is a believer. (1 Corinthians 7:14)

Another truth Jesus taught by taking the little children in his arms and blessing them was how we who have received The Kingdom of God have received it by loving and trusting Messiah Jesus like a little child — innocent, amiable, lovely, and not corrupted by the world.

“Brothers [and sisters], stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.” 1 Corinthians 14:20.

Now, we come to not hindering our little children from coming to Messiah Jesus. (Mark 10:14)

This is where many Christians fail their children by delegating their God given, personal, responsibility to the church.

Remember the battle cry of Missions: We need to reach those unreached with the Gospel?

And when we said “unreached” we thought of some other obscure African tribe of Pygmy people, or some miraculously yet undiscovered Indios in the Amazon rain forest who have not yet heard the Gospel of the Evangelicals: “Come to Jesus and join an evangelical church!”

We believe, however, that the situation today has changed dramatically — and the biggest group of the Unreached worldwide are probably your children — the children of dedicated Christian parents that have said an energetic farewell to a churchy Jesus and roam the streets to find themselves. (^©Wolfgang Simpson).

Simson interprets the Kingdom of God as “Life as it should be under the directive of the most fascinating influencer of the universe”. He sees Jesus not as the founder of Go‐to‐church‐Christianity, but of a revolutionary and down‐to‐earth‐practical way of life that loves, cares and shares. Simson is a German national with Israeli, Hungarian and German roots. Find him on the web at www.refornation.eu

Husbands and Fathers and Little Children

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in The LORD. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. Test and prove what pleases The LORD.” Ephesians 5:8-10.

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.
In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. Indeed, no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church. For we are members of His body.
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This mystery is profound, but I am speaking about Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” Ephesians 5:25-33.

“And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of The LORD.” Ephesians 6:4.

 

~ Bill Bremer

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Bill Bremer is Founder and Managing Director at Kingdom Relationships Colorado.

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