Friday, June 21, 2013
Why Did The Children Like Him?
We have probably all hear the phrase used, “Suffer the little children to come unto Me.” This was spoke by Jesus in Matthew 19:13. I reread that this morning and realized that I had remembered the passage wrong. I thought Jesus was speaking to the parents; He was not. He was speaking to his disciples, the “new leadership” of the forming church. This is worth looking at.
Jesus had just said it was not for everyone to accept what He was saying, but only those to whom it had been given. Then it was the parents that brought their children to Jesus for Him to bless them, and children are like the rest of us – they always want to be blessed. The disciples tried to hold them back. Why do you suppose the new leaders were doing this which we now know was against His will? Certainly they knew that Jesus was the Messiah. They had seen the miracles. He had chosen each one, one at a time, directly. How could they be so off? I have heard it said that they just did not want people to bother Him. That would be an odd explanation, because that is what they were already doing, walking with Jesus as He reached out to the people. Here is what I think.
The new leadership was well meaning. They were men like all of us, trying to learn at the feet of Jesus. But other than Jesus, what did they know about believing, about religious gatherings, or about being leaders? What they knew they learned mostly from the Sanhedrin, the old leadership. They were around them since childhood, and in the bible those guys were definitely not so friendly or reachable. They exerted control just for the sake of control and because they were in charge. Even though the new leadership had good intentions, and frequently (most often) got it right, even they messed up and sometimes prevented the people from reaching Jesus directly. The good news is, Jesus intervened, as He always does, and blessed the children anyway. Isn’t it good that we can always count on God to get us through and to reach out to us through anything or anyone? Isn’t it good that we can make mistakes and be keeping people from the blessings and power of Jesus, and He gently reaches past us to them? God is good!!!
Prayer
Father, King of the universe, we love You. Please forgive us for not always getting it right. We are just human, like everyone else that You want to reach. Please help us to learn to bring people to Jesus, and not keep them away. And when we mess up, please gently reach past us to them anyway like You always have. In Jesus name. Amen.