LUKE 18:15-17

Luke 18:15-17

Undoubtedly, one of the first songs you ever learned as a little tyke in Sunday School, was:

Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

It’s a cute song, but is it a true song? How do we know that? How do we know Jesus loves all the little children of the world? And further, how little is little? Or how big is no longer little? I have all kinds of questions. And then, of course, perhaps the first song we ever learned:

Jesus loves me this I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong, (that’s an audacious statement)
They are weak but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me,
Yes, Jesus loves me,
Yes, Jesus loves me,
The Bible tells me so.

Where? Where does it tell me so – that Jesus loves little children? Before you rise to stone me, yes, it says so in our text this morning, Luke 18. Of course, we’ve grown up now, so we don’t sing those little ditties anymore, do we? We’ve mastered the truths of those Sunday School choruses, and we don’t need the juvenile reminders. You see, now that we’ve grown up, we’ve outgrown these and moved onto much deeper truths.

Think about this – people get irritable about worship music – songs and choruses, but can you imagine if the worship team took the stage, and with a mighty flourish of musical introduction, broke into Jesus loves me? I can see the exchanged glances – maybe some smiles. But if we did it again next week? Oh, the emails. Jesus loves me this I know just doesn’t do much anymore, and so we forget to sing the songs, and perhaps the truths they contain. We pat our kids on the head, and we’re glad they’re singing those simple little ditties, but we’ve moved on. And maybe, just maybe, we need to be reminded of the truths in those songs again. Did you know this text is found in all three synoptic gospels? And others passages similar to it. It’s apparently important.

I’m going to preach my entire message right now – I’ll probably expand on it just a bit – but write this down and you’ll have it all, ready? Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, and as His followers, so should we. In fact, to even be His followers, we must be converted, enter the kingdom like little children. So maybe we’re talking about more than little babies, although He includes that. Maybe we’re talking about believers. Maybe those songs aren’t quite so juvenile after all. Let’s read the text – Luke 18:15-17.

Just three verses today – to remind us Jesus loves little children. And, the kingdom belongs to such as these babies. Let me give you the outline:

I. First, we see Children (Babies) Brought to Jesus (15)
II. Then, we’ll see the Response of the Disciples to the Children (15)
III. And third, we’ll see the Response of Jesus to the Disciples and the Children (16)
IV. And finally, the [absolute] Necessity to Enter the Kingdom like Children (17) You won’t enter it any other way.

We begin by reading they were bringing their babies to Jesus. Who is they? Well, the verse says they were bringing their babies – so these were the parents. And don’t miss, these were babies. The word is brephos, which speaks of infants, babies, or very small children.

Now, back in Luke 9, we remember the disciples began arguing among themselves as to which one of them was greatest. At that time, Jesus took a child and stood him by His side. The word for children there was paidia, which speaks of a little child – think toddler, preschooler or even up through grade school. In other words, the ones singing Jesus loves the little children like me. And Jesus told them, “whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”

There, we saw this would have been quite surprising. Why? Because, they were talking about greatness, and Jesus grabs a little kid, set him before them. You want to be great – accept this child in My name. No, they would have said, that’s not great. Children are to be seen, not heard. Necessary for eventually becoming useful. Right now – well, they’re necessary, but not a picture of what it means to be great. You see, children were pretty much in the same class as women, slaves – necessary for the functioning of life, but overlooked. Marginalized. And all of a sudden, we remember, Jesus is bringing the upside kingdom – those you overlook, I value. We remember He makes much of women, and the sick, and sinners, and children. Perhaps we should, too.

Well anyway, these parents were bringing their babies to Jesus – carrying the little bundles, right up to Him. Why would they do that – were they sick? Did they need healing?

No, Luke says they wanted Him to touch their babies – Matthew spells it out a little more clearly – they wanted Jesus to lay His hands on them and pray for them. You see, while children were pretty far down the food chain – not real important members of society – it was still the practice of the day to take your children to a rabbi to have him pray for them. They did it especially on the evening of the Day of Atonement. So, it’s a significant thing happening here – these parents, wanting a blessing from God, wanted Jesus, someone they recognized as a teacher, a rabbi – to pray for their children.

I suppose it’s not unlike our children’s dedications when we dedicate our children to the Lord. Every few months, it’s a time when new parents present themselves and their children to the Lord before the church body, committing themselves to rear their children in Christian, godly homes. Then, we pray for the little tykes. It’s not necessarily commanded in Scripture, but we do see it as a practice, even in this text.

So, can you imagine what it would be like if, in December when we typically do a child dedication, as they make their way to the front, some guys – let’s make it some Elders – jump in front of the parents and start yelling at them – “What is this? We don’t have time for your kids – we’ve got more important things to do – kingdom stuff like worship and prayer and the Word of God – get your kids outta here – take ‘em to the nursery.”

Well, that’s almost exactly what happened here – with Jesus and those wonderful, godly, compassionate, mature disciples who had the kingdom all figured out. Look at the end of verse 15 – “but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them.” Get that – it wasn’t the crowds blocking the way – it was the disciples – followers of Jesus – representatives of Jesus, who said, if you want to get to Him, you’ve got to come through us – and you can’t come. Those kids are insignificant – in a sense, they don’t matter.

The disciples rebuked them, that is, the parents bringing their babies to Jesus. The word speaks of a harsh rebuke – of scolding them, shaming them. In fact, the word is used of casting out demons. It carries the idea of threatening punishment. And the tense is such they did it over and over – every time a parent walked up with a child, the disciples went ballistic. “Get the kid outta here – what do you think you’re doing – we don’t have time for this.” Now, why were the disciples so strong – why the rebuke?

We’re not really told, but most think it’s because they thought Jesus, and they, were doing some important stuff. Deeper truths – we don’t have time for Jesus loves the little children. He’s on His way to Jerusalem – don’t get in His way. To the disciples, these children were just an irritating distraction. They were an intrusion, an interruption of real ministry. They didn’t think children had anything of importance to offer Jesus, or them for that matter. They’re kids, what do they matter? It was the culture of the day. Can you imagine a culture not valuing children, let’s say, in the womb? The governor of Massachusetts signed a bill allowing abortion up to the time of birth – no restrictions – joining ten other states. I guess they forgot the SS songs.

The disciples showed by their actions they didn’t get it – they were still operating under a performance-based system. “What do you have to offer? What do you bring to the table?” And children certainly couldn’t meet their standards of acceptability and performance. Get the picture – children we’re literally being blocked from coming to Jesus by His followers.

Well, how did Jesus respond to the disciples? Verse 16. Mark actually says Jesus was indignant. Literally, Jesus was burning with anger – it’s the only place in the gospels where this word is used of Him. Now, it’s true He’d been disappointed with the disciples, even frustrated with them. But usually, He reserved His anger for Pharisees, maybe the moneychangers in the temple. Make no mistake about it – this time, Jesus was angry with His disciples.

Why? I can think of a couple reasons. First and most obvious is, Jesus loved children – He wanted to be with them. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so – little ones to Him belong. I know it’s possible for kids to get on your nerves occasionally – but followers of Jesus – people who want to be like Jesus – love children. Don’t tell me you don’t like kids.

The second reason He was irritated is the disciples had been with Jesus for three years – they were supposed to be figuring this out by now. Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem to be crucified, resurrected, and ascended to the Father – that is, He was about to leave the future of Christianity in their hands. And once again, they were demonstrating they didn’t get it. Children were coming to Jesus, and the disciples said – no – you don’t make the cut – you don’t have anything to offer – you’re not kingdom material – we don’t have time for you. Nobody seemed to get Jesus – not the Pharisees, not the crowds, not even His disciples. Children coming to Jesus, wanting to be near Jesus – the disciples response? You can’t come.

But can I encourage you just for a moment. Let’s not be too hard on these disciples. I believe if our lives, our walks with Jesus were recorded, they would demonstrate about the same pattern of repeated failure. And the good news is this – He is patient; He is kind. Wouldn’t you have found some different disciples by now? Sorry Peter, James and John – here’s your pink slip – clean out your lockers, this thing is just not working out. And yet, Jesus was patient – teaching, rebuking, correcting, training them. Because He saw in them what Pentecost – the presence of the Holy Spirit would produce. He saw the church He would build through them. He put up with them and all their faults, just like He does me – because He sees the end as well as the journey. He was angry, but He was patient, and brought them along again – just like He brings us along.

So, how did He respond? First, to the disciples, He said, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them….” One positive, one negative – let them come, don’t stop them. Basically, He says, stop it, leave the children alone. Then, He says, let the children keep coming to Me over and over. Stop preventing the children once and for all – don’t you ever hinder them from coming – and I don’t want to have to talk to you about this again. Let the children, now, and forever, come to Me. Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Why? “for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” What does that mean? I think there are a few ideas in mind.

The first, I believe, is literal – the kingdom belongs to these children. He uses babies as the example of those in the kingdom. I don’t think He would say, the kingdom belongs to such as these, if didn’t actually belong to them. One of the questions everyone has sooner or later is this: what about babies – what about small children who die in infancy – before they’re able to understand the claims of Christ – before they have the intellectual capacity to make a commitment to Christ? Will they go to heaven? I believe they do, and I believe this passage implies that. The kingdom belongs to such as these – such as these what? Small children, infants, who were being brought to Jesus for His blessing. I won’t take the time to give all the arguments this morning, but I strongly believe the Scripture teaches that children who die in infancy, before knowing right from wrong, belong to Him. Little ones to Him belong – audacious statement, I think they got it right.

The second idea is clearer: Jesus has already said to the disciples back in chapter 9 that His followers welcome children. But now He takes it a step further – the kingdom belongs to such as these – to those who are like these children. What does that mean? It belongs to those who realize Jesus is their only hope.

Remember the context. Remember what we talked about last week, and glance ahead to see what we’ll look at next week. Last week, it was the Pharisee who thought he’d make the team. He wasn’t like other sinners. He done enough to show how good he was – to depend on his own righteousness to get him accepted by God – he’d earned his way into God’s good graces and into heaven. Next week, the rich young ruler will spout his lifelong record of keeping the commandments. Well, most of them. Both men thought they’d earned their way.

And last week, Jesus said the Pharisee was not justified – not righteous. Next week, the man will go away not justified, because there was one commandment he didn’t keep. If you seek to earn your way to heaven, perfection is the standard. And sandwiched right in the middle of these two stories, intentionally by Luke, are babies. What had they done to earn the kingdom – for Jesus to say, the kingdom of God belongs to such as these? Nothing. That’s the point. Don’t misunderstand, babies are born sinners – they need grace just like you, just like me, just like the self-righteous, to make it. But the truth is – salvation is not earned – it is received by grace through faith in what He has done. And Jesus uses little babies to make the point.

Unless you become like this little child – in total, helpless, dependence – you will never enter the kingdom. These children were a picture – the “such as these” the kingdom belonged to. Helpless, dependent, humble, broken people who come to Jesus offering nothing, bringing nothing – simply bringing all they have of themselves to all they know about Jesus. “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones do Him belong, they are weak, but He is strong.” A simple, childlike, dependent, helpless, trusting faith. The kingdom belongs to them. And the disciples are still looking at the externals – at performance – at what people can bring. All I want, Jesus says, is dependent, simple, humble faith. Let the children come.

And then He makes this incredible statement. He sets it off as one of His more important statements, “Truly I say to you…” Pay attention – this is important. Whoever does not receive the kingdom – let me add, the Gospel of the Kingdom – like a child will not enter it at all. It’s in the emphatic in the Greek – you will in no way enter the kingdom. This is significant.

We need to make one thing clear. It’s not the way the child receives the kingdom that somehow makes him worthy of the kingdom. It’s not his or her innocence, gentleness, simplicity or purity – anything like that. It is not their virtue – it is their helplessness. They are not blessed for what they bring, but for what they lack. You see, it is simple humble, helpless dependent faith. They are small, insignificant, powerless, needy. One author said, “Every child in the world is absolutely, completely, totally, objectively, subjectively, existentially helpless!” (Hughes) If you are counting on anything you bring to the table to somehow get you in the kingdom, you will not enter it at all.

And we remember, such helplessness produces humble dependence. We remember what Jesus said in Matthew 18 in a similar context, also similar to Luke 9, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
So, He took them in His arms, laying His hands on them and blessed them. Because – remember – the point of the message: Jesus loves little children, and as His followers, so should we. His touch brought blessing, a tangible expression of God’s unconditional love, for what could they bring? His touch was reserved for the unclean, the outcasts, the sick, the needy, women and children and sinners. Common people. Needy people.

Eduard Schweizer, Professor of NT at the University of Zurich wrote, “But this is the reason they are blessed—just because they have nothing to show for themselves. They cannot count on any achievements of their own—their hands are empty like those of a beggar. Jesus enlarges the promise to include everyone. With an authority such as only God can claim, he promises the Kingdom to those whose faith resembles the empty hand of a beggar.”

Which brings us to our conclusion. Okay fine, you might say – but how does this apply to us? I like kids – I’ve even had a couple. We have child dedications around here, and no one screams about it. I would never prevent children from coming to Jesus. But let me ask you, are there some more subtle ways in which we might prevent them? Ways in which we might not love them – ways in which we subtly rebuke them? Let me suggest a couple of significant things we can do as a church, a family of believers, to accept our children – to love them to Jesus.

First, when we walk around here – not just Sunday mornings, but any time we’re together – we can lower our eyes. What do I mean? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but children are short people. And if we just talk to people at our level, physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally at our level – then we can literally overlook our kids. We have millions of ‘em running around here. When’s the last time you bent over and talked to one at his or her level? Let’s do that. Let’s love our kids to Jesus.

Second, some of you can do more than that. You can get involved in their lives. Child Evangelism Fellowship, a ministry based in Missouri with over 1000 missionaries to children around the world, points out that 85% of all professing Christians made their commitment to Christ between the ages of 4 and 14. It’s one reason we are so committed to Operation Christmas Child – the best child evangelism program going.

85% of Christians became so before the age of 14. Do you suppose that highlights the vast importance of our children’s and youth ministry around here? We have nurseries for the brephos and the paidias – the infants and toddlers Jesus took in His arms that day. We have Little Alliance and KidZone for the older children, through 5th Grade. We have AWANA, a children’s program on Wednesday evenings. And we have middle school youth on Wednesday evenings and high school youth on Sunday evenings. And we should never have to plead for workers in those ministries. We had Glory Days a few weeks ago – over 200 paidias, little children – and 150 volunteers. Hallelujah.

But sometimes, we do run short of volunteers in those areas. Because sometimes we might, I’ve done my time. Or, we might think real ministry, kingdom ministry, is more challenging than that – preaching to the multitudes, driving out demons, fighting Pharisees – adult ministry, college ministry, Life groups, etc. There is a tendency to think real important ministry is not with the little ones – it’s somewhere else. And if I can’t do something else, maybe I’ll do kids. Jesus here lays that kind of thinking to rest.

The most fertile ministry in our church is with little ones. Real ministry, kingdom ministry, is ministry even to the little ones – which means, we should have some of the most gifted people in those ministries – and, in fact, we do. We should never have to plead for children’s workers in this church – not if we love the children of the world, all the children of the world – even the ones in this church. Jesus does.

Finally, we’re talking about receiving children. Let me continue to extend an invitation to receive you. That’s right. Let me remind you from last week that there is a sinner’s prayer. It is a recognition that the only thing we bring to the table of salvation is the sin that made it necessary. And so, we like children cry out the sinner’s prayer, God, have mercy on me, the sinner. We recognize we have no righteousness of our own. Like children, we come to Jesus helpless and totally dependent.

Jesus’ gospel proclamation was this: repent and believe the good news. Repentance means recognizing your own unworthiness, acknowledging your sin, and turning from it, to Christ. Believing the good news means trusting God’s provision for your salvation, and nothing you bring to the table. Unless you are converted like this child, you will not enter the kingdom. Jesus came, not to call the righteous, but sinners. This is the theme throughout Scripture. Jesus came for the lowly, the repentant, those trusting in Him alone for their salvation. We come completely hopeless and helpless, in need of God’s grace.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress:
Helpless, look to Thee for grace.