Let the Children Come

Children should come to Jesus because everyone must come to Jesus like children. Well, our passage this morning is unique because of how much we already are on Jesus side on this one. We’re on his side of the argument, and that doesn’t happen very much in the Bible. Usually, when I read something that Jesus says, I find it to be deeply challenging because of how far away I am from it, and how far I am from living it out correctly. Jesus says anger is murder. Uh oh. That’s not good for me. He says lust is adultery in your heart. He says you can’t serve God and money. Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. And I take these words in my heart, and they bring conviction and repentance, and it leads to transformation by God’s grace and a new commitment to spiritual disciplines in my life. That is a very typical time of listening to God’s Word for me, probably is for you. But then I hear Jesus say, let the little children come to me and do not hinder them. And I think, of course, who’s hindering little children from coming to Jesus? What monster would stop little kids from coming and finding the loving grace of God in Jesus? And then I look in the scriptures and you know who it is? It’s the disciples. The disciples are doing this. Haven’t they ever heard of children’s ministry? It’s like the most important part of church. But then I calmed down and I remember it’s been 2000 years change that has taken place since the days of the disciples. Our Western culture has been saturated with biblical values. And so the status of children has been raised considerably over those 2000 years. And that’s a good thing. Now, it can sometimes tip in the other direction, and we can get to the place where we’re idolizing children. That’s a different sermon. Also, our churches have been applying Jesus words to our ministry to kids for 2000 years. And it shows. I’m going to talk a little bit a little later on about how we do children’s ministry here at Calvary. So we’re doing pretty good at this part of the Bible that we’re going to look at this morning in a way that’s encouraging and different from the more challenging parts of God’s Word. However, you knew there was a however, right? However, while Jesus talks about the value and importance of children and their place in the Kingdom of God, that is not his only point in our passage. As Jesus so often does, he takes what’s happening around him, and he uses it to create a teachable moment. And this second point is quite challenging, especially to our highly educated people who consider themselves to be independent thinkers when it comes to God and only want an intellectual engagement with him. Jesus is going to move from an argument of valuing children to a statement that all saving faith should be child like. Children should come to Jesus because everyone must come to Jesus like children. We’re going to look at both halves of that statement this morning. We’re in just three verses. We’re in Luke chapter 18, verses 15 to 17, if you want to follow along. Let’s start with why children should come to Jesus. Now, they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. You know, we see a lot of failure from the disciples throughout the Gospels, which I’m thankful for, because it means that my failure as a disciple of Jesus is to be expected. Even the 12 apostles who walked most closely with Jesus were works in progress. They were learning through their failures. They were slow to grow. They were slow to conform to the kingdom of God. And if you’re like me, you resonate with discipleship failure. You can be encouraged this morning. We’re in good company. If you feel like a discipleship failure, you’ve got a good team around you. But thankfully, the Lord continues to work on us, doesn’t he? He doesn’t just leave us there, His grace ensures our growth. The crowds continue to come to Jesus and they’re finding healing and he’s happy to receive them. And what starts to happen is people start bringing their children to Jesus. The ESV says infants here, but the word can refer to a range of young children. This is probably, infants through toddlers. So crawlers through walkers, these folks want Jesus to touch these children. Now, in some cases it might be for healing. Some of these kids might be sick and they know that Jesus can heal them. There’s also a tradition of rabbis giving blessings to children in that first century. So maybe something that parallels our child dedication is what they have in mind, but there are probably a variety of reasons people want their children to be near Jesus, but regardless of the purpose, their goal is to have their children encounter Jesus. That’s what they want to have happen. And the ...