The Children of His Kingdom
An ancient Jewish tradition was for a rabbi to bless the lives of children brought before him. And Jesus obliged:
“Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray…“
But, apparently, some of those disciples thought all this was beneath Him:
“ …and the disciples rebuked them.“
“But Jesus said, ‘Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me, for the kingdom of the heavens belongs to such as these.’” [Matt. 19:13-14; see also: Mk. 10:14, Lk. 18:16]
So, Jesus certainly loved the little children.
On the other hand though, I shouldn’t be surprised that it’s become popular to point to these passages and suggest that some untapped cache of juvenile insight exists in the credulous nature of children, or even that they are somehow qualified to interact on the same level as adults simply because Jesus incorporated their presence in the dialogue.
Nor should I acknowledge this nonsense has any basis in the Scriptures.
It’s often fabricated from the residue of a ludicrous 1989 global initiative known as The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
And, unfortunately, when it comes to interpreting the Bible, tradition will often trump proper context. But in this case, perhaps it’s more of a reflection of ignorance rather than political correctness, because the context was the kingdom, not some cryptic form of discernment that Jesus wanted to reveal in children.
Nor was He trying to demonstrate that children were going to rule with Him in the coming millennial kingdom.
He was, rather, simply confirming that unwavering, unquestioned faith in Him was equivalent to the innocence and dependency found in children, and makes one worthy of partaking in His reign. [see: Rom. 8:16-17]
That’s not something we have to convince children of.
Only ourselves.
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My first question is not about Children. Its about the writer of the post. As you wrote this post were you under the full influence of Christ’s Holy Spirit? Or were you just leaning seminary theological teachings. Just slinging men’s precepts, to sound religious and important?
James, I’d like to think I let the Spirit lead me for the most part, but, then again, I am human. Why do you ask?
I assume you mean “learning” seminary teachings rather than “leaning?” If that’s the case, rest assured that ANYTHING I write is not [necessarily] based on seminary theological teaching. I’ve never attended a seminary or Bible college and never will.
As I’ve noted on one of the websites informational pages: “… every article or segment of information ever written on this website is mine alone, generated and published of my own volition, and is recorded solely from an inductive perspective of reading and comprehending the Bible. I am furthermore not bound to any faction or opinion of men which chooses to interpret and apply the Scriptures irresponsibly.”
I certainly have no need nor occasion to sound religious and important. If I did, perhaps I would have spent time in a seminary.