A Messiah's Love For Children
Text: Matt. 19:13-15
Introduction
1. Illustration: Children can have an incredible impact on adults. There is not doubt that the children of this church have had a major impact on me, and I look upon all of them as if they were my own. Recently, when Tina and I went on vacation, I was going through Kyran withdrawal. I kept tickling Tina under the armpits and saying "I got your mousy hole!" Even more recently when I bought my new Apple computer and turned it on for the first time and saw the large Apple on the front light up I said, "Oh, pretty, lights!" So there is little doubt that children have an impact on adults.
2. The real question is what kind of an impact are we having on them? Is it positive or negative?
3. Jesus tells us that...
a. Adults Can Be Roadblocks For Children
b. Adults Can Be Magnets For Children
c. Adults Need to Minister To Children
4. Read Matt. 19:13-15
Proposition: Jesus tells us to lead children to Him.
Transition: Jesus tells us...
I. Adults Can Be Roadblocks to Children (13).
A. The Disciples Scolded
1. You have heard me say many times that our children our the future of our church.
a. That future can be bright or dim depending on what they see in us.
b. If they see the love of Christ in a way that they want to emulate us, our future will be bright.
c. If they see in us meanness, pettiness, and hypocrisy our future is very dim.
2. This can be seen in our text which says, "One day some parents brought their children to Jesus..."
a. Children were customarily brought to the elders and scribes of the synagogue for their blessing.
b. Therefore, these parents must have held Jesus in high esteem.
c. The children were very young, so much so that they had to be carried.
d. The Greek word used here for children is paidia, it is a term referring to young children from infancy through perhaps toddler age.
e. Both Mark and Luke in their accounts of this story use the imperfect tense ("they were bringing"), indicating a continuing process and likely an extended period of time.
f. When word spread that Jesus was in the area, parents were drawn to this Teacher whose love of children had become known throughout Palestine (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 16-23).
3. They brought their children to Jesus "so he could lay his hands on them and pray for them."
a. Children were socially powerless and dependent. Some people in the Old Testament would lay hands on others to bestow a blessing in prayer (Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary – New Testament).
b. The parents cared for their children, cared enough that they wanted the very best for them.
c. Jesus Christ was claiming to be the Messiah, the very Son of God; so they wanted their children to be blessed by Him instead of an ordinary religious leader.
d. The parents believed in Jesus, in His love and power to bless.
e. They believed that Jesus' blessing was meaningful to their children—very, very meaningful.
f. They also believed that He cared and loved enough that He would bless them.
4. However, the disciples, once again showing their lack of spiritual insight, "scolded the parents for bothering him."
a. The disciples, very self-importantly, rebuked these little ones and their parents very harshly, without understanding them or Jesus.
b. Perhaps they saw their coming to Jesus as an interruption to His teaching, or that Jesus was too important to be bothered by such a trivial thing.
c. Although children in Judaism of the time were deeply cherished, they were thought in some ways to be negligible members of society: their place was to learn, to be respectful, to listen.
d. Children serve as models for humility, patterns for Jesus' "little ones"; yet Jesus' disciples, his "little ones," show little humility here (Carson, Expositor's Bible Commentary).
e. However, Jesus would teach them that to Him children are vitally important (Horton, 403-405).
B. Hindrances
1. Illustration: Once I was ministering to a young family that lived not far from the church I was pastoring. I gained their trust and respect, and was even given the honor of marrying the young couple that had lived together for a number of years. They had a four-year-old son and one on the way. After much effort, and numerous visits to their home, I was able to get the Mom and her young son to come to church. However, I was never able to get the Dad to come. Once I asked him why he wouldn't come to church. After stating that I was not the reason, he told me that when he was a little boy he was treated in an un-Christ-like manner by one the adults at the church he attended. He said he never went back and never would because of the way he was treated. It wasn't Jesus he had a problem with; it was some of the people in His church.
2. Adults can be a roadblock to children by the way they treat them.
a. Matthew 5:16 (NLT)
In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
b. Children are young and impressionable, and what they see in you is what they will think of Jesus.
c. If they see the love of Christ in you they will want to love Jesus.
d. If they see true Christ-like character in you they will come to display it in their own lives latter.
e. However, if they see hypocrisy, lack of integrity, and mean-spiritedness they will want nothing to do with you or your God.
3. Adults can be a roadblock to children by the way we treat each other.
a. Matthew 7:2 (NLT)
For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.
b. When children look at you they will not judge you by what you wear.
c. When children look at you they will not judge you by what car you drive.
d. When children look at you they will not judge you by where you live.
e. They judge you by what you say and do.
f. They will judge you by how much you act like the Jesus you are teaching them about.
4. Adults can be a roadblock to children by what they expect of them.
a. Ephesians 4:2 (NLT)
Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.
b. Do you really expect a two year old child to sit perfectly still for two hours with their hands folded?
c. Most adults can't sit perfectly still for two hours with their hands folded!
d. They are children! You can't expect them to act like adults (and thank God they don't act like some adults).
e. Remember, you're the adult, so act like it.
Transition: Jesus also tells us that...
II. Adults Can Be Magnets For Children (14).
A. Let The Children Come to Me
1. Rather than being a roadblock to children coming to Jesus, we want to be magnets that attract children to Him.
2. We can see this in Jesus response to His disciples behavior. He tells them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them!”
a. The Greek verb behind let the children come is in the aorist tense, whereas the verb behind don't stop is in the present tense with a negative, indicating a call to stop something.
b. The Lord was therefore saying, "Let the children alone, beginning immediately and stop hindering them from coming to Me" (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 16-23).
c. Jesus does not want anyone to be prevented from coming to Him.
d. He always comes to the aid of children-the weak, and the helpless.
e. The child, receptive and trusting in his father, is closer to God that the adult who wants to live apart from God.
f. English translations do not bring out how sharply Jesus rebuked the disciples nor do they emphasize how terribly displeased He was that they would even think of turning the children away (Horton, 405).
3. Jesus then gives His reasoning for being magnets rather than roadblocks. He says, "For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.”
a. Jesus does not want the little children prevented from coming to him (v. 14), not because the kingdom of heaven belongs to them, but because the kingdom of heaven belongs to those like them (so also Mark and Luke, stressing childlike faith).
b. Jesus receives them because they are an excellent object lesson in the kind of humility and faith he finds acceptable (Carson).
c. Too many people suppose that the Kingdom belongs only to who have superior wisdom and knowledge.
d. They suppose their education, training, and attention to religious forms gives them an advantage before God.
e. But the Kingdom belongs to all who have the same childlike eagerness to come to Jesus for His blessing (Horton, 405).
f. It is also important to recognize that little children bring with them as new disciples a perspective that is unique to them.
g. We can learn much by valuing the contributions of children and seeing their spiritual growth and development not only in terms of their future development but also in what they can also contribute now.
h. Often, children endorse attitudes and insights that we lose as we grow in discipleship.
i. Jesus validates the unique perspectives of these little ones who correctly perceive the true nature of the kingdom, and we do well to learn from them (Wilkins, 647).
B. Attract Children to Jesus
1. Illustration: A while ago, I had gone to visit a family and they were not home. So I called Betty to see how they were doing. She proceeded to tell me that Doug and Abby had both given their hearts to the Lord. Well I got so excited I said, "Don't move I'll be right there!" When she hung up the phone she told Machesney that I was coming over. To this Machesney responded, "Pastor Mark is coming over to play with me and we're going to have a party!" I thought to myself, wouldn't it be great if we treated our prayer time like that?
2. We need to attract children to Jesus, not drive them away.
a. Matthew 18:5 (NLT)
“And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me."
b. We need to create an atmosphere in church that is inviting to children.
c. We need to create an atmosphere in church that is accepting of children despite of where they come from or who their parents are.
d. We need to create an atmosphere in church that says "let the children come to Jesus!"
3. We need to attract children to Jesus so that they can learn about Him.
a. Deuteronomy 6:7 (NLT)
Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.
b. We need to teach them about His love.
c. We need to teach them about His mercy.
d. We need to teach them about His forgiveness.
e. We need to teach them the principles of the Word.
4. We need to attract children to Jesus because they will teach us.
a. Psalm 8:2 (NIV)
From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise...
b. Children will teach us how to praise unashamedly.
c. Children will teach us how to love unconditionally.
d. Children will teach us how to trust unquestionably.
e. Children will teach how to be more like Jesus.
Transition: We must also understand that...
III. Adults Need to Minister to Children (15).
A. He Placed His Hands On Them
1. Jesus shows us the importance He places on ministering to children.
2. After He had corrected his misguided disciples, Matthew tells us, "And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left."
a. Just like the disciples, these young children, unable to even speak and not yet able to be truly followers of Jesus, had the intercession of Jesus on their behalf, and they received His blessing (Horton, 405).
b. It is their very weakness and vulnerability that often enable little children to be most receptive to Jesus message.
c. Before hardness of heart sets in from experiencing the hurts of this life, vulnerable children can learn to trust the message of hope and salvation that is found in the gospel.
d. Jesus gentle openness to them, his compassionate touch, and his protective words elevate them from being marginally irrelevant to being valuable objects of his gospel outreach (Wilkins, 646-647).
3. However, the thing that we must notice about Jesus is that didn't leave until He had blessed them.
a. Ministering to children was not something that was secondary to Jesus.
b. He didn't minister to them just because it might attract their parents.
c. He didn't minister to them with any ulterior motive.
d. Jesus made it His priority to minister to them because they mattered.
B. Minister to Children
1. Illustration:
Every baby starts life as a little savage. He is completely selfish and self-centered. He wants what he wants when he wants it - his bottle, his mother’s attention, his playmate’s toy, his uncle’s watch. Deny him these once, and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness, which would be murderous were he not so helpless. He is, in fact, dirty. He has no morals, no knowledge, no skills. This means that all children - not just certain children - are born delinquent. If permitted to continue in the self-centered world of his infancy, given free reign to his impulsive actions to satisfy his wants, every child would grow up a criminal - a thief, a killer, or a rapist (R. Scott Richards, Myths the World Taught Me, 38-39).
2. We need to minister to children because they are a gift from God.
a. Psalm 127:3 (NLT)
Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.
b. We need to be good stewards of this precious gift.
c. We need to minister to them because if we don't someone else will.
d. We need to minister to them because that is what Jesus wants us to do.
3. We need to minister to children because the Lord has commanded us to.
a. Psalm 78:5-6 (NLT)
5 For he issued his laws to Jacob; he gave his instructions to Israel. He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children,
6 so the next generation might know them— even the children not yet born— and they in turn will teach their own children.
b. He has commanded us to teach them His laws.
c. He has commanded us to teach them to know Him.
d. He has commanded us to teach them to love Him.
4. We need to minister to the children because they are the future of the church.
a. Psalm 127:4-5 (NLT)
4 Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.
5 How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them! He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.
b. If we teach them they will be the church of tomorrow.
c. If we teach them they will be what the church can become.
d. If we teach them the church will have a bright future.
Transition: According to Jesus children are not irrelevant, they are a necessity.
Conclusion
1. Jesus tells us that...
a. Adults Can Be Roadblocks For Children
b. Adults Can Be Magnets For Children
c. Adults Need to Minister To Children
2. Make no mistake about it, our children are the future of New Life.
3. Make no mistake about, our children are not irrelevant, they are a necessity.
4. Will you begin to see our children through the eyes of Jesus?
5. Will you take seriously the command of Jesus to help the children come to Him?
