Jesus blesses children (Mark 10:13-16)

[Stephan Choe]

March 4, 2025

Today we will look at Mark 10:13-16.

13People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them.

14When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

15Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

16And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

This story is also told in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke and as such is an important story.

 Jesus was doing what he had always done (preaching, teaching, healing, casting out demons, etc.) when parents brought their children to him and asked him to touch them. Did these children need healing? No. These parents wanted Jesus to bless their children.

But Jesus' disciples wanted to keep the children away from Jesus. Why? Perhaps because they thought Jesus had more important things to do than kiss and bless little children. I don't think the disciples were trying to keep children from coming to Jesus out of contempt for children.

In general, children were important in first century Jewish life. But the disciples probably wanted Jesus to do more important things, like preaching and healing, than blessing children. If Jesus, the Messiah of Israel, was to reign as king, spending time with children would have been a waste of time.

In fact, this story is one of many stories in which Jesus tries to break through the worldly view of his disciples. The emphasis of the story is that Jesus gladly welcomes and blesses everyone who comes to him.

Based on the emphasis in verses 14 and 15 of this passage, ask yourself this simple question: “Why was Jesus reluctant when the disciples tried to drive these little children away?”

Perhaps Jesus was simply so reluctant because children are precious and valuable and bear the image of God. Of course, Jesus was not angry because the disciples would have ruined his good reputation with the parents of children like them. The focus of the text here is on what Jesus said in verses 14 and 15: “The kingdom of God”.

Jesus makes a direct connection here between children and the kingdom of God. Jesus says that the kingdom of God belongs to people like these children.

Then, in verse 15, Jesus turns this confirmation into a warning: “...whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will certainly not enter it.”

So Jesus is saying: anyone who does not receive Jesus like a child will not receive the kingdom of heaven.

We can think about what it means to receive the kingdom of God like a child. Some think it means having a childlike simplicity, a childlike faith in Jesus.

We can also look for an answer in the story in Mark 9:33-37.

When Jesus and his disciples came to Capernaum, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you talking about on the way?” [34] But the disciples kept silent, for they were arguing among themselves about who was the greatest. [35] Then he called his twelve disciples together and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” [36] And he took a child and placed him in their midst, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me receives not me but the one who sent me.” [37] And he said to them, “Whoever receives this child receives me.”

Let's take a look at Matthew's account. Matthew recorded the story as follows.

When his disciples came to him and asked him, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”, he called a child and placed him in their midst, saying, “I tell you the truth, unless you repent and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:1-4)

That's right. When Jesus speaks in the Gospels about connecting the reality of children with the reality of the kingdom of God, ultimately childlike humility is always emphasized. Mark 9:35 says, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all...”.

We see that the disciples understood the popular idea of the kingdom of God to be about power, glory and national independence (see Acts 1:6). But by associating the kingdom of God with children, Jesus associated it with something different from the popular idea, namely a heart of humility and trust and dependence on God: knowing their own shortcomings, humble acceptance of and trust in Jesus is the way to be ruled by God, i.e. to experience the reign of God in their lives.

What does this text teach us? How does God want to change me practically?

The first teaching is to lead our children to Jesus Christ so that they can receive his blessing. In this regard, it is important to teach children faith in Jesus Christ. We are to lead our children to Jesus through prayer, Bible teaching and children's services. We must kneel down and pray for the children, that the Lord will take them in His arms and bless them. We should ask the Lord to bless our children with His loving arms and with eternal life. We should tell our children about Jesus every day. We should never stop pointing our children to Jesus. We should not force our children to believe, but with gentleness encourage them to believe. We can teach them faith in Jesus by loving the Lord and loving our children. We can also witness to Jesus by living and acting according to the truth of the gospel.

Secondly, we should have childlike faith. Childlike faith means that we receive God's kingdom in Jesus Christ with childlike humility and trust God completely. We cannot be good disciples of Christ if we do not trust God childlike and are therefore humble and grateful. We can be aware of our weakness and humbly and gratefully rely on the Lord. Children are not ashamed of their weakness. They do not try to live independently without their parents. They gladly accept the care of their parents. They do not flaunt their strength. They do not glorify themselves. They simply know that they are weak and need help from their parents. That's why they ask for it. They trust their parents and live happily and without worries because they know that they have a parent who will help them.

We can also have this trust in Jesus. Because of Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection, we can live gratefully and trustingly. We have the certainty that we are accepted by the heavenly Father.

We should always have this childlike humility. Although we are adults, we should not think that our wisdom and our strength are sufficient for our lives. Instead, we should ask God every day to help us, his children, in a caring way. And we should listen to his words in the Bible and his voice in prayer every day and follow him.

We should confess our own weakness to our Lord and ask for his help.

The voice of Jesus also resounds today: “Let the little children come to me and do not forbid them to come to me...”

May we be obedient to his voice! Amen!