It is interesting that this incident, involving children, follows immediately after the dispute about divorce. In adult conflicts, children are often the innocent victims. Not that Jesus would have our romantic view of childhood. Children can be just as spiteful, selfish and annoying as adults. The point here is that they are powerless. In Jesus’ day, children had no status at all. 

These children are almost the mirror-image of the rich man who approaches Jesus next (see Monday’s note). They have to be brought to Jesus. They have no achievements to boast of; they are not looking for anything to ‘do’. They simply receive Jesus’ touch and blessing. Maybe this is why Jesus makes children the model for the kingdom of God. It is their capacity to receive that he emphasises. 

Jesus himself was comfortable receiving. He received hospitality from a tax collector (2:15), extravagant affection from a woman (14:3) and even someone else’s tomb (15:46). Sometimes we equate maturity with independence and self-sufficiency. This does not seem to be Jesus’ view (v 15). 

‘Nothing in my hands I bring, / simply to thy cross I cling; / naked, come to thee for dress, / helpless, look to thee for grace’.¹

The disciples’ behaviour shows that they still did not fully understand Jesus’ ministry, nor what it meant to live the life to which he called them, the life which, in spite of all they had seen and heard, they inadequately grasped. Yes, they had indeed left all to follow him. They had sensed that he embodied the truth that they sought. They had persisted. In spite of this, however, they were slow to comprehend all that following their master implied. Mark continually pressed this point. The disciples still wanted to exert authority, as if their role as the associates of a well-known teacher conferred status and power upon them. Jesus’ ministry, however, was always inclusive and never exclusive. Children could indeed come to Jesus and he would always welcome them. Furthermore, by encouraging children, Jesus also made it possible for the women who cared for them to come close and listen to the rabbi, when such closeness was normally restricted to males. 

Yet again, Jesus uses the situation as a teaching aid. We can only receive the kingdom of God in a childlike way. This statement is often misinterpreted. We must be careful not to read back into this story the modern, sometimes romanticised view of children. The kingdom of God does not belong to us because we are innocent or trusting, and certainly not because we have any rights. Jesus’ illustration was referring to the status of children in his own day. The reality in Jesus’ time was that children had no status or rights, only that accorded to them by their father, whose power over them extended to life itself. God’s kingdom belongs to those who have no status of themselves, only that which is given them by the Father. We come to God as people without status or worth. We come, totally dependent on the Father.

Jesus, Lord of your kingdom, we can bring nothing to you but ourselves. Accept us as we are, we pray. Make us children of the Father. Grant us the kingdom.

¹ Augustus Montague Toplady, 1740–78, ‘Rock of Ages’