Blessed are the Children

Mark 10:13-16

“13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When 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. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.”

The disciples, always pressed by the crowds, and acting in their roles as the gatekeepers and protectors of Jesus’ time, thought that people with illnesses and disabilities should be given preference rather than parents wanting their children to be blessed. So they rebuked the parents.  They saw the children as nuisances and wasters of Jesus' time and energy.

Throughout the scriptures we read that Jesus had a special relationship with children, but on this occasion, as Jesus was on his way to the cross, when his time on earth was short and he knew it, children and their innocence may have seemed especially precious and wonderful.

It is in this moment that we find in Jesus a most human emotion.

He took the children in his arms.  

We have a savior who, near the end of his life on earth, took children into his arms and blessed them.

This is the Christ.  This is the Messiah.

This is who we serve.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)