And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. (Mark 10:13-16)
Today was the third time in the past couple of weeks that it has stood out what Jesus said about children.
First, Jesus said that whoever receives a child in his name is receiving both him and the Father at the same time (as unthinkably wonderful as that is!).
Second, Jesus warned that anyone who would cause one of his little ones who believe in him to sin would be better off tossed into the sea with a millstone around his neck than face Jesus’ judgment on such evil.
Third, today’s reference shows Jesus responding with indignation to his disciples trying to prevent children from coming to him. And it is this expression of pure and genuine emotion from Jesus I found so captivating this morning.
The first thing that came to mind was some heartbreaking scenes of watching parents literally traumatizing their children to keep them from trusting Jesus in “the obedience of faith”. This morning, God made very clear how he feels about such abuse!
The second focus was a journey down the heartbreaking memory lane of adults who were traumatized as children simply because they believed in God and wanted to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Today this was made clear as well, that God’s response to those childhood traumas was one of indignation against anyone who deliberately hindered us from coming to Jesus Christ.
The reason anyone tries to stop children (or the child-hearted) from coming to Jesus is because that is Satan’s will and work. Paul said it like this, “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (II Corinthians 4:4). Satan will do anything, and he will use anyone, to keep people from seeing God’s glory in Jesus Christ.
But when Paul continues, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (II Corinthians 4:6), we now need to include Jesus’ “indignation” as God’s glory shining out through the face of his Son.
In this past year, I have discovered a strong movement of false teachers telling people that God, the Bible, and the way of God’s kingdom need to be rewritten to be “more Christlike”. But today I see Jesus himself showing God’s love for children in his indignation against those who hinder them from coming to him. There is no such thing as a loving God who tolerates sin against his Little Ones.
I was amazed this morning at how God touched my own wounded heart in this area. He brought to the surface my heartache about seeing beloved children deliberately turned away from the Savior. And he took me back to my childhood trauma and showed me his indignation about what was done to me.
Since I know that what comes next is Jesus’ affirming that we must be like little children to enter his kingdom, it amazes me that he would address childhood trauma head-on with an expression of the most loving response a child could ever see, the indignation of God himself standing against anyone who would keep them from his Son.
I hope this encourages you to deal with any part of this that applies to you so that you are coming to Jesus yourself and helping others to do so as well. Whether he shows you something he is doing in his Little Ones that you can join, or brings to mind the children and child-hearted who need your prayers, come to Jesus with all your heart and ask him to help you help others to join you.
© 2024 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)
No comments:
Post a Comment