People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 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. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. Mark 10: 13-16, NIV.
Merciful Father, we are so grateful that You love the children of the world. As we study Your love for them, teach us to love as You love. In the precious name of Jesus Christ our Savior we pray. Amen.
I would have loved to see Jesus blessing the children! That must have been one of the most sacred and beautiful sights ever seen by mortals. Can you imagine this threefold encounter? The innocence of the children, the protective love of the parents, (most likely mothers), and to complete the scene – the beauty of holiness of the Savior, hovering over them! But as in every seemingly perfect, human situation, there lurks the stark reality, that we are not in heaven yet. On this occasion, it was the disciples rebuking the mothers that marred this beautiful scene.
There are lessons to be learned from this brief narrative. I believe the first, and most important lesson would be, that it is important for parents to take their children to Jesus. In several instances in the Gospels there are stories of parents asking Jesus to heal their children, and even an occasion when Jesus interrupted a funeral procession to raise a woman’s son from the dead, and give him back to her. By then, her son was obviously not a child. Scripture tells us that Jesus said to him ” ‘ “Young man, I say to you, arise” ‘ ” (Luke 7: 14b). However, what all of these stories have in common, is God’s concern for our children; and His always being ready, to help them. I would like to interface those emergency encounters with the encounter in our Scripture for today, and add, that it is much better, if parents would take their children to Jesus before, they had an emergency!
There is no place in Scripture where I read anything else about those children who were blessed by the Savior. Yet I believe, that by God’s grace, I will have the joy of meeting some of them, if not all, in the kingdom of heaven. I believe that the results of a blessing lingers with us, forever. We may all have different definitions of what a blessing is, because of our different experiences. And I do believe that blessings take different forms. Let us observe the way Jesus blessed the children that day. Our Scripture says that He did three things: 1) “And he took the children in his arms, 2) put his hands on them 3) and blessed them.
The first thing the Savior did was to cuddle these children. He took them “in His arms.” According to the narrative, there seems to have been several children, accompanied by their parents. Jesus could just as easily have stood and pronounced a general blessing on all of them, but I believe that in taking them in His arms, He could administer to each child the personal blessing that he or she needed! I believe that Jesus is a personal Savior, and that He deals with us, not as groups, but as individuals!
He “put His hands on them.” He applied the personal touch. Touch does not mean the same thing to everyone. While to one individual a touch may produce a warm and cuddly feeling, to another it might bring to mind a nightmare! It is always a good thing to let children experience the “touch of God” before they are “touched by the world.” This touch would introduce them to the love of the Savior, and bind their hearts to His. It is said, that while massaging a child, a mother can actually be bonding with her child. If we can teach them, from the cradle, how a touch is supposed to feel, they can flee from a harmful touch, when they are older. Our homes is the best place, and should be the safest place, for children to learn about, and experience the “healthy touch” of God.
“And [He] blessed them.” After they felt the comfort of His arms and knew that this was a friendly hug, they were ready for a touch. Then He blessed them. I am sure that those children were never the same, after that day. Parents, take your children to Jesus! He has already declared that the kingdom of God belongs to them! By His grace, He will become to them, the Way to the Father, and to Life eternal! Introduce your little ones to the Savior, and allow Him to bless them!
NOTE: These counsels are shared from a Biblical, not a clinical, perspective.