Some people brought their babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. The disciples saw them and scolded them for doing so, but Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Remember this! Whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it."

Luke 18:15-17 See also the parallel passage in Mark 10:13 to 16

Jesus is my hero.

Just about everything he said and did, from reading the gospel is amazing. His little sound bites of theology are awesome too. They have hidden depths and if we chew over them, think them, live them, more and more meaning is found.

Take for example “I am the bread of life”. For some folk, those that don’t know him at all, that is a weird little statement. But then, there is the next sort of thought if we try to unpack it by comparison to real bread. Bread is filling. Not many can eat a whole loaf. More than filling, it’s nutritious. If anybody did manage to eat a whole loaf, they wouldn’t need to eat anything afterwards. So maybe that tells us something about Jesus. If we ‘eat’ him, or get him inside us – our lives are full. Full, purposeful, fully satisfied. Not that other stuff such as food and human friendship are not needed. They are. But without being full of the bread of life, people search for the next thing – because on a deep level they are not satisfied. Then we might consider how we ‘eat’ him. So his simple little statement goes a long long way.

It’s the same with this small episode involving babies or small children. On the most simple level you could see it as a nice man being nice to little kids. Yet like the bread of life thing, there is more to it. And Jesus emphasizes it with “Remember this!” smack in the middle of two stunning statements:

“The Kingdom of God belongs to folk such as these kids”
“If you don’t receive it like a kid, you won’t get in”

All of us have been little kids ourselves. We may not have had a perfect family life, but have a good idea of what it can be like. So all of us can think about and remember or imagine what its like being a little’un with a good family and a good mum and dad. You can add some positive thoughts of your own, but here are a few starters. It doesn’t even cross a kid’s mind where the next meal is coming from, or clothes, or where they’ll go to sleep. Mum and Dad take care of that. If they are with Mum and Dad they know they are taken care of. Kids like being with Mum and Dad. Kids like the sound of Mum and Dad’s voice. Kid’s play with Mum and Dad. Kid’s want to please Mum and Dad and like to give them presents, whether it’s a little daisy chain or a picture of Dad, even if it looks like a blob with sticks coming out of it. They like to show that they’ve learned to walk, or run or ride a bike. Kids like to go places with Mum and Dad. If Mum and Dad have a car, it's appropriate for a kid to say “we’ve got a car” or to a friend “come round our house”

Sounds like fun, sounds like belonging, sounds like security.

And Jesus says, highlighting all of this and more applied to the Kingdom of God.

“The kingdom of God belongs to folk that are like this” and “If you don’t receive it like this, you don’t get in”. Its clear from other things he said, such as “The Kingdom of God is among you / near you” that he isn’t talking about pie in the sky when you die, or going to heaven when you pop your clogs. He’s talking about enjoying the Kingdom with Father God now. “Eternal Life is knowing you Father”.

I’ve seen glimpses of this among us. A few weeks ago, somebody came into evening church expecting to get healed. They were prayed for just sitting in a chair, and without any fuss or bother, Jesus healed them physically. I think they were receiving the kingdom like a child.

Let’s become like children, uncomplicated, trusting, secure.

The pictures I’ve chosen are deliberate. Both show natural intimacy. Both show the kid looking out to the sea. I’m taking the sea to be representative of God’s vast purposes, power, resources and peace. Some prefer pictures to words. If you do, spend time with them imagining its you and Father God.

All this rings bells with Matthew 6:25 to 34 for example. As we grow older we can still be like this. In John 12, we get a little scene of that. Mary comes to Jesus and anoints him with expensive stuff and wipes his feet with her hair. She is being prophetic. When we spend time hanging out with God, or being in His presence, going where He is going, we get to know what he likes and what is coming up too. These observations tie in with “My sheep know my voice” “The Spirit will lead you into all truth and show you of things to come”. It's part of being like a little kid in the family. Natural. Let’s do it.

God Bless

Dave

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