Just a Moment…

One of the most precious portraits of our Lord is him holding children in his arms. It was a Jewish custom for parents to bring their children to rabbis to be blessed, so it was perfectly natural for people to bring their children to Jesus as one of the most popular rabbis of the day. But the disciples saw it as an interruption into Jesus’ busy schedule. How wrong they were! Read Mark 10.

I’m sure the disciples’ motives were commendable – they were protecting Jesus. He was constantly hounded by hostile religious leaders; confronted by demons and crushed by the paparazzi. He often spent long hours teaching under a hot Palestinian sun. He needed to conserve his energy for the important things in life. Children just had to take a back seat.

The disciples had capitulated to their culture which considered children unimportant. In Jewish life, they were viewed as a treasure but practically they were often ignored and socially invisible. To the disciples, Jesus had much more important concerns than to be bothered by noisy, squirming children, “The Master is busy – be on your way!  Shalom!  And take that stroller with you too!” 

Again, they were wrong. Jesus was grieved when he saw his disciples obstructing children to come to him. This narrative reminds us Jesus loves children – therefore we must love them too. Children are gold in a church. It’s been said if you don’t like noisy children at church, think about having no children at church. This week we are hosting a CEF Five Day Club from 10:30am-noon. See Cindy Price if you wish to help. Everyone can pray. Children are gold.