JCSLK #58 Jesus On the Road To Jerusalem Jesus and the Little Children part 3 Mat 19:13-15

 

JCSLK #58 Jesus On the Road To Jerusalem

 Jesus and the Little Children part 3 Mat 19:13-15

 Introduction

Jesus has been traveling for what must have been days from the little village of Ephraim in Perea to the great city of Jerusalem, He must be there in time for Passover, when all the Jewish males must be present at the Temple.

He is traveling with the other pilgrims but He is going between the borders of the regions in order to not be hindered or arrested before it is time. This will be His final journey on earth and it will end on the day of Passover when Jesus is truly becomes the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, as John the Baptist cried out three long years ago.

(I know some of you might feel like that is how long we’ve been preaching this series but its only half that long, of course we aren’t finished, so who knows. I may never finishes this series and just ride off into the sunset of retirement one day and my last sermon will be Jesus, Creator, Savior, Lord and King #1531. But today we are only on #58.)

As Jesus travels with the other groups from the northern part of what used to be Israel, he does what He has always done, he teaches all that will listen and he heals all that are sick. When you think about it that hasn’t changed, Jesus still teaches all who would hear, though now it is through the Bible and He still heals all that are sick, but that sickness is now the mostly deadly sickness, the sickness of sin, but if you come He will heal your soul’s diseases.

We have been with Jesus on this Journey since he left Ephraim and here are some of the events that are recorded. 

Timeline: On The Road from Ephriam to Jerusalem

Jesus heals 10 Lepers on His way to Jerusalem – Luke 17:11-19

He teaches about the Coming of the Kingdom – Luke 17:20-37

The Parables on Prayer: The Persistent Widow, the Proud Pharisee and the Poor Publican  – Luke 18:1-8, 9-14

Divorce, Remarriage, Celibacy - Mt 19:1–12; Mk 10:1–12; cf. Lk 16:18)

Blesses The Children and Teaches On Children in the Kingdom -  Mt 19:13–15; Mk 10:13–16; Lk 18:15–17.

Teaches The Parable of the Vineyard Workers – Matthew 20:1-16

Prophecies His death & resurrection – Matthew 20:17-19, Mark 10:32-34, Luke 18:31-34

James and John ask to sit at Jesus’ Side In the Kingdom – Matthew 20:20-28, Mark 10:35-45

He heals Blind Bartimaeus and friend – Matthew 20:29-34, Mark 10:46-52, Luke 18:35-43

He meets Zacchaeus – Luke 19:1-10

He arrives In Jerusalem: The Last Week of Jesus Life

 Matthew 19:13-15 13 Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 15 And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.

The Parents And The Little Children

Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray:

 They Brought Them

Today we are in Matthew 19:13-15 two verses that record Jesus blessing the children. This event might seem like a small thing in our eyes compared to healing 10 lepers or teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven and yet it was not a small thing to the Holy Spirit who inspired Matthew, Mark and Luke to record it in all their Gospel accounts, Matthew  19:13–15; Mark 10:13–16 and Luke 18:15–17.

This was not something that was unheard of, it was a custom in that day’s Jewish society, to bring children to great teachers of the scriptures so that he might bless them and pray for them. This of course began when the child was 8 days old, it was done for Jesus by Joseph and Mary, when they went to present him as their first born son at the Temple and there met Simeon and Anna. But it was not a part of the law, but a custom that reflected the nation of Israel respect of God’s word and those who taught it.

In a very real sense we have done that today, in bringing these precious little ones and dedicating them and ourselves to the Lord.

These parents and it was most probably the mothers bring their little children to the Lord. The word here is paidía. It means little children. In the other passages we see the word, brephos, and that word means a nursing baby, an infant. They were bringing in their arms their infants, their little babies. Luke tells us they were infants, brephos and Mark makes this plain when he records, “He took them in His arms, and blessed them.”

They were bringing babies to Jesus, especially to Jesus because He was the Messiah, he was the great healer, the great teacher and some like John the Baptist and the disciples that he was the Savior of mankind. And here He was traveling with them to the Passover, what an opportunity to have this great man pray for their precious little babies. To have Him lift up their children in prayer to the Father above, to have Him touch their little faces and hear Him say, “Father I ask you to bless, guide, lead and protect this child.”  

If you are a Christian parent or grandparent this event should have a special place in your heart and in your plans. Don’t we as parents, grandpaents, guardians of our little ones wish we could have been there that day.

Parents, Bring Them

Jesus isn’t on the earth today, not in the sense He was in 30 AD but in another very real sense He still is almost 2000 year later in 2026. Paul told us in Ephesians 5:31-32 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

We used this passage last week in talking about marriage and here it reveals that the church as the bride of Christ is also the Lord’s body on earth, till He comes. Parents, you missed the Jesus on the Road to Jerusalem but none of us have to miss Jesus on the road to the New Jerusalem, come to church, come to His body, His bride. Come and yes, oh yes, bring your children and they will be blessed by the stories, teachings and when salvation comes they will be touched by Jesus. There is no greater blessing and there is no greater reason to bring your children to church, the more times the better.

I once heard a pastor confess from the pulpit that he used to have a drug habit. He said that he was raised by an old-fashioned preacher and preachers wife and anytime the church doors were opened those godly parents drug their children to church. Sunday School, drag ‘em to church, Sunday morning worship, drag ‘em to church. Wednesday, Weekend revival, week-long revival, missions conference, vacation Sundays, he was drag to church. He stood there that day with a big smile on his face and said Thank God for my parents who made me have a drug habit. I did my best to pass it on to my kids.

And today parents you need to make sure you are doing the same, drag ‘em to church because this is where Jesus is. This is where the blessings are, this is where the Bible stories are, this is where Jesus can be found.

 Is this Jesus.

A first-time visitor in my first church in Farmers Branch, Texas was a little boy whose mother brought him that day. As the family was leaving and I was shaking everyone’s hand I shook his and I hear him ask his mom something. She laughted and shook her head, no. Then she told me that morning they told the little boy they were going to Jesus’s house and after the service and he shook my hand, he asked his Mom, “Is this Jesus?” Well he was only half wrong, I wasn’t Jesus but yes it was Jesus’ house. I pray that little boy came to be blessed one day in Jesus house.

And parents you never know when the spirit may move in your child’s heart, so bring them to Jesus’ house even if it means giving them a drug habit.

This is such a wonderful story so far isn’t it? But now comes the difficulty that every good story must have or else it probably won’t be written. The struggle in this story is unbelievably, the Lord’s own disciples.

The Disciples And The Little Children

and the disciples rebuked them

 They Rebuked Them

I’m sure the disciples had the best intentions. Jesus is being swamped by people with serous diseases, questions about the law, seekers of salvation and surely the Lord has no time to give to holding a bunch of babies for some overly anxious Moms.

It appears that that Jesus was now resting in a house, it might be the end of the day and because of the open hospitality of the Jewish people they open a home for Him to stay in either to rest for the night or to rest before continuing the journey. The disciples want him to rest but the mothers see this as an opportunity for their children to be blessed by the Messiah and so they bring them to Jesus.

The disciples are thinking this is Jesus, the Messiah, the Savior, The Lord, The Master is too important to take time for a bunch of babies. This is the man who rebuked a storm, walked on the water and saved His disciples, blessing babies is not going to be on the agenda today. Let Him rest!”

Mark emphasizes this with the imperfect tense. It carries the idea of rebuking them over and over again. “Quit bothering Jesus. We aren’t letting you near him.” More than once they turned the babies and their parents away.

Maybe they felt like the writer and poet Ogden Nash, who once wrote a poem about his own encounter with a child one evening. He titled the poem “Tableau at Twilight.”

I sit in the dusk. I am all alone.

Enter a child and an ice-cream cone.

A parent is easily beguiled

By sight of this coniferous child.

The friendly embers warmer gleam,

The cone begins to drip ice cream.

Cones are composed of many a vitamin.

My lap is not the place to bitamin.

Although my raiment is not chinchilla,

I flinch to see it become vanilla.

Coniferous child, when vanilla melts

I’d rather it melted somewhere else.

Exit child with remains of cone.

I sit in the dusk. I am all alone,

Muttering spells like an angry Druid,

Alone, in the dusk, with the cleaning fluid.

Yes, sometimes children can be an annoyance and a distraction and so the disciples rebuked them. Interestingly, in this story they are the “bad guys” keeping people away from the Lord. There is a lesson there for all of us, when it comes to children in the Lord’s house. Parents and members alike.

Perhaps from inside the house, Jesus hears the disciples saying go away, or maybe He hears a baby cry, whatever the reason, He finds out what is happening outside. So what does He do?

The Messiah, The Disciples And The Little Children

But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven

 He Rebuked Them

Jesus corrects the disciples and he corrects them strongly. In Mark we read Mark 10:14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

This word much displease is ἀγανακτέω aganakteō; to be indignant, be sore displeased, to be moved with indignation. We know what that means, indignation is when you say to someone who does something to egregiously wrong, “How dare you do that!” This is what Jesus felt and expressed, “How dare you keep those babies away from me.”

Here in Matthew he records Jesus as saying, “Suffer, allow, permit the little children and forbid them no, to come unto me for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

There is only two or three times the Gospel record that Jesus was angry like this with the disciples, He was often disappointed with them, surprised at their uncomprehending minds or upset with their pride, but only here and a few other place is he this angry with them.

Why was he so angry with the disciples, surely He know that they were trying to prevent the babies from disturbing Him?

Wouldn’t his anger be because of His great love for the family? In Matthew and Mark this story is right after Jesus taught on marriage and divorce, it completes the teaching Jesus gave on families and it ends with loving children and bring them to Jesus. Jesus loves the family, He created it, designed it and gave it purpose in this world. No one can love and protect your family more than Jesus.

I think Jesus was also do angry because the disciples had again missed an essential truth about salvation and the kingdom of heaven. Back a few months ago, Jesus had used a little child to teach this essential truth. We find it in Matthew 18:2-6 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. 6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Some time had passed from Matthew 18 to 19 as we said last week, but how could the disciples have forgotten such a vivid, visual lesson?

Here in his anger, he rebukes the disciple and reminds them of this truth, Matthew 19:14 forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

Here is the lesson and it is vitally important. 1st young children are safe in their innocence they are of the Kingdom of Heaven. Should a child die before what we call the age of accountability, the time when they personally understand right from wrong, that child is safe with Jesus. This is what David said of his child that died days after Bethsheba gave birth, “I shall go to him, but he shall not come to me.”

That’s the first lesson, the second is in the comparison of these children coming to Jesus physically and a lost person coming to Jesus spiritually. It must be with the same childlike faith, the same humility, the same love of receiving a gift. “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

 We Would Have Rebuked Them

This week LeeOra and I were watching a pretty good movie about a young father trying to rebuild his ranch in Colorado after a devastating fire. In the course of the movie the grandmother of the child dies and the daughter asks her Dad, “Where is she now?” LeeOra and I held our breath, hoping that even in this secular movie the right answer, the true answer, the only answer that hold any hope and promise would come from the writers of this movie, through the lips of this young father. His answer, “I don’t know” Then he said something about burial and going into the trees.

If we would have had that script writer in our house at that moment, I would have slapped in the back of the head and when he turned to ask me why I did that, LeeOra also would have slapped him in the back of the head.

That slap is the universal language for “What were you thinking?!?” Tell that broken hearted child about Jesus, tell her about heaven, tell her that because their grandparent believed in Jesus, she would see her again if she put her faith in Jesus. That is hope, that is truth, that is comfort, that is even joy! And no, an answer about trees is nothing but worthless, hopeless and truthless lie.

Children, little children are primed by God to be open to the truth about heaven, about salvation, about the Bible, about Jesus. Parents, bring them to Jesus! Bring them to church, yes. But also bring them to the Bible, bring them to prayer before meals, bring them to bedtime Bible stories and prayers. Don’t let a day go by without looking around you at God’s creation and finding a way to teach them and bring them closer to Jesus.

 Lauren and the Rainbow.

Daddy, turn it back on. Sorry, sweetheart but only God can turn on the rainbow.”

Conclusion

 Let’s conclude with Marks account it is such a tender, precious picture,

Mark 10:16 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.

Now parents, grandparents, great-grandparents you won’t be able to see that physically this side of heaven, but you better believe and understand you can see it spiritually. You can see it spiritually when your child, who you have brought, drug, pushed and prodded to go to Jesus’ House is touched by the Holy Spirit, realizes that Jesus died for them and put their childlike faith in Him. Trusting in the One who so many thousands of year ago, took those little babies up in His never failing arms of love, blessed them with words of redeeming love and prayed over them a prayer of sustaining love.

It will be as real for them spiritually as it was for those little ones physically. Bring your babies to Jesus. For a parent, there is no greater purpose in life than bringing your child to Jesus so that they can have eternal life.