Jesus Loves the Little Children... But Why?

"The Kingdom of God" by Greg Olson

(image from http://www.dst-corp.com)

Luke 18:16

"But Jesus called the children to Him and said,

'Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid

them, for of such is the Kingdom of God.'"

Jesus was tired. He had been teaching all day, telling parables and answering questions; it's no wonder the disciples tried to send the children away.

After all, they figured, the last thing the Rabbi needed was a bunch of snotty-nosed babies in His lap, wiping their sticky hands on His robe and crying into His beard. "Get these kids out of here!" the disciples said to the mothers. "The Teacher doesn't have time for this kind of nonsense."

The disciples wanted to keep those annoying children away so that Jesus could concentrate on more important things: preaching, teaching, and instructing the many who had come to Him for wisdom.

But the disciples were misunderstanding what the important things really were. The important things were the human hearts Jesus had come to touch, the souls He had come to redeem. This was His primary mission: not preaching clever sermons, but rescuing lost souls.

Although Jesus did instruct people in the ways of God, He also knew that no amount of intellectual knowledge would bring them into the Kingdom of God. The adults in His audience were religious Jews, people who had grown up with plenty of (head) knowledge about God's Kingdom. However, they were still ignorant of the (heart) knowledge of God's Kingdom.

Only the little children were able to receive His blessing wholeheartedly, without judgemnet or question, able to believe in Him completey and to be of the Kingdom of God.

The disciples had it all upside down and backwards. The many great minds in the group surrounding Jesus, those ready to debate with him and discuss important religious matters, were not of he Kingdom of God. Only the hearts who were open and ready to receive Him were of the Kingdom.

The hearts of the children and the hearts of the adults were all precious in His sight. These all were the souls He had come to save.