Matthew____19

Scripture

Matthew 19:13-14

13Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. 14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

Observation-What does it say?

When the little children were brought to Jesus, His disciples rebuked them. They rebuked the people who brought the kids to Jesus. The Oxford American dictionary defines rebuke as, “express sharp disapproval or criticism of (someone) because of their behavior or actions.” The disciples were critical of the fact that little children were brought to Jesus, but Jesus told His disciples to let them come. Jesus welcomed the children, blessed them and prayed for them. 

Understanding-What does it mean?

It doesn’t matter what age, race, gender we are, or past we have. We can all come to Jesus and He will accept us with open arms.

Children were just like women back in those times in Jewish culture. They were not highly regarded. However, Jesus continued to break those social barriers. When doing research on gotquestions.com, it said that, “It is likely that their (the disciples') move to hinder the parents from bringing their children to Jesus was motivated not by unkindness, but by a desire to respect Jesus’ position as a teacher.”

To the disciples, Jesus’ position as a teacher gave Him no time to pray over children because He had more important matters to attend to. However, Jesus continued to show His disciples that He was there to serve people no matter what gender or age they were. He came to serve everyone, to die for ALL and to resurrect from the grave so that we could have life in Him. The Kingdom of Heaven did not only belong to the religious leaders or to men, but to the sinners, the poor, the women, the children and everyone else who weren’t socially accepted in those days.

Life Application

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:26-28 NIV

Think of people today who are not socially accepted or people we write off because they are unlike us. Poor/homeless, mentally/physically ill, sick, broken, needy, hurt, dependent....you fill in the blank. 

Those are the people that Jesus went out of His way to minister to and who we should to as well. There are no cultural, social, age, gender, or political gaps with Jesus. Everyone has an opportunity to be part of the Kingdom of Christ because in His Kingdom, those barriers do not exist.

Dear Jesus, thank You that You loved and love the “least of these” and as we were adopted into your family, we inherited more than the world has to offer, life with You. I pray against any cultural or social filter/barrier that prevents us from reaching out to those You desire in Your Kingdom. As Your Word says, "the last shall be first and the first shall be last (Matt. 19:30)." May we have a humble servant’s view towards people just like You had towards us. We love You Jesus and thank You for choosing us despite who we were. May we extend that same love and grace towards others when reaching out. Amen. 

Source:

gotquestions.org/let-the-little-children-come-to-me.html

-Michelle Gaddi