Gospel Children

Feb 26

Jesus often uses children to make a point. One example is in Mark 9:30-37. This is the well known passage where the apostles are arguing about who is the greatest. After noticing their argument, Jesus proceeds to wrap His arms around a child as He says, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” This is a straightforward passage, isn’t it?

Did you ever notice how children are perceived in the Gospels? It always strikes me how they are often seen as a nuisance. We see people bringing children to Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel (19:13-14). When the disciples see this they rebuke the people and want to shoo away the children. Jesus comes and says, “Let the little children come to me.” Why is this a radical response by Jesus? What’s the big deal?

The view of children in Jesus’ time is very different from the view in our time. In biblical times, children were seen as last on the list. I read an insightful image once to explain this difference. Here it is - If your house was on fire and your whole family was in there, who would you save? Today, we would say the children. Jesus’ time, they would say the elders and the children would be pulled out last. I know this comparison is a brutal image, but I hope it demonstrates the difference. Children were last.

This difference really opened my eyes to the power of Jesus putting His arms around the child in Mark’s Gospel. When Jesus wraps His arms around the child, He is wrapping His arms around the person who would be pulled last from a burning building. He wraps His arms around the least and the last. His words match His actions, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”

In all my to do lists, I don’t have a “last” list, but I do have a tomorrow list. Like everyone, as I’m putting fires out during the day, I often move the last and the least to the tomorrow list. - I will call her tomorrow. I will respond to him tomorrow. Tomorrow I will… Whom do I need to wrap my arms around today and not move to tomorrow?

May God be Praised!