Jesus was a friend of children

JESUS WAS A FRIEND OF CHILDREN
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Mark 10:14 Suffer the little children to come unto me;
forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.—
Mark 10:14.
GreatTexts of the Bible
The Little Children
1. In this chapter our Lord touches, and by touching hallows, almostall the
stages ofhuman life. First, He defines and fences and dignifies matrimony.
Then He passesnaturally to the fruit of matrimony—little children—and lays
His hands upon them. Next, He receives and guides and loves a young man
who had greatpossessions. And the chapter closeswith the highestduty and
privilege of manhood,—a self-denying, consecratedlife for God, leading on to
the same life to be renewedbeyond the grave and for ever. “Every one that
hath forsakenhouses, orbrethren, or sisters, orfather, or mother, or wife, or
children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shallreceive anhundredfold, and shall
inherit everlasting life.”
2. Five things—putting togetherSt. Matthew’s and St. Mark’s and St. Luke’s
narrative—five things our Saviour did with “the little children” who were
brought to Him. He shielded them under unkindness, and through rebuke
brought them to Himself. Next He took them in His arms, an actof simple
love, His humanity placing Himself in sympathy with love’s beginnings. Then
He laid His hands upon them, a solemn, appropriating act. Then He blessed

them, an act of priesthood. Then He made them the text of a sermon, the germ
of one greatthought which admits againof a vastexpansion.
3. No words of Scripture are more familiar to us than the words of this text,
for they have their peculiar and specialsignificance atevery moment of our
Christian lives. They are the keynote of the service by which we are initiated
into the Christian brotherhood; they are the natural thought and consolation
of those who lose children by death; they are no less the eternal gauge and
standard of the spirit in which, at every age, the Kingdom of heavenis to be
welcomedand received.
4. Where and when were they uttered? for the time and place of words often
throws some light upon their meaning. They were spokenin Perea, as our
Lord was on His way, for the lasttime, from Galilee to Jerusalem. He had
closedHis ministry in the province of Galilee, in which He had been brought
up. He had lookedfor the last time on the hills He had so often climbed, the
lake on which He had so often sailed, the synagoguesand streets in which He
had so often taught. He would see no more the friendly peasants and
fishermen who had listened to Him gladly—at leastwith eyes of flesh. And He
was going to Jerusalem, where the priests hated Him, and had setthemselves
to compass His death. At first He seems to have intended to take the straight
road to Jerusalem, and to pass through Samaria. But when He found that the
Samaritans of the border villages would not receive Him He crossedthe fords
of the Jordan, and travelled through Perea, on the farther, or eastern, side of
the river. Now in Perea He found some of the very bestpeople of that time;
and some of the worst. Formany of the Jews of this district were half
heathenisedby constant contactwith the heathen who, in large numbers, were
settled among them. And, naturally, those who remained true to the God and
to the faith of Israelwere all the more faithful and zealous because ofthe
difficulties they had to encounterand the opposition they had to overcome.
And there were many difficulties in their way: among others this. In
Jerusalemwas the place where they ought to worship; and the roads to

Jerusalemwere often closedagainstthem. Sometimes, whenthe snows on the
mountains melted, or greatrains fell on the hills, the waters, the swellings, of
Jordan rose so high, and ran so fast, that the fords became impassable;and
they could not go up to the Temple to make atonementfor their sins and seek
the face of God. Sometimes there was war in the land; and whenever war
broke out, among the first places to be seizedwere the roads, the passes onthe
hills, and the fords of the river. How keenlythey felt thus being shut out from
the worship of God, we learn from the Psalms;for most of the Psalms which
are full of longing for the courts of the Lord’s house, for the altars on which
even the swallowsmight build their nests, and for the city that was compact
together, were written by poets who lived across the Jordan, in Perea;and no
doubt these Psalms expressedthe yearning of many hearts besides their own.
It was in this district, then, where there were many goodmen and womenwho
were devoted to the service of the Temple, and all the more devotedbecause
they were often shut out from it, and because their neighbours were heathen
or heathenisedJews, to whom the Temple and the Godof the Temple were not
dear; it was here that they brought children to Jesus, in order that He might
touch them.
5. Who was it that brought the children to Jesus? Why, of course, it was their
mothers; for, in describing this scene, St. Luke uses a word which means not
only children, and little children, but babes at the breast, “nurslings.” And
who should bring these to Christ but the mothers who nursed them?
6. The disciples “rebuked” the women, and even laid their strong hands on the
little ones who came running round Christ, and pushed them back. They
seem, indeed, to have been quite unusually rude and rough in their bearing.
For when we read that they “rebuked” the women, we are not to understand
that they used dignified and polite language. Whatthe word means is that
they chid, that they scoldedthem, rating them for their forwardness and
presumption in intruding themselves upon the Master’s notice. And whereas
we read that Jesus saidto the angry disciples, “Suffer the little children to

come unto me; forbid them not,” what we ought to read is “Let the little
children go—letgo them—take your hands off them, and do not hold them
back, do not push them away.” So that from our Lord’s own words we learn
that the Apostles were pushing the women and children back and standing in
their way, in order to prevent them from coming to Jesus.1 [Note:Samuel
Cox.]
There are three things in the text—
An Encouragement—“Sufferthe little children to come unto me”
A Reproof—“Forbidthem not”
A Revelation—“Ofsuchis the kingdom of God”
I
An Encouragement
The encouragementwas to the mothers of the children, and so to the children
themselves, though it was spokento the disciples—“Sufferthe little children
to come unto me.”
i. Jesus as the Friend of Little Children

1. Children in the Bible.—The child elementin it gives the Bible its claim
upon the heart of the world. Who canmeasure the influence of that Bible
story of the little babe born in the hut of a Hebrew slave in Egypt? We see the
mother looking upon her child “exceeding beautiful,” whilst her greatgrief
chokes her, and she presses it to her heart—for the law is gone forth that the
sons of the Hebrews be flung into the river. Then come the stealthy visits to
the Nile by night. They fetch home the rushes and weave the ark for the child,
and then creepforth to lay the little one upon the bank. Then comes the
dawning of that happy day, and the princess and her maidens gather about
the child, and it is rescuedand adopted as the sonof Pharaoh’s daughter.
Such a story as that hangs imperishably in the chambers of imagery, and
brings into the midst of us a new tenderness and a new love.
It has been said by some that the sublimest sentence everpenned is that in the
story of the Creation, “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”
But I think most of us feelthat we come unutterably nearerto God, and know
very much more of our Father, in reading the wonderful words, “Godheard
the voice of the lad.”1 [Note: M. G. Pearse.]
Think again how large a space the childhood of Jesus fills in the Bible. For
thirty years there is but a single break in the silence concerning Him, but
about the Holy Child what scenes ofexquisite beauty cluster. We see the
simple shepherds under that frosty night; we hear the music of the angels’
song;we gatherwith the shepherds as they come in haste;we stand with them
adoring the little Child wrapped in the swaddling clothes and laid in the
manger. We love to linger at the Temple steps as old Simeon takes from the
wondering Mother the blessedBabe and sings his song of Israel’s redemption.
And we come againto Bethlehem led by the star, and with the wise men we
kneel, and fain would lay at His feet the gifts of gold and myrrh and
frankincense. And yet again we follow them along their way on that dread
night when Josephand Mary take the young Child and flee from Herod’s
soldiers. Of all the pictures that have become gravenupon the heart of the

world there is none so sacredlytreasuredas that of the Holy Child Jesus. Who
can sayhow much it has enriched men through all the ages with gentleness
and love? Who can sayhow it has guarded and ennobled childhood?
Again, in the ministry of the Lord, what a place He gave to the children! How
much He finds in them to light up the love of God, and to reprove our pride
and care!He sits on the Mount and preaches the greatSermon about the
heavenly Father. He picks a flower from the field and holds it up. “Look at it.
If God so clothe the grass of the field, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye
of little faith?” He bids them listen to the birds, the chirping sparrow and
croaking raven. “Think of them,” saith He; “your heavenly Fatherfeedeth
them; are ye not much better than they?” Then comes the third illustration,
and that applies the lesson. The break of the chapter shuts off the third part
cruelly. Look at the Lord Jesus amidst the crowd. He has told of the flowers
and the birds, and now, He to whom the children ever went at once, stretches
out His hand and draws to Himself a little wondering lad, and He applies the
lesson. “Whatman of you, if his little sonask bread, will he give him a stone,
or if he ask a fish will he give him a serpent, if he ask an egg will he give him a
scorpion? Therefore, if ye, being evil, know how to give goodgifts unto your
children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to
them that ask him?”1 [Note: M. G. Pearse.]
A young father was wakenedearlyone morning, while it was still dark, by his
young son in the cradle at his side, asking for a drink. When his thirst was
satisfied, and the father had lain down again, the little fellow askedif he might
sing. But his singing became so lusty that an embargo had to be put upon the
service of song, for the sake ofthe other sleepers.There was silence fora brief
moment. Then it was brokenagain by the child’s voice. “Father.” “Yes, little
lad.” “Is your face turned this way?” And, with his heart strangelystirred and
warmed, the father tenderly said, “Yes, laddie.” And the night shined as the
light for the boy because ofhis father’s face.1 [Note:S. D. Gordon.]

2. The Affection of Jesus for the Little Ones.—As to the factof the deep
affection—itshines on the face of this whole narrative. Whatevermay have
been the precise motive of the disciples in rebuking the parents who brought
their children to Jesus, it is out of the question to suppose that they were
characterisedby any positive or peculiar indifference to the little children.
No; but Jesus was characterisedby a very peculiar, gloriouslyaffectionate,
concernfor them and their welfare. Mark the deep contrasthere betweenthe
Masterand even His truest disciples. See His positive displeasure, pain of soul
(the original word is a very strong one), at their unkind rebuke. See how He
hastens to assure the parents that His followers had miserably misread,
misinterpreted, the mind of their Master. See His emphatic and impassioned
welcome to the children in the injunction He lays on the disciples, “Suffer
them to come unto me; forbid them not.” See how He takes them up in His
arms, frowns on the disciples, smiles on the children, places His hands gently
and lovingly upon them, and blesses them. And this is not the only place
where we find Jesus taking up little children in His arms. In the previous
chapter we read, “He took a child and sethim in the midst of them; and when
he had takenhim in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoevershallreceive one
of such children in my name, receivethme.” Again and againwe find Him
speaking ofthe little ones—“Itis not the will of your Fatherwhich is in
heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” And nearthe close ofthe
Gospelhistory we read the following words:“When the chief priests and
scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the
temple and saying, Hosannahto the son of David, they were sore displeased,
and said unto him, Hearestthou what these say? And Jesus saithunto them,
Yea, have ye never read”—beholdhow He welcomes the children’s songs!—
“Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfectedpraise.”
I remember long ago being very much pleasedto read of the French general
who was sentto fight along with the English againstthe Russians in the time
of the Crimean War—GeneralSt. Arnaud. When he landed at the Crimea, he
lifted up the first pebble on which his foot trod, and plucked the first flower
on which his eye lighted, and sent them to his only child, a daughter living far
away. He was very ill when he landed; indeed, he died soonafterwards—and

at that time he had a greatdeal to think of, and yet you see there was room in
his heart for thoughts of his daughter, and he showedin this striking way his
love for her.1 [Note:W. H. Gray.]
There is a significantstory of the greatsculptor, Dannecker, that, when he
was working at his statue of Christ, he took a little girl into his studio, and
placing her before the figure askedher what she thought of it. For a moment
the little one hesitated, and then replied, “He was a greatMan.” The sculptor
was disappointed: that was not the ideal he had set before himself. But again
he went bravely to work, toning down this line, throwing more expressioninto
this feature, until at length it seemedto him that he had succeeded. And so it
proved. For when again the child was permitted to gaze upon the wonderful
figure, there was no longer any hesitancyin her words as she exclaimed,
“Thatwas the Christ who said, ‘Suffer the little children to come unto me!’ ”2
[Note:G. Milligan.]
When God with us was dwelling here,
In little babes He took delight.
Such innocents as thou, my dear,
Are ever precious in His sight.
Sweetbaby, then, forbear to weep;
Be still, my babe; sweetbaby, sleep.3 [Note:George Wither.]

ii. The Invitation to come to Him
1. It was an invitation to their parents to bring them.—If we take the total
number of miracles in the Gospels, the individual details of which are given
(and the number is not large), we notice that of these, four concernchildren:
the sonof the nobleman, the daughter of Jairus, the daughter of the
Syrophenician woman, and the lad belonging to the unknown father. These
children did not come; they were brought. They were all indebted to parental
intercession, and of these parents three were fathers, one a mother. For the
goodof the children in body and soul the father should always take the lead. If
he does not the mother may—how often with wonderful success.The joy of
joys is when both are united and resolved. How various were these people!
One was a nobleman; but in suffering, noblemen cannotdo without the
Healer. Jairus was a man of educationand station and means, with the
additional advantage ofbeing a leaderin religious worship. The undescribed
or unnamed father seems to have been poor, untaught, little heeded,
possessing no influence; while the woman was a heathen, a castaway, spurned
as a dog. But they all had love, and yearned for the welfare of a child; they all
had faith, and eachbrought a child to Jesus.
On the present occasionHe encouragedthe parents to bring their children to
Him whatevertheir bodily or spiritual state might be. He did not say to them,
“Take these children hence.” He did not say, “Theycan get no goodfrom me
until they are older.” He did not say, “Bring them back to me when they can
understand what I teach, and when they canexpress their assentto my
teaching.” He did not say, “Wait till they can believe before you ask me to
bless them.” The parents wanted a blessing, not an empty form, not a prayer,
not a mere outward rite—they wanted a blessing, they wanted Christ to touch
them, and in touching them, to give them something which was of use. And
Christ respondedto their wishes—He touchedtheir children, He put His
hands on them, He blessedthem, and He said, “Of such is the kingdom of

heaven.” His words, surely, tell us that before the age of ripe understanding,
before the child can tell his faith or his spiritual wants, God cando the child
good;seeds of goodness, through God’s power, through Christ’s blessing, may
be sown; and, in any case, Christdeclares that children will have a place in
the Kingdom of God, and, having a place, they have a name, and the outward
emblem of the place and the name: He put His hands on them and blessed
them.
Parents of the coming generation, bring your children to Jesus!I speak not in
the voice of the Churches, I speak notin the name of the Creeds, I speak not
in the phrase of religious revivalism. I speak in the interest of the
schoolmaster, in the interest of education, in the interest of social
development. The mothers of Galilee made a shrewd choice for their model.
They came not with their children to Peter, or James, or John; they sought
not to kindle them by Andrew, or Philip, or Nathanael. They went up to the
highest—to Jesus. Ye mothers of England, be not less shrewd than they!
Would you kindle the inspiration of your children? Beware ofthe torch to
which you bring them. Do not say, “Theyare very small lives, and therefore a
little will do it.” Do not lead them to a wax match or a taper or a candle. Small
lives need the greatestheatto fan them into flame. Seek for them nothing less
than the sun—bearthem into the presence ofJesus. Theywill learn all things
from Him—the beauties of the field and the pity of the heart and the fervour
of the mind. Cæsarwill not teachthem such courage;Socrateswill not show
them such calmness;David will not impress them with such chivalry; Moses
will not inspire them with such meekness;Elijah will not imbue them with
such earnestness;Daniel will not touch them with such manliness; Job will not
nerve them with such patience; Paul will not fire them with such love. They
will climb to the top of the mansion quicker than they will scale the ladder on
a neighbouring wall; bring them first to the mountain; point them to Jesus.1
[Note:George Matheson.]
The baby has no skies

But mother’s eyes;
Nor any Godabove,
But mother’s love.
His angelsees the Father’s face,
But he the mother’s, full of grace;
And yet the heavenly kingdom is of such as this.2 [Note:John B. Tabb.]
2. It was an invitation to the children to come.—Butwhatdoes “come to
Jesus” mean? There is not a commoner expressionon the lips of many good
persons than to bid children “come to Jesus.”Now, howevercorrectand
Scriptural the expressionmay be, it cannot mean in every point the same
thing now as it did when Jesus Christ was on that day sitting in the house
discoursing to the people, and when certain children were brought to Him. On
that occasionthe child, if he were not a mere infant, understoodwhat it was to
be brought to Jesus. He saw Jesus with his bodily eye as He sat amongstthe
crowd; he heard Jesus speak;he might mark the kindly light of His eye, and
be encouragedby the kindly smile that played around His lips; and he might,
in his trembling and fear, be soothedby the tones of the voice of Jesus. If there
was any gladness at all—any pleasure, any interest—in the act of coming or
being carried into the presence of Jesus, it was the pleasure and interest that a
child derives from seeing a human face, from hearing a human voice, from
being touched by human hands, and from being raisedinto the arms of a Man

in whose embrace he found himself safe, and in whose presence he was not
afraid. This is all changednow. Jesus is presentas ever, but His presence is
spiritual, and coming to Him is no longer a literal but a spiritual act.
Coming to the Lord is not action, but mental attitude. The history is known to
all, how some half a century ago a bright young girl, under pressure of the
Divine Spirit, askedher pastorwhat she should do to be saved. “Why,” he
said, “come just as you are to the Mediatorbetween Godand man, the Lord
Jesus, the Lamb of God.” And his words seemedto her like an idle tale, for by
materialistic teaching of the physical departure of Jesus, by the Ascension, her
Lord was takenawayfrom her, and she knew not where they had laid Him.
But that night, in her own home, she knelt down, and there was God, where
He always is, “closerthan breathing, nearerthan hands and feet.” While she
was musing, the fire kindled, and at last, under the constraining breath of the
Holy Spirit, Charlotte Elliott wrote—
Just as I am, without one plea,
Save that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come.
II
A Reproof

“When Jesus saw it, he was much displeased.” It is a strong word that is used.
This is the only time in the whole of the Gospelnarrative that such a strong
word is used of Him. “Much displeased”;the same Greek wordis used in the
Gospelnarrative of the ten disciples when they heard that James and John
had tried to secure the best places in the coming Kingdom, and there it is
translated “moved with indignation.” We can therefore quite consistently
translate our passage, “WhenJesus saw it, he was moved with indignation.”
1. Why did He reprove the disciples so severely? There are severalprobable
reasons—
(1) Their conduct did wrong to the mothers.—Theyrebuked the parents for
doing a motherly act—fordoing, in fact, that which Jesus loved them to do.
They brought their children to Jesus out of respectfor Him: they valued a
blessing from His hands more than gold; they expectedthat the benediction of
God would go with the touch of the greatProphet. They may have hoped that
a touch of the hand of Jesus would make their children’s lives bright and
happy. Though there may have been a measure of weaknessin the parents’
thought, yet the Saviour could not judge hardly of that which arose out of
reverence for His person. He was therefore much displeasedto think that
these goodwomen, who meant Him honour, should be roughly repulsed.
(2) They did wrong to the children.—Sweetlittle ones!what had they done
that they should be chided for coming to Jesus? Theyhad not meant to
intrude. They would have, fallen at His feet in reverent love for the sweet-
voicedteacher, who charmed not only men but children by His tender words.
The little ones meant no ill, and why should they be blamed?

(3) They did wrong to Himself.—It might have made men think that Jesus was
stiff, reserved, and self-exalted, like the Rabbis. If they had thought that He
could not condescendto children they would have sadly slanderedthe repute
of His greatlove. His heart was a greatharbour, wherein many little ships
might castanchor. Jesus, the child-man, was never more at home than with
children.
(4) It was contrary to His teaching.—ForHe went on to say, “Whosoevershall
not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.”
Christ’s teaching was not that there is something in us to fit us for the
Kingdom; and that a certain number of years may make us capable of
receiving grace. His teaching all went the other way, namely, that the less we
are and the weakerwe are, the better; for the less we have of self the more
room there is for His Divine grace. Do you think to come to Jesus up the
ladder of knowledge?Come down, sir, you will meet Him at the foot. Do you
think to reach Jesus up the steephill of experience? Come down, dear
climber; He stands in the plain. “Oh! but when I am old, I shall then be
prepared for Christ.” Stay where thou art, young man; Jesus meets thee at the
door of life: you were never more fit to meet Him than just now. He asks
nothing of you but that you will be nothing, and that He may be all in all to
you. That is His Teaching:and to send back the child because it has not this or
that is to fly in the teeth of the blesseddoctrine of the grace ofGod.
(5) It was quite contrary to Jesus Christ’s practice.—He made them see this;
for “He took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed
them.” All His life long there is nothing in Him like rejectionand refusing. He
says truly, “Him that comethto me I will in no wise castout.” If He did cast
out any because they were too young, the text would be falsified at once:but
that can never be. He is the receiverof all who come to Him. It is written,
“This man receiveth sinners, and eatethwith them.” All His life He might be
drawn as a shepherd with a lamb in His bosom; never as a cruel shepherd

setting his dogs upon the lambs and driving them and their mothers away.1
[Note:C. H. Spurgeon.]
2. What reasons couldthe disciples have had for preventing the children
coming to Jesus?
(1) Concern for Jesus Himself.—We do not want to think badly of such men
as Peterand John, Thomas and Philip. And there is no reasonwhy we should
think they behaved very badly. They only made a mistake such as we all make
sometimes. It was love, rising to zeal, for their Lord which led them to push
back the children, though it was not a zealaccording to knowledge. They
thought He would not like being interrupted in the midst of a grave public
discussion. And, besides, they were themselves very much interested in the
discussionthat was going on, and had begun to take part in it. They did not
wish it to be brokenoff. They thought the women and children could very well
wait. They were vexed and annoyed with them for coming forward at such an
inopportune moment. And so they pushed them back, and I dare say called
out, “Keep back there! He can’t attend to you now. Don’t you see that He is
busy?”
(2) Doubt of the children’s capacity to understand Jesus.—Theyregardedthe
child perhaps from the point of view of its intellectual attainments, and
reasonedthat it was too young to distinguish betweentruth and falsehood,
betweensystem and system. Does notour Lord’s answerfavour this
interpretation? For He at once showedthat if it was not the mere innocence of
the child that He was prepared to bless, neither was it the child’s willingness
to receive information and ask no further; but that it was upon that spirit of
truthfulness, upon the desire to know truth for its own sake, that He conferred
His blessing. And Jesus at once proceededto show how that same quality
which He blessedmight be still alive, still unquenched by the world in the full-

grown man. “Verily I sayunto you, Whosoevershallnot receive the kingdom
of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.”
I will saybroadly that I have more confidence in the spiritual life of the
children that I have receivedinto this church than I have in the spiritual
condition of the adults thus received. I will even go further than that, and say
that I have usually found a clearerknowledge ofthe Gospeland a warmer
love to Christ in the child-converts than in the man-converts. I will even
astonishyou still more by saying that I have sometimes met with a deeper
spiritual experience in children of ten and twelve than I have in certain
persons of fifty and sixty. It is an old proverb that some children are born
with beards. Some boys are little men, and some girls are little old women.
You cannot measure the lives of any of us by our ages. Iknew a boy who,
when he was fifteen, often heard old Christian people say, “The boy is sixty
years old: he speaks with such insight into Divine truth.” I believe that this
youth at fifteen did know far more of the things of God, and of soul travail,
than any around him, whatevertheir age might be.1 [Note:C. H. Spurgeon.]
(3) Forgetfulness oftheir value.—The soul’s price does not depend upon its
years. “Oh, it is only a child!” “Children are a nuisance.” “Children are
always getting in the way.” This talk is common. God forgive those who
despise the little ones. A boy is more worth saving than a man. It is infinite
mercy on God’s part to save those who are seventy; for what goodcanthey
now do with the fag end of their lives? But these dear boys and girls—there is
something to be made out of them. If they yield themselves now to Christ they
may have a long, happy, and holy day before them in which they may serve
God with all their hearts. If a famous schoolmasterwas accustomedto take
his hat off to his boys because he did not know whether one of them might not
be Prime Minister, we may justly look with awe upon convertedchildren, for
we do not know how soonthey may be among the angels, orhow greatly their
light may shine among men.

The writer knew a splendid missionarywoman in India, who, when only eight
years of age, saw, as in a vision, multitudes of heathen children on a distant
shore beckoning her to come and teachthem of the true God. Another, who
did goodservice in Africa, was, in her childhood, so desirous to help the cause,
that she collectedshavings from the carpenters’shops and sold them for
kindlings to the neighbours, the money earned going into her missionary box.1
[Note:H. S. Dyer.]
(4) Ignorance of their need of Jesus.—Ifany mother in that throng had said,
“I must bring my child to the Master, for he is sore afflicted with a devil,”
neither Peter, nor James, nor John would have demurred for a moment, but
would have assistedin bringing the possessedchild to the Saviour. Or suppose
another mother had said, “My child has a pining sickness uponit, it is wasted
to skin and bone; permit me to bring my darling, that Jesus may lay His
hands upon her”—the disciples would all have said: “Make wayfor this
woman and her sorrowful burden.” But these little ones with bright eyes, and
prattling tongues, and leaping limbs, why should they come to Jesus? They
forgotthat in those children, with all their joy, their health, and their
apparent innocence, there was a great and grievous need for the blessing of a
Saviour’s grace. If we indulge in the novel idea that our children do not need
conversion, that children born of Christian parents are somewhatsuperiorto
others, and have goodwithin them which only needs development, one great
motive for our devout earnestness willbe gone. Our children need the Spirit
of God to give them new hearts and right spirits, or else they will go astrayas
other children do.1 [Note:C. H. Spurgeon.]
A mother was knitting under the porch of her house one autumn afternoon.
Her boy was playing with other children on the village green. Beyond the
greenwas the river, and on the opposite bank of it was a wood full of nuts and
berries, and sweet-smelling leaves,and flowers, and many other things which
children delight to gather. “Let us cross to the wood,” saidsome of the bigger
children. “I shall cross too,” saidthe little boy whose mother was knitting at

the door. The ford was a little to the right, and just out of his mother’s view.
There were stepping-stones all the way across. And the little nutting and
berrying party got quite safelyto the other side. But the clouds had been
darkening over the sky since morning. And now it beganto rain. First it came
in heavy drops, then there was a peal of thunder, then came down torrents of
rain. The bigger children hurried back to the ford, and one by one gotover
safely. The little boy whose mother was knitting under the porch was last. The
river had by this time risen. The stepping-stones were beginning to be
covered. The little man took one step, then a second, then he came to a stone
over which the river was flowing swiftly, and his heart failed. He wrung his
hands with fear, and cried with a piercing cry. The mother heard his cry, and
new to the ford. She was too late. She could not reachher child. A broad black
flood of water came thundering down betweenher boy and her. “My child!”
she cried. “Mother! mother! come for me,” cried the boy. All the village came
down to the riverside—men and women, young and old; but no one would
venture to cross. Theylookedand pitied; they lookedand wrung their hands,
but they gave no help. At that moment a young shepherd, leading his flock
down from the mountains, entered the village, and saw the peril of the child.
He left his sheepon the green, and took greatstrides to the river brink. The
roaring of the waterover the stones was terrible, but he heeded not. He
stepped boldly from stone to stone. In the centre the flood had carried some of
them away: he plunged into the stream. With strong arms he beat the waterto
the right and left. He pressedhis feetagainstthe currents, and swamright
over to the boy. With one arm he claspedthe child, with the other he once
more grappled with the flood. There was the roaring of the stream beneath,
and the raging of the storm above; but the brave shepherd, partly walking
and partly swimming, brought the boy to the bank, and delivered him to his
mother. That was a boy who found a saviour. And what the brave young
shepherd saved him from was death. But Christ was the real Saviour that
day.1 [Note:A. Macleod.]
3. How are children hindered from coming to Jesus still?

(1) By force of Example and Conversation.—The force ofexample, whether
for goodor bad, is very powerful, and especiallyis it so with parents upon
their children and teachers upon their pupils. Peradventure, father, if you had
been an earnestChristian your sonwould not have been ungodly; possibly,
dear mother, if you had been decided for the Saviour the girls would have
been Christians too. How few considerthe extent to which the minds of young
children are affectedby the conversationthey hear! Men talk lightly and
falselyupon religious and moral subjects. They may mean no harm to the
child; they may forgetits presence, orignore the fact that it is listening, and
drinking in much that they say. Yet it is doing so;and, being unable to
balance and weighthe truth for itself, their words have left a stamp of
irreverence, of doubt, of sinful thoughts, and perhaps obliterated the lessons
of purity and the fear of God learned at a mother’s knee. They can hardly
inflict a deadlier or more cruel injury than this.
If there is one thing which, more than any other, is woven into every part of
the texture of modern society, it is that which in mercantile and commercial
transactions goesby the name of credit. Credit is merely a Latin equivalent
for our good, homely English word “trust.” Societyis held togetherat every
turn by trust—by mutual trust. Impair this mutual trust and confidence, and
you getin commercialcircles what is called a “panic.” Destroyit, and society
is brought to a standstill,—is disintegrated, and broken up. Now, where is the
meaning of the word “trust” first learned? And where is the thing which
corresponds to the word first practised? Evidently in the home. The baby
drinks it in with its mother’s milk. The growing child, by what seems to be a
natural instinct rather than an acquired habit, trusts those whom he learns to
call by the names “father” and “mother.” It is an evil thing for the family, and
an evil thing for society, whenthe child’s confidence is shakenand he finds
that father and mother are not always to be trusted. And this lessonof trust is
not confined to the relationof parent and child only, but belongs equally,
though in other forms, to every relation of domestic life. Husband and wife,
for example, learn, as the years go on, to repose the most absolute trust in one
another. In a word, the bonds of trust which bind societytogetherare forged
in the first instance in the home.1 [Note:D. J. Vaughan.]

I cannot tell you how much I owe to the solemnwords of my good mother. It
was the custom on Sunday evenings, while we were yet little children, for her
to stay at home with us; and then we sat round the table, and read verse by
verse, and she explained the Scripture to us. After that was done, then came
the time of pleading; there was a little piece of Alleyn’s Alarm, or of Baxter’s
Call to the Unconverted, and this was read with pointed observations made to
eachof us as we sat round the table; and the question was askedhow long it
would be before we would think about our state, how long before we would
seek the Lord. Then came a mother’s prayer, and some of the words of a
mother’s prayer we shall never forget, even when our hair is grey.2 [Note: C.
H. Spurgeon.]
(2) By want of Religious Educationand Influence.—Among the problems of
the age none is more difficult than that involved in the question, “How shall
the Church best succeedin reaching the masses ofthe people and bringing
them to Christ?” Whateverelse may be included in the solution of this
problem, we shall come nearestto successwhenwe have discoveredhow to lay
hold of the children. The all-impelling motive by which the Church needs to
be animated in its work among the young-is supplied by the fact that the
children belong to Christ. “Of such is the kingdom of God.” Think what that
truth implies. If these children—and not these only, but all children
everywhere—are Christ’s, the work of training their young souls for Him is
not one to be performed just anyhow or anywhere or by any means. Our
Masterhas laid upon us individually a heavy responsibility in regard to these
His little ones. Some of them are the children of God-fearing parents; but are
those parents doing all they canto “bring them up in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord”? Some of them, we believe, alreadycherish in their
hearts a love for the Saviour and a yearning after goodness whichthey
themselves cannotexpress, and are almost too young to understand. What are
we doing—are we doing anything—to developthat “soulof goodness” in
them? Are we taking them by the hand to lead them to Jesus? Manyof the
children around us are already learning lessons ofevil from their associations

at home and in the street. Are we hasting to eradicate these noxious weeds and
to replace them by the goodseedof truth and virtue? If we would reclaim the
world for Christ, we must begin with the young; and alike as a stimulus to
duty and as an encouragementto our toil, we are reminded that the children
belong to our Lord and Master. “Of such is the kingdom of God.”
A childhood without reverence, a childhood without any upward affection, a
childhood to which nothing is mysterious, and therefore nothing sacred, a
childhood with no heaven, with no encircling world about it save that of the
men and womenwho minister to its wants; with a spiritual imagination
wholly undeveloped; a childhood discontented, wearied, and without interest,
satisfiedwith nothing, not even with self, though with no guide or hope
towards improving that self—whatpicture so sad as the material crime that
follows an unreligious youth.1 [Note: CanonAinger.]
We are told that once in the course ofa conversationwith Madame Campan,
Napoleonremarked, “The old systems of instruction seemto be worth
nothing; what is yet wanting in order that the people should be properly
educated?” “Mothers,” repliedMadame Campan. The reply struck the
Emperor. “Yes,” he said, “here is a system of education in one word. Be it
your care, then, to train up mothers who shall know how to educate their
children.” Have we not there a striking testimony to the powerof home
influence, to the degree in which those who watchover a child’s earliestyears
mould and direct his after life? It is more than a genealogicalnotice, it is a
testimony to character, whenin the Books ofthe Chronicles of the Kings of
Judah and Israel we read of such and such a king, “and his mother’s name
was so-and-so, and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.” The
memory of the prayers which he had learned by his mother’s knee saved, so
he himself tells us, a greatAmerican statesmanfrom atheism. “The older I
grow,” says Thomas Carlyle, “and I am now upon the brink of eternity, the
more comes back to me the first sentence ofthe Catechismwhich I learned
when a child, and the fuller and deeper its meaning becomes, ‘What is the

chief end of man? To glorify God and to enjoy Him for ever.’ ”2 [Note:G.
Milligan.]
“Educate children without religion, and you make a race of cleverdevils.”3
[Note:Wellington.]
(3) By neglect of their Place in Public Worship.—Are the services ofthe
sanctuary of such a characteras to interestand benefit the young? So long as
the children sit quietly in their places few members of our congregationsare
really conscious oftheir existence and presence in the sanctuary. This ought
not to be. Every part of our worship should have its share for the young as
well as for the old. Our psalmody should be so arrangedthat their fresh voices
may bear a part in its melody. Our prayers should convey their needs to the
throne of grace as wellas the wants of their parents. And while it is manifest
that there must necessarilybe much in most sermons, perhaps something in
every one, that may be beyond their present powers of comprehension,
ministers should recollectthat they are pastors of the lambs not less than of
the sheep. The congregationwhichaffects to despise the simpler words which
the preachernow and again drops for the benefit of “these little ones,” should
take heed lest it despise that which is precious in the sight of God.
In that pathetic scene in which Charles Dickens describes the death of Jo, you
will remember how Jo, in answerto the question whether he ever knew a
prayer, told how, different times, “there was gen’l’men come down Tom All-
alone’s a-prayin’, but they all mostly sed as the t’other wuns prayed wrong,
and all mostly sounded to be a-talkin’ to theirselves, ora-passin’ blame on the
t’others, and not a-talkin’ to us. We never know’d nothink. I never know’d
what it was all about.” Poorlittle streetarab, passing awayinto the dim
unknown with no other knowledge ofChrist’s religion than that!1 [Note: G.
Milligan.]

III
A Revelation
The revelationis of the nature of the Kingdom—“Of such is the kingdom of
God.”
Of whom? Of little children, or of those who are childlike? Some (as Baxter)
take the words literally. They understand Christ to refer to the number of
actuallittle children which are now in heaven. Those little children never
wilfully resistedgrace, orput the Saviour awayfrom them. And their guilt,
which they brought with them into this world, having been rolled back in the
death of Jesus Christ, they, dying in infancy, went, to glory. And when we
remember the exceeding greatnumber of the infants that die on the threshold
of life, and therefore the very large proportion which they must make of the
company of the saints, we canquite see that there may be truth in what Christ
said, evento the very letter, if infants dying are infants still—“Of such is the
kingdom of heaven.” Whether our Lord did refer or not to the literal
childhood which there may be in heaven, He certainly extends His assertionto
those who, though not children, are like them.1 [Note: James Vaughan.]
Remember what Christ’s words are: “Of such is the kingdom of God.” What
can the words mean if not that children and all who resemble them, all who
possessthe essentialqualities of childhood, are members of that Kingdom? If I
were to point to these roses, andsay, “Ofsuch as these is the floral kingdom
composed,” whatwould you think of the goodsense ofa man, howeverwise he
looked, if he should go awayand affirm that what I meant was, that all
flowers like roses were in the floral kingdom, but that roses themselves were
not? Or if I were speaking of angels, and said, “Of such is the kingdom of
heaven,” what sort of commentatorwould he be who should argue from my

words that no angelwas in that Kingdom, that they were all outside it? And
when our Lord, speaking ofchildren, says:“Of such is the kingdom of God,”
what can we think of those who argue from His words that children
themselves are not in God’s Kingdom? I will tell you what I think of them: I
think they hold some dogma, or creed, not in harmony with the mind of
Christ, and try therefore to wrestthese gracious words from their plain
meaning.2 [Note: SamuelCox.]
What then are the qualities in children which made it possible for the Christ
to say, “Ofsuch is the kingdom of God”? As we seek foran interpretation of
Christ’s warning to His disciples, in some respects it is obvious that no one
would wish grown-up men to be like children. There are Christian graces
which they cannot exhibit, and depths of feeling which they cannotreach. The
sorrows, indeed, of childhood are possibly sharper than we think while they
last. The bruised finger or the broken toy brings a paroxysm of distress. But
the young child knows nothing of the sacrednessofloss or mourning. It will
play in the nursery though death has entered the house;and the rootedlove of
riper years is of far nobler growththan is possible in the earliestdays of life.
Again, children are often heedlesslyexacting and imperious. It is reservedfor
men and womento show forbearance and self-sacrifice. Children also are
sometimes unwittingly cruel and inconsiderate. Kindness to man and beastis
one of the things which we seek to teachthem, and they cannotbe taught too
soon. But in its fulness and depth it is a mature virtue. So are steadiness and
endurance. We rebuke a man for the want of them in saying he is “as giddy as
a child.” Again, some children, who afterwards become thoroughly
trustworthy, have not always seenthe value of truth. In short, there are many
childish imperfections and defects which we make no great count of because
children have no power to put them into mischievous force. The law, indeed,
takes wise cognisanceofthis, refusing to admit or acknowledgetheir
possessionofresponsibility in some matters till the age of twenty-one has been
reached. What, then, was it in the little children that made Jesus say, “Ofsuch
is the kingdom of God”?

1. Was it their Weakness andDependence?—Everychild is, and must be, very
weak. It is its nature to be weak. It could not be a little child if it were not
weak. So it is with every child of God. His weaknessis an essentialpart of his
being what he is. He could not be a child of Godif he were not weak. Whatis
weakness?Emptiness—forGodto fill with Himself. What is weakness? Room
where God may work and His grace expand. What is weakness?To be
nothing, that God may be everything. We do not march into heaven; no one
enters heaven so; we are to be borne in the arms and on the bosom of Jesus
Christ. And we are undertaken for in everything; just as the father for his
babe, so Christ for us: provision for all our wants, to feed our body and our
soul, to pay all our debts, to carry out all our true wishes, to carry us, to train
us, to perfect us, to make us quite happy in Him, and to glorify Himself in us.
2. Was it their Trustfulness?—The little child is characterisedby trust. We
almost smile at a child’s credulity. Why do we smile? Becausewe have learned
too painfully that it does not do, in such a world as this, to trust any man as
that little child trusts us; and to take him at his word as that little child is
accepting us at our word. Alas that we should have to unlearn that holy art,
that characteristic ofchildhood! Alas for a world which finds it necessaryto
coin such a word as that,—credulity! The greatestlessonwe have to learn in
life, the hardest thing we have to do, is to take God at His word. It will be an
end of all unhappiness and of all sin, if we canjust do that, take God at His
word.
A lady said to a little daughter of the missionary Judson, “Were you not
afraid to journey so far over the ocean?”“Why, no, madam,” returned the
believing child; “fatherprayed for us!”1 [Note:J. N. Norton.]
During a recenthard winter, a poor widow, with severalhelpless children,
was reduced almostto her last crust of bread, when one of her little boys, who
saw her distress and anxiety, said to her, “Pleasedon’t cry, mother; I will

write a letter to Jesus to help us!” The womanwas too much occupiedwith
her troubles to notice his singular remark, and so, taking her silence for
approval of his purpose, he sat down and scrawledona bit of paper, torn
from an old writing-book, these words: “DearSaviour:my mother and my
brothers and sisters have had no breakfastnor dinner to-day; please sendus
something to eat.” He then signedhis name, with the street and number, and,
running to the post-office, dropped the letter into the box. When the letters
were sorted, the clerk’s attention was attractedby one directed, in a child’s
hand, “To Jesus Christ.” In his perplexity, he showedit to the postmaster, and
he, in turn, handed it to a goodChristian man who came into the office for his
mail. “I will take care of it!” said the gentleman.2 [Note:Ibid.]
A tender child of summers three,
Seeking her little bed at night,
Pausedon the dark stair timidly.
“Oh, mother! take my hand,” said she,
“And then the dark will all be light.”
We older children grope our way
From dark behind to dark before;

And only when our hands we lay,
DearLord, in Thine, the night is day,
And there is darkness nevermore.
Reachdownwardto the sunless days,
Wherein our guides are blind as we,
And faith is small and hope delays;
Take Thouthe hands of prayer we raise,
And let us feelthe light of Thee!1 [Note:Whittier.]
3. Was it their Candour?—There is a notably direct expressionof thought by
children. It is true that their exercise ofthis candour may need to be checked.
There are many things which we think, but which, for various reasons,we
rightly abstainfrom saying. And yet a child might teachus to say nothing
which we do not mean. ‘The cynic may sneeringlyremark that the use of
language is to concealourthoughts. It is, however, scarcelynecessaryto ask
whether this does not suggesta radically un-Christian perversionof speech.
How well it would be were people to be more straightforwardin their words!
Without their being rudely outspoken, whatneedless difficulties would be

escaped, whatmisunderstandings would be avoided, from what mischievous
perplexities would families and societybe spared!
We are sometimes afraid to saythis, or do that, which, if said or done, would
bring welcome and legitimate relief to ourselves and others. How often a man
regrets that he had not the moral courage to take such and such a course, to
have been a little more plain spoken!What mistakes and misapprehensions
would have been avoided, what explanations would have been rendered
unnecessary, if he had only said what he believed when the opportunity
presenteditself! How the air is sometimes clearedby the utterance of a
thought which had been (so they afterwards fancy) in the mind of all, but
which no one had had the courage to express in words!This direct,
uncalculating simplicity of speechis just one of the things in which men may
well learn of children.2 [Note: H. Jones.]
4. Was it their Receptiveness?—This seemsto be implied in the further
statement, “Verily I sayunto you, Whosoevershallnot receive the kingdom of
God as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein.” It is the habit of a child
to receive, and he has no difficulty in receiving. He beganhis course
instinctively; before he had developed powers ofreflection and choice, he
begantaking in supplies. He needed to be taught many things, but the art of
receiving was born with him. It is different with some other simple exercises;
for example, giving. To give is not at all so native to him as to take, and a
mother will often exhibit what she regards as a little triumph of education
when her child can be induced to part with something he has goton being
askedfor it.
5. Was it their Humility?—Children are naturally humble. It is only when
they have been spoiled by foolish flattery and over-indulgence that they
become proud. Naturally, they shun observation, and blush at compliments.

Lord, forever at Thy side
Let my place and portion be;
Strip me of the robe of pride,
Clothe me with humility.
Humble as a little child,
Weanedfrom the mother’s breast.
By no subtleties beguiled,
On Thy faithful word I rest.
6. Was it their Innocence?—Thereis so much of evil that a child does not
know, much indeed that it cannotknow. As it grows older, a greatdeal of
what it can and does know, by seeing it, may still remain unknown to its own
personalexperience. About this unconsciousnessofevil there is something
sacred. It seems more unearthly than anything else that we know. Even when
ignorance is gone, yet innocent knowledge and guilty knowledge are so far
apart that still there is a kind of heavenly presence round all those who have
not yet sinned, in so far as they have not yet sinned. Of such is the Kingdom of
heaven. This kind of purity, the purity which has been kept clean, not that
which has been made clean, always seems to have a peculiar unearthly lustre.

Repentance puts a man back sometimes, not merely where he was, but even
higher. A man who has stained himself is sometimes so purified that his
characterseems more stainless than ever. And yet, though he may gain a
greaterdegree ofpurity than ever, it is not the same kind of purity. There is
nothing which quite matches perfect innocence. And the innocence of children
is more perfect than any other on earth. As we grow older we have to replace
it by hearty and deep repentance, by corning to Christ for cleansing, by
fleeing from temptation with the utmost earnestness, by prayer to Christ for
strength. And we shall have what we ask. But nothing else canquite replace
the simple attachment which binds the innocent heart to the loving Saviour,
and the grown Christian clings with earnestlonging to whatever fragment of
childlike innocence still remains to him. And as he grows olderthere is no
temptation which cuts him with deeperpain than one which solicits him to do
a wrong thing which he never recollectshaving done before.
I have read of an artist who painted a portrait of a child, beautiful and
promising, and he was so pleasedwith it that he called it Innocence. Many
years afterwards he was advised to paint a companion portrait, and to call it
Guilt. To find a proper representative for this, he visited a prison in which
there lay a man who was sentencedto death for a very brutal murder, and
who had had a very bad record before that murder was committed. He
receivedpermission to go to the prison, and to paint the portrait of the
criminal. What was his surprise to find that his representative of Guilt was
the very person who, five and twenty years before, had satto him as the
representative of Innocence.1 [Note:W. H. Gray.]
Once, when his infant son was brought to Luther, and he kissedit and folded
it to his heart, he said, “My God, how dearly Adam must have loved Cain, the
first-born human creature!And afterwards he became a fratricide. O Adam,
woe, woe to thee!”2 [Note: Watchwords from Luther, 239.]

7. Was it their Obedience?—Acharacteristic ofthe child is the instinct of
obedience. It is natural and easyto a child to obey. And every wise father and
every wise mother keeps the instinct always in exercise. To this natural
readiness to obey does the mother appealwhen her child is tempted by this
trifle or by that. Often a messageis sent, or a service is required, just when the
little will was on the point of going wrong. To this same instinct the mother
often has recourse whenchildish troubles fret the temper. Something to be
done, something to be fetched, some message to a servant employs the
thoughts, and the sorrow is forgotten. The child of course has other instincts,
and very early the instinct of obedience comes in conflictwith wishes, and
caprices, andfancies, and temper, and begins to fade out of the charactereven
more rapidly than the natural grace of innocence. But that same readiness of
obedience, that same instinctive impulse to obey superior bidding, the man
has to learn if he has not been able to keep. And blessedindeed is he who has
kept it. The temptations, the conflicts, the falls, the sorrow, the mischief from
which he is savedwho has kept on from childhood the readiness to do what he
is bid, and who, as other authorities are removed, transfers his hearty and
quick submission to God’s messengerwithin the soul, who shall number?
8. Was it their Simplicity?—One of the characteristics ofthe child is
simplicity. There is not, there cannot well be, in a child any depth or
persistencyof worldly purpose. Rathera child is altogetherpurposeless.
Affectation there may be in a child, but it cannot last. It comes and goes.
Longing for some particular object there may be, but how easily it is diverted!
The heart is readily reached. There is as yet no crust formed over it by selfish
aims. There is as yet nothing to check natural generosity. There may be the
germs of worldliness, but they are not yet come to their growth. The springs of
the heart are still fresh. The impulses are still warm. The readiness to believe
is still strong. This, too, passes away, unless it is kept by prayer and by
personalcommunion with God. This, too, if it pass away, must be recovered, if
a man is to be a servantof Christ. And this cannotbe kept and cannot be
recoveredby conflict with ourselves. To keepinnocence andto keepthe
instinct of obedience, demand chiefly the will. But to keepsimplicity demands
that kind of prayer which seems to make a man familiar with the very

presence ofGod, which seems to keephim constantlyin the outer court of
heaven, which seems to give him unconsciouslythe language, the bearing, the
countenance only to be gotfrom heavenly thoughts.
You must accustomyourselfto seek Him with the simplicity of a child, with a
tender familiarity and a confidence acceptable to so loving a Father.1 [Note:
Fénelon.]
In a grown man the direct and negative simplicity of a child is childishness;
yet though he may not and cannot become a child, to become in some measure
childlike, to make himself reflexly and positively what he was whenNature
first gave him into his own hands, is the scope ofall rightly directed moral
endeavour. Normally, his first exercise ofliberty is to shatter this simplicity to
atoms; to go as far as may be from his infancy; to break up and explore the
infinite possibilities of his nature. His subsequent task is to return homeward,
to reconstructfreely, consciously, appreciatively, whathe has shattered; to
consentunderstandingly to God’s designs in his regard. This is the law of all
moral and spiritual life.1 [Note:Father Tyrrell.]
9. Was it simply their Attractiveness?—The young do not know how deep an
interest, how warm an affection, how keena sympathy they always attract
from those who are older. They do not know how strong is the desire which
older people feelto make them happy, to win their affection, to guide them
right. They do not know the pleasure which they give when they seempleased,
when they show affection, when they show nobleness, or truth, or
unselfishness of character. Whena man has grownto manhood there cannot
be the same interest in him unless he is a personalfriend. He is bound to see to
himself. He cannot be helped in the same way. And God accordinglyhas not
unlockedall hearts to him, as He has to those who are younger. But the young
are eversurrounded by those who long for their welfare, whose delight is to
see them delighted, whose hope is to see their happiness resting on a sure

foundation. Canthere be any other time of life when it will be easierto let
right feelings and warm-heartedsimplicity rule the soul than while much of
the childlike characterstill remains, and the tenderness of God is still
reflectedall around in the yearning goodwishes of older friends?
10. Or was it, last of all, the powers that lay hidden in the child?—It was not
only the winning beauty of the little children that held Jesus. He saw in them
the pledges and most striking emblems of the greatEmpire of God. “Heaven
lies about us in our infancy.” “Thou bestPhilosopher!” “Mighty Prophet!”
“Seerblest!” says Wordsworth, in his “Intimations of Immortality.” Lofty
language to apply to a little child, and yet all and more is containedin the
simple words, “Ofsuch is the kingdom of God.”
Who is He in all the world who does most for us? Think of the greatworld
with all its roar and traffic and eagercrowd;think of all the interests that
busy and concernmen. There are the thinkers who think, and the artists who
bless us with beauty, and the poets who sing. There are those who enrich us
with the luxuries of life, and those who toil for its comfort and necessities. But
who does most for us? He does most who brings to the heart a new accession
of love—oflove that subdues all the thought and aim of the life;—that uplifts
its little common round into a thing purged of its selfishness and made
beautiful by thought of others. If that be so, then let the world make room for
the apostle oflove—the little child.1 [Note:M. G. Pearse.]
The Little Children
STUDYLIGHTRESOURCES

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
But when Jesus saw it,.... Observedthat his disciples reproved those that
brought their children to, him,
he was much displeased;with his disciples, who took too much upon them; for
they ought first, to have known their master's will; whether it was his pleasure
to grant the favour desiredfor these children, and not to have forbid them of
themselves:
and said unto them; the disciples, as the Persic versionreads:
suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is
the kingdom of God; or "of them who" are, ‫ךיא‬ ‫,ןילה‬ "as these", as the Syriac
version, renders the words; or, as the Arabic, who "are like to these";and the
Persic, who are "like to these little children"; in innocence and humility; See
Gill on Matthew 19:14.
Robertson's WordPictures in the New Testament
He was moved with indignation (ηγανακτησεν— ēganaktēsen). In Mark
alone. The word is ingressive aorist, became indignant, and is a strong word of
deep emotion (from αγαν — aganand αχτομαι — achthomai to feelpain).
Already in Matthew 21:15; Matthew 26:8. Old and common word.
Suffer the little children to come unto me (απετε τα παιδια ερχεσται προς με
— aphete ta paidia erchesthaipros me). Mark has the infinitive ερχεσται —
erchesthai(come)not in Matthew, but in Luke. Surely it ought to be a joy to
parents to bring their children to Jesus, certainlyto allow them to come, but
to hinder their coming is a crime. There are parents who will have to give
answerto God for keeping their children away from Jesus.
Wesley's ExplanatoryNotes

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.
Jesus seeing it was much displeased — At their blaming those who were not
blame worthy: and endeavouring to hinder the children from receiving a
blessing.
Of such is the kingdom of God— The members of the kingdom which I am
come to set up in the world are such as these, as well as grown persons, of a
child-like temper.
The Fourfold Gospel
But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation1, and said unto them,
Suffer the little children to come unto me; forbid them not: for to such
belongeththe kingdom of God2.
But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation. Jesus was indignant at
the disciples'officious interference.
Suffer the little children to come unto me; forbid them not: for to such
belongeththe kingdom of God. Jesus directedthat the children be brought to
him, declaring at the same time that the kingdom be composed, notof little
children, but of such as are childlike in their nature.
James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary
THE FRIEND FOR LITTLE CHILDREN
‘Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is
the kingdom of God.’
Mark 10:14

This is inexpressibly touching; it is one of the most beautiful passages in the
life of our BlessedLord.
I. Jesus loves little children.—Rightly has the Church inserted this narrative
into her service for the Public Baptism of Infants as her warrant for the
dedication of children unto the Lord. If Jesus says, ‘Sufferlittle children to
come unto Me, and forbid them not,’ who shall gainsayHis word?
There are those, unhappily, who from prejudice or ignorance make the
Christian Church less merciful even than the JewishChurch, and whereas in
the latter the little ones were brought within the covenant of Israelon the
eighth day, refuse the same privilege to the children of the Gospel
Dispensation, and leave them outside the fold of the visible Church, until such
time as in after years they seek the baptism which has been denied them in
their infancy. Of course suchpeople do not mean to be unkind or cruel to
their children, but unkind and cruel they are nevertheless.
(a) Is it not a comfort to you to think that you have already dedicated your
children to Christ?
(b) See that you keepyour little ones in a sense oftheir responsibility as God’s
dear children in adoption and grace.
(c) Do we not seemto see a specialProvidence watching overlittle children?
They are so surrounded by peril and danger, they are so weak and helpless,
that unless God did especiallywatchover their tender years they would never
come safelythrough their infancy.
II. The entrance to the Kingdom.—We must enter the Kingdom of God as
little children, or not at all. We are to be little children in
(a) Our faith.
(b) Our understanding of our weakness.
(c) Our simplicity.
(d) Our innocence and purity.

As the agedservants of God grow old they likewise grow young, like little
children in thought and feeling, because they are ripening for the Kingdom of
Heaven.
Illustration
‘In one of the wards of a children’s hospital was lying a little boy. He had met
with a fearful accidentthat shattered his frame, and causedhim such terrible
anguish that he had no rest night or day. All around him were lying on their
tiny beds his little companions in suffering. A strange fatality seemedto hang
over the hospital at that time, and one by one the children were called away
by the MessengerofDeath. One evening this boy was heard talking to a little
girl who was lying in the next bed: “I cannot bear this pain any longer. Jesus
goes up and down the ward and calls other children to Himself, and yet He
always passesme by. I want to go to Him so much; I am in such pain that I
wish to be at rest. To-night I shall hold up my hand, so that when Jesus comes
He may see that I want to go to Him.” The night closedin, and the ward was
quiet and dark. At the break of day the sister in charge made her rounds to
see whether any of the children stoodin need of her. When she came to this
poor boy’s bed, there was a thin, white hand held up above the clothes, and on
turning down the sheetthe little wan face was seenat rest in the sleep of
death. He had signalledto Jesus, andthe Lord had seenhis faith and had
takenhim to Himself.’
(SECOND OUTLINE)
CHILD-RESCUE
Our Lord’s estimate of the worth of the children, and the part which they
played in His ministry, ought to restrain the violence rained upon those whom
Wordsworthfelicitously describes as coming from God—
On trailing clouds of glory do they come
From God Who is their home.
In contrastto the Master’s love for these little ones, picture in your mind the
unutterable horror of sinning againstthem, of offending those who have

angels in heaven. That there is a crying need for the work of child-rescue is a
sad blot upon our Christian land. Child-rescue is—
I. A work for the Lord.—Those who rescue the children from the reeling
masquerade of life, from the coagulatedscumof humanity, are acting in
beautiful obedience to the command of our Lord: ‘Suffer the little children to
come unto Me.’
II. A work for the nation.—The children are the people of the future. Try to
graspthe numerical proportion of children to the total population. Child-life
has been very strikingly calledby a French bishop ‘the continuous recreation
of the Fatherland.’ In the children the people of the immediate future are ever
pressing forward. There is a ceaseless onwardmovement as the vacantplaces
are in regular order occupiedby those that follow after.
III. A work for eternity.—Once more, the labour is not only for earth, but for
heaven; not only for time, but for eternity. If the evil men do lives after them,
equally so the good. In the case ofchildren the instruction imparted, the
influence of a holy life, will live and bear fruit not only for days and for years,
but for time and eternity. Are not the words of the greatAmerican orator,
Daniel Webster, worthy of citation? ‘If we work upon marble it will perish; if
we work upon bronze time will efface it; if we build temples they will crumble
into dust; but if we work upon immortal souls, if we imbue them with just
principles of action, with love of right and fear of wrong, we engrave on these
tablets something which no time can obliterate, and these will brighten and
brighten throughout eternity.’
Rev. E. Synnott.
Illustrations
(1) ‘Some of you may have seenthe celebratedclock in Strasburg Cathedral.
Every day in the week is representedby the figure of a particular animal. As
you look at this marvellous mechanism towards the evening of one day you
can see alreadythe head of the succeeding emblematic figure of the next day
appearing. So it is with the children of a people.’
(2) ‘Who bids for the little children,

Body and soul and brain;
Who bids for the little children,
Young and without a stain?
Will no one bid, says England,
For these souls so pure and white,
And fit for all goodor evil,
That the world in their page may write?
‘Oh, shame, saidtrue religion,
Oh, shame, that this should be;
I’ll take the little children,
I’ll take them all to me.
I’ll raise them up with kindness
From the mire in which they trod;
I’ll teachthem words of blessing,
I’ll leadthem up to God.’
John Trapp Complete Commentary
14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and saidunto them, Suffer
the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the
kingdom of God.

Ver. 14. For of such is the kingdom of God] As oft, therefore, as we see an
infant, let us think that a teacheris given us of God, Psalms 131:1-2.
Greek TestamentCriticalExegeticalCommentary
14.]We can hardly read our Lord’s solemn saying, without seeing that it
reaches further than the mere then present occasion. It might one day become
a question whether the new Christian covenantof repentance and faith could
take in the unconscious infant, as the old covenant did:—whether when Jesus
was no longer on earth, little children might be brought to Him, dedicated to
his service, and made partakers of his blessing? Nay, in the pride of the
human intellect, this question was sure one day to be raised:and our Lord
furnishes the Church, by anticipation, with an answerto it for all ages. Not
only may the little infants be brought to Him,—but in order for us who are
mature to come to Him, we must castawayall that wherein our maturity has
causedus to differ from them, and become LIKE THEM. Notonly is Infant
Baptism justified, but it is (abstractedlyconsidered;—not as to preparation
for it, which from the nature of the case is precluded) the NORMAL
PATTERN OF ALL BAPTISM none can enter God’s kingdom, exceptas an
infant. In adult baptism, the exceptionalcase (see above), we strive to secure
that state of simplicity and childlikeness, which in the infant we have ready
and undoubted to our hands.
Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament
Mark 10:14. ἠγανάκτησε, was much displeased)on accountof the obstruction
thrown in the wayof His love by the disciples.— τοιούτωνἐστὶν, of such is) Of
such as these, it is [to such belongs]the privilege to receive the kingdom of
God, Mark 10:15.
Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament

Jesus saw it; saw that the disciples disapproved of children being brought to
him for his blessing.
Of such is the kingdom of God; both in this world and in heaven. Matthew
3:2.
Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools andColleges
14. ἠγανάκτησεν. Was much displeased(A.V.); cf. Mark 10:41, Mark 14:4;
Luke 13:14; Matthew 26:8. Another instance of human emotionin Christ; see
on Mark 3:5. He was indignant that His disciples should put such a limit on
His love and His work as to exclude children. In a smaller degree it was a
repetition of the error of Peter(Mark 8:32). Peterwished to keepHim from
future suffering and death; the disciples now wish to keepHim from present
trouble and fatigue. Like the records of their terror at the storm, their
misunderstanding about the leaven, their powerlessnessin dealing with the
demoniac boy, and their disputing about the first place, this narrative
illustrates the candour of the Evangelists in telling what is not to the credit of
the Apostles.
Ἄφετε, μὴ κωλύετε. See crit. note. Mt. and Lk. weakenthe sharp decisive
commands by inserting a connecting καί betweenthem. “Allow them; cease to
forbid them” (cf. Mark 9:39) is doubtless nearer to the original utterance. We
have similarly expressive instances ofshort, unconnected sentences, Mark
1:27, Mark 2:7, Mark 6:38, and of short, unconnectedrebukes, Mark 4:39-40,
Mark 8:17-18, Mark 9:19.
τῶν γὰρ τοιούτων. His, qui similem haberent innocentiam et simplicitatem,
praemium promittit (Bede, from Jerome). This, like ἄφετε and μὴ κωλύετε, is
in all three. The gen. is possessive;Forto such belongs the Kingdom of God.
The disciples were trying to keepfrom the Son of God some of those who were
the most fit to be admitted to His presence. The end and aim of His work was
to bring people into the Kingdom, and His ministers were turning most
promising candidates away. Various writers point out that Jesus says

τοιούτων, notτούτων, to show that it is simple characterthat counts and not
tender years.
PeterPett's Commentary on the Bible
‘But when Jesus saw it he was indignant and saidto them, “Allow the little
children to come to me. Do not forbid them. For of such is the Kingly Rule of
God.”
Jesus’response to His disciples’ behaviour was indignation. He had already
pointed out to them that to receive such little children was to receive God
Himself (Mark 9:37) for in their relative freedom from prejudice, and coming
with faith in their hearts, they were His representatives onearth. They were
open to receiving the truth as no others were. And now the disciples were
turning awayHis opportunity to receive the representatives of His Father.
How foolish they were. Perhaps they had thought that when He had said it
previously, it was just an illustration and that He had not meant it.
‘Of such is the Kingly Rule of God.’ (Or ‘the Kingly Rule of God belongs to
such as these’). The powerful and the important and the learned were not
responding to His Kingly Rule (1 Corinthians 1:26). It was those who humbled
themselves and became as little children who were responding. It was those
who came with nothing but their need. And children were thus prime
candidates to respond. The Kingly Rule of God was made up of such as these,
and they therefore had a God-givenright to it, and it was theirs. So they must
not be refused the opportunity to meet the One Who would be their King, for
in their innocence they had the right. Who knew what a difference this might
make to their future lives?
Comparisonmay be made with Luke 11:9-13. There asking for the Holy Spirit
is likened to a child asking its father for some simple thing. The child comes
simply with its need and the father supplies abundantly. So should men seek
to receive the Holy Spirit, as simply as a child receives a gift from its Father.

Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mark 10:14. Much displeased, i.e., atthe rebuke of the disciples. Peculiarto
Mark. Some sign of displeasure was probably on His countenance. How
careful we should be not to call forth His displeasure, by keeping children
from Him, be cause we are speculating on high themes about marriage and
divorce.
The Expositor's Greek Testament
Mark 10:14. ἠγανάκτησε, “wasmovedwith indignation” (R. V(91)) is too
strong, “was much displeased” (A. V(92)) is better, “was annoyed” is better
still (“wardunwillig,” Weizsäcker).— μὴ κωλύετε, καὶ of T. R. before μὴ is
much better left out: suffer them to come;do not hinder them; an expressive
asyndeton. This saying is the main point in the story for the evangelist, hence
the imperfects in Mark 10:13. It is another lessonfor the still spiritually crude
disciples.
George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
we are possessedof the innocence and purity of little children, we cannot enter
the kingdom of heaven. By the kingdom of heaven, we may here understand
the truths of the gospel;for as a child never contradicts its teachers, nor
opposes to them vain reasonings and empty words, but faithfully and readily
receives their instructions, and with fear obeys them; so must we implicitly
obey, and without any, the least, opposition, receive the word of the Lord.
(Ven. Bede)
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes
much displeased= indignant.
the kingdom of God. See App-114

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(14) He was much displeased.—The word, as used by our Lord, is peculiar to
St. Mark;St. Matthew uses it of the disciples (Matthew 20:24;Matthew 26:8)
and of the chief priests (Matthew 21:15).
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Jesus Blessing The Little Children: A Children's Sermon
Mark 10:13-16
A.F. Muir
One of the scenesin the life of the Savior which illustrate most strongly and
beautifully the genius of the gospel. The imagination loves to dwell upon it,
and the heart is its best interpreter. There is, so to speak, a climax in the
action.
I. LITTLE CHILDREN ARE ATTRACTED TO JESUS. There must have
been something in the aspect, etc.. He of the Saviorwhich drew the little ones
and their mothers to his side. Christianity differs from the systems of idolatry
in presenting us with One whom we instinctively can love. A little girl, when
askedwhy she thought Jesus must have smiled, said, "He must have smiled
when he said, 'Suffer little children,' etc.. He else they would never have
come!" A chief objectof preaching and living the gospelis to exhibit this
charm.
II. LITTLE CHILDREN ARE INVITED TO JESUS. HOW many people
won't come to a place unless they think they are welcome, andtherefore they

expectan invitation. Now, when the disciples thought that their Masterwas
too engrossedwith high thoughts and important affairs to attend to the
children, they took it upon themselves to send them away. This was not done
through unkindness, but simply through a mistake. Christ correctedthe
mistake, and deliberately invited the little children. That proves-does it not? -
in the strongestwaythat he intends them to come to him. But Jesus does more
than invite.
III. LITTLE CHILDREN ARE CLAIMED BY JESUS. "Forof such is the
kingdom of heaven." That means that little children are very near to him
already. They are really in his kingdom, and he is their King. He has a greater
right, therefore, to their obedience and service and society, than father or
mother, or brother or sister. When little children are goodand loving they are
with Jesus, and it is only when they do or think what is wrong that they go
awayfrom him. And all who come into his kingdom have to come in as little
children, i.e. they are to be childlike - simple, loving, trustful, and obedient.
IV. LITTLE CHILDREN ARE BLESSED BYJESUS. He took them in his
arms and embracedthem. But he also put his hands on them, and gave them
his Father's blessing. How greata thing did the Jews think a blessing was!Let
us try and live so that we shall at last getthe blessing Christ has in store for
us. Do you love to be with Jesus?Do you do whateverhe commands you?
Then you are a subjectof his kingdom, and a child of grace;and hereafter you
will share his glory. - M.

Biblical Illustrator
And they brought young children to Him.
Mark 10:13-16
Bringing children to Jesus
A. Watson, D. D.
We know what it was to bring a little child to Jesus whenHe was on earth; we
may ask what it is now, and wherein the difference consists.
I. IN REGARD TO THE CHILDREN THEMSELVES. It is a common
expressionon the lips of goodpeople to bid children to "come to Jesus." This
cannot mean exactly the same as when Jesus was sitting in the house. The
child saw Jesus with his bodily eye, might mark the kindly light in it, and be
encouragedby the kindly smile that played around His lips. There could not
be in the children on that day anything like what we now calla spiritual
feeling, any doubts or difficulties as to what was meant by coming to Jesus. In
more advanced years the notion of what is spiritual may be gradually
developed in the mind, but in the tender time of childhood, religious ideas
should be presentedto children in forms that are true and natural to them.
Let them feelthat they are the children of the greatunseen Father; that they
have a Saviour and Friend; but beware how you mix up with that religious
teaching a philosophy of human invention. Children are patterns of
simplicity; do not reverse this picture.
II. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BRINGING A CHILD IN
CHRIST'S DAY TO JESUS AND BRINGING HIM NOW? What is the
difference to the child himself, and what to the parents? At that time the
parents saw whether the child was accepted;saw Christ bless the child; it was

a matter of sight, not of faith. Now it is matter of faith. One would like to
know the ground of the rebuke administered by the disciples. Perhaps the
parents were interrupting the teaching of Christ, or the disciples thought that
the placing of Christ's hands on the children could do them no good. The
objections of modern disciples are of the same nature. The action of Christ, as
well as His words, is a rebuke to such. He does not say, "Take these children
hence, they can getno good from Me. Bring them to Me when they can
express assentto My teaching." His words tell us that before the age of
understanding God can do the child good. What is meant by "receiving the
kingdom of God as a little child"? There are elements of a child's life which
cannot be continued in the life of manhood; but there are outstanding
characteristicsofchildhood which must be seenin those who receive the
kingdom of God.
1. He refers to naturalness, truthfulness, or single-mindedness, as opposedto
the spirit of artifice or duplicity. The child's nature comes out, unmindful of
pain or pleasure to others, he speaks whatis in him. His mind is a perfect
mirror, throwing back all that falls on it, and he is utterly unconscious ofany
wish to give an undue colouring to his feelings or desires, he does not pretend
to like what he hates; to believe what he does not believe; he is true to himself.
Whosoeverwouldreceive the kingdom of God as a little child must be true to
nature, the new nature, and be simple and sincere. How much more
straightforwardwould the path be to the kingdom, and in the kingdom, if men
would only renounce the crookedpolicy which they learn in the world.
2. The element of trust.
(A. Watson, D. D.)
Children welcomedto Christ
J. Vaughan, M. A.
I. The danger of sin standing in the way of children coming to Christ. Few
persons ale aware of the extent to which children, even very young children's
minds, are capable of being affected, prejudiced, distorted, by the

conversationwhich they hear. Children cannotbalance and dismiss a subject
as you do. It has fallen with fearful impression. But some castobstaclesless
offensively, but perhaps more dangerously. They render religion repulsive to
children. Where is that cheerfulness which a child loves, and in which real
religion always consists?Whatought to come as a pleasure you force as a
duty: you are severe whenyou ought to be encouraging;abstractwhen you
should be practical.
II. THE DUTY OF BRINGING CHILDREN TO CHRIST. Impressions made
in childhood are sure to creepout in after life. Let them feelthat at any point
of life they have to do with Jesus. Your child has told a lie. Tell him, "Jesus is
Truth." This is leading him to Christ.
III. WE OURSELVES MUST BE LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN. Be quite a
child, and you will soonbe quite a saint.
(J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The Saviour's invitation to little children
J. H. Norton, D. D.
Why does the Saviour show such tender affectionfor children?
1. Becausethey have a confiding trust in God.
2. Becausethey have a holy fearof God.
3. Becausethey have no false shame.
4. Becausethey have the spirit of humility.
5. Becausethey have the spirit of love.
(J. H. Norton, D. D.)
The child's gospel

J. H. Norton, D. D.
"O mother," said a little girl, on returning from church, and running into her
mother's sick room, "I have heard the child's gospeltoday!" It was the very
part which I am now preaching about. Another, about seven years old, heard
the same passagereadwhen she was near death, and, as her sister closedthe
book, the little sick one said, "How kind! I shall soongo to Jesus. He will take
me up in His arms, and bless me, too!" The sistertenderly kissedher, and
asked, "Do you love me, dearest? Yes," she answered, "but, don't be angry, I
love Jesus more."
Parentallove
J. H. Norton, D. D.
The poet Lamartine, in alluding to his father and mother, says, "I remember
once to have seenthe branch of a willow, which had been torn by the
tempest's hands from the parent trunk, floating in the morning light upon the
angry surges of the overflowing Saone. Onit a female nightingale coveredher
nest, as it drifted down the foaming stream; and the male on the wing followed
the wreck whichwas bearing awaythe objectof his love." Beautiful
illustration, indeed, of the tender affectionof parents for their children. Much,
however, as father and mother love their offspring, there is One whose
feelings towards them are infinitely strongerand more enduring. I hardly
need explain that I refer to our adorable Saviour.
The sin of keeping back children from Christ
H. Melvill, B. D.
I. It should be noted carefully that the parties who objectedto the bringing
little children to Christ were not Scribes and Pharisees,the unbelieving Jews

who recognizednothing Divine in the mission of our Lord, BUT ACTUALLY
HIS DISCIPLES. Theyperhaps consideredit entailing unnecessaryfatigue on
their Master, that He should have to receive the young as wellas the old; or
that no sufficient end was to be answeredby bringing little children to Christ.
They would have understood the use of bringing a lame child to Him, though
too young to exercise faith; but they had no idea of a child in bodily health
deriving any advantage from contactwith Christ. The parents judged better
than the disciples. Knowing that by God's express command the rite of
circumcisionwas administered to infants, they concluded, as we may suppose,
that infancy of itself was no disqualification for a religious privilege, and that
if there was anything spiritual in the mission of Christ, it might be
communicated to the young as well as the old. If we delay religious
instruction, under the idea that it is too difficult or too abstruse for a very
young mind, are we not acting in much the same wayas the disciples? In after
life there is no greaterimpediment to religion than the want of proper habits
of self-discipline and control. It may therefore be justly considered, that
whatevertends to the forming such habits facilitates the coming to our Lord
for His blessing. Then, what want of faith is there in the education of children.
Parents are actually suspicious of the Bible, even when desirous of instilling its
truths into their children. They run to goodbooks to make the Bible easyand
amusing, whose business it is to dilute and simplify the Word, ridding it of
mysteries, and adapting it to juvenile understandings. But this is virtually
withholding the children from Christ. Remember that for the most part what
is mystery to a child is to a man. If I strive to make intelligible what ought to
be left mysterious, I do but nourish in the child the notion of his being
competent to understand all truth, and prepare him for being disgusted if he
finds himself in riper years called upon to submit reasonto faith. Do not let it
seemto you a harsh accusation— consider it well, and you will have to
confess it grounded upon truth — that whensoeverthere is dilatoriness in
commencing the correctionof tempers, which too plainly prove the corruption
of nature, or the substitution of other modes of instruction for the Bible itself,
or any indication, more or less direct, of a feeling that there must be
something intermediate, that children are not yet ready for the being brought
actually to the Saviour, we identify your case with that of our Lord's disciples,

who, when some soughtfor infants the benediction of Christ, rashly and
wrongfully "rebukedthose that brought them."
II. But now let us mark more particularly OUR BLESSED LORD'S
CONDUCT, IN REGARD TO THE CHILDREN and those who would have
kept them from Him. When he observedthe endeavour of the disciples to
prevent the children being brought, you read that "He was much displeased."
The original word marks great indignation. It is used on one or two other
occasions in the New Testament, when very strong feelings were excited. For
example, "Whenthe chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that
He did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna, to the Son
of David, they were sore displeased:" it is the same Greek word. Again: on the
occasionofthe woman's pouring on Christ's head an alabasterbox of very
precious ointment, "when His disciples saw it, they had indignation — the
same word — saying, To what purpose is this waste?" Theseinstancesshow
you that the word denotes a very high degree of dissatisfaction, angerbeing
more excited than sorrow, as though the thing done were speciallyoffensive
and criminal. It is never againused in connectionwith Christ; Christ is never
againsaid to have been "much" or "sorelydispleased." On the occasionof
having little children kept from Him, bat on no other occasion, did Christ
show Himself "sorelydispleased." Whatan indication of His willingness to
receive little children! What a declarationas to the duty of bringing to Him
little children; and the sinfulness, in any measure or on any account, of
withholding them from Him! And, perhaps, many children would go to
Christ, if they were but suffered to go. Christ draws their young hearts;but
how often are serious thoughts discouragedin children! How little advantage
is takenof indications of youthful piety! Then, again, what inconsistencies
they perceive in those around them! and who quicker than children in
detecting inconsistencies?Theyare as sharp-sightedin their discernment of
the faults of their superiors, as if they had been born critics, or bred up for
censors. Butinconsistencieswill stop them, just when they might be
determining on taking the first steptowards Christ; and we do not "suffer"
them to go, if by anything in our example we interfere with their going,
putting some sort of hindrance — and it need not be a high one for young feet
to stumble at. Yea, and we may actually "forbid them." This is our Lord's

next expression;and it indicates more active opposition than when He only
requires us to suffer. Evidently the worldly-minded parent or instructor
forbids the children from coming to Christ, when he discountenances any
religious tendency; when he manifests his fear of a young personbecoming too
serious, too fond of reading the Bible, too disposedto avoid gayamusements,
and cultivate the societyof such as care for the soul. This is the more open sort
of forbidding. Notbut what there is a yet more open: when children or young
persons are actually prevented from what they are inclined to do in the matter
of religion, and forcedinto scenes andassociationswhich they feel to be
wrong. It is not thus, however, that "disciples" — any who may be parallel
with those to whom our Lord addressedHis remonstrance — are likely to
prevent little children. But are there no other ways of forbidding? Indeed, a
young mind is very easilydiscouraged;more especiallyin such a thing as
religion, towards which it needs every possible help, and from which it may be
said to have a natural swerving. A look will be enough; the slightesthint; nay,
even silence will have the force of a prohibition. There may be needed a stern
command to withhold from an indulgence, but a mere glance ofthe eye may
withhold from a duty. Not to encourage, may be virtually to forbid. The child
sooncatches this; he soondetects the superior anxiety which the parent
exhibits for his progress in what is calledlearning, the comparative coldness
as to his progress in piety. He quickly becomes aware ofthe eye being lit up
with greaterpleasure at an indication of talent, than at a sign of devotion. And
thus the child is practically"forbidden" to come to Christ. He is practically
told that there is something preferable to his coming to Christ.
(H. Melvill, B. D.)
Of such is the kingdom of God
T. Guthrie, D. D.
Perhaps God does with His heavenly gardenas we do with our own. He may
chiefly stock it from nurseries, and selectfortransplanting what is yet in its
young and tender age — flowers before they have bloomed, the trees ere they
begin to bear.

(T. Guthrie, D. D.)
The conversionof little children
S. S. Portwin.
1. Becausethey are not too young to do wrong.
2. Becausethe regenerationof children or adults is the work of the Holy
Spirit.
3. Becausepiety is a matter of the heart, rather than of the intellect.
4. Specialexamples found in God's Word.
5. It is a pleasing confirmation of our faith in very early piety to observe the
many instances within our own observationof the conversionof young
children, and of their teachable spirit with reference to religion.
(S. S. Portwin.)
The love of Christ to
Anon.
children: —
I. It is very old.
II. It is all-embracing.
III. It is all-sufficing.
(Anon.)
Teachers warnedagainstimpeding children's salvation
J. Sherman.

The impediments which teachers throw in the way of children coming to
Jesus.
I. INADEQUATE PIETY.
II. INCOMPETENTKNOWLEDGEofthe gospel.
1. Your knowledge must spring from faith.
2. It must be derived from scripture.
III. INJUDICIOUS MODES OF INSTRUCTION.
1. Loading the memory with scripture without explanation.
2. Lengthened addresses inwhich children take no part.
IV. AN IMPROPERSPIRIT.
1. Impatience.
2. Pride.
3. Selfishness.
V. INCONSISTENTCONDUCT.
1. Want of punctuality.
2. Gossiping.
(J. Sherman.)
Jesus and children
Dr. McAuslane.
1. The text teaches that Jesus is attractive to children.
2. That Christ takes a deep interest in children.
3. Jesus prays for children.

4. Jesus wishes children to be happy, and they could not be that without
pardon.
5. There are a greatmany children in heaven.
(Dr. McAuslane.)
Jesus and children
H. R. Haweis, M. A.
There was one thing about Jesus which no one could fall to notice — His great
popularity with children. A certainfulness of humanity always seems to
attract children. In Jesus this constitutedan irresistible attraction. They ran
after Him — they clung to Him — they shouted for Him. His must have been
a joyous presence. Differentfrom your sour-facedPuritan (who has his merits
notwithstanding): your dried-up theologian(who is needful, too, in season):
your emaciatedascetic(whose protestagainstsensualityis sometimes
necessaryand even noble). I think this power of attracting and interesting the
little ones is one of the hallmarks of goodmen. The children's unspoiled
natures seemto cling to unspoiled souls — as like cleaves to like. "They
brought young children to Christ." Ah! there was no need of that, for they
came to Him of their ownaccord— nor did He ever repulse them. How shall
we bring the children to Christ — how shall we win them to love and follow
Him? The best way of bringing our children to Christ is by being Christ-like
ourselves. Let them see in us nothing but His kindness, wisdom, strength,
tenderness, and sympathy, and they will learn to love their religion, and grow
close to Jesus, as in the days when "He took them up in His arms, laid His
hands upon them, and blessedthem."
(H. R. Haweis, M. A.)
Christ's sympathy for childhood
Eggleston.

Jesus was the first great teacherof men who showeda genuine sympathy for
childhood — perhaps the only teacherof antiquity who caredfor childhood as
such. Plato treats of children and their games, but he treats them from the
standpoint of a publicist. They are elements not to be left out in constructing
society. Children, in Plato's eyes, are not to be neglected, because childrenwill
inevitably come to be men and women. But Jesus was the first who loved
childhood for its own sake. In the earlierstages ofcivilization it is the main
endeavour of men to get awayfrom childhood. It represents immaturity of
body and mind, ignorance and folly. The ancients esteemedit their first duty
to put awaychildish things. It was Jesus who, seeking to bring about a new
and higher development of character, perceivedthat there were elements in
childhood to be preserved in the highest manhood; that a man must, indeed,
setback againtowards the innocence and simplicity of childhood if he would
be truly a man. Until Jesus Christ, the world had no place for childhood in its
thoughts. When He said, "Of such is the kingdom of God," it was a revelation.
(Eggleston.)
Bring the children to the Saviour
In a Chinese Christian family at Amoy, a little boy, the youngest of the three
children, on asking his father to allow him to be baptized, was told that he was
too young; that he might return to heathenism, if he made a professionof
religion when he was only a little boy. To this he made the following touching
reply: — "Jesus has promisedto carry the lambs in His arms. I am only a
little boy; it will be easierfor Jesus to carry me." This was too much for the
father; he took him with him, and the dear child was ere long baptized. The
whole family, of which this child is the youngestmember, belong now to the
mission church at Amoy.
The Saviour's love for children reciprocated
A little girl, betweensix and sevenyears of age, when on her death bed, seeing
her eldestsisterwith a Bible in her hand, askedher to read this passage

Jesus was a friend of children

Jesus was a friend of children

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