Passage: Mark 10:13-16

The Big Idea

When parents brought their children to Jesus, the disciples tried to send them away, and Jesus was indignant. He took the children in His arms, laid His hands on them and blessed them. Jesus teaches two valuable truths here: we should bring our kids to Him, and we should learn about His kingdom from them. Children aren’t sinless, but they’re helpless and trusting, and that’s exactly how the kingdom is received: with humility and faith. And Jesus’ response to humility and faith is always the same. He gives grace.

Discipleship in Five Parts

Mark 10 divides into five major sections on discipleship:

Marriage (10:1-12)
Children (10:13-16)
Possessions (10:17-31)
Service (10:32-45)
Faith (10:46-52)

Last time we looked at marriage and God’s heart of faithful love in our marriages. Now we come to children, and our Savior’s love and concern for them is crystal clear.

Jesus teaches two valuable truths about the little ones He loves:

We should bring kids to Him.
We should learn about God and His kingdom from them!

And at the end, we’ll look at a question many people carry: do children who die go to heaven?

How Do You See Children?

Some honest questions:

How do you view children? As a burden? A blessing? Your property? Your reputation? Little hobbits, or little orcs?
Do we have the heart of Jesus for kids?
How do we act around them?
Dads, do you make time for your kids and get down on their level?

Here’s a story. A six-year-old boy kept telling his first-grade teacher about the baby brother or sister expected at his house. One day his mom let him feel the baby moving. He was obviously impressed, but said nothing, and he stopped talking about the baby at school. Finally his teacher asked, “Tommy, whatever happened to that baby brother or sister you were expecting?” Tommy burst into tears and said, “I think Mommy ate it!”

1. Bring Kids to Jesus (Mark 10:13-14)

People were bringing little children to Jesus so He would touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw it, He was indignant and said, “Let the little children come to Me; don’t hinder them.”

Heart question: are you like the parents who brought their kids to Jesus, or like the disciples who had no time for “babysitting”?
The disciples thought they were too important for kids.
May we turn from that kind of selfishness: giving our time only to people who can do something for us, or people we enjoy.
The parents in this story are our example. They loved their kids enough to bring them to Jesus.

So how can we love and lead our kids to Jesus?

A gospel-saturated home. It’s not about what I do, but about what Jesus did for me. That message brings life and change to hearts. It’s the seed planted in the heart.
Discipleship at home. Learning together what the Bible says and how to live a humble life that depends on Jesus.
A prayer-filled home. Kids don’t become good at prayer by themselves. Show them how to pray with passion, humility and faith.
Encourage them to live for God’s kingdom, not their own.
Believe they’ll do something great for God’s kingdom, and tell them so.
Be obsessed with God’s grace.
Give them to God, totally and completely, for His will and way in their lives, no matter what.
Give them time.

All of these are faith activities that bring our kids to Jesus. He does the work we so desperately want done.

2. Learn from Kids (Mark 10:14b-15)

“For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I tell you, whoever doesn’t receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Jesus says kids picture something huge we must understand about God’s kingdom.

What is it? It’s not their innocence. They’re little sinners, just like we’re big sinners. It’s not their purity, sweetness or cuteness. They have the same sinful nature we do.

As Warren Wiersbe has pointed out, we tell children to act like adults, but Jesus tells adults to become like children!

So what is it about children?

They’re helpless. No strength, no ability, not developed, not mature, needy. That’s humility, and it’s how we receive the kingdom.

They’re trusting. Children trust that you’ll take care of them. Whether in Haiti, Thailand or America, kids seem to know that life is better when they’re held in someone’s arms. They value that safety more than independence. They have a natural inclination toward faith. And that’s how we receive the kingdom: faith.

Humility and faith. Wow!

By their trust and complete dependence on someone else, children point the way into God’s kingdom. A child can enjoy a lot while being able to explain very little. They live by trust and dependence.

3. Jesus Blesses Them (Mark 10:16)

He took them in His arms and blessed them, laying His hands on them.

Jesus shows us that His response to humility and faith is always the same: He gives grace. God gives grace to the humble (James 4:6), and through faith we have access into this grace in which we stand (Romans 5:2). Here it’s described as blessing.

This is the gospel illustrated. Jesus is tender and affectionate, and He supplies everything needed to those who come to Him in humility and faith.

He touched, picked up and held these children.
He spoke a word of blessing over them.
He placed a very high value on them.
Perhaps He even spoke of their future service in God’s kingdom.
He committed Himself to see that blessing fulfilled. The cross says it all.

Jesus has the same heart for you today.

He wants to receive and welcome you in love.
He wants to speak His love and joy over you.
He values you more than you’ll ever know.
He has a plan for your life, and He’s willing to invest in it.

What are you waiting for? Run to Him!

When Little Ones Die

What happens when children die? This question touches many hearts, often with real grief. Here are seven reasons it’s safe to believe that God welcomes them into heaven.

God’s character. This is the strongest argument. God is love (1 John 4:8), and He desires all people to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). Jesus said it isn’t the will of our Father in heaven that one of these little ones should perish (Matthew 18:14).
David’s confidence. When the infant son of David and Bathsheba died, David said, “I shall go to him, but he will not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:23). David expected to be reunited with his child.
The difference between original sin and actual sins. Scripture says that whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, sins (James 4:17). We’re all born with a sinful nature because we’re in Adam (Romans 5:12). But Scripture distinguishes that inherited nature from actual sins committed with knowledge and understanding. Infants aren’t capable of moral discernment.
Jesus’ words. Jesus said the kingdom of God belongs to little children (Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16). He’s teaching that saving faith is childlike faith, but He also seems to affirm that children are part of His kingdom.
The great multitude. Scripture says the number of the redeemed is beyond counting (Revelation 7:9). Could a large part of that multitude be the countless little ones who died before birth or in childhood?
Chosen from the womb. Scripture speaks of some being set apart by God before birth: Samuel (1 Samuel 1-2), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5) and John the Baptist (Luke 1:15). This shows God’s saving work can begin before a person can respond, and it doesn’t depend on any ritual.
Those who don’t yet know good and evil. When Israel rebelled in the wilderness, God said that generation wouldn’t enter the land. But He specifically exempted their little ones, “who today have no knowledge of good or evil”; they would go in and possess it (Deuteronomy 1:35-39). God’s judgment passed over those too young to know right from wrong.

If you’ve lost a child, the same Jesus who took little ones in His arms holds yours. And He holds you in your grief.

Grace Takeaway

The disciples thought children were an interruption, but Jesus took them in His arms and blessed them. Bring your kids to Him, and let them teach you how to come to Him too: helpless, trusting and ready to be held. That’s how anyone receives the kingdom. And Jesus’ answer to humility and faith is always the same: open arms, a hand of blessing, and grace.

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Love the Little Ones