Having just addressed God's plan for the marriage relationship, it's not surprising that Jesus then turns His attention to children. He does so in response to His disciples’ attempts to prevent children from coming to Him. Who knows why the disciples were trying to bar children's access to Jesus. It may have something to do with the way in which many viewed children at the time. Things weren't any better for children than they were for women in Jesus' day, and if you were a female child you got the worst of both worlds. In a papyrus dated June 17, 1 BC in Alexandria, a husband writes to his expectant wife who may have had the child telling her “if it was a male child, let it live; if it was a female cast it out." Such was the attitude toward children at the time. That's why it's perplexing to the disciples that Jesus would say "to such belongs the Kingdom of God." Some look at this passage and think that Jesus is referring to the innocence of children. Perhaps that is part of it, but I think the real thrust of the statement comes from fact that children enjoyed no status in the ancient world. I'm sure that in that age, as in ours, parent loved their children a great deal. But the law and society didn't grant special protections to children, protecting them from abuse and exploitative labor. As is seen from the papyrus quoted earlier, fathers even possessed the power of life and death over their children at birth. In short, children were the most vulnerable members of society.
So, why does Jesus say we must "receive" the kingdom as a child? Christ is taking the vulnerability of children and using it as a powerful illustration of our vulnerability. Children receive things not because they buy them, or because they are owed them, but because they are given them. Children are entirely dependent on their parents or guardians to supply what they need for survival. Children receive things as gracious gifts. As we grow older, we are tempted to think that we become independent of others, and maybe even independent of God. We live in a world that stresses individuality and making it on our own. By placing a little child on His knee, Jesus is reminding us that no matter how big or how old we become, in some way we never move beyond our vulnerability. When we understand how vulnerable we truly are spiritually, then we can reach out as little children and receive the kingdom of God, not because we have earned it or because it is owed to us, but because it is God's gracious gift to us.
No comments:
Post a Comment