originally published 9/29/19
People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. (Mark 10:13-16)
We have a special service today in which we will pray a blessing over several new babies among us. It’s important that we realize that we are simply asking Jesus to do something that He has always loved to do. The story quoted above from Mark 10 shows Jesus with a welcoming embrace for all those children who were brought to Him by their parents. Today we can expect the same reaction from our gentle Lord.
There is a special teaching for the rest of us as well. As we watch these children receive a blessing today, we would do well to remember Jesus’ teaching that the kingdom of God belongs to people like these little ones. There are so many ideas Jesus could have had in mind when He uttered those words. There are so many traits common to children that we should emulate, but there is one that I want to encourage us to keep in mind today.
As a child comes wanting and expecting to be blessed by Jesus, may we so come to Jesus today. May we come wanting and expecting a blessing ourselves. May we come with no payment in our hands, with nothing to prove our merit. May we come expecting to be blessed simply because we believe He is good enough, loving enough to bless even messed up people like us. May we come wanting a blessing spoken over us by Jesus because we believe that there is no one else who can offer any blessing that compares to His. If we come like this, then we will surely be receiving the kingdom as a child. And as we watch these babies be brought before the throne of Jesus, we can rest assured that He will receive and bless us, too.