Children were brought to Jesus that he might lay his hands on them and pray. Matthew 19:13 NABRE
Jesus is teaching and curing great crowds and children are brought to Him for an anointing. The text doesn’t explicitly say who the children are or who is bringing them to Jesus. But, it is likely these children have come with their parents to be with Jesus. The parents surely are the ones who are sending their children to Jesus so He may lay His hands on them and pray. Jesus is seen as a Holy man and parents throughout history are always seeking the best for the children and thus if a Holy man is available to bless children why not take advantage. Jesus in a later verse declares the kingdom of heaven belongs to these, meaning the kingdom of heaven is as much for children as anyone. We often say in the church the young are the future of the church but Jesus clearly believes the young are the church. We need to learn from Jesus, the kingdom of God is filled with many people and having a child-like approach to life is probably more a help than a hindrance.
Church’s supporting infant Baptism rely on this passage to support their doctrine. If the kingdom of heaven is for children than having been baptized declares they belong to Jesus. Parents who have their children baptized are very much like these parents we read about in this passage who send their children to be anointed by Jesus. We don’t know if these children are mature enough to declare themselves disciples but as God trust their parents He accepts children as baptized followers. Later in life children can decide on being born from above but for this moment Jesus accepts them like any other.
Would you send your children for a blessing to Jesus? How do you view children in the church today?
We need to learn from Jesus, the kingdom of God is filled with many people and having a child-like approach to life is probably more a help than a hindrance. Click To Tweet#bible #godisgreat #jesus #christianity #dailybibleverse @youversion #BeAnEncourager #children #kingdom #Matthew #everybodyalways #god #jesuschrist #jesussaves #godisgood #dailydevotion #biblestudy #scripture #bibleverse #verseoftheday #cross #last #gospels #loveeachother #godisgreat #thisVineyard #youversion #everythingalways