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Christ Blesses Little Children.
v. 15. And they brought unto Him also infants that He would touch them; but when His disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
v. 16. But Jesus called them unto Him and said, Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God.
v. 17. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.
The incident here told happened in one of the hamlets, probably in Perea, while Jesus was on His last journey to Jerusalem. The kindness of Jesus won the hearts of all that were not filled with prejudice against Him. And therefore the mothers of the village brought their little children, their babies, to Jesus, in order that He might lay His hands upon them in blessing. There was nothing of superstition in this act. But the disciples, as soon as they noticed this proceeding, gravely rebuked the mothers for disturbing the Master, who in their opinion was far too busy and engaged with far too weighty questions to be disturbed with trifles. But the view of Jesus in this matter differed from that of His disciples very decidedly. In a manner which carried a world of reproof for their interference, He called out to the mothers, bidding them come. He was glad and wanted the little children brought to Him. No one should in any way interfere with such bringing nor deny to the little ones the friendship and blessing of the Savior. Of such is the kingdom of God. That is the requirement for entry into the kingdom of God, that faith must be as simple and sincere as that of children. They accept Jesus, their Savior, without question and without doubt; they love Him and cling to Him in joyful abandon. With solemn seriousness Jesus makes this declaration, that no one can enter into the Kingdom unless he accepts it as a little child. Note: Since the only way in which anyone can come to Jesus is by faith, it follows that children can very well believe. Also: Since the only means of grace of which we know that it can transmit faith also to infants is that of Baptism, it follows that we should bring our children to Jesus by means of this Sacrament as soon as possible. Finally: We must strive unceasingly to bring our reason into captivity under the obedience of Christ in the Word, in order that our faith may become simple and childlike.