Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there. – Matthew 19:13-15 (NIV)
Think about the people in your church. Visualize their individual faces in your mind. Which are exceptionally gifted? Who are the natural leaders? Who create the most problems? Who are the teachers? Who are the followers? Who are the stubborn? Who are the weak? A church is full of all kinds of people and personalities. Most congregations are a mixed bag. Some we are proud to know, others we secretly wish we didn’t have to. We find a similar situation in Matthew 19:13-15.
In this section of Matthew we once again see Jesus using children as a teaching experience (cf 18:1-5). Matthew uses the term “children” (pais), which could denote a child of any age. Luke’s gospel is more specific, however, and informs us that they were infants (brephe) brought by their parents for a spiritual blessing (Luke 18:15-17). Thus the issue Jesus is emphasizing isn’t the “childlike faith” of a youngster, but rather the total dependence of a baby.
The disciples began to put a stop to this situation at once. Perhaps they were annoyed because their traveling plans were being delayed, or perhaps they simply thought Jesus shouldn’t be bothered with “little kid stuff”. Jesus, after all, was an important person. Thousands would come to hear him speak, and the disciples were not about to let him be sucked into the demand for blessing by a group of pestering mothers! Many centuries ago, Hilary of Poitiers reflected on this very issue. He noted that “the disciples thought they were doing honor to Christ, while actually they were diminishing his glory” [a]. They wanted to shield him from the incessant demands of the ‘needy’ and ‘weak’, failing to realize that it is preciously amongst this group that Christ gets the most glory of all.
As to be expected, Jesus stops them and encourages the parents to continue to bring their babies to him. The text tells us that Jesus “placed his hands on them”, indicating that he recited a spiritual blessing over the little ones. Such blessings were common in the Hebrew culture. One rabbinic tradition describes the custom of bringing a thirteen-year-old boy to the elders in Jerusalem at festival time “to bless him and pray for him that he may be worthy to study the Torah and engage in good deeds”, and the Old Testament contains similar examples of blessings for infants (Gen 48:14-15).
Infants are the weakest members of society. But Jesus, the most important man on earth, insists that they are worth his time. Why? Because the kingdom of heaven is for them. It is a kingdom that welcomes the weak, the screwed-up, the socially dysfunctional, and the financially strapped. It welcomes the man who struggles with his temper and the lady who sinks repeatedly into depression [b]. In his commentary on this section John Calvin imagines what blessing Christ would have recited for these weak, little babes. He writes that Jesus prayed “that they might be received into the number of the children of God”. As you identify the weak and unseemly members of your congregation, pray over them as Jesus prayed over the little ones.
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[a] Manlio Simonetti, Matthew 14-28 – Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament: Ib (IVP, 2002) p. 95
[b] Davies & Allison write, “Throughout the First Gospel Jesus extends his hand, both figuratively and literally, to the marginal, those without societal status or power—not just the young but also the lame, the possessed, and the blind, lepers, Gentiles, women”. Matthew: Vol III: XIX-XXVIII (T&T Clark, 1997) p 36.
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