(13-15) And they brought young children.—See Notes on Matthew 19:13-15.

Mark

CHILDREN AND CHILDLIKE MEN

Mark 10:13 - Mark 10:15.

It was natural that the parents should have wanted Christ’s blessing, so that they might tell their children in later days that His hand had been laid on their heads, and that He had prayed for them. And Christ did not think of it as a mere superstition. The disciples were not so akin to the children as He was, and they were a great deal more tender of His dignity than He. They thought of this as an interruption disturbing their high intercourse with Christ. ‘These children are always in the way, this is tiresome,’ etc.

I. Christ blessing children.

It is a beautiful picture: the great Messiah with a child in His arms. We could not think of Moses or of Paul in such an attitude. Without it, we should have wanted one of the sweetest, gentlest, most human traits in His character; and how world-wide in its effect that act has been! How many a mother has bent over her child with deeper love; how many a parent has felt the sacredness of the trust more vividly; how many a mother has been drawn nearer to Christ; and how many a little child has had childlike love to Him awakened by it; how much of practical benevolence and of noble sacrifice for children’s welfare, how many great institutions, have really sprung from this one deed! And, if we turn from its effects to its meaning, it reveals Christ’s love for children:-in its human side, as part of His character as man; in its deeper aspect as a revelation of the divine nature. It corrects dogmatic errors by making plain that, prior to all ceremonies or to repentance and faith, little children are loved and blessed by Him. Unconscious infants as these were folded in His arms and love. It puts away all gloomy and horrible thoughts which men have had about the standing of little children.

This is an act of Christ to infants expressive of His love to them, His care over them, their share in His salvation. Baptism is an act of man’s, a symbol of his repentance and dying to sin and rising to a new life in Christ, a profession of his faith, an act of obedience to his Lord. It teaches nothing as to the relation of infants to the love of Jesus or to salvation. It does not follow that because that love is most sure and precious, baptism must needs be a sign of it. The question, what does baptism mean, must be determined by examination of texts which speak about baptism; not by a side-light from a text which speaks about something else. There is no more reason for making baptism proclaim that Jesus Christ loves children than for making it proclaim that two and two make four.

II. The child’s nearness to Christ.

‘Of such is the kingdom.’ ‘Except ye be converted and become like little children,’ etc. Now this does not refer to innocence; for, as a matter of fact, children are not innocent, as all schoolmasters and nurses know, whatever sentimental poets may say. Innocence is not a qualification for admission to the kingdom. And yet it is true that ‘heaven lies about us in our infancy,’ and that we are further off from it than when we were children. Nor does it mean that children are naturally the subjects of the kingdom, but only that the characteristics of the child are those which the man must have, in order to enter the kingdom; that their natural disposition is such as Christ requires to be directed to Him; or, in other words, that childhood has a special adaptation to Christianity. For instance, take dependence, trust, simplicity, unconsciousness, and docility.

These are the very characteristics of childhood, and these are the very emotions of mind and heart which Christianity requires. Add the child’s strong faculty of imagination and its implicit belief; making the form of Christianity as the story of a life so easy to them. And we may add too: the absence of intellectual pride; the absence of the habit of dallying with moral truth. Everybody is to the child either a ‘good’ man or a ‘bad.’ They have an intense realisation of the unseen; an absence of developed vices and hard worldliness; a faculty of living in the present, free from anxious care and worldly hearts. But while thus they have special adaptation for receiving, they too need to come to Christ. These characteristics do not make Christians. They are to be directed to Christ. ‘Suffer them to come unto Me,’ the youngest child needs to, can, ought to, come to Christ. And how beautiful their piety is, ‘Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise.’ Their fresh, unworn trebles struck on Christ’s ear. Children ought to grow up in Christian households, ‘innocent from much transgression.’ We ought to expect them to grow up Christian.

III. The child and the Church.

The child is a pattern to us men. We are to learn of them as well as teach them; what they are naturally, we are to strive to become, not childish but childlike. ‘Even as a weaned child’ {see Psalm 131:1 - Psalm 131:3}. The child-spirit is glorified in manhood. It is possible for us to retain it, and lose none of the manhood. ‘In malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.’ The spirit of the kingdom is that of immortal youth.

The children are committed to our care.

The end of all training and care is that they should by voluntary act draw near to Him. This should be the aim in Sunday schools, for instance, and in families, and in all that we do for the poor around us.

See that we do not hinder their coming. This is a wide principle, viz., not to do anything which may interfere with those who are weaker and lower than we are finding their way to Jesus. The Church, and we as individual Christians, too often hinder this ‘coming.’

Do not hinder by the presentation of the Gospel in a repellent form, either hardly dogmatic or sour.

Do not hinder by the requirement of such piety as is unnatural to a child.

Do not hinder by inconsistencies. This is a warning for Christian parents in particular.

Do not hinder by neglect. ‘Despise not one of these little ones.’

Mark 10:13-16. They brought little children to him — See the note on Matthew 19:13-15. Jesus was much displeased — At their blaming those who were not blameworthy, and endeavouring to hinder the children from receiving a blessing. And said, Suffer little children to come unto me — Now, and at other convenient times, for I am pleased, rather than offended, to see them brought to me: for of such is the kingdom of God — The members of the kingdom which I am come to set up in the world are such as these, as well as grown persons of a child-like temper. Verily, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child — Divesting himself of those prejudices and those secular views which men contract in their riper years, that he may come, as it were, to the humility and meekness, the simplicity and teachableness, of a little child, (see Psalm 131:2.) He shall not enter therein — He shall not be a member of my kingdom, be his genius ever so sublime, or his circumstances in life ever so considerable. And he took them up in his arms, &c. — He tenderly embraced them with complacency and love, and as a further token of the overflowing kindness of his heart toward them; he put his hands upon them, and blessed them — Recommending them in a solemn manner to the blessing and favour of his heavenly Father; which no doubt descended upon them, and attended them in their future life. “Let ministers view this compassionate Shepherd of Israel, thus gathering the lambs in his arms with all the tokens of tender affection; and let the sight teach them a becoming regard for the lambs of their flock, who should early be taken notice of and instructed; and for and with whom they should frequently pray, remembering how often divine grace takes possession of the heart in the years of infancy, and sanctifies the children of God almost from the womb. Let every first impression, made upon their tender minds, be cherished; and let not those whom Christ himself is ready to receive, be disregarded by his servants, who upon all occasions should be gentle unto all, and apt to teach. Let parents view this sight with pleasure and thankfulness; let it encourage them to bring their children to Christ by faith, and to commit them to him in baptism and by prayer. And if he who has the keys of death and the unseen world, see fit to remove these dear creatures from us in their early days, let the remembrance of this story comfort us; and teach us to hope, that he who so graciously received these children, has not forgotten ours; but that they are sweetly fallen asleep in him, and will be the everlasting objects of his care and love; for of such is the kingdom of God. And let us all commit ourselves to him; and let us be disposed to become as little children, if we desire to enter into his kingdom. Let us not govern ourselves by the vain maxims of a corrupt and degenerate age. Let not pride, ambition, lust, or avarice possess, torment, and enslave our minds; but, with the amiable simplicity of children, let us put ourselves into the wise and kind hands of Jesus, as our guardian, and refer ourselves to his pastoral and parental care; to be clothed and fed, to be guided and disposed of, as he shall see fit. For this purpose, O God, may we be born again by thy Spirit, and formed anew by thy grace! Since by this method alone we can be made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, and be so the children of God as to be at length the children of the resurrection.” — Doddridge.

10:13-16 Some parents or nurses brought little children to Christ, that he should touch them, in token of his blessing them. It does not appear that they needed bodily cures, nor were they capable of being taught: but those who had the care of them believed that Christ's blessing would do their souls good; therefore they brought them to him. Jesus ordered that they should be brought to him, and that nothing should be said or done to hinder it. Children should be directed to the Saviour as soon as they are able to understand his words. Also, we must receive the kingdom of God as little children; we must stand affected to Christ and his grace, as little children to their parents, nurses, and teachers.See the notes at Matthew 19:13-15.

Mark 10:13

Should touch them - That is, should lay his hands on them, and pray for them, and bless them. Compare Matthew 19:13. It was common to lay the hands on the head of a person for whom a blessing was asked. See the case of Jacob, Genesis 48:14.

Mr 10:13-16. Little Children Brought to Christ. ( = Mt 19:13-15; Lu 18:15-17).

See on [1472]Lu 18:15-17.

Ver. 13-16. This is reported both by Matthew and Luke, only they both omit what we here have, Mark 10:15. By the kingdom of God, is doubtless to be understood the word of God, or rather the grace of Christ in the gospel: he that doth not receive it with humility and modesty, without disputing, without malice, like a little child, shall never come into heaven.

And they brought young children to him,.... The parents, or friends, or nurses of the children in those parts, having heard of the fame of Jesus; and having entertained an high opinion of him, as a great prophet, and a holy, good man, brought their children in their arms, or hands,

that he should touch them; as he did when he healed diseased persons, as these might be, though not expressed:

and his disciples rebuked those that brought them; See Gill on Matthew 19:13.

{2} And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.

(2) God in his goodness is concerned not only for the parents, but the children as well: and therefore he blesses them.

(Ed.)