The Kingdom Belongs to the Needy

15 April 2018 Michael Cloete The Kingdom Belongs to the Needy (Mark 10:13-16) Reading: Mark 10:13-16 “And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.” (Mark 10:13–16, NASB95) Introduction As we continue our study in the Gospel of Mark, we continue the journey with Christ as he’s heading towards Jerusalem. Last week we found that Christ had arrived in Judea, and he was approached by the Pharisees, and tested. They wanted to trap him. They wanted to catch him out through questioning him. And the question that they raised related to divorce. But Christ really turned the question on its head, and spoke to them about what marriage really is. Something which is instituted by God, and thus should be held in high regard. Our text this morning then goes on to focus on children. So Christ is still in this area in Judea, but in today’s passage we find a great lesson to be learned through children, as these children are brought to Jesus. 1. The Arrogance of the Disciples (v.13) As we turn our attention then to the text this morning, the first thing that we note is that there are children being brought to Jesus. We read in verse 13… And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; None of the accounts of this event detail who the “they” are in this passage, but presumably what we have is parents bringing their own children to Jesus. In fact it was most likely that it was the fathers who were bringing the children, since they were the head of the family, and responsible in terms of its spiritual wellbeing. The purpose of them bringing their children is that Jesus could lay his hands on them, and bless them. The people of that region were familiar with who Jesus was. He was a well-respected healer, miracle worker, teacher, rabbi, someone held in high regard by the vast majority of people, and so these parents of children were seeking to go and obtain some blessing from Jesus. One further comment on the children, and that is the age of the children. Most likely these were mostly young children, although it could have been anything from the age of 12 years and under. The Greek word for “little children” is a diminutive (paidia), meaning “very young,” or “infants.” If you turn across to Luke’s account of this same event, in Luke 18:15, he mentions that they were “bringing even their babies to Him…” So these parents are bringing their very young children to Jesus in order that “He might touch them.” What was the purpose of such touch? What did the parents hope to gain through the touch? In that day and culture, Rabbis were known to lay hands on children and bless them. There’s some history for this. There are Old Testament illustrations of how fathers blessed their children. There are a number of them all through the patriarchal period, Noah blessed Shem and Japheth. And we see Isaac blessing his sons and Jacob blessing his sons. This was a typical fatherly blessing pronounced on the children by their fathers. The Talmud tells us that it was a very customary thing for parents to bring their young children to be blessed by the elders of the synagogue. In Judaism there was a special day set aside for this. In Matthew’s version of this, Matthew 19:13, Matthew stated they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them and pray for them. And that’s consistent with this kind of blessing. This kind of blessing was in the form of a prayer. It was a prayer that God would pour out on this life His goodness and grace. So the purpose in bringing them was that He might touch them because that’s what fathers did. They laid their hands on the child and the elders laid their hands on the child as the patriarchs had done. And then they prayed blessing. But as the parents are busy trying to do this, the disciples quickly step in and prevent them. In fact, at the end of verse 13, we read… …but the disciples rebuked them. Instead of encouraging the parents to bring the children to Jesus in order to Him to touch them, they begin to rebuke the parents, as if they were committing some offence or doing something entirely out of place. The disciples showed a strong disapproval of these parents, and prevented them from bringing their children. The question must be asked in our minds: Why did they rebuke them? Scripture itself is silent on the precise answer, but a couple of factors would have played towards this action from the disciples. In the first place, they were more than likely attempting to prevent Christ from being pestered / bugged as He was relaxing. We certainly have indications in the Gospels that Christ grew weary at times, and it was His practice to withdraw and get rest. It could well have been that the disciples were attempting to afford Him some time without disturbance. But what we need to keep in mind is that within that cultural context and within the worldview in which the disciples lived, children were insignificant in that society. Children were of very little importance. We’ve considered previously (even last week) that women didn’t enjoy the same “rights” as men in that culture, and that they were very much of a lesser standing in society. Well children were even lower on the ladder of importance than women. One commentator writes: Childhood was typically regarded as an unavoidable interim between birth and adulthood, which a boy reached at age 13. One will search Jewish and early Christian literature in vain for sympathy toward the young comparable to that shown by Jesus.1 The society in that place and in that day, did not regard children highly, and if anything, they were perceived as those who should not get in the way. Given that perception of children, and their low position in society in general, we should at least demonstrate some sympathy towards the disciples and their actions. Clearly they were following the norms of society of that day. But therein lies precisely the concern. They were more attuned within their minds and thinking to the norms of society and culture around them than they were to the thinking and attitude of the Creator of all things. While they could very easily act in a manner which was consistent with the society around them, and in fact which was perfectly acceptable and normal to the society around them (and in fact was the correct way to act within that society), they failed to perceive that society is not the arbitrator of what is right and what is wrong, what is good or bad. Application… We need to ask ourselves this morning: to what extent are our actions, our motives, our thinking, our speaking, our desires etc. motivated by society, rather than God’s word. I don’t ask “are they” motivated by society. I ask, “to what extent” are they motivated by society. Throughout this section in the Gospel of Mark, we’ve seen instances and examples of Christ going radically against what society would typically think is a good or right thing to do. • Society would say, look after your own interests and well-being at every cost • Christ says, deny yourself for the sake of the Gospel. • Society says, seek to make yourself the greatest, and achieve your greatest status possible • Christ says, whoever wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all! So counter-cultural is the very life that Christ calls us to live. The disciples failed once again to understand this dynamic in the Kingdom of God. They are still concerned about keeping people away from Jesus; granting themselves an authority that was entirely misplaced! Sadly, they still hadn’t learned from the object lesson that Christ had given them back in Mark 9:35-37, where following the argument of the disciples concerning who was the greatest, Christ took a child and placed the child on his lap, said these words: ““Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”” (Mark 9:37, NIV84) It’s remarkable in fact that even though Christ had said these very words to the disciples, they failed to recall them. 2. The Anger of Christ (v.14) This leads us to consider the stern response / rebuke from Jesus, in verse 14 of our text: But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant… The first aspect of his response there is his emotional response. Jesus was indignant! J. Edwards writes: The word for “indignant” (Gk. aganaktein) means “to arouse to anger,” that is, to vent oneself in expressed displeasure rather than simply brooding about it. The object of a person’s indignation reveals a great deal about that person. Jesus’ displeasure here reveals his compassion and defense of the helpless, vulnerable, and powerless.2 Christ's response is that of strong displeasure at his disciples. This is a righteous indignation, because Christ's view of the children, and the fact that they were being brought to Him was nothing like the disciples' view. Recall that I said that the disciples had a mindset and attitude that had been formed by the society around them. They were influenced by the norms and standards of society. Christ, on the other hand, had a view that was radically different. He viewed children in the same way as God viewed children – and they had their special place within the economy of God. If you go back into the Old Testament Scriptures, you will find that God’s view of children was that they were a gift from Him! They were not going to become a gift one day when they grew older, but they were a gift in the present moment! Psalm 127:3–4: “Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth.” (Psalm 127:3–4, NIV84) Psalm 113:9 speaks of a mother who was once barren, but then has her womb opened by God, and the rejoicing that is to come from that. The rejoicing, and the praise that is given to God, is as a result of the fact that there are children now in the life of this woman. God’s view of children is that they are a gift. Indeed, to be without them is seen as a source of great pain. It is no wonder Christ responds with indignation. Because these children were of lowly stature, because they didn’t have power in society, they were looked down upon. But not in the eyes of Christ. And so, apart from his emotional response of indignation, notice Christ’s response through his words to the disciples (continuing in verse 14) …and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; There are two parts to the words with which Christ responds. The first is that they should permit the children to come. Do not hinder them. Do not put a barrier in their way. Do not prevent anyone from coming to Christ... Christ demonstrates to his disciples through these words that he speaks that there are no outcasts or unimportant people in the kingdom. Can I just re-emphasize that for a moment… Does anyone here this morning feel like an outcast? Does anyone here feel unloved? Does anyone here this morning feel unlovable? Do you see yourself as unimportant, and thus of lesser significance than others? Friends, Christ over and over clearly demonstrates that there are no insignificant people – all can come to Him. In fact, the lowlier you are in the world’s context and in societies context, the greater the chances are that you enter into Christ’s kingdom. The reason being that you are not self-sufficient. So, Christ desires here to have the children come to him, so that he may put his hands on them and grant them a blessing. And then, the second part of Christ’s words: …for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. The kingdom of God belongs to such as these! What did Christ mean when He said that the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these? I’m going to begin, just in passing, to state what I believe this is not saying. This is not saying that all children belong to the kingdom of God. The flow of argument into which this passage falls is consistent, and I believe that what Christ was teaching was not about children by default belonging to the kingdom. Some teach that, I think that’s a stretch, and it’s not in the text. Equally not in the text is any idea or reference or inference to children being baptised, or this being some kind of support for the position that children should be baptised. It’s simply not there. Any idea that these verses support infant baptism is derived from eisegesis rather exegesis (reading into the passage, rather than reading out of the passage). So with that said, what was the message and point that Christ was conveying? We’ve already considered the fact that all people, irrespective of social standing, have importance in God’s economy. But further than that, Jesus goes on to say these words, which really emphasize His point… verse 15: “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” Notice that Christ says that word “Truly, truly…” The word is Amen. Listen to what I’m saying, it is significant. It’s of great importance. Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all. First and foremost then, this lesson is about receiving the Kingdom! Christ is on a kingdom agenda. He has come to establish His kingdom rule on earth. And he is explaining to his disciples, that if any person wishes to receive this kingdom, to become a partaker of this kingdom, then this is a prerequisite. There can be no inheriting the kingdom, no partaking of the kingdom, unless it is received in this fashion. Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child, will not enter it at all. So what then, precisely, is this quality that is to be found, this prerequisite to entering the kingdom. Well the words of Christ are straightforward: one should receive the kingdom like a child. But what does this mean? I think a good place to begin to answer this is at the sermon on the mount, and in particular, the beatitudes. Those are the “blessed are” statements that we find right at the start of the sermon on the mount. And the very first Blessed are is this one in Matthew 5:3… ““Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3, NIV84) “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Christ is showing through this preaching on the Sermon on the Mount to whom the kingdom of heaven belongs. That kingdom of heaven is the same kingdom of which Christ speaks as he teaches his disciples. And I believe that the point that he is making in each case is precisely the same. When Christ said in Matthew 5:3, Blessed are the poor in spirit, he was not speaking of those who are poor in this world. He is not speaking of those who have few material possessions. Rather, he is speaking about those who in a spiritual sense recognise their utter lack of any worth or value. Listen to how A.W. Pink puts it in his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount: To be “poor in spirit” is to realize that I have nothing, am nothing, and can do nothing, and have need of all things. Poverty of spirit is a consciousness of my emptiness, the result of the Spirit’s work within. It follows the awakening that my best performances are unacceptable, yea, an abomination to the thrice Holy One. Poverty of spirit evidences itself by its bringing the individual into the dust before God, acknowledging his utter helplessness and deservingness of hell.3 It is entirely necessary that should anyone wish to enter the kingdom of heaven, that they should recognise spiritual bankruptcy. When Christ speaks of the poor in spirit, he’s emphasizing that people need to see, and indeed truly perceive their poor estate. That they are destitute. They must be entirely humbled by their great need. We need to understand that every single person on the face of the planet is spiritually bankrupt without Christ. But do they recognise it? Do they acknowledge it? Not through some basic head knowledge, but through a deep sense of their sinfulness before a holy God. Psalm 40:17…. “Since I am afflicted and needy, Let the Lord be mindful of me. You are my help and my deliverer; Do not delay, O my God.” (Psalm 40:17, NASB95) Psalm 69:33 “For the Lord hears the needy And does not despise His who are prisoners.” (Psalm 69:33, NASB95) Psalm 72:13-14 “He will have compassion on the poor and needy, And the lives of the needy he will save. He will rescue their life from oppression and violence, And their blood will be precious in his sight;” (Psalm 72:13–14, NASB95) Psalm 107:41 “But He sets the needy securely on high away from affliction, And makes his families like a flock.” (Psalm 107:41, NASB95) Isaiah 66:2 ““…“But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.” (Isaiah 66:2, NASB95) The Apostle Peter writes these words of instruction in 1 Peter 5:5-6… “…and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,” (1 Peter 5:5–6, NASB95) Jesus, as He teaches his disciples here, explains to them that these young children that are being brought to him are a perfect example of the needy, helpless people that people need to be in order to become partakers in the kingdom of heaven. The true disciple must become as a child to receive the kingdom rather than act like an overseer, who drives others away. This childlikeness does not refer to… inherent qualities that children are said to possess, such as humility, trustfulness, transparency, hopefulness, modesty, or willingness to believe (see comments on 9:36–37). Children can also be demanding, short-tempered, sulky, stubborn, thankless, and selfish. We call it childish behavior (see Jesus’ parable of the squabbling children, Matt. 11:16–19; Luke 7:31–35).4 James Brooks… The main point of comparison … is the insignificance, weakness, helplessness, and dependency shared by children in ancient society and those who enter the kingdom at any time. The ultimate focus of the passage is not only on the attitude with which one comes to Jesus but on coming to Jesus, the object of one’s faith.5 In this story children are not blessed for their virtues but for what they lack: they come only as they are—small, powerless, without sophistication, as the overlooked and dispossessed of society. There is a hymn that we sometimes sing, “Rock of Ages, cleft for me”. The 2nd and 3rd verses of that hymn speak of this sense of helplessness apart from the grace of God: Not the labor of my hands Can fulfill Thy law’s demands; Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow, All for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone. Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to the cross I cling; Naked, come to Thee for dress; Helpless look to Thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die. That is a great description of our great need before a holy God. 3. The Actions of Christ (v.16) As we continue, notice the beautiful actions of Christ in verse 16: And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them. What a beautiful picture here. These children who are scorned and looked down upon. Those who are seen as insignificant and worthless, and really just a little bit of a nuisance to society, Jesus takes them in his arms, and loves them. He holds them, gives a loving touch, and begins blessing them. Praying over their lives. Those that were considered insignificant, Jesus shows love and compassion. In his healing of the sick and aid of the needy, Jesus laid hands on more common people and more frequently than did Jewish society in general. His touch was very much a tangible expression of God’s unconditional love for the unclean, foreigners, women, and children. Jesus’ personal touch of common people became a distinguishing mark of his bearing and ministry. Application and Conclusion Let us begin to close by considering some points of application this morning. In Salvation In the first place, I must apply this to our need for salvation. Perhaps you are sitting here this morning, and you are burdened by your sin. You know that you are not right before God. This concerns you. Or perhaps you are not sure if you are right with God. And this concerns you. You are burdened by this. If this describes you, then let me encourage you this morning through the words of Matthew 11:28-29… ““Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28–29, NASB95) The only way to find rest for your soul is to rest in Christ. Be encouraged, that if you have struggled with sin, and are burdened by your guilt before God, that you can be given grace and mercy. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, NASB95) The same message comes from Paul in Romans 10:9-10… “…if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans 10:9–10, NASB95) Perhaps on the other hand, you think that you’re doing enough in your life to please God. You’re trying to go to church regularly. You’re trying to read your Bible and pray regularly. You’re trying to do good things to people. You’re trying to live a good life. And you think that through doing these, that God will reward you. If this describes you, then my counsel to you is that you can never trust in your own works to gain God’s favour. That’s what the Pharisees did. And we’ve seen the way Christ has spoken of them. Christ even said, that if this is the way that you are trying to earn God’s favour then recognise this: ““…unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20, NASB95) Any attempt to think that you can obtain God’s favour, that you can obtain your salvation through doing good works is a works-based righteousness, and will end in failure. It is not good enough. It will never be good enough. Because the heart of man is so desperately sick and wicked!! The only way to obtain mercy from God, and to have peace with God, is through recognising your own worthlessness. Your inability. The only way to obtain God’s grace and favour is through confessing your neediness and sin. Have you confessed your neediness and sin? If you don’t think that you’re all that bad, and you think that God will accept you based on the fact that you’re better than others, then consider these words from Romans 3:23… “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23, NASB95) And then the words of the Apostle John, in 1 John 1:10… “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:10, NASB95) I pray that the Lord would lead you to the end of yourself. That you would not rely on your own good works. In Sanctification Let me broaden this then, to those who have understood salvation. You’ve recognised the holiness of God. You’ve recognised your sin. You’ve recognised that you are bankrupt – you are like the child in today’s passage – helpless and needy. You’ve repented of your sin, confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord, but you’re struggling. So to all today, wherever you are on your journey of discipleship, let me encourage you through the Scriptures. If we look back through the Scriptures, we will observe that God caused the people to hunger before He fed them. He deliberately brought them to the end of themselves: Psalms 107:4-6 (NASB) They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region; They did not find a way to an inhabited city. 5 They were hungry and thirsty; Their soul fainted within them. 6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He delivered them out of their distresses. God wanted them to be aware of the fact that He was the one feeding them; they were dependent on His provision. Folks, if Israel needed to be reminded of their absolute dependence upon God, how much more do we need this? And this applies to those unsaved – you must recognise your need for him. But also to those saved, but who are becoming complacent in their spiritual lives. Or perhaps who are failing to trust God as you ought. Or perhaps even, are simply being led by God through the wilderness in order that he may mature you and refine you. God wanted the Israelites to realize and remember their utter dependence on Him, so He used an extremity of need and a miraculous provision to capture their attention and teach them a lesson that is difficult to learn. My dependence may not be as obvious, but it is just as real and just as acute as if I had to wait daily for God to rain down manna from heaven. Before we can learn the sufficiency of God's grace, we must learn the insufficiency of ourselves. God continually brings circumstances into our lives that keep us aware of our dependence on Him. Knowing man's sinful tendency toward self-sufficiency, He gave the Israelites this warning: Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (NASB) "Otherwise, you may say in your heart, 'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.' 18 "But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. A self-sufficient attitude is detrimental to our relationship with God. So, to keep us from self-sufficiency, He brings trials and problems that remind us how much we need Him. Paul explains to us why he has such difficult trials: 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (NASB) For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; 9 indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; Trials have the same purpose in our lives; they keep us from trusting in ourselves. They show us how weak we are and how much we need to be dependant upon God and the sufficiency of His grace. John Calvin said, "For men have no taste for it (God's power) till they are convinced of their need of it, and they immediately forget its value unless they are continually reminded by awareness of their own weakness." Paul's attitude toward his weakness was quite different from what our usual response is to weakness. Paul said: 2 Corinthians 12:10 (NASB) Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. We hate our weaknesses, but Paul took pleasure in his. Why? Paul took pleasure in his weaknesses, because they were opportunities for him to trust the all sufficiency of God's grace. Philip Hughes said, "Every believer must learn that human weakness and divine grace go hand in hand together." Paul learned this, have you? Think about your own life. When things are going well, and you are having no problems in your life, how much are you dependant upon God? Let me put it this way: When do you pray more, when things are going well, or when you are in the midst of a difficult situation? If you are anything like me, it is the difficult times of life that cause you to depend upon the Lord, to trust in His strength, to lean on His grace. The characteristic that Jesus wants the disciples--and us--to learn from these children is that of helplessness and dependence. The issue is one of dependence over self-reliance. Children must depend upon others. In contrast to these dependent children, the rich man, in the following text, was relying solely on himself. The kingdom of God belongs to those who depend on God rather than the self-reliant.