Acting Like a Baby
Notes
Transcript
Acting Like a Baby
Acting Like a Baby
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Our passage comes from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 18 verses 15-17
King James Version Chapter 18
15 And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
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.
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 Message this morning is entitled “Acting Like a Baby”
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Culture Shock
Culture Shock
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I have a fondness for Luke’s gospel for a couple of reasons, One thing I think draws me to it, is that it was written to Theophilus. Theophilus was a gentile, and being a gentile myself I feel like it was written with someone like me as the target audience.
Another important trait of Luke’s gospel, and I think something else that draws me to it, is that it was written to Theophilus. Theophilus was a gentile, and being a gentile myself I feel like it was written with me being the target audience.
One of the things that
You and I have an advantage, or at least I am guessing most of us do. We are familiar with the gospels, and preaching on the gospels, but if it weren’t for the teaching you have received the Book of Matthew would leave us wondering about a lot of things. We wouldn’t get the Jewish pictures being painted, the call backs to the law or explanation of prophecy being fulfilled.
A while back I realized that I had become a pretty distracted driver with my cell phone. It was easy for me to check work emails or facebook or any number of things that I should not have been doing while driving. I listen to a decent amount of preaching when I drive but I decided that I was going to start listening to Audio books. You can call me a nerd later if you want but I am a science fiction fan. So I see this highly rated book entitled The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. I understand that the title sounds terrible but you have to understand, I like Science Fiction and this book has won just about every award you can get for the genre. And like any preacher I think I understand Jewish culture and will enjoy this book because I have a bookshelf filled with great big books about Jewish culture. But I came to realize that there was problem with this thinking. My books are about Jewish culture 2,000 years or more ago, not Jewish culture today. I had no idea what was going on in this book, it was virtually unreadable and I had to ask Audible for a refund. I am a gentile from a little suburb outside of Cincinnati. My family has roots in Tennessee and as far as I know Ireland and England before that. That book wasn’t written for me. For someone like Theophilus to pick up the gospel of Matthew and get an accounting of things that happened, he would have a difficult time.
I am a gentile from a little suburb outside of Cincinnati. My family has roots in Tennessee and as far as I know Ireland and England before that. That book wasn’t written for me.
And so regardless of the fact that you and I have read the Old Testament and we are familiar with the traditions, and prophecy that is fulfilled. Something about the Gospel of Luke resonates with me.
Another fondness I have for Luke’s gospel probably goes back to the admission I made earlier about being a nerd. It is for the same reason we tend to refer to Luke as ‘Doctor Luke’. He has an eye for detail and his writing brings the precision of a doctor to his accounting of the Lord’s ministry.
What we have read in is a familiar passage to us. Jesus rebuking the disciples and allowing children to come forth is the kinda passage paintings are made to depict, that are go-to’s in Sunday School or Children’s church. And like today are staples in the pulpit.
But with such familiarity of a scripture it is easy for us to not pick up on some of the details. Here is what I mean. Hold your place in Luke and flip over to
Here is what I mean. Hold your place in Luke and flip over to
a. Luke tends to grab certain nuances in his telling of the gospel
i. That the other gospel writers some-times don’t illustrate
1. For one: Luke is writing this to Theophilus, who is a gentile
King James Version Chapter 19
13 Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.
14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.
15 And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.
2. But in this case: You can see the preciseness that is probably characteristic of Luke being a doctor
a. In the way he records some events
It’s almost the same passage, but take a look at this: Verse 13 of says “Then were there brought unto him <who> little children”
b. We know this passage
i. Most commonly it is read out of the book of Matthew
Now flip back to “And they brought also unto him infants” not Children, Infants “that he would touch them.
1. 13Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. 14But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 15And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.
Luke is more specific, Matthew points out that we are talking about little children but Luke goes a step further and describes these children as (βρέφος brephos) in the Greek, infants.
I like this truth if we were to look back at the Greek text. This past Wednesday (January 22nd) was National Sanctity of Human Life Day, so let me show you something:
This same word is used earlier in this same Gospel
1. 15And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them
King James Version Chapter 1
And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
The word ‘babe’ used here of John in Elisabeth’s womb is the exact same word in the Greek we find translated as Infants. Our God makes no distinction and our Bible makes no distinction, it is a pity that this country we live in is so horribly wrong on this subject.
i. Matthew says Little Children
ii. Luke specifies Infants
1. Brephos = an unborn or newborn child
a. Really to give you a better picture
i. This same word used in Luke 41And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
b. So this word not only helps us with our context in our passage today, it also helps us to understand that God makes no distinction between a baby on the inside and one on the outside.
Child Like
Child Like
Truth
There is an important distinction for you and I to get here. If this were speaking of children in general we could take this scripture and suppose that Jesus wants us to come to him with a child-like nature.
A child-like nature could mean a bunch of things though. From the two children that I have it means you whine and complain about your blessings, which reading my Old Testament seems to be something that Israel had already figured out how to do, and needed no further instruction.
A Child-Like nature can be a child like belief. I tell my testimony often when I made a profession as a Child:
I was around 6 years old and I remember in church a kid came forward to be saved in Children’s Church. And as a 6 year old, I see that this kid is getting a lot of attention and whatever was going on was a pretty big deal. I asked the well meaning church worker what was going on and she explained that he had gotten saved. I asked what that meant and she told me that if I believed that Jesus was the son of God and that he died for my sins that I would be saved. Well for 6 year old me that was great news. I believed that, after all that is what my parents had been telling me my entire life, that is what I have been hearing in church every Sunday. Of course I believed that, I believed that, and I believed in Santa Claus and I believed in the Easter Bunny and I believed in the tooth fairy. If my parents told me that something was true, I was 6 years old, I believed it.
That is a child like belief, and I don’t think that is what Jesus is getting to when he says “Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.”
After all it is our same Bible that reads in
King James Version Chapter 2
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
No, Its more than just having a child like belief. What is distinct about an infants over children in general?
When I was a really little kid I was given a little KJV illustrated Bible. There were pictures inside of it and on the inside covers were common items mentioned in the bible that a kid might not recognize with the name written below. I became a little nostalgic thinking of it in preparation for this message and searched the internet to see if they are still making it. I’m not sure if they are but I was very dissapointed to see that the word vintage is now be used as an adjective for things I had when I was a child. But, on the cover of this Bible it depicted this verse. A painting of Jesus sitting down and children coming to him, probably ranging from 6 to 10 years old. And, when I read or hear this passage being spoke of this is pretty much the image that comes to mind.
Sure Jesus says to “suffer the little children” and there may have been older kids for all we know. But when Luke writes his gospel he uses the word “infants” and in Mark’s gospel it tells us that
King James Version Chapter 10
16 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
a. If this were only speaking of kids in general
King James Version Chapter 10
16 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
i. We could suppose that Jesus was referring to the child-like nature of children in believing what they are told
We are getting a picture of children who are totally dependent. That can’t walk, they can’t talk very well and they certainly can’t reason. These after all are infants that our Lord took into his arms.
1. In fact I have heard this passage taught this way many times
But this makes sense. What pride can an infant have? What does a baby who has nothing but the Love of his parents have to boast of?
This reminds me of the man Luke describes in who had the Palsy
a. In fact I have seen paintings of this
King James Version Chapter 5
17 And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.
b. Where the children were portrayed as walking age
b. Here we find that the children are infants
Here is a man who no means, no way of getting to Christ and couldn’t even live day to day without the help of others. And how does he come to the Lord? Totally dependent and by no works of his own
This was a baby blessing, much like the baby dedications we do in our churches today.
1. They can’t walk, they can’t talk well, they can’t reason
a. In Mark’s account of this in 10:16 we find that Jesus
i. Took them up in his arms
ii. So I think we can picture in our head
1. These people carrying infants to Jesus who was holding them.
a. Probably seeking a blessing
ii. But what pride can a baby have who has nothing to boast of?
1. This reminds me of the lame man or the paraplegic man
a. Utterly dependent on others
Thinking too Hard
Thinking too Hard
Application
I have a co-worked who jokingly asked me for prayer. He texted me during a Wednesday service and I mentioned that I was in church and that he ought to stop by. His sarcastic response back to me was “pray for us sinners”. So I told him he was too far gone for my help and he needed to put in some face time.
I had lunch with him a little later and we got talking about faith. I shared the gospel with him and I could tell he wasn’t responding to it and I had a pretty good idea why. He couldn’t get past the idea that it was going to be his morality and his good works that were going to get him into heaven.
What really gave him a hard time was to accept that someone could live an awful life and then repent in their final hours and that person will go to the same place in the end that he will.
The awful truth is that as things stand today, he is right. Someone who lives an awful and godless life will not go to the same place when they die as the person who is relying on their own righteousness.
This isn’t unfortunately not an uncommon problem. Most of our friends in neighbors, even the ones who claim to be Christians believe that they will go to heaven in their good outweighs their bad and then they allow themselves to be the ones who decide what is good and what is bad.
a. He tried to call me during a Wednesday service and I texted him back that I am in church, he ought to stop in.
b. So he responded back ‘pray for us sinners’
i. And I came back telling him that he was too far gone for my help and needed to put in some ‘face time’
c. I had lunch with him last week after a visit with a customer
i. And we got to talking about faith
ii. I was able to share the gospel with him
1. I can tell it wasn’t sinking in
2. And I know why
a. He couldn’t get past this idea that his morality and his good works were going to get him into heaven
b. He couldn’t accept the idea that someone could live an awful life and repent in their final hours and go to the same place as him
i. The terrible truth as things stand today, he is right. Someone that repents in their final hours is going to a different place than someone who is relying on their own righteousness
c. This is the exact same reason my Father-in-law Tom has for rejecting the true gospel
i. He is relying on this belief that he gets to go heaven because of how well he has done in meeting a standard that he is the one who governs
A Good parent
A Good parent
Inspiration
Inspiration
Inspiration
What does Jesus say? That we should come as little children. Infants. Entirely helpless and dependent. I have never seen a baby earn his bottle, have you? Babies are fed out of the grace of the parent.
IV. Jesus says come as little children – infants
Babies are fed out of the grace of the parent
a. Helpless and Dependent
And you want to know something else? A good parent loves their baby so much that their is nothing that their baby could do that would change that parents desire to see their baby taken care of.
ii. The baby is fed by the grace of the parent
As a child of God that give me comfort.
God says in
King James Version Chapter 29
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
2. That nothing that baby could do
a. Would change that parents desire to see the baby taken care of
I know that if it were up to me I would lose my salvation as soon as I got hold of it. I am glad to know that I have a good God that thinks well towards me. That wants to see things of pace and not evil for me.
iii. And as a child of God that gives me comfort
1. Because I know that if keeping my salvation were up to me, I would lose it, because I wasn’t good enough to get it in the first place
2. I am happy that none of this is dependent on me
No Plan B
No Plan B
Action
If you haven’t put your dependence on Christ, totally and fully that is all you need to take from this message. You need to come to Christ fully dependent upon him.
For my kids there isn’t a plan B when they wake up in the morning and they need breakfast. If there isn’t anything in the cupboard they can’t get in the car and drive themselves to the grocery store. I mean, why are our kids trusting of us as parents? Truthfully they don’t have much of a choice do they. We are their only option.
a. That is the first thing
John Chapter 6 records a time when Jesus’ disciples started to forsake him. And at this point Jesus looks to the 12 Apostles and asks “Will ye also go away?”
I like Peter’s response to this as we read in
King James Version Chapter 6
68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words
King James Version Chapter 6
68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
The disciples didn’t have a plan B. There was no going back. They saw the law of God and how helpless they were before it and they knew that they needed a savior. The other disciples that were following Jesus because they liked the idea of a King or a miracle worker, they only saw Jesus for what they wanted the messiah to be. The 12 understood their sin better and they saw the Messiah that they were desperate for. They were completely dependent on the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation, and you and I need to be as well.
says:
King James Version Chapter 3
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;
And lean not unto thine own understanding.
We can never start believing that we have have it in the bag. Whether for salvation or for the day to day life. We need to Trust in the Lord, and be totally dependent on him.
ii. We can never start thinking that ‘WE’ got this