Kids – you’ve got to love them. They tell it like it is, and often wind up pointing out our worst faults. Sadly, that’s one of the reasons we are sometimes irritated by their remarks. We see an example of that kind of irritation in our Gospel lesson for this morning. We’re told that some people were bringing their children to Jesus to have Him touch them. This was certainly not unusual in Jewish society. A mother would often bring her baby to a distinguished Rabbi, especially on its first birthday to receive a special blessing. Unfortunately, in this case Jesus’ disciples were apparently irritated by this inundation of kids, bothering their Master, and so they rebuked them.

Perhaps the disciples were annoyed because the children were from families outside the primary circle of Jesus’ followers. Or it could be that since Jesus had just told them He was heading to the cross, they were worried about Him and jealous of His time. Either way, by preventing the children from coming to Jesus, they demonstrated that they thought children were too unimportant for Jesus to be bothered with. This kind of denigration of children was not unusual in the ancient world. For instance, a papyrus from Alexandria, Egypt, dated June 17, 1 BC, contains a letter of instruction from a husband to his expectant wife. Thinking that she may have already had the child, he writes: "If it was a male child, let it live; if it was a female, cast it out."

My friends, it’s sad to say that even in our so-called ‘enlightened world,’ those same kinds of attitudes still exist and can be seen in the prevalence of abortion, as well as child neglect and abuse. But it isn’t limited just to children. It can also be seen at the other end of the spectrum in the form of euthanasia and elder abuse, as well as prejudice against those who are physically or mentally handicapped. In other words, anyone who is considered too helpless and dependent, not contributing enough to society, is written off as not worthy of life.

However, we ourselves exhibit those same kinds of attitudes, when we look down on someone who is different than us; when we yell at or demean those who have a different opinion from ours; when we cater to our own needs first, at the expense of others; and when we don’t take time to visit the hurting, or help the needy, or give to the poor. Yes, when we let our sinful selfishness get the best of us, and roughly push others out of our way, then like the disciples in our text, we are acting as if certain people are unimportant to Jesus and hindering them from coming to Him.

I am reminded of the school superintendent, who was speaking one night to a parent-teacher meeting. Looking around, he saw a mother holding a sleeping child in the front row. "How much would you take for your child?" The mother hesitated. "Mister, I would not sell him for a million dollars. But you may hold him awhile." Indeed, our children are a precious trust from God. They really belong to Him, and we just get to hold them for awhile for Him. Which means that we are not only to provide for them and love them, but to train them in the nurture and knowledge of Jesus their Savior. And the way that we do that is by bringing them regularly and faithfully to Church and Sunday School, Catechism class and Christian day school, so that we do not hinder them from coming to Jesus.

Now, it’s interesting to note that the word ‘hinder’ in our text means: ‘to check or restrain.’ And it was used of keeping someone from getting water. Certainly we would not want to keep anyone, least of all children, from getting the most important water of all – the water of life and salvation in Jesus and His Word. But in a sense, that’s just what the disciples were doing in our text. Evidently they had not learned that a disciple’s job is to bring others to Christ, not keep them away. Moreover, they had quickly forgotten Jesus’ promise that to receive a little child in His name is to receive Jesus Himself.

Thankfully, even though they had forgotten, Jesus had not forgotten – He had not forgotten His promise. And He had not forgotten the children either, just as He never forgets you and me. Which is why, in our text He became so indignant at their mistreatment. As a matter of fact, that word ‘indignant’ actually means: ‘to be very much grieved.’ To be sure, Jesus is very grieved when sin and Satan hassle and harass us, and that’s why He gave up His own life on the cross to rescue and redeem us from all of that. He has remembered His promise to be gracious and forgiving to each and everyone of us, children as well as adults. That’s why He said: "LET THE CHILDREN COME TO ME; DO NOT HINDER THEM, FOR TO SUCH BELONGS THE KINGDOM OF GOD. TRULY I SAY TO YOU, WHOEVER DOES NOT RECEIVE THE KINGDOM OF GOD LIKE A CHILD SHALL NOT ENTER IT."

Jesus’ point is that the Kingdom of God – which means forgiveness of all our sins and eternal life in His heavenly Kingdom – that Kingdom can only be received as a gift. After all, when you get a present on your birthday, you don’t earn it, because of something you’ve done. Quite the opposite – you receive it freely as a gift, because the giver loves you so much. Likewise, God’s treasures of forgiveness, life and salvation don’t come to us, because we’ve done anything to earn them. Instead, they come to us freely like a birthday present, because God the giver loves us so much! I have occasionally heard people nowadays complain that kids get too many presents on their birthday; that they’re spoiled. But in a sense that’s exactly what God did at the birthday of our Baptism – He lavished on us all His best gifts in abundance – comfort and peace, His Spirit and saving faith, pardon and absolution for our sins, and everlasting life in His heavenly mansions. It’s like He spoils us with His grace. That’s what it means to receive the kingdom like a little child.

And yet, Jesus was not talking about the innocence of little children, because anyone who has children knows that they are just as sinful as the rest of us. As the saying goes: "There are certain corners of heaven and pits of hell that people without children know nothing about." Indeed, Scripture tells us that we are all conceived and born in iniquity, meaning that we are sinful from day one. So, Jesus was not talking about children’s innocence. Rather, He was talking about their complete and total dependence upon their parents to provide for their every need. And His point is that that is true for all of us, adults as well. We, too, are completely and totally dependent upon our Heavenly Father to provide for our needs – especially our need for forgiveness and salvation. As the Concordia Self-study Bible puts it: "To enter the kingdom, you must become as a little child — not in the sense of "’innocence’ (as if children were sinless), but in simple, unquestioning, trust in and dependence upon the Father’s care. The term ‘receive’" indicates that salvation is a gift, even as infants receive their parents’ love and care. No effort or merit qualifies you to enter the kingdom."

We can see that in our text, by the fact that the parents had to ‘bring’ their children to Jesus. The Greek verb ‘bring’ can actually mean: ‘to carry in your arms.’ To me that is a beautiful picture of the Gospel itself. God not only sent Jesus to die on the cross to wipe away our guilty stains, He also sent the Holy Spirit in our Baptism, to pick us up in His loving arms and carry us safely into His kingdom, where we are sheltered and protected from sin, death and hell. That’s why we often use this passage as Baptismal text – because in the cleansing waters of Holy Baptism, God not only rinses away our filth and shame in Jesus’ blood, washing it down the drain for good, but He places the Holy Spirit inside of us to give us the gift of faith and declare us children of His heavenly family.

No wonder, then, that at the conclusion of our text Jesus took the children in His arms and blessed them. He didn’t listen to the disciple’s rebuke; He ignored it altogether. In the same way, He doesn’t listen to Satan’s rebuke, when he says we don’t deserve God’s love. Instead, He takes us in his arms and blesses, us just as He did the little children. In fact, the Greek text literally says that, "He blessed them fervently." It’s a word that indicates intensity, almost as if to say, "He rained down His blessings upon them." My friends, isn’t it good to know that that’s the same kind of intensity with which Jesus fervently loves you and me. Each and every day of our lives He rains down His blessings upon us. But especially in the Word and Sacraments He showers us with the rich remission all of our wrongs, and strength and encouragement for our faith, so that we can remain members of His heavenly kingdom!

Gotthold in his Emblems tells that one day in his study he lifted his eyes from his book and to his terror saw his own son standing on the outside window ledge in imminent danger of slipping and falling to his death. The boy had been anxious to know what his father was doing for so many hours in his study and had finally gotten a ladder, and managed with boyish daring to climb up. As Gotthold with trembling hands helped the little boy into the room, he said, "So have I often tried to climb into the council chamber of God to see why and wherefore He did this and that, and thus I have exposed myself to the peril of falling to my own destruction."

Fortunately, for us our gracious God does not allow us to fall. He holds us safely in His loving hands and blesses us with forgiveness and salvation. And in the Means of Grace, He sends His Spirit to comfort and strengthen us in our faith in Jesus our Savior. May He help us once again today to exhibit that kind of childlike faith, so that we can confidently say, "I will trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding!" For His name’s sake. Amen.