Thursday after the Second Sunday after Easter, 5/3/01

Mark 10:13--16 And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; and 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 shall not enter it at all." And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands upon them. --NASB

In the name of the One Who ministers to Children, amen.

One of the things we noted yesterday was that Christ Jesus was much different from what people expected or wanted Him to be. Today we see that even the disciples wanted Him to be something that He is not. Jesus loves all people even, perhaps especially, little children. Long before Christ was conceived of the Virgin Mary, God appointed little children to praise Jesus. In our passage for today we see that they were the model of faith.

But how can a little child be a model of faith? What can a child do? It is the very fact that a child is helpless that makes it a model of faith. After all, in the letter to the Ephesians we are told that faith itself is a gift from God, not of works. And so Jesus loved the little children and pointed out that we all must receive the kingdom of God like they do. In other words, we must put aside any hope in ourselves and our works, decisions, etc. and simply trust our Savior. Amen.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, You ministered even to the little children. By ministering to them You showed us how much You care for all people. Lord, help us to trust in You alone just like little children do. Then, building on that faith, help us to love others as much as You do. We ask this by the power of Your Holy Spirit Who brought us to faith in You, amen.

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