Children Come ~ 20200906 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

09/06 What Makes Jesus Mad? Do Not Hinder Them (Mark 9, 10); Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20200906_children-come.mp3

As followers of Jesus, we are to be disciples who make disciples who make disciples to obey Jesus and who teach others to follow and obey Jesus.

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Indignant [ἀγανακτέω]

If we claim to love and follow of Jesus, we want to do what he says. The last thing we would want to do is what we know displeases him. There is a word that shows up 7 times in the New Testament, translated ‘indignation’; ‘moved with indignation’ (ASV), ‘much displeased’ (KJV), angry (NLT, GNT) or furious (ISV). It’s a compound word ‘much – grief’, to be greatly afflicted.

Let’s look at how this word is used. The ten disciples were indignant that James and John leveraged their mom in an attempt to secure for themselves the best places in the coming kingdom (Mt.20:24; Mk.10:41). All the disciples were indignant at the woman who wasted her costly ointment on Jesus (Mt.26:8; Mk.14:4). The synagogue ruler was indignant because Jesus was healing on the Sabbath, and told the people to come on the other six days to be healed (Lk.13:14). In Matthew 21, the chief priests and scribes were indignant because the blind and lame were made whole by Jesus, and the children were crying out in the temple.

Matthew 21:15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?”

These things caused them much grief because they refused to believe that Jesus was who he claimed to be. They were convinced he was leading people astray, and they were indignant.

Matthew 21:16 ...And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”

What Makes Jesus Indignant?

There is only one place where Jesus is said to be indignant. This word is used of Jesus in Mark 10.

Mark 10:13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

The disciples were trying to protect Jesus, rebuking the parents and restricting access to him. They were hindering children from coming to Jesus. And their action caused Jesus great grief. He was much displeased. “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them...”

Why was Jesus indignant? His disciples were thinking wrongly, and their false beliefs needed to be corrected.

False belief # 1: Jesus is too important to take time for children. The disciples seemed to feel that Jesus was too important to have his ministry interrupted by children. He clearly has better things to do and shouldn’t be bothered. But ‘he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them’ (Mk.10:16). Jesus pushed his disciples and their agendas aside and made time to bless the little children. He came to love and serve the least. He came down from heaven ‘not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many’ (Mk.10:45).

False belief #2: Kids are in the way of ministry; they aren’t the target of ministry. Adults are the ones we need to address, and get the kids out of the way. Actually, children are welcome, and adults need to become more like children if they are to participate at all in Jesus’ kingdom.

Mark 10:15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

Kids eagerly accept a free gift. Adults are skeptical, asking how much it costs, and what is the catch.

We looked earlier at Matthew 21, where the chief priests and scribes were indignant toward Jesus because he was healing. It was the children who were captured by wonder and cried out in the temple ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’. It was children that recognized him for who he really was, it was children who welcomed him and heralded his coming. The adults were the ones who were skeptical and doubting and didn’t believe. They needed to become like children, willing to freely receive.

Who is the Greatest?

Why was Jesus indignant? If we look just one chapter earlier, we see something went down that should have clued his disciples in to be more sensitive to children.

Mark 9:33 And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.

Just take a moment to imagine how that argument among the twelve might have gone. What were they saying?

Peter: remember when he said ‘blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah… you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church?’

Andrew ‘I followed John the Baptist, and I’m the one who brought you to Jesus’

James and John ‘we’re the sons of thunder, and our mom already made a deal with him’

Thomas ‘I doubt it’

Judas: ‘He trusts me with the finances’

Nathaniel ‘I’m an Israelite in whom there is no deceit’

Philip ‘but I’m the one who introduced you to him, and you said ‘can anything good come out of Nazareth?’

John ‘I’m the disciple Jesus loves, and I can outrun you!’

When Jesus asked them what they had been discussing, ‘they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.’

Mark 9:35 And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

Jesus shows them that true greatness is serving others, not vainly pursuing celebrity status and power.

Mark 9:36 And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

Jesus gave them a vivid object lesson. Receive children in my name. Receive children because I receive children. My Father receives children. If you want to be great, lower yourself to serve others, serve the least, serve children.

So in Mark 9, Jesus tells them to receive children in his name, because that’s what he is like, and in Mark 10 the disciples still have a worldly gauge of greatness and are hindering children from coming to him. No wonder he is indignant.

False belief # 3: following Jesus is about status and greatness, not about humbly serving others.

Jesus is angry when we get him wrong, and we get ministry wrong. Ministry is about humbly serving others. Jesus took time to love and serve the least. He came for the lost. Kids weren’t in the way of ministry, they were a great example of how we need to receive his ministry, not trying to earn but freely receiving.

How Do We Hinder?

If Jesus is passionate about letting the little children come to him, we need to ask ourselves, ‘How are we hindering children from coming to Jesus?’ Do we individually or as a church put obstacles in the way of children coming to him?

I say individually first and church second intentionally. Because the church is made up of individuals. And we as parents have the primary obligation to train our children to know and love and follow Jesus. This may shock you, but Sunday School is not in the Bible. Sunday School began less than 250 years ago as a way to educate children of the lower classes who were forced to labor in factories the other six days of the week.

Here is what Deuteronomy 6 has to say about training children.

Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

You love God and you hide his word in your heart and you teach them diligently to your own children, sitting in your house, while you travel along, when you go to sleep, and when you get up in the morning. The primary responsibility to train children to love God belongs to the parents. In fact, Ephesians 6:4 tells fathers to ‘bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.’

As a church we get to supplement what you parents are doing, and we get to serve kids who are not being trained by their parents.

So what are some ways we hinder children from coming to Jesus? Here’s a few that come to mind.

Hypocrisy; when what we teach our children doesn’t match what we do, we are hypocrites. If we don’t love God and hide his word in our hearts, if we don’t put God first in our priorities, how can we honestly teach our children to? Our hypocrisy hinders children from coming to Jesus, and I believe it is a major reason why so many walk away from the faith later in life.

How we view children often hinders them from coming to Jesus. Our society in general views children as a burden not a blessing. From the terrible two’s to the terrible teens, we view them as trouble, an inconvenience to be endured not enjoyed. Our culture in general is having less and less children, well below the replacement rate for our society. And we are quick to turn our responsibility to train them over to others. And we want them to like us so we don’t do what is good for them. Kids can be difficult, so we just don’t get involved. If we struggle with our own kids, we certainly don’t want to take on someone else’s.

Why? Why don’t we ‘bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord’? Why are we hindering children from coming to Jesus? I think we embrace some of the same flawed thinking that the disciples used. Jesus is too important to waste his time with children. Adults are to be the focus of our ministry; kids distract and get in the way of ministry. And following Jesus is about status and greatness, not humbly serving others. When we embrace these lies, we hinder children from coming to Jesus.

As a parent, and as part of the church family, here are some practical reasons (excuses) we use for not bringing children to Jesus. I feel ill-equipped. I don’t know how to teach kids. They might ask a question I don’t have an answer for. I’m sorry, but you used that excuse last year. What have you done to remedy it? Get equipped. Get trained. Get discipled. If you used that excuse a year ago, you don’t get to use it again. Get involved. The best way to learn and grow is to start doing it.

But I’m not gifted that way. That’s OK, but if you are a parent, you have been called to it. If you belong to Jesus, you have been called by him to serve others. It’s been said ‘God doesn’t call the qualified; he qualifies the called.’ God will give you what you need to do what he has called you to do. And we are a body made up of different parts with different gifts. So we should work together, supporting one another and encouraging one another. We need each other. None of us can do it alone.

But I just don’t have time. Make time. Make it a priority. Sanctify time- set it apart. What are you doing that matters for eternity? People matter for eternity. Kids matter for eternity. So cut things out. Change things up. Prioritize and quit the things that are less important that are keeping you from doing that which is most important.

As a parent, as a part of the body of Christ, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” Our kids need to know that we all are sinners saved by grace. That we need a Savior and our only hope is Jesus Christ, who died for us so that we could live. Our kids need to see our relationship with Jesus in a way that makes them want to know him too.

***

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org