Jesus and children

[AI translation] Through the beautiful scene of the Word being read, God directs our attention first to our children and then to ourselves. So let us try to follow the guidance of the Word.Children were brought to Jesus. Mothers, obviously. It is clear from the Word that they brought very small children, children who could not walk or talk, but only cry or laugh. The zeal of the disciples is understandable: what do these women want with such little ones? What do they think Jesus has time for? Doesn't he have more important things to do than to look after little children? What else do they understand of Jesus' teachings, what idea do they have of the divine person of Jesus, of his redemptive activity? What do they want with these children? Salvation, eternal life, new birth, sin: heavy words, not for children! It is rare that Jesus was angry, but here we read that when he saw his disciples' actions, he became angry. So unwise, so un-Gospel, so sinful did he feel the disciples' efforts to be, that he became angry with them. Do they so misunderstand Him, do they live in such a different spiritual world, do they still not know why He has come among them? He stretched out His hand to the children: 'Let the children come to me and do not forbid them, for such is the kingdom of God. And then he took them in his arms and laid his hands on them and blessed them."
This is how seriously Jesus takes our children! Not only does he take us seriously, who are getting tired of life, who are struggling with all kinds of problems, who have also known the depths of sin, the horror of death, who feel that we need the divine protection and strength that Jesus is, but Jesus takes our children, the youngest and the older, as seriously as he takes us! For Jesus, the child is not insignificant, not too little to be cared for, to be given attention. Not for nothing was He Himself a child, not for nothing did He Himself live through all the stages of childhood, becoming a brother and sister to our children forever. And our children have become sweet brothers and sisters of the Son of God! And if Jesus takes our children so deadly seriously, that means something for us as parents. It means that we must take our children seriously in a different way than we usually do. In a different way, taking note, always taking into account that those children are not only ours, but first and foremost God's! They are God's children! We are not the only ones who love them, there is Someone who looks upon them with a greater, truer love than even we do. It is not only we who take care of them, but Someone is behind them, invisible and watching over them. Holding them accountable! That is why Jesus says: "Let the children come to me, for such is the kingdom of God!"
This word of Jesus also means that he has more to do with our children than we think! Yes, they may not understand the meaning of words like kingdom of God, salvation, new birth, sin, eternal life - but that is not the important thing. There is some mysterious relationship between the child spirit and Jesus, they understand each other, they are comfortable in each other's company. In fact, I could say it this way: our children need Jesus. And not in the way we adults imagine that they need a Jesus, with whom we encourage children at Christmas to be good and eat their carrot soup well, otherwise Jesus won't bring them a picture book. Parents, don't ever talk to your children about Jesus, because there is no such thing, because that is blasphemy! They need the Lord Jesus just as much as we old people do. Saviour! Let us not think that we parents are the ones who can shape the destiny of our children by our own educational work, by guiding them on the right path. Oh, no! But our own thinking, our own efforts, our own art of parenting, often say Thursday, we are perhaps more likely to confuse them than to help them! They too need the redemptive powers, the divine influences that flow from the death and resurrection of Jesus! This was very well felt by the mother whose daughter once said this to him. "Oh, my mother, if you had not prayed for me and believed for me in the difficult times of my youth, where would I have been!"
Why did these mothers here in the story bring their children to Jesus? Not to listen to teachings that were surely incomprehensible to them, but it is written, "That Jesus might touch them!" Touch them! Touch them! There is something very profound about this. The touch of Jesus is healing, comforting, helping, empowering, life-giving. Jesus touched the cripple, the lame, the deaf-mute, the blind! And as he touched them, he communicated healing power to them, he poured into them, into their bodies, into their souls, life-giving divine energy. He took hold of the hand of Jairus' daughter and thus snatched her out of death. Our children need that touch! The life-giving power of Jesus. That's why they must be brought to Jesus.
How, how? Just as those mothers in the story took their children to Jesus in their arms, so we can take our children, young and old, to the Lord of life and resurrection in the arms of our prayer, and ask the greatest for them. Not just a happy, healthy, long life, but something more and more important: eternal life, a redeemed and sanctified life in union with Christ on this earth and in eternity. May we still be able to pray not just for them, but with them! Someone, a spiritual man, advised a man to take his wife's two hands in his own and pray with her, almost physically helping, supporting and dragging her, tired from housework, to Jesus. If we, parents, could do this with our children, if we could literally lead our most precious souls by the hand to Jesus, so that he could touch them, so that he could give them strength against sin, for good, for doing their tasks, for a pure life: there would be no lack of blessing!
Let the children come to me, do not forbid them! But who will forbid you? We are very happy to let you! Well, maybe it is not a question of forbidding, but perhaps something much worse: in this call to let them come to me, there is also a call not to block the way, not to be an obstacle to that child finding Jesus! So do not make that child stumble by your behaviour! I knew a little girl who was disgusted with Jesus, not because of her parents' worldly life, their unbelief, but because of her faith, her piety. A healthy young soul could not bear the blind, world-weary, strictly excessive piety she saw at home. He said: he doesn't want it! He felt that such a life of faith was an anachronism in a modern world. And he was right! Oh, but we must live the Christian life authentically, oh, but truly, oh, but in a way that is in keeping with the modern age, so that our children can see that it is a good thing, that Christianity is not an anti-progressive attitude and not a cover for hidden political desires, that the Christian life is really not an anachronism in the modern world, but rather: it is desirable, it is the right thing to do, it is a pure cause and a useful way of life! Do you see how right Jesus is when he says that I must first become a child myself, a redeemed child of God, so that I can give my child to Jesus? Until you yourself are truly Jesus', you will block your child's way to Jesus with the best of intentions, so that he will not come to Jesus because of you.
Let the children come to me - and closely related to this, as a complementary part, the other half, is that if you do not become like the little child, you will not enter the kingdom of God! What does this mean? What is the advantage of a child over an adult in the kingdom of God? Why is a child closer to the kingdom of God than an adult? Not because of what most people are thinking about now: the so-called childish lack of understanding! It is simply a romantic dream that little children are pure and innocent beings, that little children, with their pure innocence, serve as a mirror for adults in which we can see how confused and degenerate our whole being is! Oh, no! Every parent knows how untrue it is, but that even in the little child the whole man is drawn out: the selfish, the envious, the cruel, the sinful man! There is nothing that distinguishes a child from an adult except that he is a child! It is the very childishness of the child, the child's being, that is the example! To relate to God as a child - that is what it is all about! Let's look again at these children here in the story. I told you before that the disciples did not want to let them come to Jesus because they thought their Master was a man of great learning whose job it was to teach. What do the little ones understand about the science of Jesus? Well, this kind of misunderstanding of Jesus is in us too. We think that it is Jesus' teachings, his doctrines, his great principles and theories that are important. But that is not what is most important to us, it is Him, His person! Jesus' teachings and principles are invoked by people who have nothing to do with His divine person. It is true that Jesus was a teacher like no other in the world - and yet, it is not what He taught that is of decisive importance to us, but who He was and who He is today; that He Himself was and is personally present, and that in Him, in His person, God has bent down to us! God has become our brother! God has stood by us! His person means that God is here among us!
And in His presence man is renewed, strengthened, sanctified! So we too must somehow come to Him, like the little children in the story, who, without any second thought, climbed into His lap, took His hand intimately, looked into His eyes with a happy smile. So it is with such sincere, kind, childlike trust that we too should seek Jesus' nearness in our prayer, so that - like little children - we too may be touched by Him! And that is worth more than all the beautiful theories, great thoughts, lofty teachings! Even when the sermon is preached, it is not important that you get good ideas from it, but that Jesus touches you with it! Don't think that you are a good Christian if you can explain everything intelligently and intelligently to yourself, if you can understand, say, the doctrine of predestination or the book of Revelation - your Christianity does not depend on understanding Jesus' theology well, but on sitting in his lap like a child, as surly and blurred as you are, letting him embrace you, bless you with his pierced hand, love you! And then you will begin to truly understand Him, to know Him. Then the divine mysteries of His teachings will begin to open up to you, and you will begin to experience the sanctifying power of His person! Yes, the kingdom of God belongs to such, to such children!
A child needs the love of his parents, he cannot live without it! The child rejoices in love, he feels good in it, it makes his life beautiful and carefree. I heard the other day about a little boy whose father was lost in the war. He longed for his father inexpressibly. The neighbours' little girl had a father who had come home from the war, but the little girl could not warm to him, she was tired of him, she felt like a stranger. One day the two children were eating cherries. The little boy said, "I'll give you my cherries, you give me your father, you don't want him anyway! Oh, it's so nice to have children when we're grown up! And this is what Jesus brought! The love of the Father! The reassurance that God wants to be a Father again in a world that has become so terribly fatherless. God, through Jesus, calls every person home as a lost child, and whoever hears the call is welcomed into the Father's family as a child!
God is your Father and you are His child! This is the kingdom of God! This is what Jesus brought. This is the kingdom to which you belong, where you are truly at home, where you will find peace, shelter, fatherly comfort, forgiving love, blessed care, a Father always ready to show mercy and help. As a happy child again, a precious child redeemed by the blood of Christ, of a rich and happy Father!
Amen!
Date: 1 September 1963.