"Receiving the Kingdom of God as a Child vs. as an Adult"
Mark 10:2-16
10/22/06
I want to focus today on Jesus words here where He
says, Let the little 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 little child
shall not enter it at all. Jesus said these words to His
disciples who were trying to hinder children from coming to Him.
Perhaps they thought Jesus couldnt be bothered with children, that they
were to be seen but not heard. Jesus was for adults, mature
audiences. Just like some of you were confined to your rooms by
your parents when company came over, so the disciples thought that
children had no business mingling amongst adults, especially when
someone as important as Jesus was around. The disciples were of
the mind that one had to become an adult before one could have an
audience with Jesus. But Jesus turns this idea around.
Instead of coming to Him like an adult, one must come to Him like a
little child. Either you try to receive the kingdom of God like
an adult and end up not entering it at all, or you receive it like a
little child and do enter it.
So, what does Jesus mean? Two ways are
contrasted here: receiving Gods kingdom like an adult and
receiving Gods kingdom like a little child. Whats the adults way
and whats the little childs way? Before we talk about this,
however, maybe its important to talk about what this kingdom of God is
that Jesus is talking about. It is that kingdom in which Jesus,
our crucified and risen Lord, rules over us now by His grace and mercy,
baptizing us into His Name, absolving us of our sins, and feeding us on
His Word, His body and His blood. Then, when this life is over,
He will take us to heaven, where we will live with Him face to face
under His gracious rule in His kingdom of glory for all eternity.
This is the kingdom of God, and it is a gift from God.
But how is it received? How do we try to
receive it in an adult-like way? The adult-like way of doing
things is always seen as the mature way, the right way, the reasonable,
rational way of doing things. You wouldnt want a child mechanic
working on your car or a child surgeon operating on you, would
you? Nor would you rely completely on the veracity of the truth
claims of children; children are prone to embellish things, to make
things up, to let their imaginations run wild. They dont yet know
how to always distinguish between right and wrong, truth and falsehood.
Adults, on the other hand, are proud that they have
the full use of their reason and logic, so as not to be taken in by
stories and lies. Reason and logic help us to operate in
society. With them we can distinguish between poison and
medicine, between good and bad habits, between acceptable and
unacceptable language and conduct. And yet strangely enough, when
it comes to religion, adults are constantly setting aside their reason
and logic and falling for all kinds of foolish and false
doctrine. Its almost a paradox how we adults boast in our
maturity and yet often act very immature and gullible.
Thats because our reason and logic are affected by
sin and blind us to the truth of Gods Word. So while adults these
days are falling for almost anything religious, when it comes to the
Word of God, that to them seems most foolish and unbelievable.
When confronted with the Scriptures, adults use their reason to fight
against and block the kingdom of God from coming to them. They
cannot accept the truth claims of the Bible, because the Bible reports
some extraordinary things, things which just dont happen in our
experience. For example, the 10 plagues of Egypt, the crossing of
the Red Sea on dry land, the manna from heaven, and a man being
swallowed by a giant fish are just a few of the events in the O.T. that
our fallen reason cannot accept. In the N.T. were told that God
became man, that He did all kinds of miracles - feeding 5,000 on a few
loaves of bread and a couple of fish, walking on water, healing people
of their diseases, casting out demons, and raising the dead, and that
this man was crucified but didnt stay in the grave. Instead, He
rose again from the dead, appeared to many eye-witnesses, and then
ascended into heaven. This just doesnt click with what adults
consider to be reasonable and rational. And so, when an adult
hears the Word of God, he doubts it, he questions it, and he subjects
it either to his reason, to his experience, or to his emotions.
This is especially so when it comes to the Gospel
itself. When an adult hears that Jesus is the atoning sacrifice
for our sins and that for His sake and on the basis of His work alone
God freely forgives us all our sins, the adult in us rejects this good
news and tries to enter into heaven by his own good works
instead. Its more reasonable to an adult to believe that God
accepts people on the basis of their good behavior, rather than to
believe that were all sinners and are saved by Gods grace through faith
in Jesus Christ alone.
And so, in the end, the adult way of trying to
receive the kingdom of God actually keeps a person from entering into
it at all. When adults hear the Word of God, they filter it
through their fallen reason, they question and doubt the Word, and
instead they build their faith on experience and emotion and seek to
find the assurance of their salvation in their good behavior rather
than in Christ and His finished work. And, sad to say, we must
confess that we all too often try to receive the kingdom of God in this
adult-like way.
A little child, on the other hand, receives the
kingdom of God in a much different way. Now, you know by
experience that children too are sinners. Jesus is not saying
that they arent. In fact, if they werent sinners, they wouldnt
need to be brought to Jesus to be blessed by Him. There would be
no need to baptized children, if they were perfect and already citizens
of Gods kingdom. But Jesus points to little children as an
example of how His kingdom is properly received, and that is by being
nothing but given to. Just as a little child receives from his
parents, no questions asked, so he receives the kingdom of God simply
by being on the receiving end of what the Lord gives him.
Now, you say, But I know from experience that
children often ask that obnoxious why question. Clean up your
room! Why? Because I said so. No cookies before
dinner! Why? Because itll spoil your appetite. The
sky is blue. Why? Because it just is! Thats
why! Older children often do ask the why question, but not the
younger ones. The word for children that Jesus uses here is a
word that specifically refers to very young children or even
infants. So, when Jesus says here that we must receive the
kingdom of God like a little child, He is not saying that we are to
receive it like older children do, who are already on their way to
becoming adults, asking the why question even more than adults do, but
we are to receive it as a child who has not yet reached the age where
he questions, doubts, and disbelieves, but who simply receives in
child-like faith what the Lord gives him in His Word and Sacraments.
Such a person (however old he is) hears the Word of
God and believes it, even when it seems unbelievable, even if and when
it goes against his reason, experience, or emotions. He clings to
Gods promises, even when it appears that God will be unable to keep
them. He trusts in Gods words of forgiveness, even when he still
feels guilty and doesnt see his sins forgiven. He trusts that God
has washed away his sins in the waters of Baptism, caused him to be
born again, and clothed him with Christ, even though he doesnt
experience these things. He believes Christs words spoken over
the bread and the wine in the Lords Supper, that this is His body and
His blood, even though he doesnt understand how this can be. He
believes, based on Gods Word, that when he prays God hears him and will
answer him, even though it seems like God is not listening and that Hes
far from him. And he trusts according to Gods Word that whatever
God allows or brings into his life (whether good things or bad) its for
his good and that God still loves and cares for him and will never
leave or forsake him.
One with child-like trust believes that Jesus loves
him, died on the cross for him, rose again from the dead, ascended into
heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father for him, and will return
to take him to be with Him in heaven one day. And, in case were
tempted to take credit for this child-like receiving, the Word of God
tells us that the kingdom of God is a gift, not earned either by our
faith or our works, so that no one can boast. This child-like
faith is itself a gift from God worked in you by the Holy Spirit
through the hearing of the Word about Jesus. And the more you sit
in child-like faith at the feet of Jesus and hear His Word, the more He
will enfold you with His arms and bless you as He did these children
who were brought to Him.
Now there is a difference between child-like faith
and childish faith. Child-like faith believes Gods Word.
Childish faith is ignorant of Gods Word. There are people today
who talk a lot about faith, but know nothing about Gods Word.
Childish faith would say that its enough to believe in Jesus crucified
for you; it doesnt matter what you believe about His Word. But
you cant have Jesus without His Word. Child-like faith sits at
the feet of Jesus and listens to His Word, confessing that every word
of His is important, that all of it is the truth, that nothing can be
added to it, and that nothing can be taken away from it or
disregarded. Child-like faith knows the Word of God, so that it
can recognize what is not the Word of God, so that it wont be led
astray by false doctrine. Furthermore, child-like faith is not
gullible, blind faith, as if there were no reason to believe what we
are believing. The Scriptures are historic fact and can be proven
to be such. We have good reason to believe what they say about
Jesus, because they didnt happen in someones imagination; they arent
myth or legend; they are true accounts written down by
eye-witnesses. Child-like faith gives reasons for the hope that
we have in Jesus. Childish faith says you cant check out the
Bible to see whether its true or not; you just have to believe it
is. But that is the way many people fall for the false gods and
false religions of the world.
Child-like faith also grows and matures in the
faith, while childish faith says that one must remain a baby and not
learn too much, because after all, knowledge puffs up. But heres
the paradox: a child-like faith always grows and matures in the
faith through the hearing of the Word of God, but at the same time it
always simply receives that Word in a child-like way - receiving it for
what it is, Gods Word. The Apostle Peter writes, Like newborn
babes, long for the pure milk of the Word, that by it you may grow in
respect to salvation. And the Apostle Paul writes that God has
given apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to the
Church, so that among other things we might mature in the faith, in
order that we might not be tossed about by every wind of doctrine and
the trickery of men. And so while were always maturing in the
faith, were still always receiving Gods Word, His gifts, His kingdom
with child-like faith, a faith that simply receives what God gives, a
faith that is immovable, built on the solid rock of Jesus Christ.
Adult-like faith always seeks to subject God and His
Word to our fallen reason and understanding. This kind of faith
must be repented of or we will exclude ourselves from Gods
kingdom. Instead, His kingdom is received with a child-like
faith, a faith that God gives you freely by His Holy Spirit through the
Word about Jesus crucified for you. With such a faith you can be
sure that you have been brought safely into Gods kingdom. Jesus
has opened this kingdom to you with His blood, shed on Calvary,
sprinkled upon you at your Baptism. And now you live under His
gracious rule, receiving from Him all the gifts He has to give you
through His Word and His Sacraments. He feeds you on the food of
this kingdom at His Table. He instructs you and strengthens your
faith with His Word. He absolves you daily of your sins.
And when your last hour comes or when the Lord returns (whichever comes
first), He will graciously take you from this valley of tears to
Himself in heaven, as Luther writes, and together with all Gods
children you will live forever with Him face to face in His kingdom of
glory. Amen.