As Jesus is traveling with His disciples, He is using His time to instruct and teach those around Him. In this passage He is faced with two types of interactions…the proud pharisees who continually test Him with their questions and the humble children who were brought to be blessed. Jesus boldly addressed the Pharisees by reminding them of God’s power as their Creator King and His plan for marriage. He spoke of the reality of living in a broken and sinful world where hearts are hardened and pain is inflicted. Then directly following his exchange with the proud Pharisees, His own disciples begin to rebuke the people who were bringing their children to Jesus. His disciples didn’t want Him to be bothered by the children, however, Jesus used this opportunity to teach His disciples and the crowds that the humility of the children was of value.
but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 19:14
Jesus reminded the people of the importance of humility and dependence on God. Jesus was not issuing a blanket statement that the kingdom of heaven only belongs to children but rather that we should be seeking to live in an awareness of our need for God. Our lives should not be punctuated by our own pride and glory, but rather by humility. This can be a difficult task in the broken world we live in. The drive to succeed, impress, and achieve is high and there is nothing wrong with these things. However, as Christ followers, our successes, impressions, and achievements should be pointing to the One who is greater than ourselves and glorifying the One who we depend on for our very breath. I pray that as we interact, work, and serve in our community that we we would be more like these children and less like the Pharisees. That we would be humble in our words and actions. That we would recognize our need for God’s provision in our lives. That we would acknowledge that His plan is best. And that we would seek glory for Him rather than ourselves.
VC Devotionals 