Mark 10:13-16
Do Not Stop Them
13Now people were bringing the little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them, and the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
14But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and told them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
15Truly I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
16And He took the children in His arms, placed His hands on them, and blessed them.
Berean Standard Bible
People are bringing little children to Jesus so that he will put his hands on them. Mark does not tell us who they are. Not parents, not mothers, not neighbors, just people, and they want one thing for these children and it is a touch.
His own disciples rebuke them. Mark gives no reason for it, records no conversation, and never says what the disciples were thinking. What he reports is the act and then the reaction to it.
But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and told them, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."
Indignant is a strong word and Mark could have used a milder one. This is not disappointment and it is not concern. It is anger, and it is pointed at his own men rather than at the people carrying the children, which lands differently on anybody who has ever been the person managing the room.
Then a harder sentence, and it has nothing to do with being childlike in any sentimental sense. It is about how a kingdom changes hands.
Truly I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.
Receive is the printed verb and it carries the weight. A kingdom that is received is a kingdom somebody hands over. You can be given one. You cannot work one up, talk your way into one, or qualify for one, and a small child is the obvious picture of a person who takes what is put into their hands.
And He took the children in His arms, placed His hands on them, and blessed them.
Count what was asked for and what was done. They asked him to place his hands on the children. He took them in his arms, placed his hands on them, and blessed them. Every part of the request was granted and then a good deal more was added on top of it, with grown men standing there who had just tried to stop it. Mark records the blessing as the last thing that happens in the scene and then moves on without telling us how the disciples took any of it.
How We Know
Mark records a scene very like this one earlier, and a gesture turning up twice with the disciples in the way both times fits a book reporting a situation that recurred rather than one scene told twice. At 9:36 Jesus has a little child stand among them and takes the child in his arms, and at 9:37 he says that whoever welcomes one of these little children in his name welcomes him.
Here the same gesture appears with children brought to him and with the disciples once again standing in the way. Verse 14 also records that Jesus was indignant, which is a word Mark does not soften. Nothing here decides between those two.
Questions
1 Who is bringing the children, and what do they want?
AnswerMark says only people. He does not name them or tell us their relation to the children. What they want is for Jesus to place his hands on them, which is a small and specific request.
2 Mark says Jesus was indignant. Who was that aimed at?
AnswerHis own disciples, and not the people carrying the children. The anger in this scene runs toward the men closest to him, and Mark does not explain it away or apologize for the word.
3 What does it mean to receive the kingdom of God like a little child?
AnswerReceive is the verb, and a thing received is a thing handed over. Nobody earns it, argues into it, or qualifies for it. A small child taking what is put into their hands is the picture the verse uses.
4 Compare what he was asked to do with what he actually did.
AnswerHe was asked to place his hands on the children. He took them in his arms, placed his hands on them, and blessed them. The request was granted in full and then a good deal more was done that nobody had asked for.
What This Means for Us
The children in this scene do nothing to deserve what they get. They are carried to him by somebody else, argued over by grown men, and then taken up and blessed by the one they were being carried to. That is how anybody gets anything from him.
Rather than each person naming something tonight, let the youngest in the house read verse 16 aloud, and let the rest of us sit with the fact that he did more than was asked, and thank him for it together.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for being angry at the right thing and for taking children into your arms when your own men had just tried to send them off. Thank you that your kingdom is handed over rather than earned, because we could not earn it. Make this house a place where the smallest person is never the one told to wait. Amen.