The Quality of the Kingdom
But Jesus said, “Allow the little children and do not prevent them to come to Me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14
Of Such – Honor your parents. Why? Because they have the God-given responsibility to present you with the covenant relationship with God. So, what do parents do? Well, if you were in the crowd on the day Jesus met these children, you would have seen something quite shocking happen. Parents brought their children to the Master because they were trying to fulfill God’s command. They might not have known that Jesus was God, but they certainly knew that He was very close to God, and they naturally wanted their children to experience the presence of a man who walked with God. But, much to their amazement, those accompanying Jesus prevented them.
Our usual theological interpretation of this verse concentrates on Jesus’ remark about the character of Kingdom citizens. But what we might not see is that the fourth commandment is being broken here. The disciples are not honoring the relationship between parents and children. Jesus does not simply speak about citizen character. He corrects a tragic mistake. The covenant responsibility must not be blocked.
In the Greek New Testament, the word toioutos (“of such”) is unusual. The common form is toios, meaning “such”, like “such as this kind.” But the Greek here adds emphasis. This little word puts some qualitative stress here. These are not just any kind of children. These are children who carry a critically important role. They are representatives of God’s plan for communicating the covenant. Their status – dependent, unimportant and vulnerable – represents all of those who would enter into the covenant. No one comes to God carrying a glowing resume. We come dragging life’s ashes. We come without self-sufficiency, or we do not come at all. God’s plan was always to use the family to bring His grace to those who were most vulnerable. The enemy goes after the powerful, holding them up as icons of human success. God looks the other way, to the ones who gently rest in His sufficiency, who think nothing of tomorrow because they want to play today.
And how will they know that there is a God Who cares for them with such deliberate intensity? God entrusts that responsibility to parents. Jesus knew all about this divine delegation, and He would not allow the socially zealous disciples to interfere. The disciples thought only of protecting their esteemed Master from the annoyance of the unworthy. The Master saw that God’s plan begins and ends with those who have no advocate for themselves.
I wonder if we aren’t more like those disciples than we would like to admit. I wonder if we stand in the way of the vulnerable, the helpless and the dependent because we are “protecting” Jesus from the unworthy. I wonder if we realize that we are breaking a commandment.
Topical Index: Education
