There are two ways of looking at this incident which we are studying today.  There is the literal interpretation of how the kingdom of God relates to children which is expressed in vs. 16.  And there is the metaphorical application of how becoming like a child relates to entrance in the kingdom of God which is expressed in vs. 17.  Both are appropriate perspectives revealed through the text.  Jesus is obviously expressing both principles in this passage.  So we will look at them in that order; first how the kingdom of God relates to children, and secondly, how becoming like a child relates to entrance in the kingdom.

Now before we get into those two principles, vs. 16 sets it up for us.  Remember, this is a literal, actual event in the life of Christ, and so we must always approach a passage of scripture from the vantage point of it’s historical context first and foremost.

So first in the context of the chapter, let us consider why Luke positions this event in just this way.  As we remember the previous parable that Jesus gave in vs. 9-14, Jesus was teaching a parable of contrasts between the type of person that trusts in their own self righteousness, and that of the person typified by the tax collector that comes to God in humility, recognizing their unworthiness and their sinfulness.  The over arching principle taught in that parable is that humbleness is necessary to be accepted by God.  Jesus said that the tax collector went away justified whereas the self righteous Pharisee was not justified.  Justified means to be declared righteous.  And for God to accept a person into the kingdom of God, a man or woman must be righteous, even as God is righteous.

Now the Pharisee thought that his good deeds would be enough to make him justified before God.  But Jesus said that they were not.  The Bible says that all our own righteousness is as filthy rags before God, because we do our good deeds to be seen of men.  We do them with wrong motives.  Selfish motives.  But the tax collector was so ashamed of his sinfulness, of his unworthiness that he would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast and called upon God to be merciful to him, a sinner.  That attitude of humility was what precipitated his repentance.  And that is what God accepted.  David said in Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”  Humility then is the prerequisite for the repentant heart that God will accept, that God will justifiy. The principle God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble is so important God repeats it three times in the Scriptures (Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5).

So now to further illustrate this characteristic of humility that is so essential to salvation, Luke includes this incident where mothers and fathers are bringing their babies to Jesus to bless them.  Now first of all, please note that the Greek word translated as babies is “brephos”, which means a new born child, an infant.  Now that distinction is important.

What is happening here is typical of parents even today who wish to dedicate their new born babies to the Lord, to ask God’s blessing upon the child and to present the baby to the Lord.  We see that happening throughout Biblical history as well.  There was the time honored tradition of the father laying his hands upon his sons and blessing them such as in the case of Isaac and Jacob.  There is a prescription in the law that required bringing a new baby boy to the priest.  And there was the tradition of bringing a child to the synagogue to receive a blessing, to dedicate them to the Lord.

But the disciples see this as an unnecessary intrusion.  They think that it’s not going to be a good thing if people start lining up to see Jesus and present their babies to Him.  It was going to trouble Him unnecessarily and even hinder His work.  And so the disciples start turning them away.  And Jesus sees this and becomes indignant with  the disciples.  He says to them, ““Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

Now as I said, we are going to look first at the literal, historical context of what Jesus said.  He is literally saying let the children come to Me, do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.  If we are going to take that at face value, which I think is clearly the primary interpretation of this statement, then that means that children, these babies belong to the kingdom of heaven.  God has a special place for babies, for children who have not yet reached the age of accountability.

Babies and young children who have not reached the age of accountability are not able to make moral, spiritually responsible choices.  Are they sinful?  Yes, there is an innate sinful nature that is born into every man.  David said in Psalm 51:5  “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” Rom. 5:12, Paul makes it clear that the sin nature is inherited through Adam.  “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” And Ephesians 2:3 makes it clear that we were born with the sin nature, which destined us for wrath, the judgment of God upon sinners.

So it’s important to realize that children, babies are born with a sinful nature that they have inherited from their parents, traceable all the way back to Adam.  But there is a time during which they have not reached the age of accountability, that they really don’t know the difference between right and wrong, when they are considered innocent before God.  They receive a special grace before God.

Now this principle is proven in this very teaching of Jesus.  He is saying in the previous parable that humility is the necessary ingredient of the man whom God will justify.  The man was not justified by what he did or did not do.  The man was justified by grace, given to Him by God who accepted the humility and repentance of his heart.  Now then if a man who was a self confessed sinner, who had willfully acted in rebellion against the law of God, had willfully committed sin against his neighbor, if this man was justified on the basis of his humility and repentance as an act of God’s grace, then how much more then would an innocent child, who did not know his right hand from his left, who does not know good from evil, and is the perfect picture of humility and total dependence upon grace, not be justified before God? That is how salvation is qualified by Paul in Eph. 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”  It is not something that you do, it is a gift of God.  And Jesus is making it clear here that babies are accepted in the kingdom of God by grace.  They haven’t done anything to deserve it, but God extends it to them on the basis of grace until the age of accountability.  Now the Bible doesn’t establish a set age at which a child is considered accountable.  I think it differs according to each child.  But we can be sure that there is an age where they are not considered accountable, and that is the very early years following birth.

This principle is illustrated for us in 2 Samuel 12.  There we find the familiar story of David and his sin with Bathsheba.  And as you recall, David sinned by taking Bathsheba who was another man’s wife and committing adultery with her and she became pregnant.  And to cover up his sin, David arranged to have Uriah her husband sent into battle and then abandoned there in order to have him killed.  This was a terrible sin which Nathan the prophet confronted David about.  And when David repented, God forgave him, but Nathan said, “”However, because of this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child that is born to you shall surely die.”  So when Nathan went back to his house the baby became ill.   And if you recall the story then you will remember that David fasted and prayed on his face for 7 days for the health of the baby.  But the baby died.  And his servants were afraid to tell David that the baby had died, because of the grief that he had shown while he was sick.  But when David saw them whispering among themselves he knew that the baby had died and made them confirm it.  After they told him, David  arose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, changed his clothes, came into the house of the Lord and worshiped.

He goes to his house, they set food before him and he ate. And his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, when the child died you rose and ate food?” And he said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept for I said…Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me that the child may live. Now he’s died, why should I fast, can I bring him back again?” And then this confident statement, “I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”  David knew that one day he too would die and go to heaven, and that he would see this child who had gone on before him.  That was David’s confidence.  That was one of many Old Testament examples.  And now in the New Testament, Jesus Christ the Son of David confirms that hope.  That unto these babies is given the kingdom of heaven.  If they die before the age of accountability, God in His grace will accept them into the kingdom.

Now in Mark’s account in Mark 10:16, he adds that after this Jesus “took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.”  Jesus blesses them because they are considered part of the kingdom of God.  He is praying over them.  That’s what it means to bless someone.  To ask God’s blessing upon them.  It’s not saying some special incantation that imparts some mystical power upon a person.  We say the blessing upon our food, don’t we?  But just because we bless our Big Mac, it isn’t going to make it a prime rib.  We bless it, we thank God for it, we ask God to use it for His purposes, but we don’t change it’s nature.  It’s still a Big Mac.

These babies in our care we should bring to the Lord to dedicate, to consecrate, to bless, to use for His purposes, but there will still come a day when they will reach the age of accountability where they will be able to determine right from wrong, to make moral decisions, to deliberately rebel against God.  And at that time they need to confess their sins, repent of their sins, and in faith and humility surrender their hearts and wills to God to serve him as Lord of their lives.  There must be a day when they personally take responsibility for their response to the gospel and be saved.

But this principle certainly should be of great assurance for those of us that have small children.  There is a special dispensation of grace that God affords babies and small children if they should die prematurely.  We can trust, like David, that we will go to them and join them one day in heaven if we are saved ourselves.

But that should also serve as a reminder of the tremendous responsibility that we have as parents.  There is only a few short years where there is that innocent spirit in the life of our children where we have this tremendous opportunity to reach them.  They will reach a point where they will begin to make their own decisions, and go their own way.  That is why Proverbs 22:6 says that we should “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

When our children are young that is the optimum time to instruct them in the way of the Lord.  That is the optimal time to bring your children to faith in Christ.  I just want to emphasize that the training and instruction of a child is the parent’s responsibility.  It’s augmented by the church, it may be supplemented by a Christian school, but it is primarily the parent’s responsibility to live out a godly example of faith to your children, and to teach your children the Word of God and ultimately lead them to Christ.  This is not a responsibility that you want to delegate to someone else.  God has given you a stewardship of your children.

Paul recognized that in the life of a young godly man named Timothy.  Timothy had been raised by his mother and grandmother.  And he says in 2Tim. 3:15 “that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” That’s the same word, “breathos”, from infancy his mother and grandmother taught him the word of God which was able to give him the wisdom that leads to salvation by faith.  How important it is to teach your children the Word of God from the time that they are babies.  That’s your first responsibility as parents.

The second responsibility is to model that kind of faith.  You know, it does no good to tell them that they need to surrender their hearts to God and then you live as though you are enslaved to your career.  Our kids are going to emulate what they see lived out in our lives, not necessarily what they hear.  I can’t help but be reminded of the song by Harry Chapin, “Cat’s in the Cradle.”  He starts by singing of his child being born.  “My child arrived just the other day, He came to the world in the usual way, But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay, He learned to walk while I was away. And he was talking before I knew it and as he grew He said, “I’m gonna be like you, Dad, You know I’m gonna be like you”  But then the child grows up, and the things the dad meant to do never really got done.  He was too busy.  And so at the conclusion of the song the young man is now grown and has a family of his own, and he too is too busy to do the things he should do.  And so the last verse says, “I’ve long since retired, my son’s moved away, I called him up just the other day. I said “I’d like to see you if you don’t mind”, He said ‘I’d love to Dad, if I could find the time. You see my new jobs a hassle, and the kids have the flu. But It’s sure nice talking to you, Dad, it’s been sure nice talking to you.’ And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me, He’d grown up just like me, My boy was just like me.”  We have a responsibility to raise our children, and our children are going to follow our example.

Thirdly, let me suggest that you love your children. What do I mean by that? Let them know your heart is for them. Be affectionate, tender, compassionate, sensitive, sacrificial, generous. Like Jesus did with the babies they brought to Him, take them in your lap.  Touch them.  I think the majority of psychological problems that children have today is that they don’t feel loved.  They feel abandoned, isolated.  They warm up their own dinners.  Let themselves into an empty house.  They isolate themselves behind headphones and behind laptops.  We need to do as Jesus did and touch our children.  Lavish love on them.  Sacrifice for them.  That may mean sacrificing that extra income that you could have got by working late or taking that extra job, or moving up the corporate ladder.  They don’t need an iphone so they can keep in touch with you.  They need to feel your touch.  Show them they matter.  Especially you Dads.  Take your little daughters on your lap and tell them how beautiful they are to you.  Kiss them everyday.  Real men kiss their daughters.  Ephesians 6:4 says Dad’s don’t provoke your children. Don’t exasperate them. Be utterly unselfish. Serve your children. Reward them when they do well. Make your home a joyful place. Do fun things with them. Love them.  Make them want to become the type of Christian that you model for them.  Model to them the sort of love God has for sinners. Sacrificial love.  Model that kind of love.

Now then the Lord moves from this principle of children’s acceptance into the kingdom to the metaphorical application.  He says in vs. 17, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all.” Notice He does not say one must enter as a child.  But like a child.  Child likeness. There is a quality that children have that is essential to salvation. These little babies provide an illustration of how a person is saved. You are saved by an act of  divine sovereign grace.  You are saved as a result of your humility, your total dependence upon God for His grace, and His provision.  Not because of any good works that you have done.  You have achieved nothing morally. You have achieved nothing spiritually. You have achieved nothing  that can merit your salvation. And like a child, humble, trusting, unpretentious, dependent, weak, lacking any achievement, you come to the Kingdom. Jesus says if you don’t come to God like an infant, you will not enter the kingdom.

Ultimately, becoming like an infant means we need to be born again. In John 3 there is the story of Nicodemus who was a ruler of the Pharisees, and he came to Jesus one night to ask Him about the kingdom of God.  And Jesus said to him,  “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Just as a man is born in the flesh, so a man must be born again in the spirit to enter the kingdom of heaven.  We must become a new creation. Rom 8:8 says that “those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Jesus continues in John 3 to Nicodemus; “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”  So Jesus is saying that the way into the kingdom of God is by being born again.  It is by new birth.  Becoming a new creation.  Being born again in our spirit, by the Holy Spirit.
Now how does this new birth happen? It happens by humbling yourself like a little child.  Coming to God totally dependent upon His grace and mercy.  Surrendering your life into His care, to do His will.  It means coming like the tax collector in the previous parable, mourning over your sin, realizing that you are lost, that you are hopeless and helpless and in need of forgiveness.  The tax collector prayed a very simple, childlike prayer.  Any child could pray this prayer.  “God, be merciful to me, the sinner.”  That prayer of humility, of child like trust and faith, is the prayer that God justifies.  That is the prayer that God responds to.  It’s like the cry of an infant in the dark of the night.  And the mother hears the cry and  swoops the baby up in her arms and comforts him.  God is waiting to forgive, to comfort, to give life to those who recognize that they are lost and come to Him like a child, like an infant, helpless, dependent upon his love and grace.  Those that come like that God will justify, He will impart unto them the holiness and righteousness of Jesus Christ in exchange for their sins.  And then having been declared holy, God will give you the Holy Spirit to give new life to your spirit, to make you a new creation.  The Holy Spirit living in you gives life to your old body, so that you may do the works of Christ.

We are going to close out our service today by singing the old hymn “Rock of Ages.”  And I would just point out that third verse which I think exemplifies the type of child like faith which God accepts as we come to Him.   It says, “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling; naked, come to thee for dress; helpless, look to thee for grace; foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.” Jesus said, Permit the little children to come to Me.  Will you humble yourselves today as a child and come? Simply pray, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.”