Mark 10:13 “People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Apparently the idea that a relationship with Jesus is for the mature isn’t a modern idea. The Twelve also considered him an adult concern.

Jesus strongly disagreed. What the disciples didn’t consider was that Jesus came to love and to save little children, just like everyone else.

“Saved?” someone might ask. “Are you suggesting that children are sinners?” No more or less than anyone else. I have four children, and in my experience it didn’t take long for their selfish side to surface. “There is no difference, for all of sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” the Apostle Paul writes in the book of Romans. A couple of chapters later he gives the evidence no one can escape. “Death came to all men, because all have sinned.” Don’t children die, aren’t they mortal, too?    

“Are you saying, then, that children who die are lost?” No, not in every case. Jesus bled and died on the cross to cover the sins of everyone, including the little children. By his sacrifice on the cross he purchased full and free forgiveness for the entire world. He removed every barrier for our membership in the kingdom of God. By his resurrection from the dead he demonstrated that death can now be the gateway, the door, to a new and never-ending life.

“But isn’t a place in that new life, a place in God’s kingdom, something that has to be personally received by faith? Are you suggesting that children can believe?” Yes, I am suggesting, I am asserting, that they believe in Jesus and his gifts. “But how is that possible?” Look at Jesus’ words: “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” It is we, the adults, who struggle through doubts and skepticism. It is the children who simply believe like the song says, “Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so.”

Years ago, when my daughter was a little girl, she more or less adopted an older, single lady in our congregation as a second mom or grandmother. Along the way she got to know her parents well, too. The father was in failing health, and one day he died. No one this close to my daughter had ever passed away before. As her parents, we weren’t quite sure how to break the news to her. We finally sat down with her and told her the news straight up. She thought for a moment. “You mean he is in heaven?” “Yes, Carrie, he is in heaven.” “Cool.” Now, who showed the greater faith, the worried parents, or the little four-year-old who simply trusted that this man was in heaven? She did so because she first trusted our Friend who is in heaven.

I am confident in the faith of children because I am confident of the power of God’s word. The Apostle Paul again tells us in his letter to the Romans that faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Seven hundred years earlier God promised through the Prophet Isaiah that his word does not return to him empty, but it accomplishes what he desires, and achieves the purpose for which he sent it. His word is also involved in our baptisms. It lends them its power. And Peter assures us, “Baptism now saves you also.” In other words, God’s word can find its way into little hearts, whether accompanied by water or simply spoken into their ears.

“But can children really believe, with all their lack of developmental maturity?” Look at their faith in their earthly fathers and mothers. Don’t they trust them? Oh, they may be ornery at times, too. It is a real relationship. Christian faith isn’t the ability to spout long lists of theological truths. It isn’t a thunder and lightning experience at a single moment, though sometimes it comes with one. It is trust. Today I trust that the Kingdom of God belonged to the children Jesus blessed, and to our little children, because Jesus loves the little children, and he has made them his own.