Mark
10:13-16
“Let the little
children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these
that the kingdom of God belongs.”
(Mark 10:14b)
Jesus often welcomed the outcast. We
saw this last week when he called a tax collector named Matthew to follow him,
and then was later criticized for eating in Matthew’s home with tax collectors
and sinners. We may not often think of
children as outcasts, but now, as in Jesus’ day, children are appreciated at
times more for what they will become instead of for who they are.
Jesus was angered by his disciple’s
attempts to keep children from him.
Here, as at other times in the gospels, Jesus identified children with
the kingdom of God. Honesty, humility, trust…these are childlike qualities that
are also kingdom qualities. What his
disciples, and we at times, fail to see is that to welcome another…tax
collector, child, sinner, is also to welcome Jesus. “Even as you have done it to
one of the least of these, you have done it to me,” Jesus
said.
Prayer: Help us remember, O Lord,
that in welcoming others, we welcome you.
Amen.
Jim
Abernathy
No comments:
Post a Comment