Then there were brought to him little children that he might lay his hands on them and pray; but the disciples rebuked them.
Little children were brought to Jesus for a blessing, and His own disciples tried to turn them away. Two questions follow: what were the parents asking for, and why did the disciples treat it as an interruption?
This was a known custom in Jewish life, and it had nothing to do with sickness.
It was an old custom among the Jews to bring children to a recognised teacher and godly man, so that he might pronounce a blessing on them. Laying hands on the child pictured the blessing being fulfilled on his head. So people did not bring these little ones for healing from any disease; they brought them for His blessing.
None of the three accounts says who carried them.
The children in question were very young. "Little children," "young children," "infants" are the descriptions given. Each Gospel leaves the matter impersonal. The parents probably brought them; if others did, that makes the Lord's welcome of them even more remarkable.
Why did they do it? One writer looks at what the disciples thought of both the Lord and the children.
In this next incident we see that even the disciples were strangers to the Lord's mind about little children. Apparently they thought the Lord was too great to notice these little ones. They thought the children too unimportant to catch His attention. So they rebuked those who brought their young children to Him for a blessing. In doing so they misrepresented their Master entirely. They failed to see what is beautiful in a child. And they denied the principles of the Kingdom they claimed to preach.
Mark's account adds the Lord's reaction. One writer traces how rare the word is, quoting Mark from an older translation.
When the disciples rebuked these mothers, Mark also tells us that the Lord was "much displeased." The Spirit uses a very strong word here. It carries the sense of being grieved, indignant, and angry. Six times the New Testament speaks of others being much displeased, grieved, indignant, or angry: the disciples more than once, the Pharisees, the ruler of the synagogue. But we find this word used of our Lord only once. It was towards His own disciples, when they tried to stop the mothers bringing their little ones to Him.
To the disciples the asking did not match the greatness of the Person.
The disciples thought it an annoyance or a liberty… Love fully met every demand made on it, even where the desire seemed so out of place. For why should the Lord of heaven and earth occupy Himself with putting His hands on little ones? But human reasoning does not hold love back. He set aside the unworthy thoughts of the disciples, who judged babies unworthy of His notice. How little they knew Him, long as they had been with Him… He is great, He is mighty; but He does not despise anyone.
So do babies have any place in the Kingdom at all?
Had there been no place for babies in the Kingdom of God in Israel? Now heaven was making itself known, and the Father's name was being declared. Was there to be no place for babies in the Kingdom of heaven? Yes; emphatically yes: for "of such" it was, and of no others. If men had to become like babies to enter it, the spirit of the baby was the very spirit of the Kingdom. Who should shut them out?
The Lord's hand gives more than the parents asked for.
When the Lord lays His hand on someone, it is a hand of blessing and power. Those who touched the Lord gave a touch of faith, but His was a touch of power. There was something in His touch that meant blessing to those dear children.
The encouragement comes with a caution about motive.
Suppose we bring them wanting them to stand out and be admired, so that our own pride and pleasure in them grows as they are marked out in this world or the next. Then we have no ground for expecting the Lord to act. If we bring them so that He may meet their desperate need and accomplish their blessing, He will hear us. The varying circumstances on our side will be no hindrance… He will do it in His own time. His way exercises and blesses the parent as well as the child, so it may mean delay. But He will do it.
- Brought — the parents wanted His hand on their children and a prayer over them, not a cure.
- Blocked — the disciples judged the children too small to be worth His time. That denied the very Kingdom they preached.
- Grieved — only here does the Lord's indignation fall on His own followers. They stood between little ones and Himself.
- Received — love does not stop to weigh what seems fitting. The Lord of heaven and earth despises no one, however small.
- Blessed — His touch is power, not a wish. So parents may keep bringing their children to Him, in His time and for their real need.
But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and do not hinder them from coming to me; for the kingdom of the heavens is of such
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
and having laid his hands upon them, he departed thence.
Verse 15 quietly closes a scene the disciples tried to stop: the Lord grants what they blocked, then moves on. The words are few, but they raise real questions: what did laying hands on a child mean, and why did the Lord give time to it?
Laying hands on a child had a settled meaning at the time.
The Jews had an old custom of bringing children to a recognised teacher and godly man, so that he could speak a blessing over them. Laying hands on the head of the little one pictured that blessing being carried out. So these little ones were not brought to Him for healing from any illness. They were brought to be blessed by Him.
Elsewhere in the Gospels people reach out to touch Jesus. Here the movement runs the other way.
When the Lord lays His hand it is a hand of blessing and power. Those who touched the Lord gave a touch of faith, but His was a touch of power. His touch itself carried blessing to those dear children. There is wonderful encouragement here to parents to bring their children to the Lord.
Mark's account fills in what happened next. Two unusually strong words there carry both the warmth of the blessing and the Lord's anger at the disciples.
Mark often records small details of our Lord's look, tone, or act. He tells us that "He took them up in His arms, put His hands upon them, and blessed them." Here the Spirit of God uses a very strong word for bless. It is kept for these little children alone, and appears nowhere else in the New Testament. It could be translated, He "fervently blessed them." Mark also tells us that when the disciples rebuked these mothers, the Lord was "much displeased." Again the Spirit uses a very strong word. It means "grieved, indignant, and angry."
The disciples weighed the errand against His dignity.
Love met every one of its demands in full, even when the wish seemed so unsuitable. For why should the Lord of heaven and earth take time to lay His hands on little ones? But human reason does not hold love back. He set aside the unworthy thoughts of the disciples, who judged babies beneath His notice… He is great, He is mighty; but He does not despise anyone.
The same writer weighs what the disciples overlooked in a child.
Before His glory there is little difference between a world and a worm… But the weakest may be the object of His deepest love and care… Each of them had a soul. What was that soul worth?
This blessing follows the Lord's teaching on marriage in the same chapter.
The Lord shows how sacred marriage is, and that is well worth weighing in a day of loose living. Alongside it, His invitation to bring the little children to Him has an added sweetness. Natural relationships are of God, and have His blessing.
Commentators differ on how far this reaches. Some read the Lord's words as placing children themselves within the kingdom; others read "of such" as describing the kind of person the kingdom is made of. One writer draws it out this way:
Hence also the Lord receives little children, and blesses them. This was in God's order, and of God's creation, in a certain sense unspoiled. I speak not of the root of sin, but of the manifestation of evil in the world… The kingdom of heaven set up this order again in natural relationships and nature as God made it.
The verse ends with Him moving on, but the pattern of the asking stands. What matters is the motive behind the asking, not the strength of the one who asks.
If we bring them with a desire for their prominence and glory… we have no ground for expecting the Lord to act. If we bring them that their desperate need may be met and their blessing accomplished, He will hear us. The varying circumstances on our side will be no hindrance. We ourselves may be Jews or Gentiles, people of little faith or defective faith, or strong faith… He will bless. He will do it in His own time, in a way that tests and blesses the parent as well as the child. That may mean delay. But He will do it, and do it tenderly.
- Brought. The children came for one thing only — a blessing, not a cure. It was the custom to carry a child to a respected teacher for his hands.
- Blocked. The disciples judged the errand beneath Him. Love does not reason that way, and He does not despise anyone.
- Blessed. Others touched Him in faith. His touch was power, and He gave more than they asked — taking them in His arms and blessing them warmly.
- Belonging. Marriage and children stand together in this chapter: ordinary human ties are God's own order, and He blesses them.
- Bring. Parents may keep bringing their children to Him. Where the aim is their real blessing, weak faith and hard circumstances are no obstacle.