To Such As These
Luke 18:15-17
May 3, 2020
We have been now on quite a lengthy section here in Luke’s gospel
That primarily concerned itself with the truths about the Kingdom of God.
The Pharisees started it by asking Jesus where this kingdom was.
• Jesus revealed to them the spiritual kingdom which they should repent and enter
Then He spoke to His disciples about the coming physical kingdom upon the world.
We’ve covered that.
As we have also said, the CHAPTER BREAK into chapter 18 is regrettable
Since it gives the appearance that the sermon ended. It did not.
WE NOTED, THE FIRST 8 VERSES
• The story regarding the persistent widow
• Is given to directly instruct disciples as to how they should live in an evil world where they long to see the days of Jesus, but do not yet see them.
• The answer was that we should be persistently pray to our Father and trust that He will certainly give us justice once all of the elect are safely home.
WE NOTED THAT VERSES 9-14
• The story of the Pharisee and the tax collector
• Is given specifically to those who failed to listen to the Lord’s requirement that they must lose their life.
• He gave a story to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous.
• And the warning was that only the humble end up being justified before God and therefore will be safe from judgment when the Lord returns.
And now, we move to yet another story that directly links to the sermon.
We know that because of what Jesus says in verse 17, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”
Now, I don’t know if this story actually happened
Right at the same time as the giving of the previous parables.
What is clear is that regardless when it occurred
Luke purposely included it here because
It answers another very important question regarding the kingdom.
That is: WHO WILL ENTER THE KINGDOM?
We are aware that there will be those who are judged when the Lord returns, but who will actually enter the kingdom?
This story answers that question about as easily as any could.
Jesus will reveal to us that the only people who will enter the kingdom
Are those who will “receive the kingdom of God like a child”.
And if they do not, Jesus says that they “will not enter it at all.”
And so the point of the story is clear, even as it relates to the kingdom.
“the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
Let’s look at the story together.
There are 4 points to be made here.
#1 A PARENT’S DESIRE
Luke 18:15a
“And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them,”
In a cultural sense this is not uncommon.
• Jewish families were actually highly encouraged to take their children to rabbis to have them prayed for.
Every parent in here understands
The responsibility that God outlines for their children.
Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
And this is important to God.
In a very real sense, that CHILD DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU.
They may have your eyes or your nose or your temper, but they aren’t yours.
THEY ARE GOD’S, AND HE HAS ENTRUSTED A STEWARDSHIP TO YOU
YOU ARE TO GUIDE THEM TO KNOW HIM.
And this is a very serious responsibility.
Proverbs 22:15 “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.”
Scripture indicates that children are born foolish and naïve and gullible
God entrusts them to us that we will remove that foolishness from them
And guide them in the truth.
The New Testament explicitly entrusts this duty to FATHERS.
Ephesians 6:4 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
Fathers are commanded not to discourage their children
But to encourage them to know and trust God.
MOTHERS are also a vital part of this role.
• Commanded in Titus 2:4 to “love their children”
• And in: 1 Timothy 2:15 to embrace the role to raise them.
1 Timothy 2:15 “But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.”
Paul actually places the primary role of the mother in the home
To raise children by being an example of
“faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.”
IT IS IMPORTANT TO GOD
That the children He entrusts to us are guided in the right path.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
The implication there to BE THOROUGH as you train your children
Deuteronomy 31:12-13 “Assemble the people, the men and the women and children and the alien who is in your town, so that they may hear and learn and fear the LORD your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law. “Their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live on the land which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”
It is clear that God has ALWAYS BEEN CONCERNED
About the training up of children.
He loves them, He created them carefully, and He entrusted them as a rich blessing to us that we would train them to know Him.
And so this is not a new practice by any means.
AND THAT SHEDS LIGHT ON WHY THESE PARENTS ARE HERE.
1) These parents understood their responsibility to their kids.
They must have understood that they were responsible
For the direction that their kids went.
Otherwise why bother with taking them to a rabbi at all?
2) They realized they needed help beyond themselves.
They understood that in order for their kids to reach what God had in store for them; then DIVINE HELP was in order.
They needed someone to pray.
They needed someone to guide.
They wanted blessing on their child.
3) They realized the help they needed was SPIRITUAL HELP.
That is why they sought blessing and prayer.
These parents understood that their children were not perfect,
But were in fact sinful beings in need of divine help.
Psalms 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.”
And by that David doesn’t mean that his mom was cussing when he was born.
David rather speaks of the depravity of man.
It is that inherited sin nature.
Man is not born righteous and perfect,
Only to be corrupted and then in need of salvation.
Even the sweetest most beautiful baby in the world has a sinful nature.
• They will cry when they don’t get their way,
• They are completely unconcerned about the lack of sleep of their fathers.
• They have no problem making a mess that you have to clean up.
Children are born in sin.
And that means that every child,
Regardless of his atmosphere needs spiritual help.
These parents understood that.
Parents today need to understand that.
Your kids need to be brought to Jesus.
• They are not as good as you think they are.
• They need the spiritual help that only Jesus can provide.
“And it is amazing to me that parents
• Will enroll their kids in every event under the sun,
• And pay any amount required,
• And drive miles and miles and sit for hours
• To involve their kids in the most useless of activities.
And yet be completely apathetic
When it comes to bringing their kids to Jesus.
• We have certainly done our fair share of youth sports.
• AND WE CERTAINLY ENJOY IT
But if we will invest money, and time, and gasoline
Into something like baseball or basketball,
We must recognize that getting them to Jesus is more important.
So I like the desire of these parents.
They were bringing their kids to Jesus, “so that He would touch them”
Matthew’s gospel says so that He “would lay hands on them and pray.”
It is just parents who understood the spiritual need of their children.
There is nothing in the world wrong with that.
But that was NOT the view of the disciples.
A Parent’s Desire
#2 A DISCIPLE’S DISDAIN
Luke 18:15b
“but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them.”
Now, I can’t be too hard on the disciples here.
I’d be lying if I said that there weren’t times on a Wednesday night
That I didn’t feel the same way about all the kids running around.
There were times when I wanted to rebuke a few parents
For bringing their child up here to church.
“the disciples…began rebuking them.”
• The word there indicates a continual rebuke.
• The disciples were trying to get control of a situation that they viewed unnecessary.
Jesus was a busy man,
In their minds He didn’t have time to sit down and listen
To all the stories about your kids or to pray for each one of them.
In this culture children were deemed insignificant.
They weren’t front and center.
In the disciples mind there was more important ministry to be done.
In reality it only indicates that the disciples still didn’t get it.
It is worth noting that the disciple’s mindset
Was NOT the mindset of God.
Scripture doesn’t see them as a bother, Scripture sees them as a blessing
Psalms 127:3-5 “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed When they speak with their enemies in the gate.”
Scriptures says children are a blessing of God,
A valuable treasure delivered from God.
Just ask Sarah, or Rebekah, or Rachel, or Hannah, or Elizabeth
Those women understood the blessedness of children.
Children are a blessing
Because they are a precious gift in the sight of God.
Psalms 139:13-16 “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”
David understood that children were not accidents.
David knew that the only way a child enters this world
Is under the creative hand of God.
• He forms them
• He weaves them together
• He makes them with fear and wonder
• And He ordains their days
In short God puts great care, design, and forethought
Into every child He creates and He calls those blessed
Who He entrusts to care for them.
But the disciples didn’t see that.
To the disciples they were a bother and they needed to leave.
A Parent’s Desire A Disciple’s Disdain
#3 A TEACHER’S DIRECTIVE
Luke 18:16a
“But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them,”
Well that is certainly a beautiful picture.
We love that Jesus loves children.
• It is a blessing to us that He delighted in taking these kids onto His lap and listening to their stories and praying for blessing in their lives.
• We are thankful for a Savior who wasn’t so consumed with “important” ministry work that He didn’t have time to stop and listen to the curiosity of a child.
• We are enamored with a Savior who was genuine enough that when He said He loved humanity, it wasn’t just the ones He could immediately use for His service.
• We are humbled by a love so genuine that Jesus knew it was impossible to preach love to a parent while rejecting their child.
We love that Jesus loved children.
For certainly we know that Satan hates them.
WANT PROOF?
Exodus 1:22 “Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”
Matthew 2:16 “Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.”
Ezekiel 16:21 “You slaughtered My children and offered them up to idols by causing them to pass through the fire.”
Jeremiah 32:35 “They built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.”
Throughout Scripture Satan delighted in killing children,
He delighted in the mass execution of kids.
Satan hates them.
AND THAT HATRED CONTINUES TODAY.
Today we have legalized and promoted abortion.
People actually fight in the courts and in the media to protect their right
To invade a mother’s womb and cut a child to pieces.
That is satanic at its core.
Beyond that we have Sexual perversion and pedophilia throughout our culture and those who willingly and purposely prey on our children.
Beyond that look at the clothing industry and see the types of clothes that stores sell to 10 year old girls, the whole idea is to make the physically desirable.
Face it, the days of frilly dresses and pig tails is all but gone.
Society starts young on our daughters.
Other attacks on our children are seen in their education.
• Satan delights in having your children taught evolution
• Satan delights in having your children taught sex education
• Satan delights in having your children taught that cultural perversion is
biological and normal
It is an attempt to deceive children.
And so Jesus is a much welcomed contradiction
To a world which is influenced by Satan.
Whereas the world uses and abuses children, Jesus loves them.
“Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them”
WE ALSO SHOULD DISCUSS THAT THIS VERSE IS REALLY THE FOUNDATIONAL VERSE FOR CHILDHOOD SALVATION.
Now first, let me clarify that there is no record that any child got saved on this day, there is no record of any baptisms occurring.
In fact there is no record of any child being saved anywhere in Scripture.
So using this passage as a defense of childhood salvation is a bit of a stretch.
The fact is that in all likelihood many of the children being brought here
May have even been infants.
This passage isn’t really about whether or not children can be saved.
WELL DO YOU NOT THINK CHILDREN CAN BE SAVED?
Of course I do.
This passage certainly doesn’t say they can’t,
Nor does any other in Scripture.
Obviously children can be saved.
• Now we certainly don’t agree with the manipulative tactics that are so often used today to coerce children into making decisions.
• And we are not quick to take a child’s interest in Jesus and immediately declare them saved until we can discern the Holy Spirit in their lives
• For far too many live under the false assurance of decisions they made as children which have born no fruit in their adult lives.
But we have no problem whatsoever with the truth of this passage.
If a child wants to come to Jesus, “do not hinder them”
If a child wants to come to Jesus, by all means let them.
Does that mean we run after them and assure them that they are saved
And rush them to the baptistery?
No.
Let God prompt that too.
But the simple point is if a child feels the need
To draw near to Jesus, encourage them to do it.
If a child feels the need to commit to Jesus, encourage them to do it.
If a child feels the need to pray to Jesus, encourage them to do it.
You don’t know when it is saving faith occurring.
So we understand what is going on here.
• Parents are fulfilling their role to care for the spiritual needs of their children.
• Disciples are walking in the flesh not realizing what is going on.
• Jesus is being Jesus, welcoming these children to Himself because He loves children.
And that in and of itself is a heart-warming story.
BUT THAT IS NOT WHY LUKE INCLUDED IT.
There is a reason why Luke included this story
And it is because of what Jesus says next.
Parent’s Desire, Disciple’s Disdain, Teacher’s Directive
#4 KING’S DECREE
Luke 18:16b-17
After calling the children back to Himself, Scripture says that Jesus said, “for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”
Throughout Scripture there are two things
That God most likes to compare His people to.
1) Sheep 2) Children
We know of the children of Israel, the children of God, the children of the kingdom, etc.
And He compares us to children
For much the same reason that He compares us to sheep.
It is a living analogy of
• Our weakness compared to His strength,
• Our ignorance compared to His wisdom,
• Our depravity compared to His righteousness.
He uses children as an analogy on purpose.
Now, we do see children used as various examples in Scripture.
They are seen as innocent…
• Often referred to in the Old Testament as “the innocent”
They are seen as lowly…
• Matthew 18 uses them as an example of the least. Certainly that was true in their culture.
They are seen as naïve…
• Paul tells us not to be like children in our thinking.
They are seen as trusting…
• We’ve all heard of child-like faith
And here He uses children for a specific reason.
CHILDREN WERE CONSIDERED TO BE TOTALLY DEPENDANT.
(you might say helpless)
Is there a creature on earth that is more dependent than a newborn baby?
We marvel at newborn animals.
• In just a matter of weeks a newborn puppy is ready even to leave its mother.
• Animal babies are very quickly walking on their own, eating on their own, and in some cases even quickly reproducing.
But a human infant is totally dependent.
• It will be a few weeks before it can even lift its head.
• A few more weeks before it can roll over.
• It will take months for it to be able to crawl, and around a year before it can walk.
• It should be able to talk within a second year
• But it won’t be able to be left alone for several years due to a severe lack of discernment.
If a child is to survive,
It will be totally dependent on someone else to care for it.
AND THIS IS THE IMAGE THAT JESUS HAS IN MIND HERE.
Jesus says “the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
• God’s kingdom is not inhabited by self-sufficient people, but by dependent people.
• God’s kingdom is not for those who can do it on their own, but for those who can’t.
• God’s kingdom is not for the strong, it is for the weak.
THAT ALONE IS A VERY INFORMATIVE TRUTH.
If you think that you are good enough or smart enough or strong enough
To enter the kingdom on your own without any help from Jesus,
YOU HAVE TERRIBLY MISSED THE POINT.
We certainly remember that it is just the opposite in Scripture who are saved.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”
BUT JESUS TAKES IT EVEN A STEP FURTHER
When He issues what amounts to A KINGLY DECREE.
(17) “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”
Consider that statement for a moment.
FIRST OF ALL, The kingdom of God is not something to be obtained or to be earned, but rather Jesus says it is to be RECEIVED.
Perhaps you remember Jesus’ teaching from earlier in Luke’s gospel.
Luke 16:16-17 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. “But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.”
• The implication there was that people were seeking to force their way into the
kingdom.
• And the means of forcing was to nullify the requirements of the Law.
God laid out His Law as the perfect description of practical human righteousness,
And a man must fulfill that requirement in order to enter God’s kingdom.
But men could not and thus did not fulfill that requirement so they attacked the Law and mutilated the standard that they might force their way into the kingdom.
AND OF COURSE IT DID NOT WORK.
You don’t force your way into the kingdom.
You don’t work your way in either.
If we learned anything from the parable we looked at last week,
We know that religious activity was less than impressive to God.
That Pharisee could fast and tithe all he wanted,
But he could not earn entry into the kingdom.
The only way entrance into the kingdom is granted is if it is received.
And this certainly is a child-like attribute.
• Children don’t earn anything.
• In meritorious sense, children don’t deserve anything.
• Everything they have is only because someone who cares for them has determined to give it to them.
The kingdom must be received.
And thus received “like a child”.
WHEN WE DESIRE TO ENTER THE KINGDOM
• WE DO NOT approach the king with our resume of good works like the Pharisee did. He will not be impressed.
• WE DO NOT seek to overthrow the king and abolish His requirements and force our way in. He will not be overthrown.
THERE IS BUT ONE WAY TO ENTER.
It is when we recognize both our lack of worth and our lack of ability
And we come to Jesus like a helpless infant
Trusting in Him to grant us the kingdom.
A better word for this might be HUMILITY
(Just as we saw last week)
In fact Jesus says, if you don’t approach Him like that
You “will not enter it at all.”
No one will ever enter God’s kingdom based upon his own merit.
No one will ever enter God’s kingdom based upon his own efforts.
EVERYONE WHO ENTERS WILL ENTER:
• Like a hopeless widow who can only plead for someone else to give her justice.
• Like a sinful tax collector who can only hope that mercy is available.
• Like a helpless infant who can only depend on someone else to take care of them.
Those are the examples of the chapter that should be etched in your mind
God is not looking for powerful people,
• He is looking for people with faith like that widow.
God is not looking for good people,
• He is looking for people with humility like that tax collector.
God is not looking for worthy people,
• He is looking for people with dependence like these children.
Matthew 5:3-6 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Do you want to enter the kingdom?
Do you want to be one of those who is saved from the wrath to come?
Then humble yourself.
• Let go of any notions of worth or merit.
• Cast yourself at the mercy of the King.
• Trust Him to care for you and to accomplish for you what you cannot accomplish on your own.
That is what it means to be “receive the kingdom of God like a child”
If you have never done that, I invite you to this morning.
• To see that on your own you will never enter, But through the gracious offer of
Jesus it is available.
• I would invite you to let go of your pride, To let go of your accomplishments, To
let go of your ego and humbly throw yourself at the mercy of the King.
And if you will, like the people in these stories.
• You can expect justice DESPITE your weakness…
• You can expect justification DESPITE your sin…
• You can expect entrance into the kingdom DESPITE your lack of having
done anything to earn it…
That is the truth of the gospel, and it is the truth Jesus preached here.
