Thursday, May 27, 1999
Thursday, May 27, 1999
Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands
on them and pray.
(Matthew 19:13
NRSV)
How could they miss the point of Jesus' message? How can we? All through the years, even
among those who profess to follow Jesus the most, there have been those who have missed His
message. It is hard to believe, but there have even been those over the history of the Christian
Church who have had stern rebukes for those who have tried to bring children to Jesus. The
discovery of the child as a person of inalienable rights is a relatively new one in Christian
history...and child labor laws were not passed until nineteen centuries after Jesus...and most
were passed over the objections of church people! They supported long hours of child labor
because it kept the children off the streets!
In 1915 a poet by the name of Sarah Northcliffe Cleghorn wrote:
"The golf links lie so near the mill
With all the tragic events of our world, our children need our love more than ever.
Ronald Newhouse, Texas, USA
It is shocking that the disciples should have rebuked anyone for bringing children to Jesus.
Halford Luccock asks in the Interpreter's Bible: "How could they be with Christ so continuously,
seeing what He cared about most, hearing His words, and still fail so dismally to understand him?"
Luccock answers his own question by saying: "Here is a mirror. Look into it. That will help you
fathom the mystery..."
That almost every day
The laboring children can look out
And watch the men at play."
Prayer: Dear God, work through me to bring love to all of your children. Amen.
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