Annoying Children and Their Mothers

[1]

Luke 18:16

Holman Christian Standard Bible

¹⁶ Jesus, however, invited them: “Let the little children come to Me, and don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

 

In rural Africa where I grew up, we used to drive to many places that you won’t find on any map. This would sometimes be on footpaths or even bundu-bashing. Often, we would decide to stop and eat lunch, choosing a spot a long way from any visible human habitation and with no telltale crisscrossing footpaths to indicate that people passed that way. Or, fortunately less often, we might puncture a tire and have to stop in order to replace the flat tire with the spare or, even worse, have to patch the tire.

When this happened, we would sit there, quietly minding our own business. We were making no noise, not even a blaring radio, and our conversation would be at normal levels, if at all. Yet, after a few minutes, someone would look up and see a child standing some ten or twenty feet away (3–6 m). A few minutes later there would be five children. Each would be wearing a short skirt or pair of short pants and maybe a well perforated top, all roughly the color of the earth around us. All were barefoot with skin also the color of the surrounding dirt. Typically, they had flies swarming about their eyes, which they never shooed away. They would stand there absolutely still, just like statues. And like little statues, they stood in absolute silence and simply stared.

The longer we lingered there, the more children would appear until we had a ring of children all around us. They stared expressionlessly at this strange sight of a stopped vehicle and strangers apparently amusing themselves.

This is how I imagine Christ’s travels were. Most people walked everywhere: there were no cars. They undoubtedly often stopped in the shade. And always there were children. At times the disciples would get a bit irritated with all these children clustering around all the time. Then when the mothers brought their children to Jesus, this must have been the last straw in their minds. Jesus put them straight, gently, and showed how much he respected the value of the little children.

Lord, help us remember the value of little children in Your kingdom.

 

 

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[1] https://thepreachersword.com/2012/07/09/jesus-loves-the-little-children/