Perspective: The Kingdom of Children

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The Kingdom of Children

Some people brought children to Jesus so that he would place his hands on them and pray.  But the disciples scolded them.  "Allow the children to come to me," Jesus said.  "Don't forbid them, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to people like these children."

Matthew 19:13-14 (CEB)

They say that I can move the mountains

And send them crashing to the sea

They say that I can walk on water

If I would follow and believe

With faith like a child

From "Like a Child" by Jars of Clay

In the Gospel of Matthew, we read that one day the Disciples ask Jesus, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"  Jesus replies by calling a little child over to them and saying, "I assure you that if you don't turn your lives around and become like this little child, you will definitely not enter the kingdom of heaven."¹

The Kingdom of Heaven - or the Kingdom of God, as it is called in other Gospels - is a kingdom unlike any the world has ever known.  It is best understood not as the divine realm we call Heaven but rather as any place where God reigns.  Jesus has taught His followers to pray, "Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."²  With that in mind, we might also think of the Kingdom of God as the world as God created it to be, before it was corrupted by sin.  It is both a reality yet to come and one we can glimpse already.  Jesus seems to be telling the Disciples that the Kingdom of God is a place for children and the childlike.

So what is it about children that would make them the most prepared for the Kingdom of God.  Maybe I should ask, what is it about the Kingdom of God that would make it more suitable for children?

Jesus gives us a few clues.

Jesus continues, "Those who humble themselves like this little child will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."³  The Kingdom of God is evidently a place for the humble.  Children live at the bottom of the societal ladder, making them naturally humble.  They have done nothing to entitle themselves to anything.  In the words of Brennan Manning, "Children are our model because they have no claim on heaven.  If they are close to God, it is because they are incompetent, not because they are innocent.  If they receive anything, it can only be as a gift."⁴  If there is a place for us in the Kingdom of God, then we must receive it as a gift, like a child, since there is nothing we could have done to deserve it.

Jesus then has some strong words for people who would mistreat children and the childlike.  He says, "As for whoever causes these little ones who believe in me to trip and fall into sin, it would be better for them to have a huge stone hung around their necks and be drowned in the bottom of the lake."⁵  Children have always been some of the most vulnerable people in society.  They are not wise to the ways of the world, so they do not realize that they have to guard themselves against people who do not have the best intentions for them.

Perhaps we can deduce that the Kingdom of God is also a place for vulnerable people - or maybe we can say that it is a place for people to be vulnerable.  In other words, perhaps it is a place where people do not have to guard themselves.  If the Kingdom of God is indeed a place for people to be their true, unguarded selves, then it must also be a place where people treat each other with kindness and grace.  It must be a place where all people are treated with the love and respect befitting a child of God.

Jesus goes on to say, "Be careful that you don't look down on one of these little ones."  Speaking in a parable, He then asks, "What do you think?  If someone had one hundred sheep and one of them wandered off, wouldn't he leave the ninety-nine on the hillsides and go in search for the one that wandered off?"  Finally, Jesus says, "In the same way, my Father who is in heaven doesn't want to lose one of these little ones."⁶  Children are important to their parents, and, because we are all God's children, all of us are important to God.  In the same way that the shepherd in Jesus' scenario cared about each and every one of his sheep, God cares about each and every one of us.  That said, the Kingdom of God must be a place for all people.

Jesus says that, if we want to see the Kingdom of God, we must turn our lives around an become like little children.  We must become humble, realizing that we are no more important than any of God's other children.  We must treat all people with care and kindness, especially those among us who are the most vulnerable.  We must finally take it to heart that all people matter to God and treat all people with the respect due to them.  If we do all of these things, then maybe we will catch a glimpse of the Kingdom of God in our midst.


Notes:

1. Matthew 18:1-3 (CEB)
2. Matthew 5:10 (KJV)
3. Matthew 18:4 (CEB)
4. Brennan Manning.  The Ragamuffin Gospel.  2005, Multnomah Books.  pp. 26-27
5. Matthew 18:6 (CEB)
6. Matthew 18:10a, 12, 14 (CEB)

Jesus and the Little Child was painted by James Tissot in the late 1800s.