Childlike Dependence

Matt Horine

Mark • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

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Introduction

We began chapter 10 last week by stating that throughout this chapter especially we’re going to see a contrast between the things that God values versus the things the world values.

Last week we saw the value that God places on marriage. Marriage is God’s idea which was instituted all the way back in creation when God brought Adam and Eve together. Marriage is to be held in high regard and guarded because marriage is a reflection of the gospel. The way in which a husband loves his wife and the way in which a wife honors her husband should resemble both the love Christ has for the church and the way in which the church submits to, honors, and follows Christ.

Unfortunately, the world does not value marriage as highly and treat it with the honor and sacredness that God places on it. Which should be no surprise to us when we think about it. If marriage is truly a reflection of the gospel, meaning it displays to the world the love Jesus has for the church then of course, it’s going to come under attack from the enemy of God.

It’s the same reason why the prevailing debate raging amidst our culture today on gender ideology and gender identity, the fluidity of gender, though it should disturb us, righteously anger us, it still shouldn’t surprise us because again, if human beings are made in the image of God as male and female, as Genesis 1 would assert then of course, that’s going to come under attack.

Nothing has changed within the human heart over the past 2000 years since Jesus walked on this earth. The topics may have changed, but the human heart still desires control and power and autonomy. We don’t want to submit to a Creator. We want to determine our own lives, we want to chart our own course, we want to have power and control over our own lives and truly, if we’re honest, over the lives of others. We value the things that we see benefit us. We’re selfish beings by nature.

However, and I think this is caused by God’s common grace upon all of us, we do recognize, even without regenerated hearts, that selfishness is destructive. A culture will not thrive and flourish where selfishness reigns.

And so, if we want to truly discover life as it was intended to be, then we have to die to ourselves and recognize that there is no good within us and that in order to really find freedom, then we need to submit to the reign and rule of God. And I know that sounds contradictory; we find freedom through submission, but it’s true. Only when we submit to God’s rule over us as the Creator and sustainer of life do we find what we were created for.

We need to value what God values. Our lives need to be shaped by his reign, his rule, his word over us.

Jesus began his public ministry by calling people to repent.

Mark 1:15

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Here’s what he’s saying. “Come find life and joy eternal under the reign of God, in his kingdom through repentance and faith in my life, death, and resurrection.”

Turn from your sin. Repent. Stop following and valuing the things of the world and instead find salvation for your souls in Christ alone.

Receive Christ. Receive the kingdom like a child, with childlike dependence. This is what God values.

God’s salvation of sinful rebels is undeniably unfathomable and far-reaching. We’ll be singing and worshipping God for all eternity for His salvation. I believe we’ll be mining and exploring the depths of God’s grace forever. But at the same time, it’s remarkably simple and is received and accepted like a child.

Last week we saw the elevation of marriage by Jesus. Where the world seems to treat marriage poorly and not in high regard, Jesus holds it high and shows how it resembles the glorious gospel of Christ.

This week, Jesus elevates little children, those often seen as the least of these to show how one enters into the kingdom of God.

Problem

And I think the problem many of us will face is that “receiving the kingdom like a child” as Jesus puts it sounds too simplistic. Surely, there must be more to it. Surely, there must be more I must do. Surely, it’s more complicated and complex than that.

It almost can sound insulting to our intelligence and our prominence and prestige and ability. “You know who I am? The skills and gifts I bring to the table?” “You know how smart I am and what I’ve accomplished in my life?” “And yet, you’re telling me I have to simply have childlike faith?”

In our flesh, that can be hard for us to stomach which is why we continually try to add to the gospel. We do it all the time. We think our works, our religious performance, our acts of service somehow contribute to God’s acceptance of us.

Why are we so often so determined to add something to the gospel? “I’ve got to do something!” I think it goes back to what I said at the beginning this morning. Human beings want control. We want to contribute something so that we now have a say, so that we can have some form of ownership and control.

But Jesus is flipping the script here. “No, you can’t bring anything to the table.” In fact, it’s really Jesus saying, “You’ve done enough already. I’ve come to clean up your mess.” “Receive the kingdom like a child.” But what’s that mean? Let’s explore it.

Body

In verse 13 we see that parents were bringing their children to Jesus.

Mark 10:13

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.

Now, typical of Jesus’ day, it’s been another long one. It was a day filled with teaching, and ministering to hurting people, conflict with the Pharisees and now throw in a long line of parents with kids of all ages, Luke’s account of this moment says that even infants were being brought to him so that Jesus would bless them. This was a classic Jewish custom that dated all the way back to Genesis when Joseph’s father, Jacob laid his hands on his two boys, Ephraim and Manasseh.

So, it’s been a long day already, Jesus is back in a house with his disciples teaching them and others that are around him and this line of families begins to gather outside. So, there’s children everywhere.

Now, let me ask you. After a long stressful day at work, where you are mentally, physically, and emotionally drained, is being in a room filled with kids of all ages the most calming environment for you to be refreshed and renewed? No, of course not. Kids are loud, babies cry, toddlers are into everything. They’re immature and always have snot coming out of their noses. They’re needy and dependent. You can’t really ever relax around children. You’ve got to watch them and care for them. You’re on edge around them a lot of times.

So, it says that the disciples rebuked these families and were sending them away. Why? I think it’s pretty simple. They were trying to protect Jesus’ time. He’s under a lot of pressure. He faced conflict just about everywhere he goes either from demon-possessed individuals or the religious establishment that was trying to destroy him. He always has crowds gathering around him, people are always in need asking him for things most likely unaware of how draining ministry is and so now they, the disciples see a bunch of “snot-nosed” kids running around outside, making a bunch of noise, babies crying and I think they’re like, “No, he doesn’t have time for this, you gotta go away.”

I mean, Mark uses the phrase, “rebuked them.” So, it was more than just a sending away. They were genuinely upset that these families would be so selfish to now bring all their kids to Jesus after the day he’s had with the religious leaders. So, they were admonishing these families standing there with their kids.

Unfortunately, the disciples here even fell into the trap of not valuing what God values. I mean, these were just kids they thought. Jesus has more important people to tend to. Interestingly enough, this comes right after the disciples were pulling him aside to ask for more teaching and clarification on what Jesus had just taught regarding marriage and divorce. So, it appears that they were okay with taking Jesus’ time when it benefited them, but he doesn’t have time for kids they thought.

But look at Jesus’ response. Verse 14.

Mark 10:14

But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

So, Jesus is sitting in the house, teaching and ministering to people. Loving them, caring for them. And he looks out the window and sees his disciples rebuking these families, sending them away from him. Maybe he sees the little kids standing next to their parents in fear because these disciples are being so harsh with them.

These little children most likely were told by their parents that they were going to go see Jesus today. A man who does amazing miracles. A man who genuinely cares for and loves people. A man who teaches amazing things about God. And now, they’re experiencing the complete opposite of that from Jesus’ own disciples.

You can see then, why Jesus’ response to this was indignation. In fact, key in on that word for just a second.

Mark says that Jesus was “indignant.” Here’s what’s interesting. This is the only instance in Jesus’ ministry where it says that Jesus was indignant. Sure, Jesus got angry at the religious leaders when he saw their abuse and mistreatment of the people. But to be indignant means something a little different. The word is a combination of two words: “much” and “to grieve.” And so, Mark records Jesus’ heart as “much grieved.” here.

You can tell a lot about a person’s heart and character by what grieves them. And Jesus’ heart was grieved over the treatment of these children. That they were being hindered, stopped, rejected from seeing him.

What do we learn here about what Jesus values?

Jesus loves and values children.

I know that’s such a simple point, but it’s profound the more you meditate on it and it’s exactly what we see in the text.

“Let the children come to me; do not hinder them.”

In a time and place and culture that devalued children, Jesus elevated them. In a culture that had no time for children, Jesus says, I have plenty of time, let them come to me. They don’t need to sit in the back of the room, they don’t need to be ignored. They can come right up front and I’ll give them my full attention.

Jesus loves and values children. And so should we.

These families in verse 13 were bringing their children to Jesus. They loved their children so much that they wanted them to be near Jesus.

Parents, how are you leading your children to Jesus?

In our day and age we make one of two mistakes regarding children. We either devalue them as well and look at them as nothing but a nuisance that’s in our way of what we want to do with our lives or the other mistake we make is we idolize them and elevate them to a position that they were never intended to hold. And as parents, we need to guard against that. There’s a fine line sometimes between our love for our children which we should have and our idolization of our children where they take precedence in our lives over Christ.

And so parents, how are you loving your children in such a way that is leading them to Jesus? Does your home value the worship and exaltation of Christ? Does it value the gathering of God’s people regularly? Is God’s Word read and submitted to in your home? Do you pray with your children, pray over your children? Are you teaching them what it means to be a follower of Jesus?

Danny Akin exhorts us this way.

“There are several ways we can consistently and actively lead children to Christ. We can evangelize them with a gospel-saturated home. We can disciple them with a Bible-saturated home. We can pray with them in a prayer-saturated home. We can encourage them, bless them, and challenge them. We absolutely must model for them a “Christ-intoxicated life,” letting them see that living for Jesus is the natural and normal ebb and flow of life.”

How are you loving them and leading them to Jesus?

Church family, how are you loving the children of our church to follow Jesus? As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are the family of God. And so, though parents have the primary responsibility of discipling their children, we as the collective family of God serve one another by caring for the least of these.

Would you consider serving and modeling the love of Jesus for children in our children’s ministry? It’s not babysitting. Our volunteers meet together, pray together, pray over these children, teach these children to love and savor Jesus. They’re seeking by God’s grace to lead them and bring them to Jesus.

Church, I believe we also need to be a voice in our culture and in our world against the abuse and oppression of children through abortion, sex-trafficking, and child poverty.

We praise God for the movement that has been made recently to restrict abortion but there is still much to be done to care for families and children. Nearly 22% of the children in America live in poverty. Nearly 1 out of every four girls under the age of eighteen has been sexually abused. I recently spoke with an individual who works for the Department of Child and Family Services here in Illinois and they say the need for good and stable foster families is overwhelming. They have children sleeping on cots in their state offices because they just need a safe place to be and their home is not safe.

How are we loving and leading children to Jesus?

Scottish author and minister George MacDonals once said that “he doubted a man’s Christianity if children were never found playing around his door. Since Jesus was a lover of children, and since his Spirit dwells in us, we are very near the heart of Christ when we love children.”

The second thing we see in the text today is that,

We receive the kingdom of God like a child.

See the last part of verse 14 and into 15.

Mark 10:14–15

For to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

Scripture affirms two things regarding children.

They’re gifts given to us by a good God.

They provide an illustration for how we enter the kingdom of God.

Just as marriage displays what the gospel looks like in Christ’s love for the church, children display the heart attitude necessary for entering the kingdom of God.

And so, what’ necessary? Is it a child’s innocence? Well, no. Hang around children for more than a minute and you’ll see they are not innocent. We could all do a field trip to the toddler nursery just down the hall and be back in 5 minutes with a unified belief that children are not innocent. They’re sinners just like you and me. It’s not their purity or their kindness or sweetness. Again, hang around kids for a minute or two and that washes away.

So, Jesus’ statement here is interesting because with adults, it at least looks like we have our lives together in many instances. Kids are a mess a lot of times. So, why does Jesus use the example of a child to best illustrate what it looks like to enter the kingdom of God?

I love how Warren Wiersbe says it.

“We tell children to behave like adults, but Jesus tells the adults to model themselves after the children.”

So, what do we learn from children about how to receive the Kingdom of God? What is the correct posture?

Like children,

We come to Jesus helpless yet hopeful.

Children enter into this world helpless. They need the help of others. Even older children as they grow are in need of help from others. As independent and self-reliant as my kids think they are at ages 11 and 9 - and they can do a lot of things on their own, they still would not do well if we were not taking care of them.

They would do okay in our home by themselves for a while, but as soon as the food runs out, they have no way to replenish it. They would have no way to pay the utility bills and so eventually they’d be without power, heat, and water. We can see how very quickly things would not go well for them. Children are helpless and in need.

Children approach their parents with empty hands in need. This is how we come to Jesus. We understand our helplessness, our neediness. We have nothing to offer and apart of Christ we can do nothing.

Children don’t always understand everything and don’t always know what they need but little children understand one thing well; they need the help of another and they’re hopeful that they’ll receive what they need.

My children, know that they need food to survive but they’ve never worried or feared that food wouldn’t be available to them. They’ve never thought to themselves, “I need food, I better get to work and start planting and growing what I need to survive.”

They just knew and were hopeful that food would be on the table for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

When we come to Jesus we’re recognizing, by His grace our need for mercy and forgiveness. Our first thought should be glad acceptance of his provision of grace, not, what do I need to do to get to work and earn this.

We receive the kingdom of God like a child, helpless yet hopeful.

Like children,

We come to Jesus trusting and dependent.

Very similar to the last point, we not only recognize our helpless and needy state, but we also, like a child must fully trust in the giver of all good things.

When you hold an infant in your arms, they’re not clinging to you at all. They are fully resting in your arms to hold them and they rest there fully trusting in your ability and strength to uphold them.

Now, as our kids get older we ask them to hold on to us as we carry them.

My daughter still asks me from time to time to pick her up. And I’m usually like, “Stella, you’re almost as tall as me!” But she gives me the begging eyes and so I’ll pick her up but then ask her to hold on to me. Help me out. If I’m giving her a ride on my back I’m asking her to hold on tightly. At that age, we ask kids to help out a bit in the process.

But this isn’t the picture we see from what Jesus is saying. We don’t contribute anything to our salvation. It’s not like God does most of the heavy lifting but then asks us to help out a bit. No, we’re to be like the infant resting fulling, trusting completely in the arms of God the Father. And it’s his strength, his power, his grace, his mercy that upholds us.

Like children,

We come to Jesus seeking his affection and blessing.

We read in verse 16 that Jesus took the children and blessed them.

Children long for their parents affection and love. They desire their affirmation and approval of them. When they create something, they want mom and dad to see it, to be proud of them and what they’ve done.

At school concerts and plays, when the children come up here on stage around the holidays to sing, the first thing they do is look out into the crowd to try and find mom and dad and give them a wave. Their faces light up when they see them.

Like children, we should seek Jesus and his affection and blessing over our lives. We don’t earn God’s favor and acceptance any more than our own child’s actions aren’t what determine our love for them. Of course, we can be displeased and saddened when our children fail to do what’s right but it doesn’t shake our love for them.

We will still fall short of God’s standard. We’re still sinners yet God’s love and affection for us doesn’t change based upon how good we did on a certain day. It’s constant like a good father’s love their child is constant.

There’s safety there in that thought. We’re loved unconditionally. This truth should stir our affections for Jesus. Who else loves us as deeply as Jesus has?

Conclusion

There’s something to be learned from children. In fact, I believe we would gain a much greater love for Christ by watching and observing the simple nature of children. The older we get the more we complicate things. The older we get the more we depend on ourselves and think we’re sufficient. Yet the simple faith of a child is remarkable and oftentimes closer to what Jesus requires.

It was Charles Spurgeon who once said,

“I will say broadly that I have more confidence in the spiritual life of the children that I have received into this church than I have in the spiritual condition of the adults thus received. I will go even further than that, and say that I have usually found a clearer knowledge of the gospel and a warmer love to Christ in the child-converts than in the man-converts. I will even astonish you still more by saying that I have sometimes met with a deeper spiritual experience in children of ten and twelve than I have in certain persons of fifty and sixty.”

Have you come to Christ like this? With faith like a child? Do you recognize your helplessness, your neediness, your dependency? Is Jesus your hope, your delight, your joy, your salvation?

Do you yearn for Christ’s affection and blessing? Are you resting in his arms to sustain you, heal you, hold you, save you?