# Suffer the little children to come



## blhowes (Oct 16, 2005)

It was indeed a blessing to worship God this morning. I was particularly blessed by the preaching on this Mark 10 passage:


> Mark 10:13-16 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.


The pastor used this passage as a starting point for explaining and defending the reformed practice of infant baptism. I thought he did an excellent job not only explaining why reformed churches baptize infants, but he also did an excellent job addressing some common misconceptions about infant baptism. There was certainly much food for thought and this Baptist felt fed when he left church. 

As I think about the passage in Mark 10, I wonder about two things. First, from the perspective of the parents in the account, why did they bring their children to Jesus? The passage says they brought their children to Jesus that he might touch them. Why? Why did they want Jesus to touch them? What, if anything, did they seek to gain for their children? 

Second, I´m thinking about the correlation that´s made between OT circumcision and NT baptism. Its sometimes asserted that the passage shows that, just as in the OT children were to be brought for circumcision, so in the NT children should be brought for baptism. What I´m wondering is, why then did the disciples, who were familiar with the OT and its practice of the covenantal inclusion of infants, want to forbid the parents from bringing their children to Jesus?

I´m sure I´ll have more questions to ask about the passage, but I´m at the library and my time on the computer expires soon. Any thoughts?

Bob


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## Contra_Mundum (Oct 16, 2005)

> why then did the disciples, who were familiar with the OT and its practice of the covenantal inclusion of infants, want to forbid the parents from bringing their children to Jesus?


I'd say, for similar reasons some presbyterians want to put the children out of the service (and over in "children's church"). They say "its for the kids' sake," or they "don't want to disturb/disrupt the pastor," but I rather suppose its more for their own convenience... Children needto grow up in--and _into_--Christian worship, and that means inclusion. Grown-ups will lose sight of this fact (even covenant-minded presbyterians, and Jesus' disciples) if not reminded of it, sometimes forcefully as in the passage cited.


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## blhowes (Oct 18, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Contra_Mundum_
> I'd say, for similar reasons some presbyterians want to put the children out of the service (and over in "children's church"). They say "its for the kids' sake," or they "don't want to disturb/disrupt the pastor," but I rather suppose its more for their own convenience... Children needto grow up in--and _into_--Christian worship, and that means inclusion. Grown-ups will lose sight of this fact (even covenant-minded presbyterians, and Jesus' disciples) if not reminded of it, sometimes forcefully as in the passage cited.


I've been attending the church you U2ed me about and its a blessing to see children attending and self-controlled during the worship services. Young ones are taught very young, sometimes with gentle reminders during the service, that they need to sit quietly and still during the service. Its interesting and at times surprising to me how much they pick up on when you don't think they're paying much attention to the sermon. My youngest tends to fidget some during the service, but later I find him asking me questions about what was said during the sermon. Its getting through. After one of the sermons recently about divorce, my son later out of the blue asked, "So, why should Christians only marry Christians?" Amen!


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