Daily Lesson for Monday 19th of August 2024

While children were greatly desired in the ancient world (particularly boys in the male-dominant culture), birth and childhood were not easy. Without modern medical care, the risks to mothers in giving birth and to newborns, infants, and children were elevated. Many cultures had traditional medicines and amulets used to protect these vulnerable individuals against malevolent forces.

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children are approaching Jesus.

While children were desired, they were of low social status, along the lines of slaves, actually (Galatians 4:1-2). In the Greco-Roman world, those who were deformed or undesirable would be exposed, or even tossed in a river. Boys were valued over girls; sometimes girl babies were left to die among the elements. At times these abandoned babies were “rescued,” only to be raised and sold as slaves.

The disciples appear not to have understood Jesus’ teaching in Mark 9:1-50  about receiving the kingdom of God like a child (Mark 9:33-37). Now they rebuke those who brought children to Jesus for blessing, perhaps thinking that He would not have time for such a simple task.

They were wrong. Jesus is indignant. Throughout Mark, Jesus has some striking reactions to people, and it is instructive that one of His strong reactions was toward people who were keeping children away from Him.

He strongly insists that the disciples must not stand in the way of the children. Why? Because the kingdom of God belongs to them, and one must receive it in the attitude and outlook of a child—probably a reference to simple, implicit trust in God.

“Let not your un-Christlike character misrepresent Jesus. Do not keep the little ones away from Him by your coldness and harshness. Never give them cause to feel that heaven would not be a pleasant place to them if you were there. Do not speak of religion as something that children cannot understand, or act as if they were not expected to accept Christ in their childhood. Do not give them the false impression that the religion of Christ is a religion of gloom, and that in coming to the Saviour they must give up all that makes life joyful.”—Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, Pages 43, 44.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-08-jesus-and-children/