Mark 10:14 AV
But when Jesus saw it,
he was much displeased¹,
and said unto them,
Suffer² the little children³
to come⁴ unto⁵ me,
and forbid⁶ them not:
for of such⁷ is the kingdom⁸ of God.
¹) In the Greek word ἀγανακτέω (aganakteo), the words agan (much) and achthos (grief) are brought together, and it shows that anger or annoyance was provoked with Jesus by what He perceived as an unfair treatment. (Matthew 21:15, 26:8; Mark 10:14, 14:4; Matthew 20:24; Mark 10:41; Luke 13:14).
²) Permit, allow, do not hinder, give access.
³) Young children, little boys or girls, infants.
⁴) To come, of persons; to come from one place to another, and used both of persons arriving, and of those returning.
⁵) To, towards, with.
⁶) To hinder, prevent, forbid; to withhold a thing from anyone; to deny or refuse one a thing
⁷) Such as these, of this kind or sort.
⁸) Royal power, kingship, dominion, rule; not to be confused with an actual kingdom, but rather the right, or authority to rule over a kingdom.
⁹) Translated from the Greek word θεός (theos), a general word for God.
Other translations
But when Jesus saw [it], He was indignant and pained and said to them, Allow the children to come to Me - do not forbid or prevent or hinder them - for to such belongs the kingdom of God. [AMP] 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. [ESV] The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: "Don't push these children away. Don't ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. [MSB] 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. [KJV] When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. [NIV] But when Jesus saw what was happening, he was very displeased with his disciples. He said to them, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. [NLT] But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. [NKJV]
Some further information
But when Jesus saw it
Jesus observed that His disciples reproved those that brought their children to, him.
He was much displeased
When Jesus saw this He was much displeased with his disciples, who took too much upon them.
They should have first known their master’s will; whether it was His pleasure to grant the favor desired for these children, and not to have forbid them of themselves.
And said unto them;
And said to the disciples, as the Persic version reads.
Suffer the little children
This He said to show his humility, that He was not above taking notice of any; and to teach His disciples to regard the weakest believers, and such as were but children in knowledge; and to inform them what all ought to be, who expect the kingdom of heaven; for it follows;
To come unto me, and forbid them not
Also the little children, yes specially the weak ones, specially the small and humble ones, those who “are like to these” (Arabic); and the Persic, who are “like to these little children” are now, and at any other time welcomed by Jesus.
For of such is the kingdom of God
▪︎ That is, as the Syriac renders it, “who are as these”,
▪︎ or as the Persic version, rather paraphrasing than translating, renders it, “who have been humble as these little children”.
It is as if our Lord should say, do not drive away these children from my person and presence; they are lively emblems of the proper subjects of a Gospel church state, and of such that shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
By these I may instruct you, and point out to you, what converted persons should be, who have a place in my church below, and expect to enter into my Kingdom and glory above; that they are, or ought to be, like such children,
▪︎ harmless and inoffensive;
▪︎ free from rancour and malice,
▪︎ meek, modest, and humble;
▪︎ without pride, self-conceit, and ambitious views, and desires of grandeur and superiority.
Christ’s entire silence about the baptism of infants at this time, when he had such an opportunity of speaking of it to his disciples, had it been his will, has no favourable aspect on such a practice.
It is not denied that little children, whether born of believers or unbelievers, which matters not, may be chosen of God, redeemed by the blood of Christ, and have the passive work of the Spirit on their souls, and so enter into heaven; but this is not the sense of this text.
It was indeed a controversy among the Jews, whether the little children of the wicked of Israel, “go into the world to come”: some affirmed, and others denied; but all agreed, that the little children of the wicked of the nations of the world, do not.
They dispute about the time of entrance of a child into the world to come;
▪︎ some say, as soon as it is born, according to ( Psalms 22:31 ),
▪︎ others, as soon as it can speak, or count, according to ( Psalms 22:30 ),
▪︎ others as soon as it is sown, as the gloss says, as soon as the seed is received in its mother’s womb, though it becomes an abortion; according to the same words, “a seed shall serve thee”
▪︎ others, as soon as he is circumcised, according to ( Psalms 88:15 )
▪︎ others, as soon as he can say “Amen”, according (T. Bab. Sanhedrim, fol. 110. 2) to ( Isaiah 26:2 ).
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The harsh rejection of the disciples is not ignored by Jesus’, He sees it (“seeing, when He saw that”) and He therefore reacts indignantly (aganakteo, Mark 10:41, 14:4) at the actions of his disciples.
After all, for Him the children are not a hindrance, no annoying troublemakers that do not yet count, but are pre-eminently suited to receive His blessing: let the children come to Me and (compare the expression in Mark 9:39) do not hinder them.
They are living examples of the principles of the Kingdom of God (cf. Mark 9:36,37).
From the words “of/for such is the Kingdom” we cannot infer that children already possess the Kingdom by nature, just because of their childhood.
It does not say ‘auton’ (of them), but ‘ton toiouton’ (of such), and this indicates that the primary concern is, that the child has the condition that is expected of every citizen of the Kingdom (children and adults): receptivity, dependence, simplicity, and obedience (Mark 10:15; Matthew 18:3; compare Matthew 5:36).
Coming to Him is here equated with receiving the Kingdom of God. With that, Jesus very emphatically binds the Kingdom of God to His own person.
Now let us reflect on this
Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not.
This is a command that comes from the lips of the Savior.
He is the Savior not only of old people, but also of young people, even of children. Let them come to Me.
The address will be announced to parents.
“To Me”, here’s the address where you need to be.
And if you ask how to get to this address, the answer is “through prayer”.
▪︎ Through the prayer in which we dedicate our children, and ourselves, to Him.
▪︎ By the Word from which we teach them, and ourselves.
▪︎ And by the example that we received from Jesus himself, and by the example that we in turn set for our children. A walk in the fear of the Lord.
Do not hinder them.
We can prevent children from coming to Him through our words and actions. How bad when the parents leave a trail to the world and sin.
The children follow in the footsteps of the elderly.
● How bad
▪︎ if we prevent them,
▪︎ when we deprive the children of that childlike,
▪︎ when we deprive the children of speaking about the Lord and His doing.
● How bad and terrible
▪︎ if we prevent the children,
▪︎ when we do not teach them in schools where the Word is fully functional.
▪︎ when we do not lead them in His ways at home.
Let them come to me, says the Lord.
We must not and must not obstruct open access.
As parents, we must ask for guidance, light and wisdom from Above.
Twitter: @SchoemakerHarry
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