Mark 9:36 AV
And he took a child,
and set him in the midst of them:
and when he had taken him in his arms¹,
he said unto them,
¹) Embraced him
Other translations
And He took a little child and put him in the center of their group; and taking him in [His] arms, He said to them, [AMP] And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, [ESV] And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, [KJV] He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, [NIV] Then he put a little child among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, [NLT] Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, [NKJV]
Some further information
And he took a child
“a little child” ( Matthew 18:2 ); but the word is the same in both places, as also in Luke 9:47.
To make clear what He means, Jesus takes a child who is apparently also in the house and places it in the middle of the circle of the disciples. A child has no position or dignity and is therefore a good example of someone who is last (Mark 9:35).
When he had taken him in his arms
This beautiful trait is mentioned only by Mark.
[An early TRADITION says (Not in the Bible!) that this COULD HAVE BEEN Ignatius, later Bishop of Antioch, nicknamed theophoros (borne by God). Others suspect that, ASSUMING they are in Peter’s house, it COULD BE a child of Peter.]
He said unto them
Here we must go to Matthew ( Matthew 18:3,4 ) for the first of this answer:
³And said, Verily I say unto you,
Except ye be converted,
and become as little children,
ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
⁴Whosoever therefore shall humble himself
as this little child,
the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven
Conversion must be thorough; not only the heart must be turned to God in general, and from earthly to heavenly things, but in particular, except ye be converted from that carnal ambition which still lives within you, into that freedom from all such feelings, which ye see in this child, ye have neither part nor lot in the kingdom at all.
And he who in this feature, has most of the child, is highest there.
“Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven”: “for he that is [willing to be] least among you all, the same shall be great” (Luke 9:48).
Now let us reflect on this
Your marriage may be richly blessed with children.
Be happy and thankful for them, for the Lord has given them to you.
Of course, when they are grown up they go to church on their own, if they are still small take them to God’s house by hand. After all, the service is not only intended for the elderly, but also for young people and children.
Several times during His walk here on earth the Lord Jesus showed that he was a Friend of children. It is precious if our little children get to know Him from a young age.
In the text of today we read that the Lord Jesus takes a small child in his arms.
The child is presented to the disciples as an example of lowliness and humility.
The Lord wanted to teach them by the example of this child that the disciples should not despise the little and the lowly in the world.
What a lesson to all of God’s children. Sometimes they want to be more than someone else. They also sometimes look down on the lowly and despised.
Let the child’s example be taken to heart by them.
Twitter: @SchoemakerHarry
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