The Children, of the Kingdom
J.A. Macdonald Matthew 19:13-15 Then were there brought to him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.… Here we have the kingdom of heaven, its children, and its King. I. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. 1. This is a name for the invisible Church of God. (1) It is the Catholic Church. It exists throughout the universe, comprising the "whole family" of God at once in heaven and on earth (see Ephesians 3:15). The headquarters and enrolment are in heaven (see Hebrews 12:23). (2) It is the one Church of all the ages. It comprises the aristocracy of virtue under every dispensation. Christians from all climes sit down in the kingdom of God with all the prophets of the Mosaic dispensation, and with the patriarchs of still more ancient times (cf. Matthew 8:11; Luke 13:28, 29). 2. This is also a name for the collective Christian Church. (1) In this restricted sense it does not include the kingdom of Israel or the Mosaic Church. The Baptist spoke of it as future to him; so also did the seventy disciples speak of it as future to them (see Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17; Matthew 10:7). (2) The gospel dispensation is the kingdom of heaven as bringing heaven near to us. Christ is "the Lord from heaven." The spirit of the gospel is the very spirit of heaven. It brings us also near to heaven. We are spiritually risen with Christ, and sit with him in heavenly places. II. THE CHILDREN OF THE KINGDOM. 1. These are the disciples who are childlike. (1) Those who are without this resemblance have no place in this kingdom (see Matthew 18:1-4). (2) In the innocence and simplicity of childhood we see in outline what a man will become when born again and created anew. 2. These are also little children proper. (1) Such were the "little children" brought to Christ. They were "brought," viz. by their parents. They were so "little" that Jesus "took them into his arms" (see Mark 10:16). They are described as "babes" (see Luke 18:15). (2) These he received as belonging to the kingdom of God. There would be no good reason in rebuking the disciples for forbidding such little children to come to him, because childlike grown persons had a right to admission into the kingdom. (3) This blessedly disposes of the dreadful doctrine of non-elect infants' damnation. The parents in this case were in some sense believers in Jesus, else they would not have brought their children to receive his blessing. Yet his grace comes to all infants through his relation to them as the second Adam (see Romans 5:14, 15; 1 Corinthians 15:22). Christ loves little children, because he loves simplicity and innocence. (4) The prominent place infants have in the gospel is in keeping with the incarnation of innocence itself in the infant Saviour. III. THE KING OF SAINTS. 1. Jesus is present to welcome the little ones. (1) Infants belonged to the Church of the covenant under its more exclusive dispensations of the past. By circumcision they were anciently admitted. (2) Are they now to be excluded from the same Church of the covenant under the more liberal Christian dispensation? Baptism is the circumcision of Christianity (see Colossians 2:11, 12). (3) If little children belonged to the kingdom of heaven in the invisible sense of which the visible Church is the type, why should they not also be welcomed into the typical kingdom? Why should water be forbidden to those who have received the Holy Ghost (cf. Isaiah 44:3; Acts 10:47)? 2. Present to rebuke those who would keep them from him. (1) He who had recently defended the rights of marriage (vers. 3-12) now defends those of children. In rebuking his disciples he commended the parents. (2) There are still those who would keep the little ones from Christ, not only through their irreligion and neglect, but also under false zeal for the dignity of the Lord. (3) Notably those disciples who refuse them baptism because they cannot voluntarily believe. May not those baptized in infancy believe when they grow up? "The strongest believer loves not so much by apprehending Christ, as by being apprehended of him" (cf. Galatians 4:9; Philippians 3:12). 3. He is there to bless them. (1) The little ones were brought to Jesus expressly for this purpose. The Jews to this day bring their young children to their rabbis for their blessing. The custom seems to have been very ancient (cf. Genesis 48:14, 20). (2) Jesus is not said to have prayed, as he was asked to do (ver. 13); probably because those who asked him had no knowledge of his Oneness with the Father. (3) But it is recorded that he "blessed them" (see Mark 11:16). Little children, then, are capable of receiving blessing from Christ. (4) Let us humble ourselves to the simplicity of the child that we also may receive the blessing of the Lord. - J.A.M. Parallel Verses KJV: Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. WEB: Then little children were brought to him, that he should lay his hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them.