Matthew 18.10-11 NKJV“Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.
For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.”
I treasured the moments I had with my kids when they were little. I still have two young children at home. Every day, I hold my youngest tightly and kiss her cheek and peer into her eyes and say, “You’re my little girl. I love you.” Who wouldn’t love such an adorable, precious little thing? Small children are trusting, innocent, playful, and cute. (Mine are especially cute!)
The context of the above verse is all about children. In answer to their question about “the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”, Jesus set a child before the disciples and explained:
“Unless you are converted and become like children,
you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 18.3 NASB
Matthew 18.3 NASB
The Lord strictly warned His followers against hurting children. According to Matthew 18.6, it would be better to “be drowned in the depth of the sea” with a concrete block tied around their neck than to cause “little ones… to stumble”.
I had no problem with this Bible passage until this morning. I’ve always understood this verse as a mandate to love my children unconditionally. That’s not hard for me. After all, I’m their dad. God built me to love my kids. It’s all a part of the creative design... parents love their children. But the last part of this scripture troubled me. “For the Son of Man has
come to save that which was lost”.[1] My kids aren’t lost. Who was Jesus speaking about here? Perhaps He was not speaking about my children or exclusively about children at all. Could it be that Jesus was referring to His entire human population?
I had no problem with this Bible passage until this morning. I’ve always understood this verse as a mandate to love my children unconditionally. That’s not hard for me. After all, I’m their dad. God built me to love my kids. It’s all a part of the creative design... parents love their children. But the last part of this scripture troubled me. “For the Son of Man has
come to save that which was lost”.[1] My kids aren’t lost. Who was Jesus speaking about here? Perhaps He was not speaking about my children or exclusively about children at all. Could it be that Jesus was referring to His entire human population?Some of Christ’s children are lost. That’s evident. Apparently, I can make a (positive or negative) difference. I can “despise [snub, ignore, berate, judge, etc.] one of these little ones” and help to secure their eternal lostness or, I can try to love all God’s children like Jesus did.
That choice is mine to make.
There are lots of ‘not-so-cute’ people out there. I see them every day. They’re not easy to love. Jesus loves them all the same. He loves the stinking, unshaven, elderly, homeless, overweight drunk looking for a handout just as much as He loves my pure and innocent precious little girl. I cannot imagine holding that man tightly and kissing his cheek and peering into his eyes and saying with sincerity the way I do with my own children, “You are my brother. I love you.”
I need to stretch my imagination.
____________________
Early Greek manuscripts and some New Testament translations do not include verse 11: “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost”.
Photos from The TimBoucher Experience (http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2007/11/14/bums-tramps-homeless/) and the Iowa Alliance for Drug Endangered Children (http://www.iowadec.net/).
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UncleChri
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Comments
What a great thought. It's so hard to love the threatening.
A movie all girls should watch: King Kong.
Some people, who've never known love, just don't know their own power. It's easy to fool the human brain into thinking pain is pleasure and hate is love. It's the decision(responsibility) of loving people to teach haters what it's all about, even if that's dangerous. Tough love. I always enjoy your posts, Dave. Thanks.
AHP, I am biased. I admit that but, darn, my kids are cute!