QUALIFIED FOR THE KINGDOM

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on July 7, 2021 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: July 7, 2021 from Luke 18:15-17

Theme: Only those who receive the kingdom like a little child are qualified to enter it.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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This morning, as we continue our study of the Gospel of Luke—and of the story of our Lord’s long progress toward the cross—we come to a much loved passage. It’s a warm and charming scene; and it’s been an encouragement to many.

In Luke 18:15-17, we’re told this about the Lord Jesus;

Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it” (Luke 18:15-17).

We’d naturally love this story. Can you imagine anything like it being told about any other great person from history than the Lord Jesus? But we need to be careful. This is much more than a sweet, sentimental story of tender love for little children. It’s actually a very bold statement from our Lord of what it takes to be able to enter into the eternal joy of His heavenly kingdom.

In fact, if we don’t do what Jesus says in this passage, we won’t be able to go into His heavenly kingdom at all! ‘By no means’!

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Now; the importance of this story can be more deeply impressed upon us if we look back to the passage that immediately preceded it. In fact, it’s appropriate that we do so; because, as you’ll notice from the word “also” in verse 15, we’re actually meant to see this passage in connection with the previous one.

Starting back in verse 9, Luke wrote;

Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others … (Luke 18:9).

The parable in this previous passage was spoken with respect to those who thought of themselves as the opposite of little children. Jesus was speaking to those who didn’t feel they had any reason to worry about whether or not they had properly prepared their hearts to enter the kingdom of God. They were confident that they had made themselves worthy of it by their religious deeds. They didn’t see themselves as those who needed God to show them mercy; but rather those who had already ‘earned’ a right to God’s kingdom by their good works. They would have looked down on others who couldn’t make the boast that they made. Jesus told them;

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:9-14).

The poor tax collector didn’t feel worthy of the kingdom. He couldn’t receive it in any way but by God’s mercy—like a little child. And Jesus affirmed the attitude of that man over that of the Pharisees; because He said that he—rather than the Pharisee—went home justified.

So it’s not mere coincidence that Luke tells us the story of how Jesus welcomed the little children immediately after the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The tax collector illustrates the kind of humble faith that looks to God for His favor—not the arrogant confidence which boasted in his own works or his own worth, but a faith that could only trust in the mercy of God—a faith that can do nothing but ‘receive’. As this morning’s passage shows us, it’s only those who receive the kingdom like a little child that are qualified to enter it.

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So then; let’s look more closely at this passage. And let’s notice first …

1. WHO WAS BROUGHT TO JESUS (v. 15a).

Luke tells us in verse 15, “Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them …” The word that Luke used to describe these little ones is a word that can describe anything from an unborn child still in the womb to a child to a small child that is just beginning to learn. It was used in Luke 1:41 to describe John the Baptist as he leaped in his mother’s womb at the sound of the voice of Mary; and it’s also used by Paul in 2 Timothy 3:15 to describe how Timothy “from childhood” knew the Scriptures. It’s meant to describe the tiniest of little ones at the earliest stages of life who could not come to Jesus on their own, but who would have had to be brought to Him.

That would have meant that someone else was bringing them to be blessed of Jesus. It would have meant that they were carried to Jesus—or taken by the hand and let to Him—by mothers, or fathers, or aunts and uncles, or grandmothers and grandfathers; or maybe even by older brothers or older sisters. Why did they bring them? It was so that Jesus could ‘touch’ them or lay His hands upon them—obviously, in order to bless them. In Matthew 19:15, it was so that He could pray for them. In Mark 10:16, it was so that He could pick them up in His arms.

And what great lessons we can learn from that! We sometimes place a restriction upon who it is that can come to Jesus. We think that they have to be old enough and wise enough to understand the theology of justification by faith. And obviously, if we do have the capability for intelligent faith, then we have the personal responsibility to place it intentionally upon His work on the cross. But the Lord Jesus doesn’t turn anyone away who comes to Him—not even those who are incapable of having any intelligent understanding of who He is or what He has done to save them. In fact, the less capable they are, the more He wants them brought to Him. In Matthew 18:10-11, Jesus said;

“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” (Matthew 18:10-11).

We also see another lesson in this. Because Jesus wants to shower His love upon the tiniest of people, and bless them, it’s important and essential that we bring such little ones to church. They need to be taught about Jesus’ love and hear about Him—but they can’t bring themselves. They must be brought by someone else. And that makes it our duty to bring them to Him.

But apparently, not everyone felt that way. Look next at …

2. WHAT THE DISCIPLES DID (v. 15b).

People were bringing these little ones to Jesus to be blessed by Him; “but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them”; meaning, they rebuked those who were bringing little children to Jesus.

There seems to have been times when the disciples thought that it was their duty to somehow ‘protect’ Jesus’ ministry from irritating interruptions. There was that time when they tried to shoo away a woman from Canaan who wanted Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter. They said to Him, “Send her away, for she cries out after us” (Matthew 15:23). Or there was that time when they encountered a man who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name—and they forbade him from doing so “because he does not follow with us” (Luke 9:49). And once again—here in this passage—they seem to be expressing the same kind of attitude in not putting up with irritations and inconveniences from little children.

Why would they have tried to prevent people from bringing their little ones to Jesus to be blessed by Him? It might be because they were listening to Him as He taught great parables and entered into arguments with scholarly Pharisees and scribes; and supposed that bringing little children to such a great teacher would have been ‘undignified’. Those little children would have wiggled. They would have had slimy little noses—or perhaps something worse. Bringing children to Him would have interrupted a great debate or a great teaching session; and would have disrupted the dignity of the moment.

I’ll never forget something that happened to me a long time ago. I was preaching in church—and I’m sorry to say, I was thinking at the time of what a dignified preacher I was. But right then, a little two-year-old girl in diapers escaped from her parents and waddled up to the front of the church while I preached—her little mouth working away on a binky. I could see that her parents were mortified … but she certainly didn’t seem to care. And with my finger pointing up high in the air mid-sermon—as I was making some profound point—she looked up at me, pulled her binky out, heaved a very loud sigh, and laid down on the floor in front of me to take a nap.

Everyone laughed—including me. I believe that she was sent by God to show me what He thought of my all-important ‘preacher’s dignity’. It was a lesson I never forgot.

So then; let’s next notice …

3. HOW JESUS RESPONDED (vv. 16-17).

It must have been that Jesus saw how they were trying to prevent the little children from being brought to Him; because we’re told, in verse 16, “But Jesus called them to Him …” The “them” were the disciples! And He went on to tell them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them …” This is really all we need to know about not prohibiting the little ones from coming to Jesus. He said “do not forbid them”. He welcomes them and He wants them to draw near.

But notice what else He goes on to say; “for of such is the kingdom of God.” It’s fascinating that Jesus didn’t say that ‘of such who behave like them is the kingdom of God’. Rather, He said that ‘such as them is the kingdom of God’. They are the very ones He welcomes. And doesn’t this teach us a great truth about Jesus’ kingdom? Those seemingly unimportant little ones are among the most highly esteemed in His kingdom. We should never treat little children as a nuisance in God’s church. They may make a noise, but apparently Jesus loves that noise! He wants them there.

But there’s more still—and this is perhaps the most important point for us to notice. Jesus went on to say in verse 17, “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” Anyone who enters must enter as a little child would enter—not on the basis of personal worth or accomplishment or on the basis of intellectual understanding or human dignity; but by simply coming as they are, trusting God, and gladly receiving His grace. No one can enter the kingdom of God and enter into eternal life in any other way than by receiving it as a gift from God—just as a little child would.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

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Now; you may read what our Lord said—that you must receive the kingdom like a little child—and wonder how you could ever become like that. Certainly, it can’t mean that we become ‘childish’ in our behavior. If you or I have a proud Pharisee’s heart, how do we become instead like little children?

The answer is that we must become ‘converted’. The word ‘converted’ means to ‘turn around’. It means that we’re going in one direction in our hearts of pursuing greatness and self-righteous confidence and assurance of our own good works, and we—by God’s grace—turn around in our innermost being and go the other direction.

Jesus told us this in another story about an encounter with a child. In Matthew 18:1-5, we read;

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me” (Matthew 18:1-5).

We should ask God to search our hearts and rid us of any self-confidence in our own righteousness. We should ask Him to help us repent of our own pursuit of ‘greatness’ in God’s sight, and be ‘converted’ inwardly to become like a little child before Him—trusting Him and simply receiving His grace as a gift through faith in Jesus’ cross.

In fact, we absolutely must do so; because—by the authority of King Jesus Himself—it’s only those who do so who will be able to enter His kingdom at all.

EA