April 6th - Matthew 19:14

Matthew 19:14 But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” We are probably all very familiar with this story of Jesus welcoming children. For some reason, the disciples had tried to stop parents from bringing their children to Jesus to be blessed. We are not told why, but it may have been because they felt that Jesus was far too important to be troubled by little children. However, look at the verses which precede this story. The Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus by asking him some awkward legal questions. In the Old Testament, Moses had allowed for the possibility of divorce for unfaithfulness, but there had been much dispute about this through the centuries. By the time of Jesus, the Rabbinic School of Hillel taught that a husband could divorce his wife for matters as trivial as burning his supper. This was such an area of controversy that the Pharisees felt sure they could trip Jesus up, but they failed miserably. He reminded them of how God had given the wonderful gift of marriage in Genesis and that divorce had been granted as a concession to their hard hearts. I believe that Jesus was telling his hearers not to make things too complicated. The Pharisees were trying to tie him up in knots through their sophisticated arguments, but Jesus would have none of it. He challenged his followers then, and challenges us today, to come to him like children. That doesn’t mean we should dodge the difficult issues, but we need to ensure that we are always coming to him with childlike trust. Question In what ways can you be guilty of making things too complicated? Prayer Loving Father, help me to come to you with childlike trust. Amen