Reasoning Through the Bible
Taking a cue from Paul, Reasoning Through the Bible is an expository style walk through the Scriptures that tells you what the Bible says. Reviewing both Old and New Testament books, as well as topical subjects, we methodically teach verse by verse, even phrase by phrase.
We have completed many books of the Bible and offer free lesson plans for teachers. If you want to browse our entire library by book or topic, see our website www.ReasoningThroughTheBible.com.
We primarily do expository teaching but also include a good bit of theology and apologetics. Just like Paul on Mars Hill, Christianity must address both the ancient truths and the questions of the people today. Join Glenn and Steve every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as they reason with you through the Bible.
Reasoning Through the Bible
S34 || How You Should Have Faith in Jesus || Mark 10:13-16 || Session 34 || Verse by Verse Bible Study
Jesus becomes visibly indignant when His disciples attempt to block children from approaching Him. In a world where children were considered insignificant until they reached adulthood, Christ's declaration that "the kingdom of God belongs to such as these" represents a radical inversion of cultural values. While Roman society prized power, strength, and achievement, Jesus elevates childlike qualities of innocence, trust, and dependence as essential for entering God's kingdom.
The biblical mandate from Deuteronomy to teach children "when you sit, when you walk, when you lie down, and when you rise up" emphasizes that spiritual education should be woven into everyday life. The same Christ who harshly confronted religious hypocrites takes children tenderly in His arms, demonstrating that God welcomes all who approach Him with sincere hearts. What childlike qualities might be missing in your approach to faith? Join us next time as we explore Jesus' challenging encounter with the rich young ruler in Mark 10.
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Last time on Reasoning Through the Bible, we talked about Jesus' statements in Mark, chapter 10, where he talked about divorce and remarriage, and whenever you talk about those subjects in a church setting, at least these days, you end up getting crossways with a lot of people. I hope we still have some audience left. Those of you that are still here, welcome. We are still in Mark, chapter 10, and we'll be moving on through this chapter today. I want to go back and touch on one thing that he talked about in that last session. In Mark, chapter 10, he has this discussion with people that ask about divorce and remarriage. People that ask about divorce and remarriage. Jesus says well, what did Moses command? He mentions in chapter 10, verse 3 and chapter 10, verse 5, that Moses wrote the Mosaic Law, the Pentateuch, and modern critics have developed a theory called the documentary hypothesis and in that they doubt whether Moses actually wrote the Pentateuch. In fact, some of them even hold that Moses didn't exist, that he was just a literary figure. Well, jesus answered this question many years ago here, because Jesus says that Moses wrote it and that's what it says right here in red and white in Mark, chapter 10, is that Moses wrote the Pentateuch. We also see on the Mount of Transfiguration in chapter 9, verse 4, that Moses appeared there.
Speaker 1:So if Moses wasn't a real person and didn't write the Pentateuch, then the issue is not with scholarship. The issue was with believing the Lord Jesus Christ, and the documentary hypothesis in our day is collapsing of its own weight. It's imploding into a 150-year ash heap that is not supported by the facts. It was held sway in liberal schools for over 150 years but, as I say, the Lord Jesus answered the question a long time ago. Better scholarship is correcting that. So we believe, as Jesus taught, that Moses wrote the Pentateuch and that we covered that when we went through Genesis and Exodus the next one here today we'll talk about the bringing children to Jesus. Steve, can you start at Mark 10, 13 and read down through verse 16?
Speaker 2:And they were bringing children to him so that he might touch them. But the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them Permit the children to come to me, Do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all. And he took them in his arms and began blessing them, laying his hands on them.
Speaker 1:So he brings children to him and says the kingdom of God belongs to such as these, steve. What can we learn from a statement?
Speaker 2:like that. I think it's simple on the surface of that. Children have a dependence on the adults and they have a childlike faith. Is how we express it to believe what the adults are telling them and to trust that the adults are going to take care of them and that the things that the adults are telling them are the correct things. I think, on the surface, jesus is simply telling them don't hinder them to come to me. People that are going to go into the kingdom need to have simple faith as to believe that the promises that are made are the ones that are going to be kept. That's the type of a faith, of a childlike faith In verse 13,.
Speaker 1:It says there that people were bringing their children to Jesus so he could touch them and bless them, but Jesus' disciples were trying to stop them, trying to prevent them. Well, the disciples should have known that Jesus put a high value on children, because he had already taught that Back in chapter 9, verse 37,. Jesus put a high value on children. The disciples were in error here by trying to keep the children away from Christ. Jesus puts a high priority on raising children in the faith. Now, in some cultures, just from a practical sense, there are some cultures that the value of children is greatly diminished. There are some cultures that believe that children should be seen and not heard. Some cultures put a high value on age and wisdom and children have neither of those. So a lot of cultures view childishness as something we need to drive out of someone to mature over that. Children are not respected upon. Children haven't accomplished anything. They're not strong, they're not educated, they're not wise, they don't have anything valuable to say. Many cultures diminish the value of children, but here Jesus puts a high value on children and he says the kingdom is for such as these.
Speaker 1:Imagine going to somebody like a Roman centurion. This was in the days of the Romans, and the Romans were all about power and strength, what people had accomplished. So imagine going up to a Roman soldier, an officer, a centurion or maybe somebody like an Alexander the Great and saying that the most important kingdoms are for the children. Now, that cuts against the grain of the popular culture that day and still today. Where power is viewed Most governments around the world still today, what is valued is power. Steve, with all that, this would have cut against the grain, 100% against the culture in that day wouldn't you think?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think a more proper word that I was looking for is the innocence the innocence of the child on the dependency of the adults and such. I think this is something that Jesus is trying to get through. This is something that Jesus is trying to get through not only were to have the maturity, but it's also the ones are to have the power in order to gain riches and to become successful. The drive that a adult person has for that, I think Jesus is saying, is all those type of characteristics are not needed in order to enter into the kingdom of God. You need to have the innocence of a child, the faith of a child, in order to enter the kingdom of God.
Speaker 2:Now, that doesn't mean that that faith is a blind faith. As we've noted several times before, the Greek word pistis means to be firmly convinced of and persuaded. That's the type of faith, but it's one that you're not earning your way into it. You're like a child. You have the faith and belief that the promises are true and correct and that you enter the kingdom that way. You don't do it by the power of yourself and that you enter the kingdom that way.
Speaker 1:You don't do it by the power of yourself. In this passage, the disciples in verse 13 were rebuking people from bringing their children to Jesus. They were stopping them. The disciples didn't think it was a good idea to bring your children to Jesus, but Jesus says in verse 14, permit the little children to come to me and do not hinder them. Jesus again puts a lot of importance on reaching children, teaching children about the Lord. Our churches today should put a lot of emphasis on reaching children. There's no more important ministry than reaching the next generation for Christ. Parents should start early to teach their children about Christ. Steve, I've met people over the years you probably have too that don't believe they should teach their children spiritual things. They have some sort of an idea that children should grow up and choose their own faith instead of being taught faith. But that seems to be a gross error, wouldn't you think, guess?
Speaker 2:what If you're not teaching your children about spiritual faith, about Christianity?
Speaker 2:The other teachers and the other people out in the world are teaching them about their beliefs and about the things they have faith in and are trying to persuade them to believe in those things and not believe in Christianity.
Speaker 2:So this idea of I'm just not going to say anything to them and let them come to their own as to whether or not believe Christianity, you're already setting them up for failure in that respect, because the world is against Christianity, the world is against Jesus Christ, and they're going to be influenced and have the daily pursuit of the non-believers and the God-haters out there to convince them to not believe in God. You should counter against that them to not believe in God. You should counter against that. Let your children know about your Christian faith, why you believe in it, why they should believe in it. Then from that, whenever they get confronted by the world, then they truly can make up their mind whether or not they want to go with the Christian faith and believe or whether or not they want to go with the world and not believe. But if you don't tell them anything at all, then you're not really serving them the purpose and you're not doing the things of what you should be doing as a Christian parent to pass it down to your generation of children.
Speaker 1:That last part is exactly true. Not only is it a bad idea to not teach your children about Christ, it violates the clear commands of Scripture, not only right here in Mark, but places like the Great Commission. At the end of Matthew says go and make disciples, and the people in your own home are the primary places to make disciples. There are people that intentionally don't, and it just violates Scripture. So next question is what's the best way to reach children for Christ?
Speaker 1:I think of a command that's given all the way back in the Old Testament says these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates. That's Deuteronomy 6, verses 6 through 9. God says, new Testament, old Testament that we are to teach our children daily, as we sit, as we walk, when we rise up, when we sit down. That's how to reach children for.
Speaker 2:Christ. What's the best way to teach your children how to work on the engines of cars? It's to take them out and show them how the engine works and how you work on the engine and the things that you have learned through your years of working on engines. You pass on to them little tricks of how to deal with certain aspects of the engine and how to get the parts, how they recognize the parts all of that. That's just one illustration.
Speaker 2:If you take it to any type of education, language or anything else, the best way to teach your children is to bring them along with you and teach them yourself the things that you know and pass it down to the next generation. So it's the same thing with Christianity is to show them and teach them from what your learnings are. Tell them about your failures, tell them about why that you believe and how it is that you came to believe. Give them your testimony and not just once, but give it to them multiple times and let them know that there is hope from failure and that God will come through how he has given you salvation. All of those things, I think, are things that you should pass down to your children. Why would you want to pass down all the other aspects of the world to your children and then not pass down the thing that's going to last with them as far as eternity. That just seems to me to be detrimental to your children if you don't do that.
Speaker 1:In verse 15,. Jesus says whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all. Two questions, Steve. One is what does that mean to enter like a child, receive the kingdom like a child? And then the next question is how complicated is salvation?
Speaker 2:It's not that complicated. It's understandable by children, so simple that children can understand it. They are separated from God and they need to have a way to be reconciled to God. Jesus Christ is that way to be reconciled to him and if you have belief in Jesus Christ and trust upon him, then you will be reconciled to God and you'll have eternal life. That's the simple way of belief. Now the Word of God itself is complex from the standpoint of. There's great, great learning that you can get out of the Word of God, and we're an example of that is that if you go verse by verse through Scripture, you can garner so much information out of it. But as far as the actual belief of getting into the kingdom of God, it's by simple faith and belief in Jesus Christ and who he is and what he's done.
Speaker 1:When he says here that the kingdom is to be received like a child. What do you think is the attitude that he's trying to correct right, because he's teaching against something. So what attitude do you think he's trying to fix here?
Speaker 2:I think he's trying to fix the attitude that the people look to the scribes and the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the leadership, and they look at them and the scholarship that they have, and that they think that, oh, I have to be like them in order to understand how to get into the kingdom of God. I think that's one thing that he's trying to overcome. No, you don't have to have all that type of education to get into the kingdom of God. It's as simple as coming to it, approaching it the way that a child would approach it, in a way of innocence and belief. Now, like I said before, once you get into it, once you're justified, there's what's referred to as sanctification, where you become more Christ-like, and that is things that you can learn through it. But I think that's what he's trying to get across to them that look, it's not that complicated. You don't have to be a scribe or a Pharisee or have their knowledge to get into the kingdom. A scribe or a Pharisee or have their knowledge to get into the kingdom.
Speaker 2:The second thing is that they're not the gatekeepers that you think they are. What I mean by that is that, through them coming up with these extra rules that we've talked about so often and that Jesus went head to head with these Pharisees on the traditions of men. They in essence became the gatekeepers of the people to say you're not keeping the law. What was it that they would do with Jesus? Why do your disciples not wash their hands? Why are your disciples eating on the Sabbath? Why are you healing on the Sabbath? They were constantly coming to Jesus, which shows they were constantly going to the people and saying you're not doing the things and the rules that you're supposed to. Therefore, you're not going to get into the kingdom of God. And I think he is juxtaposing that again with the innocence of a child that you don't need all of that stuff in order to get into the kingdom of God. Need all of that stuff in order to get into the kingdom of God.
Speaker 1:Again. Jesus said whoever does not receive the kingdom as a child will not enter it at all. Salvation and getting right with God is very simple Just trust Jesus enough to follow him. That's all you really have to know. Now we also say and we teach on this program. We teach that there's some very deep and profound and even complex things in the scriptures and about God and even about how God's nature is. There's some quite deep things. Jesus himself even said that we should love God with our minds. That means to put our brain in gear and think about things. Minds that means to put our brain in gear and think about things.
Speaker 1:There's some very complex things, very profound things in the Bible and having to do with God and the Lord, jesus Christ. But that's not how you get into the kingdom. That's not how you are saved. You're not saved by all the theology books. You're not saved by all of the complex teachings on all these things. It may be a good thing to study, and we encourage people to study the deep and profound things, but how you come to Christ is very simple, very straightforward. A child can do it, steve. Why do people make it so difficult to get to Christ? To get salvation. People add works to it. They add things you have to know and things you have to do. Why is it that people don't teach that you can just come to Christ like a child?
Speaker 2:I think there's many reasons.
Speaker 2:Some of it has to do with greed. I think it's the human nature that some people want the monetary aspects of it to convince people that they need to give and through that those people are able to live a better life, and I think, unfortunately, that type of control is out there. Speaking of that, I think some people want to control others. That's the human nature of some of these aspects. I would say that the ones that want to just siphon money off of people and control people that they really aren't Christians at heart and they're not really serving God in the way that they should. The other people, though, that are out there preaching the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, and conveying that to the people and inviting them on a daily basis to come and join them in the journey that they have of eternal life and salvation, those are the ones that have the best interest in the people at heart. But, unfortunately, I think that there are some aspects of Christianity that are not true Christianity, that revolve around money and also revolve around control.
Speaker 1:In verse 16, it says and he took them in his arms and began blessing them, laying his hands on them. Jesus took these children very gently, very tenderly, laid them in his arms, he touched them, he blessed them. The same hands that blessed these children were the same ones that would do harsh things of overturning the money tables and treating the enemies of the gospel very harshly. The same Lord that was harsh with the Pharisees is loving and tender towards anyone who approaches him in good faith. We have a Lord that is both very gentle, very tender. If we just approach him in love and say, Lord, I don't understand, please help me that he will take us in his arms and put his hands on us and bless us. But if we come up, like many of the priests and Jewish leaders, trying to challenge him, trying to trick him, trap him, then he will ultimately make us to be the enemy here, because he is the one who is loving Now. Lastly, in this passage again mentions the kingdom. The kingdom is received as a child. The kingdom is something as a child. The kingdom is something here that we receive.
Speaker 1:Verse 15, receive the kingdom of God. Humans have the power to receive the kingdom. There appears to be a present and a future sense of the kingdom, and the kingdom is not always as simple as we'd like to make it out to be. I think we need to sometimes take off the preconceived glasses of what we think the kingdom is and let the text speak for itself. Next time we will get to the rich young ruler that approaches Jesus with a question, and we're going to see some very profound things as we continue to reason through the Gospel of Mark.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for watching and listening, as always. May God bless you.
