JESUS' ATTITUDE TO CHILDREN

(See end of Gospel reading for Trinity 17)

It is surprising how recent some modern medical practices are.
Take scans, for example, (as used for pregnant women). When I lived on a remote island where there was no such thing, a lady entered the tiny hospital to have a baby. Just after the baby was born she looked down at herself and said, "But my tummy has not gone down". "Half a mo", said the doctor, "There's another one here!". So to everyone's surprise she had twins.

Its the same with modern pills. When my uncle Ted found that he had Diabetes in the mid 1920's all he could do was to take insulin and follow a complicated diet. Today I am a diabetic and just take a pill to keep my sugar level right. For my cancer I take three pills a day which keep me comfortable.

If you go back 2000 years to the days of Jesus there was very little that could be done for common illnesses. When people heard about Jesus' marvelous gift of healing, they came in crowds to seek his help. Try to picture the scene where everybody wanted to see the miracles of healing. When people heard that he was in their little town, the men would stop their work, and the women would stop sweeping the floor or cooking, and those with a young family would have to bring the children with them. Imagine a mother saying, "Come on kids, Jesus the healer is here. Let's go and see."

When the 12 disciples saw the children, imagine their saying to each other, "look at all these wretched children ! We had better move them out of the way. They will only be a nuisance to Jesus."

Our Lord, however, who always paid attention to anyone being overlooked, said, "Let the children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." (Mark Ch.10 vers 13-16.)

What a surprise for every one! Think how happy the children would have felt and picture how proud the parents would have been when they saw Jesus blessing them.

I wonder what you think of children in church, and how their needs should be provided for? When a friend of mine was at a family Communion service recently, he observed the children returning from the altar rail having been blessed, looking very happy and dancing with joy.

Surely their example has a message for all of us!.