Matthew 19:13, commentary and pictures

Mothers brought their little children from babyhood through youth to Jesus that He would lay His hands on them and pray for them and bless them. The disciples rebuked those who brought them and told them not to disturb Him, thinking His work too important to be interrupted and the children too young to benefit. Jesus was displeased with the disciples rather than with the mothers and children, and He overruled the rebuke and tenderly received them, taking the little ones in His arms, laying His hands on them, praying for them and blessing them with gentle words. He is ever a lover of children whose open affection refreshed Him, and young minds are receptive to His teaching and can receive Him as Redeemer and become heirs of His grace. That welcome still leads mothers and fathers to bring their children to Him now by forming their character, training them from the Bible, praying for grace and wisdom for them, and seeking His blessing to subdue their hearts.

The Mothers, Disciples, and Jesus

The bringing to Jesus was the work of mothers with little children from babyhood through childhood and youth, asking Him to lay His hands on them and pray for them and bless them, as people customarily asked rabbis to do. At first only one or two mothers came, joined by others along the way until there were quite a number, weary and dusty yet anxious to reach Him and receive His blessing. Troubled mothers left their homes with no fathers mentioned, bringing their own children and gathering other children on the way. They came while He was busy giving lessons to His disciples and teaching a large crowd and multitudes.

The disciples rebuked those who brought them and told them not to disturb the Master. They thought His work too important to be interrupted by children. They thought the children too young to be benefited by an interview with Him. They thought their presence would displease and annoy Him and was troubling to Christ.

Jesus was displeased not with the mothers and children but with the disciples. He had Himself drawn the mothers into His presence and watched them all along the way. He understood their care and burden and travail of soul and earnest tearful prayer to train their children according to the word of God. He waited to see how the disciples would treat them, then heard the rebuke, rose to His feet, overruled and corrected the disciples and showed them their error, and welcomed the children instead.

He tenderly received the mothers and children, took the little ones up in His arms and encircled them while they clung to His knees with their arms around His neck. He let the weary ones lay their heads on His breast of infinite love and heart of love and bosom of compassion, laid His hands upon their heads, prayed for them, and blessed them with kind gentle words for which they came. He spoke hope and comfort with sympathy and compassion to the timid tearful requests of the mothers. He met the children at their level by answering their questions and making His important lessons and teaching clear to their understanding.

He also showed compassion to suffering families by welcoming sick and dying infants brought for His blessing. He tenderly held them and folded them to His bosom with a touch that drives away disease. He returned them to their mothers well and strong. The rich young ruler saw Jesus blessing the little children and was convinced He must be a good man. That conviction led him to hasten to ask what good thing he should do to have eternal life, wondering whether Jesus could bless him in the same way and satisfy his longing for something he lacked.

Christ's Love and Children's Worth

Jesus was ever a lover of children, accepting their childish sympathy and their open, unaffected love. Their grateful praise from pure lips was music to Him and refreshed His spirit when oppressed by contact with crafty and hypocritical men. In the company of children He found peace from the strain of crowded cities and difficult encounters. His love made Him attentive to their needs and glad in their simple joys.

Wherever He went, the benignity of His countenance and His gentle, kindly manner won the love and confidence of children, and this is why they were brought to Him. His kindness and loving manner won their affection. He loved children and welcomed them rather than turning them away.

In human nature He was full of sympathy and love, kind to all and easily approached by the most lowly, so that even the poorest was not afraid to come to Him. He met human need with unfailing tenderness and gentleness, going from house to house healing the sick, feeding the hungry, comforting the mourners, soothing the afflicted, speaking peace to the distressed, and gladdening the sad and heavy-laden. He labored not for Himself but for others, humbling and denying Himself as the servant of all, finding His meat and drink in comforting and consoling others. In this self-sacrificing service He stands as the pattern Man and example of pure and holy love and perfect sinless character, expressing the perfect love of God not to crush, judge and condemn but to heal every weak, defective character and to save from Satan's power as Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.

His care for children rests on His own coming as a little babe, by which He understands human experience and knows the wants of children and how to deal with humanity. He valued their needs and simple joys, was attentive to them and glad in them, and taught them in ways they could understand. In blessing the children He also honored their mothers, showing that He valued children and mothers in light of His own childhood.

Young minds are receptive to His teaching and retain its impressions as they grow. Even little ones can understand His invitation, receive His counsel, and accept Him as Redeemer. He met them at their level, answering their questions and making His teaching clear to their understanding. Therefore they should be approached with kindness, love, and patience, with care for their happiness and needs.

The truths He plants in their minds can later bear fruit in eternal life. They can become heirs of His grace and subjects of His kingdom, and some would even become martyrs for His sake. Children today are as precious to Him and as surely purchased by His blood as those He gathered to His arms.

Childlike coming and trust belong to the kingdom of heaven, and believers are to put their trust in a higher power and be workers together with God. The faith of believing parents covers their children. When mothers do their duty to teach and educate them in obedience and submission, the children so taught will bear the test of character and be obedient to the will of God, for parents stand in the place of God to their children.

His receiving little children when personally on earth means He still pardons and receives children who bring their sins to Him, ask His forgiveness, and believe He forgives them. Becoming converted does not require violent emotion as the essential evidence of conviction of sin. Nor does it require knowing the exact time of conversion.

Bringing Children to Jesus Now

That receiving of the little ones to lay hands on them and pray is immortal, and through all the years since it has drawn mothers to bring their little ones to Jesus, and through all time it will continue to wield its precious influence.

It was an act of faith that meant much to those mothers, and His loving welcome cheered and encouraged them and gave them fresh strength to bear the heavy responsibilities of motherhood. That same reception comforts care-burdened mothers today, who are to lay hold of His words with trembling fear yet eager earnestness, take up their burden of care and love with new cheerfulness, and work hopefully for their children, for He remains a personal Saviour and helper to mothers, and children today are as precious to Him and as surely purchased by His blood as those He gathered to His arms. The mothers kept the memory of the scene fresh in the minds of the children to show that their conduct must agree with the blessing pronounced on them, and the children never forgot His words and touch. That remembrance held them back from what would dishonor Him and from wrong, and those who received that blessing were told over and over afterward that Christ had put His hands on them, which prepared them to become laborers together with Him to press forward His work, and the event remained a constant wellspring of joy to both mothers and children.

Bringing little children to Jesus now is the mother's work of forming character and preserving and developing their physical, mental, and moral powers. It means bringing her little ones in the arms of faith, telling Him of her great need, asking for grace and wisdom, surrendering herself and her children to the care of the compassionate Redeemer, and seeking His Spirit to subdue their hearts. Done as it should be done it requires talent and skill and patient thoughtful care, self-distrust and earnest prayer, persevering effort to fulfill its obligations, and earnest patient courageous seeking to improve her own abilities so she may use aright the highest powers of mind in training them, making it her highest aim to give an education that receives God's approval, and as she takes up her work understandingly she receives power to perform her part.

Fathers and mothers must now bring their children to the Saviour by educating and training them at every step from the Bible, leading them along step by step and setting them a godly example in father and mother. They are to teach them that Jesus gave His life and died for them so they may come to Him and receive His blessing, and teach them the sacredness of the Sabbath. They are still to present their children to Him that He may keep them from all harm, and children are to live every day remembering they are under His keeping power who sees every action and hears every word. In that training parents stand in the place of God to their children, and the faith of believing parents covers their children, so that when mothers do their duty to teach and educate them in obedience and submission the children will bear the test of character and be obedient to the will of God.

They must never speak cross, scolding, or discouraging words but correct in kindness and tenderness to save their souls. They are to bring their children right to the throne of grace and plead with God for Christ's sake to pardon their sins, have the church in the home ready, and take them to church to bear testimony and tell their little stories of overcoming. They should also bring their children with them to meetings that they may receive the blessing, where labor should then be put forth for the youth so they can be pleaded with and convicted and can arise and express desire to be Christians. A father's backslidden life is no help but a hindrance to his children, and humble confession to wife and children removes that hindrance and opens the way for their conversion.

If parents do this duty a large company of parents and children will be saved together eternally, embraced by Christ into the city of God with life measuring with the life of God amid music in heaven among the angels. His example in welcoming and blessing them also teaches that those who serve God should be treated with kindness, tenderness, love, and care as precious to Him.