Childlike Faith: Luke 9:46-48
“46) An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. 47) But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, 48) and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”” Luke 9:46-48
The timing of this argument was so out of context with what was happening among them. Three had just been on the mount of transfiguration and witnessed the surpassing glory of Jesus. How did they respond? Peter suggested building tabernacles to Moses and Elijah. It was the crown of foolishness and stupidity.
The remaining nine has just publicly failed to cast a demon out of a little boy. Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith and shallow prayer lives. It was hardly a commentary on greatness.
The multitudes were marveling at the surpassing greatness of Jesus, while the discipled were trying to grab the spotlight for themselves. They were arguing over personal greatness.
Meanwhile, Jesus was trying to prepare them for his coming arrest, trial, scourging and crucification. Not one of them understood or perceived the gravity of the situation. Why? They were preoccupied with self worship!
That’s when Jesus pulled a little child into their midst and talked about babysitting. He implied they had much to learn about faith, spiritual power and effectiveness from a child.
So what can we learn from children?
To start with, by nature children are outward focused and given to learning and exploring. They are constantly on the move. Peter borrowed this illustration from Jesus in 1 Peter 2:2-3 when he talked about the way we should approach the word of God. We should never loose or fascination and desire for the word of God.
Children are also the most innocent, trusting and believing of all people. They have unquestionable faith in God! They haven’t learned about doubt, worry, stress or critical thinking.
No wonder Jesus talked about receiving them in His name. Children are valuable to God!
We also need to receive Jesus like children receive Him. Many of the secrets of true spiritual greatness can be learned by watching children.
Jesus was saying something very profound in these three verses. True spiritual maturity is becoming more child like in faith, innocence, obedience and focus.
Adults struggle because they complicate everything. We over think, over analyze, over rationalize, over criticize and often over react. Faith for us is often a calculated decision based on reducing all risk. Ironically, that’s the opposite of biblical faith.
But faith for a child is simply taking God at His word and doing accordingly. It is childlike in innocence, trust and obedience. They don’t question Gods word, character, love, power or presence. They live in light of Gods existence and the resulting effect on reality and their daily life.
The older I become the more childlike I try to be in my faith toward God and His word. No wonder the Bible often refers to us as “children of God.” As long as we focus on the child identity, we remain less preoccupied with self and personal promotion.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
Sent from my iPhone
“46) An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. 47) But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, 48) and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”” Luke 9:46-48
The timing of this argument was so out of context with what was happening among them. Three had just been on the mount of transfiguration and witnessed the surpassing glory of Jesus. How did they respond? Peter suggested building tabernacles to Moses and Elijah. It was the crown of foolishness and stupidity.
The remaining nine has just publicly failed to cast a demon out of a little boy. Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith and shallow prayer lives. It was hardly a commentary on greatness.
The multitudes were marveling at the surpassing greatness of Jesus, while the discipled were trying to grab the spotlight for themselves. They were arguing over personal greatness.
Meanwhile, Jesus was trying to prepare them for his coming arrest, trial, scourging and crucification. Not one of them understood or perceived the gravity of the situation. Why? They were preoccupied with self worship!
That’s when Jesus pulled a little child into their midst and talked about babysitting. He implied they had much to learn about faith, spiritual power and effectiveness from a child.
So what can we learn from children?
To start with, by nature children are outward focused and given to learning and exploring. They are constantly on the move. Peter borrowed this illustration from Jesus in 1 Peter 2:2-3 when he talked about the way we should approach the word of God. We should never loose or fascination and desire for the word of God.
Children are also the most innocent, trusting and believing of all people. They have unquestionable faith in God! They haven’t learned about doubt, worry, stress or critical thinking.
No wonder Jesus talked about receiving them in His name. Children are valuable to God!
We also need to receive Jesus like children receive Him. Many of the secrets of true spiritual greatness can be learned by watching children.
Jesus was saying something very profound in these three verses. True spiritual maturity is becoming more child like in faith, innocence, obedience and focus.
Adults struggle because they complicate everything. We over think, over analyze, over rationalize, over criticize and often over react. Faith for us is often a calculated decision based on reducing all risk. Ironically, that’s the opposite of biblical faith.
But faith for a child is simply taking God at His word and doing accordingly. It is childlike in innocence, trust and obedience. They don’t question Gods word, character, love, power or presence. They live in light of Gods existence and the resulting effect on reality and their daily life.
The older I become the more childlike I try to be in my faith toward God and His word. No wonder the Bible often refers to us as “children of God.” As long as we focus on the child identity, we remain less preoccupied with self and personal promotion.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
Sent from my iPhone
