“When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
Mark 10:14 (NIV)
We can tell a lot about a person by what makes them angry. Jesus became indignant when people stopped the children from coming to Him. There are a few times in the gospels where Jesus became angry enough to be described as indignant.
I looked up the meaning of the word to better understand it. To be indignant is to be irate, annoyed or outraged. The word in Greek translates “to shutter.”
He was so annoyed with the Pharisees, that He burst into a verbal tirade, that took Matthew twenty verses to record it word for word in his gospel, and we know that Matthew was very accurate. In that one rant, Jesus publicly called the Pharisees whitewashed tombs, vipers, blind guides, fools and greedy, self indulgent hypocrites. Matthew didn’t use the word ‘indignant’ to describe Jesus at that moment, as Mark did in his gospel, but it’s evident that He was. (Matthew 23: 13-33)
Another time that Jesus became indignant was towards the money changers in the Temple, as He drove them all out with a whip. Hypocritical religious leaders who misused His Father’s house made Jesus shutter with anger, but when the children were blocked from coming to Him that day, He became indignant towards His own disciples.
Parents brought their children to Jesus so that He could bless them but the disciples drove them all away. They treated children as if they were unworthy of the Lord’s time or attention, which was the opposite of what Jesus taught. He said that the kingdom of God belongs to children, and then He went even a step further.
He stood a child in front of Him and said, “Unless you become like a child, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven….and whoever humbles himself like a child will be the greatest in heaven.”
(Matthew 18:3-4)
If it means that much to Jesus that we become as humble as a child, then there is a childlike heart of humility deep within all of us, or Jesus wouldn’t have told us to become like a child. He knows that it is attainable for us.
Although it’s easy for the child in us to get buried beneath the troubles and worries through years of adult living, Jesus is asking us to find our childlike heart, and hold His hand, so He can comfort and guide us in His pathway to peace.
Isaiah described it beautifully saying,
“So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
(Isaiah 41:10)
The righteous right hand of Jesus is reaching out to us every day, hoping we will respond in childlike humility and trust. Whether it’s a scripture verse, a prayer or a childhood memory of faith, Jesus wants us to find our childlike heart that may be buried within us.
When I want to stir up the child within me, I remind myself of a vivid dream I had at the age of five. I dreamed my elementary school was on fire. Everyone was panicking and running in all directions. As I stood in the school hallway, unsure of which way to go, someone took hold of my right hand and calmly walked me through the halls, around corners and right out the door. I remember being led out in such calmness, in the midst of the chaos all around me.
When I looked up, it was Jesus standing next to me, wearing a white robe with a blue sash, and holding my right hand, but He never said a word. The memory of that image became a life long lesson, to keep my hand in His, and He will be the calm in my chaos. As an adult, I need to remind myself often of that dream, which has remained in my memory like a gift throughout the years.
The adversities of this life are like fires, and fire brings chaos, but if we can find the child within and trust Jesus to hold our hand, He is with us in the fire, and will calmly guide us to every fire exit.
The trials in our “school of life” are not meant to make us scholars, but saints. Each one of us has a childlike heart of humility buried deep within us, prompting us to trust by keeping our hand in His. Jesus never promised to put out all the fires, but He promised to walk beside us in the fire, and He calmly leads us to the fire exits. He is our calm in the chaos, as we like children, keep our hand in His.
Lord, we begin this Holy Week asking you to rekindle our childlike trust and humility, by keeping our hand in yours, and please bless all the children in the world. Amen
