Title: Jesus Loves Children / Matthew 19:13-15
Contents Jesus Loves Children / Matthew 19:13-15
Looking at today's message, people brought their children to Jesus to receive the laying on of hands (prayer with hands on their heads and prayers for blessings). But the disciples rebuked the little children. At that time, in the Jewish country, discrimination against children and women was very severe. That's why it wasn't even considered a human being.
But Jesus loved children more than anyone else. So, he rebuked the disciples, saying, "Let the little children and do not forbid them to come to me, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such people." He personally laid his hands on the children.
Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven belongs to such a little child." Then why did you say that?
1. Why does Jesus love children?
It is because children are not stained by sin. As we get older, we become stained with various sins and become evil, and we become farther from God. But Jesus loves children because they have no evil heart, no greed or unclean heart.
(Yehwa) There was a child named Younghee. Younghee's is a family of 4 with her father, mother, brother, and Younghee. It was always a happy family where laughter never ceased. But one day, a great storm came to Yeong-hee's house. My older brother, Cheol-su, got into a car accident on the way from school. I had surgery, but there was not enough blood. However, because the blood of Cheol-su was rare, the operation could not be performed because blood could not be obtained. The only person with the same blood was Yeong-hee. However, I thought it would be too much for a young Younghee, so I gave up everything, and neither mother nor father knew what to do, so they were in great sorrow.
At this time, Younghee approached Mom and Dad and said. "Mom, Dad, don't cry. I'll give you blood for you." “You should pray to Jesus instead.”
So Young-hee gave me a blood transfusion for my brother, and fortunately, the operation was successfully completed. Mom and Dad were so happy they didn't know what to do. After a while, my father came to Young-hee and said, "Young-hee, you saved your brother. The operation went well."
Then Young-hee was delighted and said, "Dad, can you survive then?" "then-." Dad replied happily.
After a while, Younghee said. “Dad, will we be able to see Mom, Dad, and Oppa again in heaven next time?” Dad was surprised to hear that. Because he thought that if he drank blood, he would die. Even though I knew I was going to die, I was willing to give blood for my brother.
This is why Jesus loves children because they have a pure heart.
And he loves you more because he is humble, because he believes and obeys God's word, and because he is sincere and without lies.
2. Non-Children
But not all children are like that. Even though they are young, there are children who are not like children. There are no children with a pure heart, a humble heart, an obedient heart, or a sincere heart without lies. Rather, there are children who are good at fighting, lying well, disobedient and proud, not childlike.
(Yehwa) Yongsu was a very naive and kind Sunday School child. Yongsu went to church every day and listened to the teacher. But when I was in 4th grade, I made a bad friend named Minho.
Minho was good at cursing and fighting well. And with Yongsu, he bought me bread and gave me a tour. As a result, Yongsu became Minho's subordinate.
If I didn't do what Minho told me to do, I beat him up. If I did what he told me to do, he bought me food and gave me a tour of the theater. Because of this, I also learned to curse and beat weak children and steal other people's belongings.
One day, Minho says to Yongsu, "Hey! Follow me! Let's go to our pear field and eat pears!", isn't it? Yongsu said he wasn't going that day, but he felt like he was going to be beaten, so he followed along and stole for the first time. But from then on, Minho was like, "Hey, let's go to the supermarket and steal some sweets!" If you say "No," then "Jaah, a boy has no guts!" And I followed him again, fearing that he would give me a pint glass. So I robbed again. After playing it three or four times, it was fun and I stole money from my mom and dad's pockets and went to the theater. As a result, I ended up skipping church on Sundays and going out to play. Also, when I went to church, I was just joking around and didn't even listen to a sermon. After that, Yongsu turned into a bad boy.
It's scary. In the end, Yongsu, who was kind and innocent, also sinned and lost his childish innocence and turned into an evil child.
(Conclusion) Our children are the workers who will carry this country on our shoulders in the future. There is a proverb in our country that goes, 'You can know a tree that will do well by looking at the cotyledon. The person who will be the next great person can be known by looking at the way they were when they were young. By all means, I hope that the pure and sincere hearts our children have now are not broken, and we hope that all children will be able to build this country and the world into a happy, bright and cheerful country like the kingdom of God.