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Ancient ti-tree, West Macdonnell Ranges, Central Australia
Gospel according to Luke 18: 9-17 (NIV)
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
We begin by addressing the contrast between the attitude of the disciples towards babies in a public space and that of Jesus. You might have encountered comment on this passage which emphasised the relative innocence and absence of guile in children compared with the the way that adults behave. As a parent and grandparent I hold a slightly different view. I have witnessed the selfishness and cruelty of which even very young children are capable even as I have observed the gentleness and empathy they can display.
When Jesus instructed his disciples to let the little children come to him without hindrance “for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these”, I believe Jesus saw something else in these little children. He saw their total dependence on others to provide for them: to provide their protection, their food and clothing, their place to reside and their love and acceptance into a family. Little children are never reluctant to ask for something; they know they must look to others in order to survive.
Jesus wants us to look to the Father and to him, the Son, in a similar manner, recognising our total dependence on God for all that is necessary to live. None of us, alone, is sufficient to survive let alone to thrive in this world. Entry into God’s kingdom is not something we are able to earn or to achieve through striving. It is not something to which any human being has entitlement – and this brings us back to Jesus’ parable (verses 9-14).
The Pharisee showed all signs of being self-satisfied, confident in his own status before God and confident too that he needed no assistance to retain his “noble” standing. He demonstrated none of the characteristics of a little child who was dependent on God for everything. The tax-collector on the other hand beseeched God like a little child.
Jesus summed it up this way: “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke has recorded this teaching elsewhere (14: 11). If it is worth being repeated in this Gospel, it is certainly worth our attention – and warrants our adoption.