Luke

18:15-17

The teachings of the Messiah, 9:51-19:44

6. Discipleship and the rejected king, 18:15-19:44

i] Jesus and the little children

Synopsis

In a short pronouncement story, Luke records Jesus' encounter with some parents who have brought their babies to him so that he might lay his hands on them, presumably for blessing. The disciples try to send them on their way, but Jesus receives the little children, and comments that "a person who will not accept the kingdom like a little child will never get into it at all."

 
Teaching

Membership of the kingdom of God is received as a gift of grace.

 
Issues

i] Context: See 9:51-56. The six episodes which make up the teaching unit, Discipleship and the rejected king, 18:15-19:44, depict Jesus' final journey to Jerusalem, revealing something of his messiahship in the context of his rejection and suffering. In these episodes, Luke rounds up Jesus' teaching on discipleship, a discipleship which is grounded in faith and expressed in love, and in so doing, draws out what is involved in the faith that perseveres. Religious Israel claims that the law-obedient descendants of Abraham properly inherit the promised blessings of the covenant. Yet, the true children of Abraham are those who believe as Abraham believed, and it is they who possess the kingdom. Faith, in the terms of a weak and feeble, childlike acceptance of the grace of God, is the mark of a true "son of Abraham."

The children of faith, the true sons of Abraham, accept the kingdom like little children, 18:15-17, they are broken like the rich ruler, v18-34, outcasts like Blind Bartimaeus, v35-43, lost like Zacchaeus, but like him, through repentance and faith are, in Jesus, true sons of Abraham, 19:1-10, and it is because they have, that more will be given, v11-27. The final episode, Jesus' entry to Jerusalem, 19:28-44, concludes both the section Discipleship and the Rejected King, and the major section, The Teachings of Messiah. In a profound revelation, Jesus' messianic secret becomes public knowledge for those with eyes to see.

 

ii] Structure: Jesus blesses the little children:

Narrative, v15-16;

Pronouncement, v17:

"anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like ......"

 

iii] Interpretation:

Those old enough to remember the activities of the sect known as The Children of God, later known as The Family of Love, may well remember their widely distributed gospel tract called You gotta be a Baby. Their publications, now lost in the drift of time, are definitely not recommended reading, but when it comes to faith in Christ, they were right, You gotta be a Baby. In further unpacking the nature of the faith that perseveres, we are reminded that we must "receive" the kingdom "in the manner that a child receives", Nolland. What manner / characteristic is that?

Given the context, humility may be what is mind. "The death of Jesus will not be understood unless one has the faith of a child, for the Passion of Jesus is the supreme illustration of the truth that the mighty are brought low and the lowly are exalted", Danker. So, such amounts to a humble dependence on the faithfulness of Jesus / the cross of Christ.

Evans argues that the manner / characteristic in mind is relational, mum, dad and the kids, so illustrating "a personal relationship with God in Christ." It is also possible to mount an argument that the manner / characteristic in mind is simplicity, of few possessions, cf., 18:18-30.

It is not possible to define exactly what Jesus means when he says we must "receive / accept the kingdom like a child", but the argument mounted by Caird seems better than most. "Jesus does not ask his disciples to become childish: he commends to them only one of the characteristics of childhood - its receptivity, its ability to accept what is given without embarrassment, its delight in receiving presents. Without this quality, nobody, whether child or adult, can enter the kingdom."

 

The status of children in the kingdom: Unlike Mark, who uses the word "little children", the Lukan parallel in v15 is ta brefh, "infants, babes in arms". This is often seen as an illusion to infant baptism within the early church. Yet, at the same time, Luke drops Jesus' blessing of the children (a baptismal act), and in v16, moves to ta paidia, "little children" (not a word for infants).

In the act of bringing infants to Jesus for blessing, the parents are demonstrating their belief that their babies are part of God's family, and by extension, included in the messianic age of the kingdom. Jesus happily receives the approach of the parents and their babies, as against the disciples who presume the children to be incomplete adults and unable to be part of an adult decision-making process. Jesus' response to the parents illustrates a proposition evident throughout the scriptures, namely that salvation is family / household based (cf., Acts 16:31), ie., God's sovereign grace operates within families, given that God designed family as the basis of human society, Gen.2:24. So, although a matter of some conjecture, it seems likely that children are covered by the faith of a/the parent/s, unless they chose to abandon it, in which case, they are on their own.

 

iv] Synoptics:

See 3:1-20. Luke now records the final leg of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem, aligning his account with Mark through to 18:43. It is generally felt that Luke is using Mark, or a proto Mark, for this part of his gospel, although these stories may well have developed into an ordered account long before Mark got to see them. The journey begins at the Judean boarder, but Luke drops Mark 10:1-12, the discussion on divorce, and moves to Jesus and the little children, Mark 10:13-16, cf., Matthew 19:13-15. Luke has already covered the issue on divorce, and in any case, "receiving the kingdom as a little child" aligns well with the previous episode, The pharisee and the tax collector, 18:9-14 - "the exaltation of the lowly and the overthrow of the exalted", Evans. In Luke's version of this pronouncement story, Luke does not record Jesus' anger toward the disciples for trying to stop people bringing their children to Jesus, nor Jesus' blessing of the children, recorded both in Mark and Matthew.

 
Text - 18:15

Jesus blesses the little children, v15-18. This pronouncement story teaches that perseverance of faith amounts to simple trust in Jesus.

de "-" but/and. Transitional, indicating a step in the narrative.

proseferon (prosferw) imperf. "people were [also] bringing" - they were bringing [and babies, infants]. The imperfect may simply be backgrounding, but possibly descriptive / progressive, Bock, or tendential / conative, expressing attempted action, Zerwick, "they tried to bring', Barclay, or customary, "used to bring", Fitzmyer. The conjunction kai, "and", is adverbial, ascensive, "even", or adjunctive, "also", as NIV.

autw/ dat. pro. "to Jesus" - to him. Dative of indirect object.

iJna "for" - that [he might touch]. Introducing a final clause expressing purpose. Probably "touch" in the sense of impart a blessing, cf., Gen.48:14-15.

autwn gen. pro. "them" - of them. Genitive of direct object after the verb "to touch."

idonteV (oJraw) aor. part. "when [the disciples] saw this" - [but/and the disciples] having seen this. The participle is adverbial, best treated as temporal; "but when the disciples noticed it", Berkeley.

autoiV dat. pro. "them" - [they were rebuking] them. Dative of direct object after the epi prefix verb "to rebuke." For the verb "to rebuke", Luke again uses an imperfect, probably tendential / conative, so Bock, expressing attempted action; attempted unsuccessfully to chase them off - "keep the people from bringing their babies to Jesus", Stein.

 
v16

legwn (legw) "and said" - [but/and jesus called = invited them] saying. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to call, summon", as NIV; a semi-redundant construction serving to introduce direct speech. For the classification adverbial, manner, "by saying", see legwn, 4:35. The object aujta, "them", is neuter, in agreement with "little children."

ercesqai (ercomai) pres. inf. "come" - [permit the children] to come [toward me and do not hinder them]. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "to allow, permit." The accusative subject of the infinitive is "the children." Presumably Jesus is addressing the disciples, and not the children, so "You must let little children come to me, and you must never prevent their coming", Phillips.

gar "for" - for [the kingdom of god]. Introducing a conditional clause explaining why the children should not be hindered. For "Kingdom of God" see tou qeou, 4:43.

toitoutwn gen. pro. "such as these" - of such as these. The demonstrative pronoun serves as a substantive, the genitive being adjectival, possessive, "belongs to such as these." The kingdom does not belong to these, but to such as these; "belongs to those who are like these children", NLT.

 
v17

uJmin dat. pro. "you" - [amen = truly i say] to you. Dative of indirect object. The expression is often used to introduce an important statement.

o}V a]n + subj. "anyone" - whoever . Introducing an indefinite relative clause which in this sentence is also conditional; "whoever does not ......... then they shall not ........."

mh dexhtai (decomai) aor. mid. subj. "will not receive" - may not receive, accept [the kingdom of god].. Both Luke and Mark have "whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God", whereas Matthew has "of such is the kingdom of heaven." The use of the verb decomai, "to receive", is not used in relation to the kingdom elsewhere in the NT. We may have an example of short-talk / semantic density; "receive (accept) the message / messenger of the kingdom of God", Nolland. Yet, it is more likely that the sense is "receive / accept / welcome (HCSB) the kingdom of God as a little child receives / accepts /welcomes a gift."

wJV "like" - as [a little child]. Here as a modal comparative, "in like manner to, in the same manner as"

ou mh + subj. "never" - not not [may they enter into it]. Subjunctive of emphatic negation; "will never ever / absolutely not enter into it." As for those who do enter, the now / not-yet perspective applies; see "Background", The Eschatology of Jesus, 17:20-37.

 

Luke Introduction

Exegetical Commentaries

 

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