These Children

¹ At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" ² And calling to Him a child, He put him in the midst of them ³ and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me, ⁶ but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. ... ¹⁰ See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. ... ¹⁴ So it is not the will of My Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish (Matt 18:1-6, 10, 14).

This really is a popular passage. You know, it has such warmth. "Jesus loves the little children." That sort of thing. It is the origin of the concept of the "guardian angel" that each child is supposed to have. Really a nice passage.

Me, of course ... I have to ask questions. But first, I want to make it clear. We are not being told to become childish, but child-like. Trust easily. Believe. Set aside skepticism and enjoy. That's the idea.

Now to the content. I don't intend to suggest anything bizarre or even negative. I just need to ask a question. Who are "these little ones"? He uses that phrase in verses 6, 10, and 14. Who are "these little ones"? The common idea is that it refers to literal children. And we like the idea that "it is not the will of My Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." But that's problematic if you think about it ... because they do. Children, sadly, die. So is Jesus saying that God's will doesn't happen. Or is He talking about something else?

I think that once Jesus establishes "unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven," He has established a group of people. These people are child-like. They are part of His kingdom. They believe in Him (v 6). I think that when Jesus speaks of "these children", He is speaking (after verse 3) about believers ... of any age. That would have some ramifications. It would mean that deceiving any believer would be a dangerous thing to do. It would mean that His followers all have guardian angels. It would mean that it is not His will that any of His followers perish.

Now, like I said, I'm asking questions. This is what I see. It's not a hill I'll die on. I just think that this is what Jesus had in mind. You can work through the ramifications of the ramifications at your leisure. Or ... you can just disagree. Like I said, I'm at best a know-it-some.