Bible Studies

JESUS THE FAMILY MAN

by Luella Campbell
07/28/15
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JESUS THE FAMILY MAN

When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.’

People were bringing little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 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 each of them. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. And He took the children in His arms, placed His hands on them and blessed them (Mark 10: 13-16).

We tend to think of Jesus as the rabbi, the homeless, wandering teacher who spent three years roaming Israel from north to south and east to west, but we don’t think of Him as a family man. He may not have had a wife and family of His own (in spite of what Dan Brown may have written) but He was at heart a family man. How do we know this?

First of all, His attitude and behaviour towards woman elevated them from the lowly position they occupied in society to people with dignity who had the right to be treated with honour and respect. It was the women who travelled with Him who took care of His needs and even provided for Him and His disciples from their own means. He healed many women. He spent time in the home of Martha and Mary, enjoying the company and their hospitality. He forgave their sinful practices and treated them with compassion.

Secondly, He protected the sanctity of marriage. He came down hard on the Pharisees for their hard-hearted attitude towards women. They favoured the rabbis who either sanctioned divorce for any flimsy reason, or even for a legitimate reason, marital unfaithfulness, instead of upholding God’s original intention. They were obviously looking for an excuse to cover up their own practices.

He loved and blessed the children. He saw in them, not immaturity but potential. They were the ones who would accept the kingdom of God in simple faith without doubts and questions. The disciples treated them with disdain, as though they were an intrusion into Jesus’ time and space. This annoyed Him because He was never put out by interruptions, especially from the ones who needed Him.

Jesus rapped His disciples over the knuckles for their hard-hearted attitude towards little children. Like the rest of Jewish society, as far as they were concerned, women and children were just there and had no significance except in the home where the women served, had babies and raised them. When the sons reached adulthood at the age of twelve, they were accepted into adult male society as young men but, until then, they were insignificant.

Unlike us ordinary mortals, Jesus looked beyond who and what people were to what they could and would become, given the opportunity to be exposed to the Word of God. But we, in the church, have not absorbed His outlook and attitude, in the main. Ministry to children in the church does not take precedence over ministry to adults. This reflects the same attitude as the disciples. We treat the children as peripheral and not central to the kingdom of God.

Our ministry to children is run as a rescue ministry rather than as foundational to their lives as they grow up in a very evil world. What would happen, for example, if parents made it a priority to focus on their children above everything else, and raise them to know and follow Jesus? Instead of treating them as peripheral, treat them as the very reason for their living until they have grown up and left home.

Let’s take to heart Jesus’ rebuke. ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to each of them.’

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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