This story is told by Matthew, Mark and Luke and contains similar elements in the telling. The first is that when the people brought the children to Jesus to be blessed, the disciples “sternly” spoke to these people to turn them away. The second is that Jesus says “Let the children come to me” and in this way halts the no doubt well-intentioned attempt of the disciples to schedule his time. And then he says something challenging for all of us grown-ups: “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” Little children receive life as something they are not in control of; this seems to indicate that the Kingdom of God is not so much for us to “build” as it is for us to receive and then share.
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