Saturday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Two words you rarely hear in the same sentence are “Jesus” and “indignant.” Yet there they are, right next to each other in today's gospel (Mk 10:14). Now, I can be indignant sometimes and that usually means I need a nap or I know that I'm wrong; but Jesus getting indignant is a different story. I have a sneaking suspicion that he has a little more justification than general grumpiness or pride. In today's gospel, this indignation stems from the direct actions of his disciples as they rebuked people, presumably parents, for bringing children to Christ. Beyond that though, I think he expected them to know better because of what they were just taught in the previous passage.
So, let's journey outside of today's gospel for a quick second. The passage directly preceding this gospel is Christ's teaching on divorce. He not only taught about it publicly, but then had a private conversation with his disciples about it afterward. So, he knows that they have a sense of how valuable the family is in His eyes, and yet they rebuke and turn away parents who are trying to bring their children to Him. They rebuked parents who are trying to bring Christ into the center of their families. Of course he became indignant! Jesus, had recently told them that God joined people together in marriage, and then the disciples act like Jesus, the Son of God wants no part in the families that come from that union, which is preposterous. And so Christ corrects them. He corrects them through his indignation, his actions, and his words.
First, from his indignation and his actions we learn the seriousness of Christ's love. He will not see children trivialized and viewed as worthy of any less than his presence, love, and touch. His actions show the level of care and love that he has for families and especially children. Scripture tells us that “he embraced the children and blessed them, placing his hands on them” (Mk 10:16). Along with both of these he delivers some strong words.
Christ said, “Let the Children come to me; do not prevent them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it” (Mk 10:14-15). Not only does he reiterate the worth of every child, but I think he turns a common assumption on its head. We commonly assume that we evangelize children. We assume that because we teach them the books of the bible, the words to prayers, and what transubstantiation means (before they can even pronounce it) we have evangelized them. But, Christ has a different message. Christ is calling us to be evangelized by children.
He is calling us to have the same dependence on God as children have on their parents, yes. We have all heard this before, but how often do we allow it to become a Christian cliché. He is also calling us to something else that I have heard less often. He is calling us to have our identity rooted in Christ. A child's identity is rooted in their parents. No matter where they go or what they do, their identity is a common thread through all of it. Christ is calling us to be similar in the way that our identity is rooted in him. Finally, the call to accept the Kingdom of Heaven like a child reflects one last thing for me, one more way a child has to evangelize me. Children have reckless abandon that does not know compartments or embarrassment. A child excited about sports will talk your ear off about sports without hesitation. A child who loves princesses will happily go to the grocery store in her princess dress without a second thought. A child enthused about dinosaurs doesn't think twice about whether or not it is polite to talk about dinosaurs at the dinner table. A child fascinated by flags or spinners will point out every flag and spinner in a mile radius if you give them the chance. Now I don't think that Christ is calling us to go back to the manners of a 3 year old, but I think he does want us to possess an innocent excitement like theirs in regard to the Kingdom of God.
So we need to ask ourselves, why are we constantly afraid that we are talking about Jesus or our faith, too much? Do we feel worried about people we know, especially people from our past, seeing us as Christians? Do we feel like it can be impolite to bring up religion or how God worked in my life around the dinner table? Can we point out every instance of people being Christ to one another in a mile radius? How can we be disciples and not find our identity in Christ? Or to close with James, how can we suffer and be sick without seeking after God our Father and the motherhood of Mary and the Church, just like a child, whether they or 1 or 21 wants mom and dad when they need help?
-Spencer Hargadon