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Suffer the little children
Mark 10:14, “But when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.” (KJV)
The King James Version of the Bible does sound foreign to me these days. Even more foreign is the Greek. The Greek word for suffer, aphiemi, can easily be translated to “send.” The Greek word forbid is koluo. It is used and is easily translated as forbid, hinder, or “not to suffer.” To get at the meaning of the words is important, but to get the full gist of the verse we must also decipher the tone: Jesus is much displeased. The Greek is aganakteo, meaning to be grieved, upset, indignant. i view this similar to when people have loved ones die and they are grieved to the point of being mad at God, but Jesus is not mad at God but mad at those who prevent children of any age from coming to Him. Jesus says, “Send them to me. Do not stop them, for it hurts me deeply. I have a spot for them, but it is not a guarantee, unless they come to me in faith”- Mark 10:14 & John 3:15-18. The church provides opportunities to help parents send their kids to Jesus. The church has commissioned ministers for kids of all ages. We more commonly know of them as teachers. These teachers are in schools, established by the church, and trained to bring the kids to Jesus. Martin Luther High School is one of these schools, along with our local Lutheran Grade Schools.
How does Jesus feel if people are sent to Him? i think Psalm 116:15 may provide us with the answer. It states, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His godly ones.” Jesus celebrates as we come to Him in our life and through our death. “To send” implies the kids do not do this on their own. Parent, guardians, grandparents, and others all have an active role in this – Deuteronomy 6:4-9. They do not even need to be “our” kids. We, MLHS, call this an “Eternal Investment” based on Matthew 6:20-21. “Sending” is certainly not easy as the devil looks to prevent this from happening. Satan would certainly rather see Jesus grieve versus celebrate. The scary part is that we do have the power to “forbid” kids and others from coming to Jesus. This may make Jesus aganakteo. Let us remove those stumbling blocks, and let us be the reason Jesus celebrates every day by sending our children to Him at our Lutheran schools. Jesus says, “Send the little children to me.”
Come Lord Jesus, Amen!
i welcome the opportunity to visit with you about how MLHS can partner with parents to bring Jesus to teens--every day!
E-mail: paulsteinhaus@martinlutherhs.com or phone: 507-436-5249.
Paul Steinhaus
Principal/Teacher/Coach
Mark 10:14, “But when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.” (KJV)
The King James Version of the Bible does sound foreign to me these days. Even more foreign is the Greek. The Greek word for suffer, aphiemi, can easily be translated to “send.” The Greek word forbid is koluo. It is used and is easily translated as forbid, hinder, or “not to suffer.” To get at the meaning of the words is important, but to get the full gist of the verse we must also decipher the tone: Jesus is much displeased. The Greek is aganakteo, meaning to be grieved, upset, indignant. i view this similar to when people have loved ones die and they are grieved to the point of being mad at God, but Jesus is not mad at God but mad at those who prevent children of any age from coming to Him. Jesus says, “Send them to me. Do not stop them, for it hurts me deeply. I have a spot for them, but it is not a guarantee, unless they come to me in faith”- Mark 10:14 & John 3:15-18. The church provides opportunities to help parents send their kids to Jesus. The church has commissioned ministers for kids of all ages. We more commonly know of them as teachers. These teachers are in schools, established by the church, and trained to bring the kids to Jesus. Martin Luther High School is one of these schools, along with our local Lutheran Grade Schools.
How does Jesus feel if people are sent to Him? i think Psalm 116:15 may provide us with the answer. It states, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His godly ones.” Jesus celebrates as we come to Him in our life and through our death. “To send” implies the kids do not do this on their own. Parent, guardians, grandparents, and others all have an active role in this – Deuteronomy 6:4-9. They do not even need to be “our” kids. We, MLHS, call this an “Eternal Investment” based on Matthew 6:20-21. “Sending” is certainly not easy as the devil looks to prevent this from happening. Satan would certainly rather see Jesus grieve versus celebrate. The scary part is that we do have the power to “forbid” kids and others from coming to Jesus. This may make Jesus aganakteo. Let us remove those stumbling blocks, and let us be the reason Jesus celebrates every day by sending our children to Him at our Lutheran schools. Jesus says, “Send the little children to me.”
Come Lord Jesus, Amen!
i welcome the opportunity to visit with you about how MLHS can partner with parents to bring Jesus to teens--every day!
E-mail: paulsteinhaus@martinlutherhs.com or phone: 507-436-5249.
Paul Steinhaus
Principal/Teacher/Coach
*This video was written and produced by the MLHS Media and Broadcasting students.