Question about something jesus said

[Frank Goad]

What did jesus mean that heaven is made for children?In Matthew 19:14?What is it talking about?

[Neighbor]

Hi, May I recommend John Gills exposition of the entire Bible as a resource that may be most helpful? See 

https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/

 

From which comes this exposition of Matthew 19:14,

 

Matthew 19:14

But Jesus said, suffer little children 
&c.] This he said to show his humility, that he was not above taking notice of any; and to teach his disciples to regard the weakest believers, and such as were but children in knowledge; and to inform them what all ought to be, who expect the kingdom of heaven; for it follows;

and forbid them not to come unto me,
now, or at any other time;

for of such is the kingdom of heaven;
that is, as the Syriac renders it, "who are as these" or as the Persic version, rather paraphrasing than translating, renders it, "who have been humble as these little children": and it is as if our Lord should say, do not drive away these children from my person and presence; they are lively emblems of the proper subjects of a Gospel church state, and of such that shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: by these I may instruct and point out to you, what converted persons should be, who have a place in my church below, and expect to enter into my kingdom and glory above; that they are, or ought to be, like such children, harmless and inoffensive; free from rancour and malice, meek, modest, and humble; without pride, self-conceit, and ambitious views, and desires of grandeur and superiority. Christ's entire silence about the baptism of infants at this time, when he had such an opportunity of speaking of it to his disciples, had it been his will, has no favourable aspect on such a practice. It is not denied that little children, whether born of believers or unbelievers, which matters not, may be chosen of God, redeemed by the blood of Christ, and have the passive work of the Spirit on their souls, and so enter into heaven; but this is not the sense of this text. It was indeed a controversy among the Jews, whether the little children of the wicked of Israel, (abh Mlwel Nyab) , "go into the world to come": some affirmed, and others denied; but all agreed, that the little children of the wicked of the nations of the world, do not. They dispute about the time of entrance of a child into the world to come; some say, as soon as it is born, according to ( Psalms 22:31 ) others, as soon as it can speak, or count, according to ( Psalms 22:30 ) others as soon as it is sown, as the gloss says, as soon as the seed is received in its mother's womb, though it becomes an abortion; according to the same words, "a seed shall serve thee": others, as soon as he is circumcised, according to ( Psalms 88:15 ) others, as soon as he can say "Amen", according ^F26 to ( Isaiah 26:2 ) All weak, frivolous, and impertinent.

 

 

[Tzephanyahu]

9 hours ago, Frank Goad said:

What did jesus mean that heaven is made for children?In Matthew 19:14?What is it talking about?

Shalom Frank,

The Messiah meant that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like little children.  

In my mind this means innocent, humble, teachable and pure.  Children, especially the younger they are, are very unworldly as well - being unaffected by the worries, temptations and bitterness of this life.  This is of course a generalisation as kids today aren't exactly how kids were back in the first century!

Love & Shalom

[Dennis1209]

Most commentaries are pretty much in agreement with the meaning. I personally like the detail Matthew Henry goes into, below is a copy / paste snippet:

 

13 Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.   14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.   15 And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.

      We have here the welcome which Christ gave to some little children that were brought to him. Observe,

      I. The faith of those that brought them. How many they were, that were brought, we are not told; but they were so little as to be taken up in arms, a year old, it may be, or two at most. The account here given of it, is, that there were brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray, Mt 19:13. Probably they were their parents, guardians, or nurses, that brought them; and herein, 1. They testified their respect to Christ, and the value they had for his favour and blessing. Note, Those who glorify Christ by coming to him themselves, should further glorify him by bringing all they have, or have influence upon, to him likewise. Thus give him the honour of his unsearchable riches of grace, his overflowing, never-failing, fulness. We cannot better honour Christ than by making use of him. 2. They did a kindness to their children, not doubting but they would fare the better, in this world and the other, for the blessing and prayers of the Lord Jesus, whom they looked upon at least as an extraordinary person, as a prophet, if not as a priest and king; and the blessings of such were valued and desired. Others brought their children to Christ, to be healed when they were sick; but these children were under no present malady, only they desired a blessing for them. Note, It is a good thing when we come to Christ ourselves, and bring our children to him, before we are driven to him (as we say) by woe-need; not only to visit him when we are in trouble, but to address ourselves to him in a sense of our general dependence on him, and of the benefit we expect by him, this is pleasing to him.

      They desired that he would put his hands on them, and pray. Imposition of hands was a ceremony used especially in paternal blessings; Jacob used it when he blessed and adopted the sons of Joseph, Ge 48:14. It intimates something of love and familiarity mixed with power and authority, and bespeaks an efficacy in the blessing. Whom Christ prays for in heaven, he puts his hand upon by his Spirit. Note, (1.) Little children may be brought to Christ as needing, and being capable of receiving, blessings from him, and having an interest in his intercession. (2.) Therefore they should be brought to him. We cannot do better for our children than to commit them to the Lord Jesus, to be wrought upon, and prayed for, by him. We can but beg a blessing for them, it is Christ only that can command the blessing.

[BeauJangles]

11 hours ago, Frank Goad said:

What did jesus mean that heaven is made for children?In Matthew 19:14?What is it talking about?

Hi Frank, 

Good question. I think the contributions by @Neighbor, @Tzephanyahu, and @Dennis1209 have submitted some really terrific explanations on the topic. Great posts, my brothers! Couldn't have done better. 

[Behold]

11 hours ago, Frank Goad said:

What did jesus mean that heaven is made for children?In Matthew 19:14?What is it talking about?

unfeigned love and trust .....

and then a person who is born again, who lives in reality instead of pretend spirituality says.. "but, noone is PURELY like that, who is saved, so, how can it be that WE are going to be there, when we are not really like that yet, down here ??????"?

A.) Because you WILL BE, once you are finally CONFORMED INTO THE IMAGE OF CHRIST...    and that will happen when you meet Him at your death, or when you fly up to greet Him when the Rapture occurs.

Currently all of us are being conformed into the "image of Christ" as we are being changed from "glory to glory", INWARDLY.... but none of us are completed to be exactly like Him until we receive the "end of our salvation", which is the final TRANSFORMATION into the exact "likeness", or "sameness" as Christ.

Born again Believers are a work in progress that is created by a finished work on the Cross that is Applied unto and into us,  by God =  as our REDEMPTION.

[enoob57]

The New Heaven is a place of no sin (ever) but this heaven is one sin began in by the angel Lucifer... there is no way to determine which Jesus 'IS' speaking of so it is a place of waiting for Jesus to tell us when we are able to dwell with Him in His Glory... It is a bad place for the Calvinist for it is indicated 'all' children for the address do not hinder the children... this also supports the idea of David the child of Bathsheba who died as an age of accountability... Certainly as Jesus Himself had passed through such and now as an adult knew the terrible place of sin the world was, experientially, yet without sin knew their hopeless condition of fall and damnation as He the only One who would not yield to even the least of sin... but all that came before Him (children) would sin! His love for them and His desire for them to be with Him is certainly the evidenced reality of His Heart and supports the Provisionists theological framework....

[appy]

Matthew 19: 13 Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them.

Mathew 19 : 14 But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Matthew 19: 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

We need to read passages before and after a specific verse to get the context of the meaning. Sometimes this means reading the entire chapter. Sometimes the chapter before and the chapter after. Now to understand what “kingdom of heaven” means.  And the phrase is synonymous with “kingdom of God”.  In short, It means that God is sovereign and rules over all things in heaven and on earth. His kingly rule, action and authority as sovereign over all creation. We become a part of God’s kingdom when we accept the sacrificial work of Jesus on the cross for us and our lives come into harmony and agreement with God's will of salvation for us.

Jesus spoke often of our need to come to repentance and turn to God. The disciples like many people as well as many of the religious leaders of the time, thought of Jesus was going to be an earthly king and rid Israel of roman rule. Jesus always brought their focus back onto who He truly is and what He had come to do. That His true mission was to die on the cross, paying the death penalty for us; that we could never pay ourselves. Christ did for us, what we can not do for ourselves.

We can gather and surmise from the other gospels that also recorded this event that the disciples had the impression that children didn't have anything of importance to contribute to Jesus' message and work. Thus regarded them as a hindrance and an annoyance. We read that the parents brought the children to Jesus, because they wanted Jesus to bless their children. Jesus corrected the disciples wrong perspective of children. The children had just as much right to come to Jesus as adults did. We humans do not get to say who can or can not come to Christ. It isn't our prerogative to do so.

 

[rontiger]

20 hours ago, Frank Goad said:

What did jesus mean that heaven is made for children?In Matthew 19:14?What is it talking about?

The Menthos mints and Coke experiment I was doing for a 5 year old and 7 year old some years ago while I was looking after them for a couple of hours for their parents really brought home this verse. I put the Menthos mints in the Coke in a bathtub and we stood back while the coke powerfully shot up almost to the ceiling. The kids loved it. I then told them in a completely unserious tone that we were going to get a bunch more of bottles of Coke and Menthos and build a rocket and blast off to Mars, a planet faraway in the sky. All of a sudden their joyous faces were filled with dire consternation. The 5 year old girl grabs my arm and says : " Mister Ron I don't want to go to Mars, I really don't."

I looked at her 7 year old brother and I could see the wheels turning in his head like he was thinking:'What I am going to do now  and are we ever coming back from Mars. And why did Mom ever leave us with this crazy guy?'

I was totally surprised that they truly believed they were soon heading to Mars with me.

Those 2 little kids actually believed me without me even trying to convince them and they knew they were  completely helpless in that situation.

I think this is what Jesus meant by his words. It will be those people who accept they are completely helpless in their sins and know they need the true God to save them. And that they will completely believe what Christ says and in him.

It is this kind of very young children's humble and trusting heart condition that anyone who wants to be a citizen of heaven needs to have, Jesus is saying IMHO. People need to be like this first in order to accept Christ.

[justthefacts]

Good question Frank Goad.

 

Those who enter paradise [heaven] have been cleansed of all unrighteousness through their washing by the blood of the lamb [Jesus Christ] and therefore are innocent.

Children of this world are not accountable unto judgment of the law for in Gods view, they have not yet the ability to properly reason out or understand the merits of the law and therefore cannot rationally discern it.

They are innocent [even under fault] for they do not seek to do wrong.

This is why the connection by the Lord so that His brethren would know that they are righteous in the site of God the Father as He also views the little children of this world "Righteous".

 

Godbless

 

JTF