LET THEM COME

“See that you don't despise any of these little ones.” (Matthew 18.10a) The little ones referred to are not only children. They also include the “forgotten ones,” such as orphans, widows, fugitives, the poor, the sick, the homeless, the prisoners, refugees, and many others.

In my expanded version, the “little ones” can also include the small, often forgotten, and mainly neglected groups of people who speak a language foreign to us and who live in cultures that we do not understand. Such small groups speak most of the world’s languages, but their languages are becoming extinct. Their cultures are being absorbed into the dominant societies.

Before the “Western” conquest, over 300 languages were spoken in what is now the United States and a similar number were spoken in Australia. Today, only a few groups in both countries speak their languages fluently and exhibit their traditional cultures. Thousands of first-nation Americans now live on reservations and have some form of government recognition, but their languages are gone. They may have some traditional rituals in use, and they may call themselves by an Indian name, one used by their ancestors. However, they are mainly absorbed into the American and Western cultures, and some are dependent upon the federal government for subsidies and recognition, as well as upon their casinos for income.

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.” He knew that the future of the Kingdom would be in the hands of those who were at the time children.

However, children can be a problem, even a nuisance, and the disciples didn’t want Jesus to be bothered with them, even if he hugged and prayed for them.

When a group (a bunch) of children get together, they like to run around and play and when they do, they make noise. They are having fun and showing their enjoyment, and some of the older people may not like it. They think and sometimes say, “Children are to be seen and not heard.”

Some nations are now demonstrating a zero population increase. That is, the number of babies born is not sufficient to replace the number of people dying. They are in a death spiral because there are fewer groups of children playing or bothering anyone.

Joice and I had two children, and they grew up in Papua New Guinea. Although they spoke English, our son learned (Kewa) as his first language. Sometimes when we spoke to him in English, he would reply in Kewa. He thought he belonged to the Kewa culture, and he spoke their language.

This was apparent to us when, at about the age of 6 or 7, Kirk came into the house crying and exclaiming to his mother, “I’m not black, am it?” One of his Kewa agemates had pointed out that his skin was white (red, in Kewa) and that he was “different.” When Joice tried to reason with him, he replied “But I want to be black—everyone is black except me.” He could speak the Kewa language, but he did not look like he belonged.

There is no such distinction in the Kingdom of Heaven—we may still have our racial characteristics, but there will be no special advantage (based on skin color or language) for any group.

I can’t imagine a Kewa village without children, and the children have considerable freedom. For example, Americans might caution their children not to play with a knife, but I have seen small Kewa boys given (dull) knives to play with. They learned to slice sweet potatoes and other food, although it was strictly taboo for children to use a knife as a weapon.

When God created the first humans as male and female, he “blessed them, and said, “Have many children, so that your descendants ill live all over the earth and bring it under their control.” (Genesis 1.28) He repeated this to Noah, “Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth.” (9.1,7) It was of course not possible to have human descendants without children and having children was a sign of God’s blessing.

God extends the meaning of “children” to metaphorically include adults, and one category is the people who work for peace (Matthew 5.9) and pray for their enemies (5.44). 

We all need to be “children” in that sense.

Karl Franklin