Pastor Hugh's Monthly Meditation
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IT IS TO SUCH AS THESE
THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD BELONGS
Years ago I read an article about the value that children have held throughout history. The place that children hold in our society and our view of them—that they are our greatest treasure, that they are to be loved and cherished, that they should be nurtured and protected at all cost, that their joy and welfare comes first, and so on—is an historically recent phenomenon. One reason for this positive evolution was that as a greater percentage of children were able to survive into adulthood, parents were more able to invest in them emotionally.
Click on image to see a larger view of Nicolaes Maes', Christ Blessing the Children, in a separate window.
In Jesus’ day, the value of a child (and to be accurate, a boy child) was directly connected to the benefit and future social security he could provide for his parents. If you had lots of boys, you would have a greater chance at financial security and continued social standing in your old age.
In Jesus’ day, a child was the legal property of his or her father. (So too was his wife.) If a son, for example, misbehaved or shamed his father, if he spoke back to his father and challenged his authority, the father had the right to enact any kind of punishment he saw fit—including putting that son to death. (This is why the story of the “Prodigal Son,” where the father stood at the edge of his property yearning for the return of his rebellious son, would have been considered scandalous in Jesus’ day. No self-respecting father would allow such a dead-beat son to return home, let alone shower him with that much love, attention and forgiveness. That kind of grace would have been unheard of! Jesus’ point: God’s love is infinitely greater than human love.)
All of this stands as the back-drop to something that you and I take for granted, but was unheard of in Jesus’ day—Jesus’ unbridled love for children.
Nicolaes Maes, who may have painted his Christ Blessing the Children (1652-53) when he studied under Rembrandt, perfectly captures Jesus’ love for a child. When I first saw this painting I was struck by the look of adoration that can be read in Jesus’ face, and the firm but equally tender touch that he has as he blesses the child. As I said, we have become so used to these images that we often fail to realize just how profound, special, even unusual this love is.
The second thing I noticed in this painting is how oblivious the child receiving Jesus’ blessing is to his attention. Is Jesus’ left hand holding on to the child in an attempt to keep her from fleeing?
Jesus’ love extends well beyond the young and innocent child. It envelopes the old and the guilty, too. It is this same love that endured the horrors of death and oblivion, so that we might have the undeserved gift of life in infinite abundance.
Jesus’ adoring gaze is on each of us, his loving touch blessing and forgiving us, too. Won’t we spend time resting in and savoring that blessing? Or are we, like this child, too oblivious—or unaccustomed—to its reality to take it in?
Hugh R. B. Haffenreffer
Pastor
September 2006
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