In what way does the kingdom belong to the children?

Explanation:

People brought children to Jesus for him to bless them, but the disciples rebuke the people for this. Maybe they believe Jesus is too busy, or that children were second class and not worth the effort. Jesus overrides the disciples and has the children brought to him for a blessing, explaining that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.⁵ The Greek term is a demonstrative pronoun, whose sense is of such a kind.⁶ In other words, Jesus is saying that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are of low status and humble, whether children or otherwise.⁷

Counterargument:

This view takes it that the demonstrative pronoun of such a kind is used to refer to the set of people who are lowly and humble. Jesus is saying that the kingdom of heaven belongs to all those who belong to that set. The problem here is that the pronoun in use could just as likely be used by Jesus to refer to the set of all children. In other words, when Jesus says that such as these belongs to the kingdom of heaven, he is saying that to all those in the set children, they belong to the kingdom. Unfortunately, this argument cannot judge between these options.

Response to counterargument:

It is true that we cannot judge which set Jesus refers to—the set of all those who are humble and lowly, or the set of all children—solely based on the demonstrative pronoun. But we can judge the matter based on the larger context in which we find the account in the Gospel of Matthew. If we look back to Matthew 18:1–35, we find the disciples ask Jesus who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:1). Jesus calls a child to himself, and explains that unless one becomes like a child, he will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:2–3). Jesus’ point is that unless one is of low stature and humble, one will not enter the kingdom.⁸ Only one chapter later, children are brought to Jesus for a blessing, to which the disciples object (Matthew 19:13). This leads Jesus to patiently remind the disciples that as he explained when they asked who will be the greatest in the kingdom, the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. That is, the kingdom of heaven belongs to the lowly and humble, adult and child alike.⁹

Possible weaknesses:

If we read Matthew 19:13–15 in isolation it seems that Jesus’ point here is that children are important. The disciples seem to have a low view of children, and Jesus corrects this view. Still, while correcting the disciples’ low view of children might be one aspect of the account, when we read the account in the larger context, including Matt 18, it seems that Jesus is reinforcing the fact that the kingdom belongs to all those who are lowly and humble, including children.

Explanation:

When the people bring children to Jesus for a blessing, the disciples rebuke the people (Matthew 19:13). Jesus ignores the disciples’ rebuke and has the children brought to him because the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these (Matthew 19:14). To understand what it means that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these, we must read the context surrounding our passage.¹⁰ When we go back to Matthew 19:3 we find out that the Pharisees are asking Jesus about divorce. They ask if divorce is lawful, especially since Moses allowed for divorce (Matthew 19:7). Jesus explains that according to God’s created order, when a couple is married the two become one flesh (Matthew 19:5–6). Thus, divorce is only permitted in the case of adultery (Matthew 19:9).

Following his dialogue with the Pharisees, the disciples conclude that it is expedient not to marry (Matthew 19:10). To their response Jesus explains that only some people are called to a life of singleness.

It is within the context of Jesus’ discussion with the Pharisees and the disciples’ reaction that we must understand Matthew 19:14. For after he explains that divorce is not permitted except for adultery, and that only some are called to singleness, the people bring children to him for a blessing (Matthew 19:13). When the disciples rebuke the people, Jesus ignores their rebuke and explains that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these (Matthew 19:14). By ignoring the disciples and blessing the children, Jesus affirms what he has explained about marriage. Since the pattern of marriage between a man and woman is ordained by God, the offspring that are the result of marriage ought to be affirmed and blessed. Thus, sanctioning the permanence and normativity of marriage is Jesus’ major point in Matthew 19:3–15.¹¹

Counterargument:

While it might be that Jesus implicitly affirms marriage when he blesses the children, we have a narrower question in mind. Specifically, we want to know what it means that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these children. That marriage is implicitly affirmed suggests that upholding traditional marriage is not Jesus’ major point in Matthew 19:13–15, even if that is his point in Matthew 19:3–12. Rather, when we reach Matthew 19:13–15, Jesus seems to be affirming his earlier comment that unless one becomes like a child, one will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:2–3). Thus, when Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven belongs to children, his point is not to support traditional marriage. Rather, his point is that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are of low social status, and humble.

Possible weaknesses:

The noble quality of this view is that it seeks to understand Matthew 19:13–15 within the wider context of Matthew 19:3–15. Still, when determining how context influences the meaning of the text, we must consider repeated themes that might run throughout a book. In this case, we have the repeated theme of children belonging to the kingdom (Matthew 18:1–4). The weakness of this interpretation is that it prioritizes the context of Matthew 19:2–15 over the repeated theme of children belonging to the kingdom.

Explanation:

When the people ask Jesus to bless their children, he explains that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. In other words, those who ask him for a blessing are blessed. Thus, Jesus’ point is that the kingdom of heaven belongs to anyone who asks. Those who ask for the kingdom of heaven will receive it.¹²

Counterargument:

The problem with this view is that the children do not ask for a blessing. Rather, people bring children to Jesus for a blessing, and he explains that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. In order to accept that Jesus is saying that whoever asks for the kingdom receives it, and to stay true to the text, we would have to conclude that if someone asks for a blessing on behalf of someone else, that blessing will be conferred. Of course, it does not seem to be the case that we can ask for a blessing for someone else and they will receive the kingdom. Rather, Scripture calls us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), which implies faith in Christ is a personal matter.

Added to this, when we consider Jesus' comments in context, we notice that he is responding to the disciples who rebuke the people from bringing the children. In other words, the disciples have a low view of children. By explaining that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these, Jesus corrects the disciples’ low view of children.¹³

Possible weaknesses:

The problem with this view is that it infers too much. Jesus does not say, Let the children come to me for all who ask receive. Rather, he calls the children to come to him because the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. The plain meaning here is that Jesus highlights something about the quality and character of children. Thus, while it might be that all who ask for a blessing from Jesus will receive it, this is not likely Jesus’ intended meaning here.