And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.
In this passage from Mark's Gospel, parents and caregivers were bringing their young children to Jesus hoping he would touch them and bless them — a common practice with honored Jewish teachers of the time. The disciples, who were Jesus's closest followers, stepped in and told the people to stop, likely believing they were protecting Jesus's time and dignity. Jesus had been doing significant public ministry, and the disciples may have thought children were too insignificant to warrant his attention. This verse captures the moment just before Jesus does something surprising: he becomes indignant at his own disciples and welcomes the children warmly, saying the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
God, forgive me for the people I've quietly moved to the edges — the ones I dismissed because they didn't seem worth the time. Help me see who you're drawing near that I might be pushing away. Teach me to make room the way you do. Amen.
There's a queue forming outside Jesus's door, and the disciples are playing bouncer. The people in line? Parents, probably — holding toddlers on hips, nudging shy kids forward. And the disciples, with what I'm sure felt like impeccable reasoning, turned them away. These were the inner circle, the ones who had left fishing boats and tax tables to follow Jesus. They weren't being cruel. They were being efficient. Protective. Logical. And they had entirely missed the point. It's worth sitting honestly with this question: who do you quietly turn away? Not with a hard no, but with a low-level prioritizing that keeps certain people — the slow, the small, the ones who can't give you much in return — at the edges of your attention. Maybe it's the coworker who always takes too long to get to the point, or the family member whose needs arrive at inconvenient times. The disciples thought they were serving Jesus by keeping the crowd manageable. What if the people you move past are exactly the ones he's moving toward?
The disciples rebuked people for bringing children to Jesus — what do you think their reasoning was, and what does it reveal about how they understood Jesus's mission at that point?
Have you ever felt turned away from something spiritual — a church, a community, a moment with God — because you didn't seem important enough or put-together enough? What was that experience like?
Is there a way gatekeeping shows up in your faith community today — formal or informal — that might mirror what the disciples were doing, even with good intentions?
Who in your life tends to be treated as low-priority or overlooked, and in what ways might you be contributing to that, even without meaning to?
This week, who is one specific person you could give unhurried, ungrudging attention to — someone you might normally move past — and what would that actually look like in practice?
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
Ezra 8:21
And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
Luke 18:15
And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.
Matthew 19:15
Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein .
Luke 18:17
Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.
Matthew 19:13
People were bringing children to Him so that He would touch and bless them, but the disciples reprimanded them and discouraged them [from coming].
AMP
And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.
ESV
And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them.
NASB
The Little Children and Jesus People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.
NIV
Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
NKJV
One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.
NLT
The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them.
MSG