In Matthew 18, parents brought children to Jesus, while the disciples, trying to be helpful, barred their access. Jesus responded, “Don’t stop them – let them come to me!”

We center children in our culture. But in the ancient world, children held little social status. They were fed last and given the smallest portions of food. Many died before the age of five or lost parents before reaching puberty. Children were among the most vulnerable in society. The disciples’ actions reflected their world – one that centered the powerful, protected the elite, and gave access to those deemed important.

Jesus, however, was always revealing another world, another way of being – the kin-dom of God. As Jesus gathered the children, protected them, and blessed them, he was modeling this other way.
The children are symbols for everyone who stands outside the circle of power – the one’s polite society finds inconvenient or uncomfortable and tries to move along. Jesus made room for them, not at the edges – at the center.

Earlier in the chapter, Jesus told the disciples that unless they became like children they could not enter the kingdom of heaven. He went even further, saying that whoever welcomed a child in his name welcomed him. In this realm, welcoming the vulnerable is not just the way of Jesus, or the way to Jesus. It is the way we welcome Jesus.

We too have been vulnerable. We have all been children. We all reach the end of our resources and need support. We all live through seasons of grief and loneliness and long for care. Jesus centers and cares for the vulnerable, including us. When we remember what it feels like to be vulnerable, we are more likely to protect the vulnerable ones around us.

Jesus blessed children within a world where children were dying. He taught about the kin-dom of God within the Roman empire. This is the tension we live in too. While we can’t fix what we are witnessing, we can, like Jesus, point to this other realm. Our actions can offer glimpses of the subversive network of God. And, as we practice stubborn fidelity to the ways of Jesus, we are not just grounding ourselves in the good news, we participate in it, we become part of it.

This week, notice when you are feeling some extra margin and energy. In those moments, how might you de-center yourself to offer support to someone experiencing vulnerability? Notice also when your margin is low and you are feeling vulnerable. In these moments, how might you allow yourself to be centered and supported by the loving gaze of God and those around you?

Blessings, 

Anne