Our daily reflections follow the M'Cheyne Bible reading plan, designed for those who want to read the whole Bible in one year. Each reflection focuses on one of the chapters from that day's readings. Darllenwch rhain yn Gymraeg.
Lord, have mercy. Cleanse me. Still my mind. Help me to listen as you speak.
In today’s passage Matthew places a brief, seemingly innocuous, scene between the weighty topics of marriage and money. The peaceful image of Jesus’ hands resting on the heads of children seems strangely out of place. Yet, all three passages hang together by a common thread: the kingdom of God.
The union of male and female goes back to the days when God’s rule was uncontested and the world was intact. Then again, those who decided to follow Jesus to the precarious front line of mission had to consider remaining single for the sake of their calling. The rich young ruler, on the other hand, couldn’t bring himself to swap his colonnades, Michelin star chef and dainty dancers for dust roads and the company of an eccentric rabbi and a bunch of peasants from up north.
Right in the middle of those solemn illustrations of the cost of discipleship, we find Jesus blessing those who have made no sacrifices for the kingdom whatsoever, even claiming that God’s kingdom already belongs to them.
If you’re a parent or have honest recollections of your own childhood, you’ll agree that Jesus can’t have set up children as examples of moral purity. Children start off as complete narcissists and excel at anything from bullying their mates to dismembering a fly before burying it alive. Of course, children can show a great deal of kindness too. But morally they tend to be as mixed up as their adult fellow-humans, with fewer social constraints.
So what did Jesus mean? Might Matthew have placed the story right between grown-ups’ struggles with love and money to show us that, no matter how often we’ll mess up in years to come, the Lord invites us to receive his blessing, regardless? Are we meant to perceive the fine line between grace and works? The fact that discipleship involves discipline and sacrifice, but that, no matter how dedicated we are to the kingdom road, we’ll never get there but for the grace of God?
Lord, help me this day to remember that your grace is not cheap grace, that discipleship can be costly, and that when I falter and fail, you’ll still be there to welcome and bless me.
This reflection was written by Michael Pfundner, Bible Society's Publishing Support Manager
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