What is the context?
People bring little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuke those who bring them, but Jesus tells them to allow the children to come. He receives them, lays His hands on them, and then goes on His way.
This continues a concern already raised in chapter 18: welcoming a child in Jesus' name, caring for the little ones, and refusing to look down on them. Here that concern is acted out toward actual children who are being brought to Him.
The related accounts add detail. Luke 18:15–17 says people were bringing even babies. Mark 10:13–16 describes Jesus' displeasure with the disciples, His taking the children in His arms, and His blessing them. Mark also records His teaching that the kingdom must be received like a little child.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christians agree that Jesus welcomes children and that His followers should help them come to Him. Wesley on 19:13–14 includes both actual children and those who are childlike in faith; the US Catholic bishops' note on 19:13–15 also notes that some Christians connect the passage with infant baptism.
Churches differ over that connection. The Catholic Catechism, 1250–1252, teaches baptism of infants as a gift of new life in Christ. The Reformed Westminster Confession, 28.4, includes the infants of believing parents among those to be baptized, and the Methodist Articles, XVII, also retain baptism of young children. The 1689 Baptist Confession, 29.2, limits baptism to those who personally profess repentance and faith. These differences concern how children are received into the church; this particular scene describes Jesus' prayer and blessing rather than a baptism.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
God's saving purpose reaches people others may overlook. In 1 Corinthians 1:26–31, Paul reminds believers that few were powerful or highly placed when called. God chooses the weak and lowly, and Christ becomes their righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Human importance gives no one a privileged claim on Him.
The welcome Jesus gives also shapes the care His people offer. James 1:27 describes care for orphans and widows in their distress as part of faithful life before God. The disciples are learning to notice and receive the very people they might otherwise push aside.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.