Mark 10:15 - An Alternate View

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MorriganTait

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Mark 10:15
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society



I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.
 
I have been pondering this passage a bit and thinking about a different way to look at it. I think most of us have interpreted this to mean we should receive God (faith) as if we are ourselves children, or with the innocence and total devotion of a child. This is a nice way to think about it, but it also lends the air of this mindless unthinking sheeplike faith - which I don't think was intended. I have been musing over a new way to interpret it.

As adults, how do we receive a newborn child? Think about this in light of being a parent or sibling or aunt or uncle - how you have felt taking an infant in your arms. Have you felt a feeling of encompassing, unconditional love for that child? Have you received them and cherished them? Nurtured them? Protected them? Cared for them? What if this is how this passage was meant - that we are to receive the kindom of God (faith, the earth, his children) as if it is a child entrusted to our care?

If you think of this passage in this way, how does it make you feel?

...to receive the kingdom of God as it we were receiving a child...hmmmm????
 
I don't know...I think sometimes there are misunderstandings about children that people have with this passage.

I think what kids have to their benefit is that they're not too full of themselves, they are loving and hopeful, and while they're trusting in a way adults aren't, the brightest ones are inquisitive. That last aspect is what I think a lot of people forget or severely underestimate in children. Kids really aren't stupid, and they're like sponges for knowledge. I know that when I really got interested in something as a child, I kept digging until I got answers that made sense.

When I was 5 years old or so, my parents had given me books both about science and faith, and had presented both authoritatively (as in, treated them both very seriously). At about that age, I realized that I would have to find some way to reconcile the two. I understood very well that literalism meant I'd have to rule one of them out as a lie. So I pulled out my children's Bible to look over the Genesis account, and started to notice something very interesting: that the description of how the cosmos formed looked an awful lot like the Big Bang! An explosion of light, a separation of matter and energy into separate masses (light separated from dark), cooling into planets, stars, and heavenly bodies...that moment of realization was an INCREDIBLE one. And I was five, MAYBE six years old.

Healthy kids ask questions, and they're also able to tell when adults are BS'ing them. So I don't think we're being asked not to question...even if we're to use children as our example. Unfortunately you DO get a lot of dangerous misinterpretations.

Here's an interesting passage to look at, about the ideal human mindset. In this case, Jesus has sent some of his disciples into a town that treated them very badly. They were very disturbed about what happened, and (as usual) St. Peter shot his mouth off. At that point Jesus explained the mindset they ought to have when they went into towns in the future. This comes from the gospel of Matthew:

"I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

"Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues."

Nowhere did Jesus tell them not to use their God-given intellects, and not to question the situation they were in--He just asked them to combine their knowledge and intellect with a conscience. :)
 
Well, yeah, but, are you picking up how I am interpretting it differently?

Not "receive it as if we have the mind of a child" but "receive it (the Kingdom) as if IT is a child". How do you RECEIVE a child? What do you feel when you hold a newborn?
 
Unconditional love, and protectiveness, a wish to nurture him or her...the only thing is, I'm not exactly sure how qualified humanity is for that. ;)
 
Hmmmm, a feeling of total love and a willingness to subvert and sacrifice my own needs and desires for the newborn. I become OBSESSED with making sure the infant is loved and taken care of but I wonder what bearing that has on entering the Kingdom of God.
Good question, MorriganTait.
 
Jesus Christ of Narazeth said....

Mark 10:14-16 (King James Version)

But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
 
Heath said:
Jesus Christ of Narazeth said....

Mark 10:14-16 (King James Version)

But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.

:gpost: And I totally agree. Morrigan Tait, put it this way: How is a child to an adult? Trusting, right? This is how we're to approach God.
 
The two previous posters need to brush up on their reading skills. Wayyyy off topic again.
:roll:
 
Rose Immortal said:
Unconditional love, and protectiveness, a wish to nurture him or her...the only thing is, I'm not exactly sure how qualified humanity is for that. ;)

How qualified do many parents fell with a first baby?
 
Heath said:
Jesus Christ of Narazeth said....

Mark 10:14-16 (King James Version)

But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.

Hey Heath - go back and read the interpretation that I input after the original verse, and see if you can add to the discussion. Thanks.
 
MorriganTait said:
How qualified do many parents fell with a first baby?

Not very. And some really aren't...just look at some of the spoiled or neglected children that you see... :(
 
Rose Immortal said:
Not very. And some really aren't...just look at some of the spoiled or neglected children that you see... :(

I guess the point is, all new parents are scared and unsure, but there is something instinctual about loving and nurturing a child. A lot of people get it wrong, but far more seem to get it right.
 
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