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Then some little children were brought to him, so that he could put his hands on them and pray for them. The disciples strongly disapproved of this but Jesus said, "You must let the little children come to me, and you must never stop them. The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to little children like these!" Then he laid his hands on them and went on from there." Matthew 19: 13-15
"The disciples strongly disapproved." Disapproved of what? That Jesus eats with the wrong people. Talks to the wrong people. Stays with the wrong people. Touches the wrong people. Did you ever think of this? Some Christians over the millennia seem to have caught this, like a bad virus, from these early disapproving disciples. So much disapproving. Tysk-ing instead of rejoicing!
And of course, this is the kind of Fritz von Uhde painting that so many disapproved of—making Jesus contemporary. How can you disapprove of this — Jesus has come to town and is seated, where, in the town meeting place, the church hall. And indeed, we see the parents brought their children to be blessed by Jesus. There is the woman by the window encouraging a shy girl. There is a dad inside the door holding his hat in his hand. There's a cluster of grown-ups, some even holding infants. But it's the little children who are standing in the light near Jesus. One is resting on his right leg. One is reaching out to take Jesus' hand. Most are shy, heads down, not sure of how to approach Jesus. They are poor children — bare footed or with worn shoes.
But the window beyond Jesus is open. Something new, fresh and of life enters with Christ. What is that for you? A fresh perspective? A new idea or way of going about things? An expansion of what it means to be pro-life or whole life? An enlightenment of what it means to be a religious-spiritual person?
And why does Jesus so often feature children? Why does he put them center stage? Why does he say God's rule belongs to them? I'd suggest it's because children are eager to learn; they are teachable. More often than not, children are curious; they want to know. Children want to grow up. Be like that, Jesus says. Don't stop growing! Jesus says.
Lastly, when we were baptized chrism-oil was placed on our foreheads. Chrism has a remarkable scent, suggesting that as followers of Jesus we ought to be living in such a way that we leave behind us, wherever we go, the lovely fragrance of Christ. But oil is also shiny — that I would be reflective of Christ. And here on the wall of this greeting room is a small mirror. Look carefully, is that Jesus we see reflected in that mirror? Might that be true of all of us and each of us — may we mirror Christ. Our hearts, yes of course, but our minds too.
