Mark 9:36-37 “He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."
Jesus places value on everyone! That is one of the things that I love about Jesus! There is no person young or old, sinner or saint, Jew or Gentile whom Jesus does not love and value. This truth is at the heart of everything that God does. So much so that Paul states in Rom 5:8 “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The love of God is consistently on display through the life and ministry of Christ. His actions while alive, the death that He died and the message that He brings to us in His resurrection all speak to us a message of enduring and sacrificial love.
Mark 9:36 displays this message in a moving image of Christ’s tenderness as He takes a little child and has him stand amongst the group. Jesus does not merely bring this child into the group as an illustration and leave him standing cold and alone while everyone stares at the child and listens to Jesus. Jesus takes that child in His arms and holds him close! Jesus embraces this child and then uses that embrace as the teaching point. The embrace IS the message! Jesus holds this child close and says “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me.” As He states these words He demonstrates in that embrace what it means to welcome that child. To give the love that is Christ’s love is to see the heart behind the physical needs and to reach into the needs of the heart. Jesus saw this child as more than an illustration for His sermon. Even while reaching His goal of ministering to the people Jesus tenderly cares about the emotions of this child. In this same way as Christ displays this sensitivity He turns to those present and encourages them to open their hearts to people.
“Welcome the weak one and you welcome me. Welcome me and you welcome my Father!” At times Jesus made things so simple. “Treat other people; even the ones that you feel may not be able to make a major contribution, as though they were valuable to God!” This is a powerful lesson, and of equal importance is the connection to the principle that to love them IS to love God. They are all interconnected. When we place value on the things that matter to someone, we place value on them through that action! And God values people! He values them so much that He died for them! In John’s Epistle to the church he states this principle very directly in 1 John 4:20-21 by saying “If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” If we want a deeper revelation of God one of the quickest paths to encountering His love is to find it through loving others!
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