"Fear the LORD and serve him completely and sincerely. Cast out the gods your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:14-15
Children were brought to Jesus that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked them, but Jesus said, "Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." After he placed his hands on them, he went away. Matthew 19:13-15
Piety
How would we react if we were brought to Jesus and then someone tried to push us out of the way?
How do you think others react if they are with Jesus and we try to get in the way?
Study
Pardon me but the Gospel of St. Matthew can be sub-titled “The Gospel of Rebuke.” From Jesus to the disciples to the Pharisees, this is a story about equal opportunity rebuking in all directions. What goes around comes back to rebuke you. Rebuke for the Kingdom of God is with us.
There are no fewer than nine direct instances in which Jesus rebukes the disciples (mostly for their lack of faith). The disciples rebuked people who came to Jesus to seek a blessing. The Pharisees and Sadducees rebuked Jesus and his little band of brothers for the laws that they did not follow. This does not count the curt responses and other ways Jesus played stern librarian in scolding those who annoyed him.
Let’s step back and contemplate the meaning of “rebuke.” The word comes into our vocabulary from Middle English rebuken and from Old North French “rebuke” according to etymology sources. The prefix “re” tells us that something is happening again or has returned. The natural root added to this is “buker.” That means “to strike or to chop firewood.” Who can chop firewood with one blow? You have to hit those logs again and again and again to get them to split.
Jesus rebukes those around him again and again when they get in the way of his prayer, his words, his healing and his action. He strikes them with words in order to beat back any opposition he faces. He strikes them with a glance when they annoy him.
Today, when people bring the children to Jesus, the disciples rebuke them telling them to take the bothersome children away. Jesus then rebukes the rebukers. "Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." After this tender moment hugging and blessing the children, Matthew tells us that Jesus went away…he was onto Jerusalem and his finest hour.
When Jesus gets to Jerusalem, he continues rebuking into the Garden of Gethsemane. We find him there rebuking his sleepy companions. “Will no one stay awake with me, Peter, John, James?” Then, when Judas and the Romans showed up to arrest him, he rebukes the disciple who attacked the high priest’s servant with a sword and chides those who have come out to seize him with swords and clubs as if he were a robber. Only he knows he’ll be hanging between two actual robbers in a matter of hours. In both rebukes, Jesus declares that the treatment he is now receiving is the fulfillment of the scriptures.
Action
Jesus calls us all his children. Even when he appears to be a stranger on the shore while the disciples sit in the comfort of their old fishing boat, Jesus yells out to them, Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” (John 21:5). He knows full well that they are grown men who have been his companions for three years. But he still calls them “Children.”
Age is immaterial. We are all God’s children.
As for me and my household, to avoid a rebuke by Jesus, we will serve the LORD.
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