Fourth Day of Lent – Saturday – Mar 8

Become Like Children…

Jesus and the Children; Stained glass window in St. Mary’s church, Dalham, Suffolk, depicting Jesus calling the children to himself. Photo by Steve Day, flicckr

Meditation

The Fourth Day of Lent makes things simple. True to human form, the disciples jockeyed for position: who is greatest was the question from more than one. So Judas Iscariot was not the only one, who was heading down a self-aggrandizing track.

Here were the chosen few, completely missing what Jesus had been talking about. He stressed love, kindness, fairness, and humility. The disciples evidently figured power was the key. Who was in charge? Who was best?

Even today, we fixate on the ranking of people. Who is better than whom?

Jesus took them back to the basics…gently but emphatically—unless you become like a child and put your trust in God like a child trusts parents, guardians, and people in general—completely—we can’t be saved. We must have faith and trust in God, like a child expects the parent to care for him/her.

As adults we grow more skeptical, less trusting. Most often, because our trust has been violated by someone along the way. The sad thing is Jesus recognizes that some adults will harm children and he addresses it: better a millstone (ranging in weight from 200 pounds to 1000s of pounds depending on size) hang around the neck of the offender and s/he be tossed into the sea. Death by drowning is better for adults, who lead children astray.