Sermon For Sunday School Children

Welcome to the Kingdom: Jesus, Children, and the Word That Guides Them

Mark 10:13-16 And Psalm 119:9-16

Let me ask you something honest before we read a single word of Scripture today. When you think about the people Jesus most wanted near him, who comes to mind? The twelve disciples? The crowds on the hillside? The religious leaders he debated? All of those show up in the Gospels. But there is one group that catches us off guard every time we slow down long enough to notice it.

It is the children.

And not just that they were nearby. They were brought to him. And when the disciples tried to turn them away, Jesus stopped everything. That is the scene we are looking at today, and it matters for every person in this room, whether you are eight years old or eighty.

Let us read together from Mark 10, verses 13 through 16, in the Christian Standard Bible.

"People were bringing little children to him so that he might touch them, but his disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, 'Let the little children come to me. Don't stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.' After taking them in his arms, he laid his hands on them and blessed them."

Now hold that picture for a moment. Jesus is indignant. That is a strong word. He is not mildly inconvenienced. He is genuinely displeased that someone has decided children are not important enough for his attention. And then he does something remarkable. He takes them in his arms. He blesses them. He does not hand them off or schedule them for later. He welcomes them right then, right there.

Here is the central claim of this passage, and it is worth saying plainly: Jesus does not merely tolerate children. He receives them. He holds them up as an example of what it looks like to enter the kingdom of God. That is not a small thing. That is Jesus saying to every person who has ever felt too young, too small, or too unimportant to matter to God, you are exactly who I came for.

Now let us pair that with what Psalm 119 says, because these two passages belong together. Psalm 119:9-16 asks a question that sounds like it was written for someone just starting out in life.

"How can a young person keep his way pure? By keeping your word. I have sought you with all my heart; don't let me wander from your commands. I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you. Lord, you are blessed; teach me your statutes. With my lips I proclaim all the judgments from your mouth. I rejoice in the way revealed by your decrees as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and think about your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word."

The psalmist is not asking how to survive life. He is asking how to keep his way pure, how to stay on the right path when the world is wide and the choices are many. And the answer he arrives at is not a program or a rule system. It is a relationship with God's Word. Treasuring it. Meditating on it. Delighting in it.

That word delight is worth pausing on. The psalmist does not say he tolerates Scripture or endures it. He delights in it. He finds joy in it the way someone might find joy in something genuinely valuable. And he says he will not forget it.

So here is what these two passages together are saying to us today. Jesus welcomes you into his kingdom, and God's Word is what guides you as you grow inside it.

For the younger people in this room, hear this clearly. Jesus wanted you near him. Not someday when you are older. Not after you have figured everything out. Right now, as you are. The kingdom of God belongs to people who come to Jesus with open hands, trusting that he is good, trusting that he knows what he is doing. That is not a childish thing. That is actually one of the hardest and most important things any of us can do.

And for those of you who are a little older, who are teenagers or young adults trying to figure out who you are and what you believe, Psalm 119 is speaking directly to you. The question the psalmist asks is your question. How do I keep my way pure? How do I make good choices when there are so many voices telling me what to do and who to be? The answer is not to be perfect. The answer is to treasure the Word. To come back to it. To let it shape your thinking over time.

This is not about memorizing verses as a performance. It is about letting what God has said become something you actually care about, something you return to the way you return to something that has helped you before.

For the parents and leaders and teachers in this room, the charge is simple. Do not stop them. Do not make children feel like they are in the way of something more important. Bring them to Jesus through the way you talk about him, through the way you open Scripture with them, through the way you show them that faith is not a phase to grow out of but a life to grow into.

Jesus took those children in his arms and blessed them. That is the posture of the kingdom. Arms open. Welcome genuine. Blessing real.

Come to him like that. Bring others like that. And let the Word of God be the guide for every step of the way.

Sources Consulted

Akin, Daniel L. Exalting Jesus in Mark. Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary. Nashville: B and H Publishing, 2014.

Edwards, James R. The Gospel according to Mark. Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

Kidner, Derek. Psalms 73-150. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1975.

Lane, William L. The Gospel of Mark. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974.

Longman, Tremper III. Psalms. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2014.