The other day I had a conversation with a friend about Luke 18:17. This one verse has given a lot of people trouble. What does Jesus mean when he says, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”
Right before this verse Jesus has just told a parable about a Pharisee and a Publican (Tax Collector) who both were praying to God. In the story the Pharisee says a very selfish prayer exalting himself over others because he thinks he is righteous because he doesn’t sin and he pays his tithes. The tax collector has a very different prayer where he asks God to be merciful on him because he is a sinner. Now Jesus told his hearers that the Tax Collector was justified that day because of his humbleness.
Humbleness is something that so many of us struggle with. We live in a culture where the pursuit of knowledge is everything. We like to have a handle on what is going on in our world. We don’t like to be caught off guard. We are taught that knowledge is power and the more knowledge we have, the more power have.
In theory that makes perfect sense but Jesus’ saw things through a different set of lens. This idea of having child-like faith for me anyway centers around the idea of fascination. When I was a child I was fascinated by a lot of things. I remember my grandfather was amazed at my fascination with car door handles. I could tell him what type of handles my dad’s truck had, my mom’s car had, and even what type of door handles my other grandparent’s cars had. For some odd reason I was just fascinated with door handles.
Eventually my fascination with door handles faded because I discovered everything I needed to know about door handles so I moved on to something else. That is true for most of us. When we feel we have mastered something we move on. We wait for another challenge, something that fascinates us.
Jesus knew that to be true in his day as well. With Jesus there is so much more to him than anyone person we will ever meet. Sure there are people in this world today that we are fascinated with. Whether it be how they dress, their athletic ability, or how they run a company there is something that interests us about them but eventually that interest will fade. When they die, what they accomplished in this life will be just a memory and generations that follow will probably know very little about them.
Jesus is different because he has left such a lasting impact on our World. I recently started reading a book titled, “Who is This Man?” by John Ortberg. Ortberg goes into great detail about the lasting impact that Jesus had on our world and how this impact is still going some 2000 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. There is just something about Jesus that just fascinates me. As soon as I feel like I understand him I read the gospels again and I’m completely blown away because I realize that there is just so much more to him that I realized.
This has fueled my fascination with him. It has kept me desiring to want to know more about him but it has rocked my world as well in how he teaches me to live. His way doesn’t always make sense in view of how our world wants us to live but Jesus did warn those who believe in him that this would be the case.
reflections of a theologian 