The Teachings of Jesus in Luke: Welcome the Child

An argument arose among (the disciples) as to which one of them was the greatest. But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, and said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.” ~ Luke 9:46-48

 Hold childhood in reverence. ~ Jean-Jaques Rousseau

Right around the turning of the new millennia, Life Magazine produced a special edition called "The Top Hundred Events of the Millennium:" everything important that happened between 1000 and 1999.

 Number 55 on the list was "The Invention of Childhood - 1633."

 If your first reaction was anything like mine, you probably said to yourself, "What?? Children have existed since the beginning of time. How can childhood be invented?"

 Well, what it meant was that prior to 1633 and a Moravian Bishop named Cormenius, no one gave children much thought other than to think of them as unfinished adults. There wasn't seen to be any necessity for special care for them - including affection.

 Cormenius' ideas on making sure "babies' spirits were stirred" with "embraces" didn't unfortunately catch much fire for another 100 years or so when Rousseau came on the scene. 

 So, how radical then was Jesus to take a child and put it by his side and tell his disciples to welcome them: that by welcoming them, they were welcoming Jesus!

 Children were indeed the least in Jesus time. They were the lowest in the social strata. No one would have thought to welcome them or give them any kind of special treatment.

 Anyone except Jesus.

 So then we have to ask ourselves, who is on our lowest social strata? Who is it that we are meant to welcome?

 Who is it that everyone else ignores or mistreats that we are meant to show affection to?
Prayer: Put beside me the least of these, that I may welcome them and love them. Amen


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