Let the Children Come

In 2020, we’re going seeing how living cross-centered applies to every area of our lives.

Last week we saw Jesus cares about marriages & families. He doesn’t bow to the pressure of the culture around Him.

This week we’re going to see He cares about children, in spite of cultural pressure.

See in Christ’s day, children had no rights.

In the Greco-Roman world you could throw away your baby. You could leave your baby on the outskirts of town to die or be eaten by wild animals.

Sometimes wicked people would collect these abandoned babies and raise them to be prostitutes or gladiators or they’d intentionally scar or disfigure them to enhance their value as beggars on the street.

Do you know when Roman law made it illegal to kill babies? 375 AD!

As late as AD 60 an adolescent could be put to death at the whim of his Roman father. No questions asked.

·      We see this low view of children in Exodus 1, Pharaoh arbitrarily orders the genocide of all Hebrew baby boys.

·      In Matt. 2, when Herod orders the public slaughter of a town-full of babies.

·      Throughout the OT, pagans sacrifice their babies to idols like Baal & Molech.

You say, “How horrific? How primitive? How unthinkable.” But have things changed?

Every day, children are abused, enslaved, molested, exploited—and even killed when they get in our way.

But in contrast to His culture, we see that Jesus loves children