The Children in Jesus’ face
Children in the New Testament and Old Testament. “Little girl,” Jesus says, “Get up!” (Mark 5:41). This is the only time we overhear Jesus actually talk to a child in the New Testament. The problem is, the little girl is dead. Why doesn’t Jesus have conversations with any living children? And, for that matter, why aren’t there very many children populating the pages of New Testament texts to begin with.
How are children used in the New Testament? Children are not main characters in any of the narratives in the New Testament—neither in the gospels nor in Acts. This is not unusual for the ancient world. Although Jesus does interact with children—blessing them (Mark 10:13-16), healing them (John 4:46-54), raising them from the dead (Luke 8:49-56)—they are never the focus of the story. When they do appear, their function is to tell us something about Jesus, the coming kingdom, or what ideal discipleship should look like (see, e.g., Matt 11:16-19; Luke 7:31-35). Children are never in the story to teach us something about children themselves. They are used to think through other issues important to the community.
When we turn from the narratives to the letters, we find a similar situation. Although Paul does often use images of children to describe his relationship with the communities he founded (e.g., 1Thess 2:11; 1Cor 4:14-21), he does not seem to give much thought to the children actually living in those communities. The one time he does mention them in passing (1Cor 7:14) he is using them to make an argument about why a Christ believer ought to remain with a non-Christ believing spouse. Paul’s focus is not the children themselves.
What was expected from children?
In letters that carry Paul’s name, but whose actual authorship scholars question, children do come into focus a bit more. Roman ideology held that one need only look at a man’s household to see if he was leadership material. If his own household was not well managed—that is, if his wife, children, and slaves did not obey him—why should anyone trust him to manage other responsibilities? The Pastoral epistles (1 and 2 Timothy and Titus) borrow this kind of reasoning and argue that any leader of a Christ believing community should be able to keep his children obedient (e.g., 1Tim 3:1-5; Titus 1:6). This idea is also found in the “household codes” of Colossians (Col 3:18-4:1) and Ephesians (Eph 5:22-6:9). The big difference is that the writers of these latter two letters speak directly to children, not just about them. This is unusual for the New Testament. But it is a good evidence for the assumption that children could be educated to make appropriate decisions, even if that decision is obedience. The necessity of obedience would have made perfect sense to Jewish, Roman, and Hellenistic audiences since children were understood to lack the rational capacities of (male) adults. Education, accompanied at times by physical force (see, e.g., Prov 10:13; 1Cor 4:21), was necessary for a child to mature into a complete (adult) human being.
We should perhaps not be surprised that children are not the main focus of the New Testament. After all, neither Jesus nor Paul have any children of their own to worry about. It’s significant that both Jesus and Paul teach that God will radically reshape reality very soon. This lent urgency to Jesus’s proclamation of the kingdom and Paul’s proclamation of the return of Christ. In light of this urgency, children, for all the good they promised families, were often seen as impediments to full commitment to this new reality. Indeed, Jesus declares that in the new age people will not marry (Matt 22:30; Mark 12:25; Luke 20:35-36) and thus, presumably, will not have children.
There are differing opinions about child evangelism; some view it as unethical, manipulative even abusive. Therefore, it is wise for children’s ministry workers (especially those involved in child evangelism) to have a theology of child evangelism … not just any organized system of beliefs but a biblical theology of child evangelism. The latter will help the children’s ministry worker build convictions about his ministry. Moreover, it will determine how he does ministry among children as well as provide him with a ready defense. We will begin this paper by looking at the Bible to determine what it has to say about children and their conversion.
Children in the Old Testament
In Deut. 4:1-8, Moses urged the Israelites to obey God’s laws on the basis of promise of life and possession of the land (v.1). He also warned them of the consequences of disobedience – death as in the case of Baal-peor (v.3). God’s laws are able to grant wisdom and even the nations recognized it (v.6). These nations would praise Israel for her wisdom, attributing it to her privilege and blessings of having righteous laws and a God who is near and answers their prayers (vs.7-8).
In Deut. 4:9-10, Moses reminded the people not to forget what they had seen … God’s miraculous works at Mt Horeb where the people and their children heard God giving the Ten Commandments (Exo. 19:10-11; 20:1-18). Moses again reminded the people to obey God’s laws in Deut. 6:1-9 … laying before them the goal of fearing the LORD evidenced by a life of obedience to God and His Word. This goal was not only for the present generation then but also for their children and grandchildren (vs.1-2). The first priority of parents was their own obedience – God’s word was to be on their hearts (vs.5-6) – then they were to teach it to their children (v.7). They were to teach diligently, impressing God’s word upon their children using reminders (vs.7-9). These same principles are applicable to Christian parents today.
Deut. 11:18-21 is essentially a repetition of Deut. 6:1-9 on the teaching ministry of parents with one difference – the (promise of) possession of the land is “as long as the heavens remain above the earth” (v.21), that is, forever.
Deut. 31:9-13 was not addressed to parents but to the priests and elders. They were to read God’s laws publicly to all the people when they assembled every seven years for the Feast of Booths so that the people (even the very young children who did not know God’s laws; see v.13) would learn and fear the LORD. Then it was rare for an ordinary Israelite to possess a copy of the Scriptures so parents would teach their children through their experience and memory of God’s works and laws. Therefore, this public reading of the law every seven years was significant for children in that it helped them establish the source and authority of what they had learnt.
In Psa. 78:1-8, the psalmist reminded the Israelites to teach their children about God’s works so that they in turn would pass it on to their children – the goal was that they would put their confidence (i.e., trust) in God and keep His commandments. The negative example of the first generation of Israelites who came out of Egypt was set before them (v.8). As seen from all the Old Testament passages discussed above, one predominant theme is the transmission of truth (of God’s works and laws) from one generation to the next generation so that the latter might learn to fear and obey God.
In letters that carry Paul’s name, but whose actual authorship scholars question, children do come into focus a bit more. Roman ideology held that one need only look at a man’s household to see if he was leadership material. If his own household was not well managed—that is, if his wife, children, and slaves did not obey him—why should anyone trust him to manage other responsibilities? The Pastoral epistles (1 and 2 Timothy and Titus) borrow this kind of reasoning and argue that any leader of a Christ believing community should be able to keep his children obedient (e.g., 1Tim 3:1-5; Titus 1:6). This idea is also found in the “household codes” of Colossians (Col 3:18-4:1) and Ephesians (Eph 5:22-6:9). The big difference is that the writers of these latter two letters speak directly to children, not just about them. This is unusual for the New Testament. But it is a good evidence for the assumption that children could be educated to make appropriate decisions, even if that decision is obedience. The necessity of obedience would have made perfect sense to Jewish, Roman, and Hellenistic audiences since children were understood to lack the rational capacities of (male) adults. Education, accompanied at times by physical force (see, e.g., Prov 10:13; 1Cor 4:21), was necessary for a child to mature into a complete (adult) human being.
We should perhaps not be surprised that children are not the main focus of the New Testament. After all, neither Jesus nor Paul have any children of their own to worry about. It’s significant that both Jesus and Paul teach that God will radically reshape reality very soon. This lent urgency to Jesus’s proclamation of the kingdom and Paul’s proclamation of the return of Christ. In light of this urgency, children, for all the good they promised families, were often seen as impediments to full commitment to this new reality. Indeed, Jesus declares that in the new age people will not marry (Matt 22:30; Mark 12:25; Luke 20:35-36) and thus, presumably, will not have children.
There are differing opinions about child evangelism; some view it as unethical, manipulative even abusive. Therefore, it is wise for children’s ministry workers (especially those involved in child evangelism) to have a theology of child evangelism … not just any organized system of beliefs but a biblical theology of child evangelism. The latter will help the children’s ministry worker build convictions about his ministry. Moreover, it will determine how he does ministry among children as well as provide him with a ready defense. We will begin this paper by looking at the Bible to determine what it has to say about children and their conversion.
Children in the Old Testament
In Deut. 4:1-8, Moses urged the Israelites to obey God’s laws on the basis of promise of life and possession of the land (v.1). He also warned them of the consequences of disobedience – death as in the case of Baal-peor (v.3). God’s laws are able to grant wisdom and even the nations recognized it (v.6). These nations would praise Israel for her wisdom, attributing it to her privilege and blessings of having righteous laws and a God who is near and answers their prayers (vs.7-8).
In Deut. 4:9-10, Moses reminded the people not to forget what they had seen … God’s miraculous works at Mt Horeb where the people and their children heard God giving the Ten Commandments (Exo. 19:10-11; 20:1-18). Moses again reminded the people to obey God’s laws in Deut. 6:1-9 … laying before them the goal of fearing the LORD evidenced by a life of obedience to God and His Word. This goal was not only for the present generation then but also for their children and grandchildren (vs.1-2). The first priority of parents was their own obedience – God’s word was to be on their hearts (vs.5-6) – then they were to teach it to their children (v.7). They were to teach diligently, impressing God’s word upon their children using reminders (vs.7-9). These same principles are applicable to Christian parents today.
Deut. 11:18-21 is essentially a repetition of Deut. 6:1-9 on the teaching ministry of parents with one difference – the (promise of) possession of the land is “as long as the heavens remain above the earth” (v.21), that is, forever.
Deut. 31:9-13 was not addressed to parents but to the priests and elders. They were to read God’s laws publicly to all the people when they assembled every seven years for the Feast of Booths so that the people (even the very young children who did not know God’s laws; see v.13) would learn and fear the LORD. Then it was rare for an ordinary Israelite to possess a copy of the Scriptures so parents would teach their children through their experience and memory of God’s works and laws. Therefore, this public reading of the law every seven years was significant for children in that it helped them establish the source and authority of what they had learnt.
In Psa. 78:1-8, the psalmist reminded the Israelites to teach their children about God’s works so that they in turn would pass it on to their children – the goal was that they would put their confidence (i.e., trust) in God and keep His commandments. The negative example of the first generation of Israelites who came out of Egypt was set before them (v.8). As seen from all the Old Testament passages discussed above, one predominant theme is the transmission of truth (of God’s works and laws) from one generation to the next generation so that the latter might learn to fear and obey God.
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