“And Jesus said to them, ‘Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’”?” (Mt 21:16)
It is amazing to see the importance Yeshua placed on children. When He was asked by His disciples who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, He called to him a child, “put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’” (Mt 18:2-4)
And when the disciples wanted to drive the children away from their Master because they felt He was too busy for them, He told them: “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 19:14) And then He proceeded to lay His hands on the children to bless them.
And when He rebuked the people for their unbelief, He declared: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Mt 11:25-27) This is quite amazing.
When the Master rode into Jerusalem down from the Mount of Olives, the disciples and others around them greeted Him as the promised King and Messiah of Israel.
“Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’” (Mt 21:8-9)
But when they came to the Temple and Yeshua did some radical things that really upset the leadership the praises ended.
“And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, ‘It is written, “‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’” but you make it a den of robbers.’” (v. 12-13)
This certainly did not sit very well with the authorities and the crowd became silent, except for the children. They continued to cry out their praises to Him.
“And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ they were indignant, and they said to him, ‘Do you hear what these are saying?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”” (v. 14-16)
The children had no fear of man. They just reacted spontaneously with heartfelt praise to the wonderful things that they saw Yeshua do. The adults, including the disciples, didn’t dare because of the leaders. No wonder Yeshua said: “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 18:3-4) And He continued:
“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. … See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” (v. 5-6,10) This is pretty radical!
Psalm 8, which Yeshua quoted, begins:
“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.” (Ps 8:1-2)
The children’s praises to God are connected to the majestic glory of His Name displayed above the heavens. There is something heavenly about children praising God. It is a powerful spiritual force “to still the enemy and the avenger”. We better not despise the children.
It is an awful responsibility of parents to train their children in the ways of God. Abortions and secular day care centers are the modern equivalents to sacrificing the children to Molech and passing them through fire. It is primarily the evil in society that is done towards the children, that in the end will release God’s severe judgments in the earth.
“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” (Mal 4:4-6)
