Jesus Christ · On One Another
Receiving Children
Twice in Mark’s Gospel a child ends up in Jesus’s arms — once because He reached for one to answer a status argument, once because parents pressed in and the disciples tried to turn them away, and Mark says Jesus was indignant. Around that embrace He builds a whole doctrine of the small: to receive one such child in His name is to receive Him; to trip one of them is worse than a millstone-drowning; their angels stand looking at the Father’s face; and the Father’s stated will is that not one of them perish.
In His Arms
— Mark 9:36-37 and 10:13-16 — the two embracesThe first child is Jesus’s own visual aid: the disciples have been arguing on the road about who is greatest, and He answers by standing a child in the middle of them and then picking him up. (That dispute, and the saying it drew, has its own page — the door is below.) The second scene is warmer and sharper at once: parents bringing infants for a blessing, disciples rebuking them as a waste of the Master’s time, and the only place in the Gospels where Mark says Jesus was indignant at His own disciples.
Then He had a little child stand among them. Taking the child in His arms, He said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in My name welcomes Me, and whoever welcomes Me welcomes not only Me, but the One who sent Me.”Now people were bringing the little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them, and the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and told them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.'he was indignant' — at His own disciples.
(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc. Sed v. Chrys. Hom. in Matt. 58) By the very sight, persuading them to humility and simplicity; for this little one was pure from envy and vain glory, and from a desire of superiority. But He does not only say, If ye become such, ye shall receive a great reward, but also, if ye will honour others, who are such for my sake. Wherefore there follows: And when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me.
John Chrysostom· Catena Aurea by Aquinas (407), on Mark 9:36-37
And he took them up in his arms,.... "Upon his arms", the Syriac version says; "he put them into his bosom", according to the Ethiopic; and the Persic renders it, "he took them into his bosom": all which expresses great tenderness towards them, and affection for them: put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
John Gill· Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748), on Mark 10:16
And he took them up in his arms - One of the Itala reads in sinu suo - in his bosom. Jesus Christ loves little children; and they are objects of his most peculiar care. Who can account for their continual preservation and support, while exposed to so many dangers, but on the ground of a peculiar and extraordinary providence? And blessed them - Then, though little children, they were capable of receiving Christs blessing. If Christ embraced them, why should not his Church embrace them?
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1832), on Mark 10:16
Of Such Is the Kingdom
— Mark 10:15 — the child as the door's own shapeJesus does not say the kingdom belongs to these children — He says it belongs to such as these, and then turns the picture into a condition that binds every adult in the room: whoever does not receive the kingdom the way a child receives anything — empty-handed, trusting, without a résumé — will not enter it at all.
Truly I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And He took the children in His arms, placed His hands on them, and blessed them.The dis couragement which the disciples gave to the bringing of children to Christ; They rebuked them that brought them; as if they had been sure that they knew their Master's mind in this matter, whereas he had lately cautioned them not to despise the little ones.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710), on Mark 10:13
Wherefore He says not, for of these, but of such is the kingdom of God, that is, of persons who have both in their intention and their work the harmlessness and simplicity which children have by nature.
Theophylact of Ohrid· Catena Aurea by Aquinas (1107), on Mark 10:14
(ubi sup.) That is, if ye have not innocence and purity of mind like that of children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. Or else, we are ordered to receive the kingdom of God, that is, the doctrine of the Gospel, as a little child, because as a child, when he is taught, does not contradict his teachers, nor put together reasonings and words against them, but receives with faith what they teach, and obeys them with awe, so we also are to receive the word of the Lord with simple obedience, and without any gainsaying.
Bede· Catena Aurea by Aquinas (735), on Mark 10:15
Receiving Is Receiving Him
— Matthew 18:5 — His presence attached to the smallestThen comes the astonishing exchange rate: whoever receives one such child in His name receives Him. The church’s readers noticed early that “child” here reaches past age — it is Jesus’s word for the small, the low-born, the easily overlooked, everyone the room’s status game ranks last. His own presence stands behind each of them.
And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes Me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.(Verse 5.) And whoever receives such a little child in my name, receives me. And whoever is such, that he imitates the humility and innocence of Christ, in him Christ is received. And wisely, lest when it is reported to the apostles, they should think themselves honored, he added that they should be received not through their own merit, but through the honor of the master.
Jerome· Commentary on Matthew (420), on Matt 18:5
Note, The tender regard Christ has to his church extends itself to every particular member, even the meanest; not only to the whole family, but to every child of the family; the less they are in themselves, to whom we show kindness, the more there is of good will in it to Christ; the less it is for their sakes, the more it is for his; and he takes it accordingly.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710), on Matt 18:5
The Gradation
— the honor stacked on the little ones — and the one step downTHE HONOR — a rising staircase
THE ANGELS — their servants
“in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father”Matt 18:10standing access to the throne, on their business
THE SON — their Saviour
“whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me”Matt 18:5to receive one of them is to receive Him
THE FATHER — their Friend
“it is not the will of your Father … that one of these little ones should perish”Matt 18:14the Father's stated will, by name, about each one
THE WARNING — one step down
the μύλος ὀνικός — the “donkey millstone,” the great upper stone an animal turned, not the hand-quern of a kitchen. Jesus names a real execution method and calls it the lighter outcome.
(Verse 6.) But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Note that whoever is scandalized is little: for the greater ones do not receive scandals. Let him be hanged with a millstone around his neck, and let him be thrown into the depths of the sea.
Jerome· Commentary on Matthew (420), on Matt 18:6
The sin is so heinous, and the ruin proportionably so great, that he had better undergo the sorest punishments inflicted on the worst of malefactors, which can only kill the body. Hell is worse than the depth of the sea; for it is a bottomless pit, and it is a burning lake.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710), on Matt 18:6
Their Angels
— Matthew 18:10 — the question the verse has always raised“Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones” — and the reason Jesus gives runs through heaven: theirangels continually see the face of His Father. Does that mean each believer has a guardian angel? The church has read the verse both ways from the beginning, and the honest answer is that the verse guarantees the little ones’ standing without settling the mechanism.
See that you do not look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven.One of these little ones - One of my simple, loving, humble disciples. Their angels - always behold - Our Lord here not only alludes to, but, in my opinion, establishes the notion received by almost all nations, viz. That every person has a guardian angel; and that these have always access to God, to receive orders relative to the management of their charge.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1832), on Matt 18:10
He does not mean, I suppose, to state that every good man has his guardian angel, as many of the Jews believed; but that the angels were, in general, the guards of his followers, and aided them and watched over them.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869), on Matt 18:10
Probably our Lord means that, in virtue of their charge over His disciples (Heb 1:13; Joh 1:51), the angels have errands to the throne, a welcome there, and a dear familiarity in dealing with "His Father which is in heaven," which on their own matters they could not assume.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871), on Matt 18:10
The Angels offer daily to God the prayers of those that are to be saved by Christ; it is therefore perilous to despise him whose desires and requests are conveyed to the eternal and invisible God, by the service and ministry of Angels.
Hilary of Poitiers· Catena Aurea by Aquinas (367), on Matt 18:10
The readings, and who holds eacha question older than the commentaries
A guardian angel for each person:Adam Clarke above states it outright, and Origen’s notes on this verse report that some in the early church assigned the angel from baptism, others from birth. Acts 12:15 — the praying church’s “it is his angel” about Peter — shows the belief was ordinary in the apostolic circle itself.
Angels as a general guard over the disciples:Albert Barnes above declines the individual assignment while affirming the ministry (Heb 1:14, “ministering spirits”). Jamieson, Fausset & Brown stress what the verse actually says: whatever the arrangement, these angels have errands to the throne and a welcome there.
Either way the argument of the verse holds: despising a “little one” means despising someone whose representatives stand in the immediate presence of God.
The Father's Will
— Matthew 18:12-14 — the lost sheep, told for the little onesMost readers meet the lost sheep in Luke 15, told to answer grumbling Pharisees. Matthew records Jesus telling it here, inside the teaching about children — and in this telling the moral lands on the Father: it is not His will that one of these little ones perish. The ninety-nine on the mountains are safe arithmetic; the one is the story.
What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices more over that one sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.To the state of fallen man in general; he is strayed like a lost sheep, the angels that stood were as the ninety-nine that never went astray; wandering man is sought upon the mountains, which Christ, in great fatigue, traversed in pursuit of him, and he is found; which is a matter of joy. Greater joy there is in heaven for returning sinners than for remaining angels.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710), on Matt 18:12-13
Observe the gradation of the argument; the angels of God are their servants, the Son of God is their Saviour, and, to complete their honour, God himself is their Friend.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710), on Matt 18:12-14
It is not the will of your Father - If any soul be finally lost, it is not because Gods will or counsel was against its salvation, or that a proper provision had not been made for it; but that, though light came into the world, it preferred darkness to light, because of its attachment to its evil deeds.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1832), on Matt 18:14
Where It Points
— the small, and the God who stoopsThe teaching about children is finally a teaching about the shape of grace: a kingdom that can only be received the way a child receives, from a Saviour who attached His own presence to the least person in the room. The lost-sheep thread runs on into Luke 15, where it becomes a lost coin and then a lost son.
Closing
A child in His arms, twice; His own presence pledged to whoever receives one; a millstone for whoever trips one; angels at the throne for each; and the Father’s will, stated in the negative so it cannot be softened: not one of these little ones should perish.