“LIVING IN A CHILD-FRIENDLY WORLD”

“LIVING IN A CHILD-FRIENDLY WORLD”

A Biblical-Theological Reflection (Luke 18:15-17)

Lukan Missional Perspective of Jesus

Luke presented Jesus as a person with deep compassion with the people, especially the poor, oppressed, marginalized, exploited, and deprived. A certain Jesus who have embraced everyone in the Palestinian Jewish society where known to many conquerors and existed as a radical social prophet. Thus, it affirms in Luke 4:18-19, the proclamation of Jesus about the essence of his existence being poured out by the Holy Spirit to live out the mission of God. While on the synagogue, Jesus unrolled the scroll of Prophet Isaiah and found the place where it is written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed and announce that the time have come when the Lord save his people.”

Good news to the poor here is a good news for those whose voice and hurt feelings from the margin have been overlooked, like the children of the time of Jesus. Liberty to the captives here is about the experience of the indigenous people of God enslaved to the foreign dominated culture and perspective, that disoriented them from their own culture as a people of God. Recovery of sight to the blind, is not only refers to those physically blind but for those who were blind to the importance of every member of the society as the Hebrew people regarded to everyone. Especially their treatment to the little children. It is about being redeemed to the original concept of life and neighbor to one another, especially the children. Announcing that the time have come when the Lord save his people, is about the Day of the Lord, which pictures the set of alternatives in the Greco-Roman world which is the very core of the good news. First, it means re-introducing the authentic meaning of the law by pointing God’s salvific will which is at the origin of the Law of the Sabbath (Dt. 5:12-15; Gen. 2:2-3; Ex. 20:8-11). Jesus brings the law back to its divine purpose to manifest the presence of God who is concern with the welfare of the people. For Jesus, human beings need laws and structures which are needed not because they are important but because human persons are important. Second, redeeming the original existence of the temple as the house of prayer and a sign of God’s salvific presence in Israel. Under the Greco-Roman empire, the temple of Jerusalem through the supervision of the pro-Roman priest and aristocracy have transformed into a business center which serves the interest of the few ruling elite. The Hellenized Jewish temple turned into a robber’s den (Mk 11:15-16, 18a, 28-33). And third, the Day of the Lord means responding the concrete needs of the people and restoring the people in their own value. It is a day where the process of liberation of the people took place by liberating the consciousness of people. And the announcing that the time have come when Lord save his people is the very essence of the Church as a rallying point of the people in their aspirations for genuine freedom and unity, and a child friendly world.

In this statement of mission, Jesus traveled to live out the mission of God passionately, gave direction to his disciples and unveiled more central principles of the kingdom of God, and among this is the centrality of children as portrayed in Luke 18:15-17, describing that, some people brought their babies (children) to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. The disciples saw them and scolded them for doing so, but Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Remember this! Whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”

Succession and Continuity

Bringing the children to Jesus is a people’s recognition to him as a teacher and a prophet. Bringing the children to Jesus by their parents is bringing them to the liberating presence of the Lord, so these children will be blessed by the presence of Jesus. I visualize the scene, while the people busy bringing their child to Jesus their conversation to one another, “Let us bring our children to Jesus, hoping that they will inherit the goodness and experience grace in the presence of Jesus”. “Let us bring our children to Jesus, hoping that our children will be like him, became liberated and liberating.” Since they were in the world dominated by those who refused to accept or believe Jesus, and by those threatened by the presence of Jesus – the Greco-Roman world and their collaborator. In the world of misery perpetuated by the ruling elites who imposed heavy religious obligations and civil taxes. In addition to the civil taxes and tariffs paid by the people when they took their products to the market. They were in the world that droughts and poor crops driven many peasants into debt and slavery. Thus, found themselves oppressed, marginalized, exploited, and deprived position due to the exploitative system imposed by the religious, puppet, and Roman authority.

In this sense, bringing the children to Jesus by their parent is a statement of surrendering the future of their children to him. Given their tradition that blessing the children by an elder or their parent for the Hebrew people is a symbol of transferring of power and authority and then the children became a true successor of their parent. This initiative of the parents, pictures out kung gaano kahirap ang kalagayan nila noon na umabot sila sa punto na ang kinabukasan ng kanilang mga anak ay i-aasa sa iba. Dahil sa kanilang kalagayan, wala silang maipamanang yaman na pagyamanin ng kanilang mga anak kundi ang kahirapan at pagiging alipin sa sarili nilang bayan. Ang tanging mayroon lamang sa kanila ay ang pananalig kay Jesus na Cristo at Mesiyas. At least, bago man lang sila mamatay, nasaksihan nila ang kanilang mga anak na nabiyayaan sa presensya at pangangaral ni Jesus, in behalf sa kanila bilang mga magulang. What Jesus did to the children is like the story of Isaac blesses his two sons Jacob and Esau before his death (Genesis 27). Jacob in turn, blesses each of his twelve children before he dies (Genesis 49). The blessing of Jesus to the children being brought to him conveys the succession and continuity of his liberating, engaging and relevant missions for the transformation of the world, a child-friendly world.

Receptivity and humility

The people’s initiative of bringing their children to Jesus is a people’s statement of discontent against the Greco-Roman world, who viewed their children, along with women, elderly as weak and burdens of the society and had a little value to the life of the community. Ang pananaw na ito ay unti-unting niyayakap ng mga tao, the indigenous people at that time, and by the disciples of Jesus consciously or unconsciously. And we can observe this through the reactions of the disciples while some people brought their children to Jesus. The disciples scolded them for doing so, but Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the children come to me and do not stop them. It is tantamount of saying, let the open and humble person come, for they are willing to learn and grow.

Let us receive the open and humble person, and let them involve in the movement towards a child friendly world. A world that children are welcome and will not left behind, having the ear and heart that listen to the children that brought them to the healing process and reconciliation with their family. A world that blesses them by nurturing them and get them involved in the mission of the Church, and assisting them towards the complete fulfillment as an individual person of worth.  Let the children come to me, is a statement of Jesus urging us to strongly affirm that all children have the right to quality education, appropriate to their stage of development that utilizes the best education techniques and insights. Thus, they became equal partners in the journey towards the fullness of life, in a new heaven and new earth.

Let the children come to me, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these, describes the attitudes of being open and receptive, like a child, and thus, such attitudes are potential elements of building the kingdom of God here on earth. This makes sense the statement of Jesus in Luke 17:21, when he said, ‘The kingdom of God is within you’, stressing the values of the Kingdom of God different from, and opposed to, the values of this world wherein evil reigned supreme.  To such as these attitudes, that “The kingdom of God is within you” is real, and leads such personality to realize or develop a consciousness that God’s political power (Kingship which connotes political power) is within them. It is within the heart of the considered poor, oppressed, marginalized, exploited, deprived but struggling (pomeds) people.

Following the perspective of Jose de Mesa, the word “within” in this text, is equivalent to the Filipino term, “loob”, which refers to the core of one’s personhood and the most authentic inner self. It is regarded as the wellspring of feeling, thought, and behavior that is potential element for the transformation of the world, towards a child-friendly world. Jesus is trying to point out to his disciples and the people around that what matters to God is our attitudes towards our neighbor working together and learn from one another. This reminds us to the comforting words of Jesus in Luke 6: 20, “Happy are you poor, oppressed, marginalized, exploited, deprived but struggling (pomeds); the Kingdom of God is yours!” The Kingdom of God or the Reign of God that defines as a state where the power of the people lives out in spontaneous loving service render to one another while on the journey towards a child friendly word.

The Vacation Church School 2017 theme, “Living in a Child-Friendly World”, is an affirmation of our journey towards that vision as created in the image of God, and created with the capacity to established a harmonious relationship with one another regardless of our gender identity and sexual orientation, generation and races. Living in a Child-Friendly World, is living with active participation in the field of God as stressed by Apostle Paul in his letters to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 3:1-9), a place where everyone have chance to grow and bear fruits that benefited by all, and that make the whole world an inhabited world, a child-friendly world.

Urie Bronfenbrenner, a Russian-born American psychologist who proposed the Ecological Theory of Child Development, pointed out that the development of a child is greatly influenced by his/her surrounding or by the outside forces. The historical conditions or the patterns of events, and the values of the community has a significant influence to the development our children. It has also a significant influence to attain and sustain a child-friendly world.

Living in a child-friendly world is our being, our potentials, our commitment, and our faith. A child-friendly world is a world where children may grow to enjoy the beauty of life with name and nationality, having a family and inclusive community with the access of health services, living with adequate nutrition and special care, being educated leading to the development of individual’s abilities and learn to be a productive member of a community, where they can also play and pray, and a world where they can freely express their humanity and sexuality. Amen. (Rev. Jeric C. Cortado, Associate Professor, Southern Philippines Methodist Colleges, Inc., Mt. Apo Village, Poblacion, Kidapawan City, Philippines, February 14, 2017)

References:

1.       Barnett, Paul (1999) Jesus and the Rise of Early Christianity. USA: Inter Varsity Press.

2.       Bourg, Marcus J. (1995) Meeting Jesus Again For The First Time. USA: HarperCollins.

3.       De Mesa, Jose M. & Wostyn, Lode L. (2005) Doing Christology: The Re-Appreciation of a Tradition. Philippines: Claretian Publication.

4.       Harrington, Daniel J. s.j. (2009) JESUS: A Historical Portrait. Philippines: St. Paul Publication.

5.       http://www.floridahealth.gov/AlternateSites/CMS Kids/providers/early_steps/training/documents/bronfenbrenners_ecological.pdf (Accessed February 13, 2017)

6.       https://explorable.com/ecological-systems-theory (Accessed February 13, 2017)