Lenten Reader | Day 23

March 16th, 2026

Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.

Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

“What did Moses command you?” he replied.

They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

“It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will 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.

Mark 10:1-16

Do Not Hinder

In our passage today we have parents bringing their children to Jesus to be blessed. The disciples tried to intervene and send them away. They must have felt that Jesus’ time was too valuable to be wasted on the children. However, Jesus became angry with them. Obviously, they had not been listening to his teachings from earlier, and their actions did not reflect the heart of Jesus.

His command is to “Let the little children come.” Do we as a church strive to do that? It is important to welcome, teach, nurture, pray, and build relationships with our children, teens, and young adults. We can learn a lot from them as they learn from us. The rest of that passage says, “anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” The words “like a child” are important. We must be willing and humble to listen to them about their experience of God and faith. We must see the qualities in them that God sees.

First is helplessness. As a baby depends completely on someone to supply their every need; we as adults need that same dependance on God. The same is true of a young child who does not have the strength to always do what is right. Without God’s guidance we also do not have that strength. We cannot live out the Christian faith in our own strength. Become like a child and depend on God for your strength.

The second quality is dependence. We know that the Lord is our provider, and we are dependent on his provision. Just as a child cannot be independent and must depend on someone to provide for them, we as adults must also acknowledge that we cannot be independent. We must depend on God.

I pray that as a church and like a child we all become more helpless and more dependent on God. With that we will see all the blessings Jesus will pour out upon us.

Molly Lloyd