GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 10:37
Sitting Near Jesus
At one church where I served, I often gathered the children in front of the congregation during the Sunday morning service, sit on the floor with them, and share what I called “the Children’s Sermon.” These were short stories with a moral about things kids know well—learning to ride a bike, watching spiders build webs, or seeing baby birds learn to fly. My goal was not merely to teach a simple lesson, but to show the children that the pastor wasn’t someone who always stood up front and spoke on high. I wanted them to know I was someone they could reach out to—someone who would sit with them and tell a story. One five-year-old girl, especially, understood this. Every time I sat down to tell a story, she came and sit in my lap.
Three of the Gospel writers mention that children gathered around Jesus, and on six occasions Jesus used children to teach important lessons. Jesus drew children to him—perhaps because his stories were simple, or because he always made time for them.
Mark tells about a time when two of Jesus’ disciples came—Matthew says with their mother—to him with a childish request: “Will you do for us whatever we ask?” Jesus asked what they wanted. “And they said to him, ‘Give to us that one at your right and one at your left may sit in your glory.’” (Mark 10:37) Many people, including the other disciples, have seen James and John’s request as a grab for power. But perhaps they also wanted to be close to Jesus because of who he was, not merely for power. Jesus didn’t scold them for asking; he simply reminded them of the cost of being near him.
This suggestion is not an attempt to rewrite history, but to point out that there is something admirable about desiring to be close to Jesus—even to sit at his right and left, even at the cost of being misunderstood.
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