An Easy Thing to Say

One day I picked up my youngest son Micah from preschool and
headed back to the house. As we were
driving down the road Micah said to me, “Dad I love you!” I responded back, “Micah, I love you too!” He then promptly said, “Love is an easy word
to say!” That statement caused a big
smile to form on my face. In the
innocence of it all I knew that Micah was so right. However, it also saddened me to think about
all of those who would disagree with Micah because of the hurt and
disappointment that is present in the lives and relationships of “grown-ups.” As I thought about the interaction that I had
with Micah I was reminded of the interaction that Jesus had with his disciples
and some children in Matthew. We read in
Matthew 19
13 Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands
on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
In verse thirteen we see the disciples rebuke and in verse
fourteen they get rebuked for rebuking.
I just find that rather comical. I
always have pulled for the underdog. These
disciples who have been called to follow Jesus the Rabbi get rebuked for not
modeling the greatest characteristic of their Rabbi….the characteristic of
love.
Very few in the Jewish culture had the opportunity to follow
a rabbi. Jesus’ disciples at one time
didn’t make the grade. When Jesus came
to the Sea of Galilee these disciples had already been sent home to learn the family
trade. When Jesus comes to them and
offers them the opportunity to follow him they are overjoyed with the
opportunity for a second chance. These
former fisherman would leave their village, their father and their nets and
devote themselves to learning how to do what their rabbi did. On this particular occasion they failed to
model the acceptance and love that was priority one to their rabbi and as a
result they were rebuked for their rebuke.
No wonder Jesus said, “that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as
these.” There is much about my youngest
boy that I have grown to appreciate but one of my favorite characteristics is
his constant willingness to combat silence with the words, “I love you.” I am convinced that God gives his kingdom
away to voices who have come to discover that “love is an easy word to
say!”