Did Jesus Teach Children?

    As a follower of Christ, the goal is to become more Christ-like (through the power of the Holy Spirit of course). One way to do this is to be acquainted with how Jesus lived and acted. When looking at His life, I noticed that Jesus taught adults. This got me thinking. Why do I want to teach children? Why did D.L. Moody say if he could do his ministry all over he would teach children? Why did Spurgeon have a huge emphasis on children and yet to me it seemed like Jesus did not teach children?

    Now, it is clear Jesus didn't ignore children. We are familiar with the passages where Jesus says “let the little children come to me,” or “if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” When else did Jesus teach the children though? I couldn't think of any. When I Google searched 'did Jesus teach children,' I was discouraged by the lack of corresponding hits beyond the aforementioned passages. After a bit of thought, I realized I was committing a hermeneutical fallacy. I was superimposing my current view of the world onto the Ancient Near Eastern culture.

    When I reenacted the Civil War with the band I was in, I remember learning that music was not nearly as diverse as it is today. Children and adults listened to and enjoyed primarily the same music. Even past music, society was more tight knit and children were often with parents in activities. They were seen and not heard. During the turn of the 20^th Century and into the modern (and arguably post-modern) age the role of children has changed. Children no longer work to support the family, adolescence came into existence, and individuality was explored at an early age. Today we have music and church services for children, teenagers, college and career, adults, seniors, and every subset therein. During the life of Christ, everyone did things together. When Jesus fed the 5.000, it is often noted that this is just the number of men, and that there was likely to be many women and children there as well.

    When I realized that I needed to take culture into play, I instantly recognized the vast number of times Jesus is teaching to children (as well as adults). When he fed the 5.000, he used the lunch of a boy, signifying there was likely children in the crowd. In His saying let the children come to me, there were obviously children around. He took the children from the crowd and blessed them in Mark 10, he healed a woman's daughter in Matthew 15, He cast a demon out of a child in chapter 17, raised a child from the dead in Mark 5, and used a child from the crowd to show His disciples that “whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.” Even during Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, we read in Matthew 21:15 that the children were “crying out in the temple, 'Hosanna to the Son of David.'

    Children were very important and present in Jesus' ministry. He certainly taught the adults, but His ministry to the children should not be overlooked. As Jesus taught the children, I too seek to show the children their present need of a Saviour.