Week 4, Part 2: The New Testament and Children
Day 4: The Value of a Child
Children are often overlooked in this big ol’ world, but the New Testament in no way neglects them. In fact, it all started with a child, and then The Child who had come to redeem us from our sins. What a beautiful way to begin our look at the New Testament and children in our study of the fatherless.
God could have completely ignored the childhood of John the Baptist. He could have brought him out and presented him to the world in some dramatic, breathtaking, stage-stealing manner. But He didn’t. He chose to introduce Him to the World as a baby. Not that an angel in the temple isn’t breathtaking or stage-stealing, but let’s face it, if we were writing the story we would have him come flying onto the scene on a gallant horse (or maybe his Charger would be a Dodge) to prepare the way for the coming of the King of kings. But God didn’t do that.
The Jews expected their Messiah to come in a manner similar to the one we would have plotted. He would have majestically delivered them from their bondage, would have set things right politically and nationally, and reestablished the kingdom. But Christ did not come that way.
Both John the Baptist and Christ came as babies. Small. Needy. Dependent on their mothers to feed and clothe them. Both needing their diapers changed and their noses wiped and their faces washed. Yes, both were heralded by angels, miracles and even a star, but both came into this world the same way each of us came into it.
Christ, God’s only begotten Son, put on flesh in its most fragile, vulnerable form…For you…For me…
Never underestimate the value of a child.
Review their stories: Matthew 1-2; Luke 1-2; Acts 4:27, 30 (reference Christ as a child)
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Also Check out Rachel Miller’s Book: The King’s Daughter: A Story of Redemption
