4. Was it their Receptivenessl — This seems to be implied in the further statement, " Verily I say unto you. Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein." It is the habit of a child to receive, and he has no difficulty in receiving. He began his course instinctively ; before he had developed powers of reflection and choice, he began taking in supplies. He neoded to be taught
» Whittier. * H. Joneu.
252 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
many things, but the art of receiving was born with him. It is different with some other simple exercises ; for example, giving. To give is not at all so native to him as to take, and a mother will often exhibit what she regards as a little triumph of educa- tion when her child can be induced to part with something he has got on being asked for it,
5. Was it their Humility ? — Children are naturally humble. It is only when they have been spoiled by foolish flattery and over-indulgence that they become proud. Naturally, they shun observation, and blush at compliments.
Lord, forever at Thy side
Let my place and portion be;
Strip me of the robe of pride, Clothe me with humility.
Humble as a little child,
Weaned from the mother's breast.
By no subtleties beguiled, On Thy faithful word I rest.
6. Was it their Innocence ? — There is so much of evil that a child does not know, much indeed that it cannot know. As it grows older, a great deal of what it can and does know, by seeing it, may still remain unknown to its own personal ex- perience. About this unconsciousness of evil there is something sacred. It seems more unearthly than anything else that we know. Even when ignorance is gone, yet innocent knowledge and guilty knowledge are so far apart that still there is a kind of heavenly presence round all those who have not yet sinned, in so far as they have not yet sinned. Of such is the Kingdom of heaven. This kind of purity, the purity which has been kept clean, not that which has been made clean, always seems to have a peculiar unearthly lustre. Eepentance puts a man back sometimes, not merely where he was, but even higher. A man who has stained himself is sometimes so purified that his character seems more stainless than ever. And yet, though he may gain a greater degree of purity than ever, it is not the same kind of purity. There is nothing which quite matches perfect innocence. And the innocence of children is
ST. MARK 253
more perfect than any other on earth. As we grow older we have to replace it by hearty and deep repentance, by coming to Christ for cleansing, by fleeing from temptation with the utmost earnestness, by prayer to Christ for strength. And we shall have what we ask. But nothing else can quite replace the simple attachment which binds the innocent heart to the loving Saviour, and the grown Christian clings with earnest longing to whatever fragment of childlike innocence still remains to him. And as he grows older there is no temptation which cuts him with deeper pain than one which solicits him to do a wrong thing which he never recollects having done before.
^ I have read of an artist who painted a portrait of a child, beautiful and promising, and he was so pleased with it that he called it Innocence. Many years afterwards he was advised to paint a companion portrait, and to call it Guilt. To find a proper representative for this, he visited a prison in which there lay a man who was sentenced to death for a very brutal murder, and who had had a very bad record before that murder was committed. He received permission to go to the prison, and to paint the portrait of the criminal. What was his surprise to find that his representative of Guilt was the very person who, five and twenty years before, had sat to him as the representative of Innocence.^
^ Once, when his infant son was brought to Luther, and he kissed it and folded it to his heart, he said, " My God, how dearly Adam must have loved Cain, the first-born human creature ! And afterwards he became a fratricide. 0 Adam, woe, woe to thee ! " ^
7. Was it their Obedience ? — A characteristic of the child is the instinct of obedience. It is natural and easy to a child to obey. And every wise father and every wise mother keeps the instinct always in exercise. To this natural readiness to obey does the mother appeal when her child is tempted by this trifle or by that. Often a message is sent, or a service is required, just when the little will was on the point of going wrong. To this same instinct the mother often has recourse when childish troubles fret the temper. Something to be done, something to be fetched, some message to a servant employs the thoughts, and the sorrow is forgotten. The child of course has other instincts, and very early the instinct of obedience comes in
* W. H. Gray. ' Watchwords from Luther, 239.