Putting Newtown behind and Jesus ahead, we ask 'Why the children?'

Children are important to Jesus. That is why satan seeks to kill them.

Did you know that on the same day as the horrific Newtown killings, a deranged man stabbed 22 young children at a Chinese elementary school? And that it was the third such type of stabbing attack at a school within the last two years?

Why the children? Here is why--

"and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?" (Matthew 21:16).

Jesus said this in response to the following in the verse prior, and note carefully!

"But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant"

The children were shouting hosannas!

The Pharisees were indignant over the children's joy in recognizing Him!

In Gill's Exposition it says, "This owing to God's disposing them hereunto, putting it into their mouths, and strengthening them to declare it in a very strong and powerful manner; so that his strength was made perfect in their weakness, and his praise the more glorious."

Do not overlook the children in their clear praise and strength of faith in one Jesus the Christ. Children are Christ's answer to pure faith, and a rebuke to all who would squash a religious child's enthusiasm for proclaiming Him. Woe to those who squash it! Woe!

"Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Luke 18:17)

"But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 19:14).

Jesus sets a great store on children, and uses them for praise to Himself and as a warning to adults to follow their faith example.

Why were the children killed? Why? We cry. I believe it is because children are the last segment of the population to be attacked by satan.

Satan has the mothers via the corruption and eternal discontent of feminism. He has the fathers through pornography and adultery and abandonment. He has the youths through drugs and the narcoleptic spellbinder of technology. He has the institutions of government, entertainment, and even religion. What's left for him to freshly attack?

Children.

For example, abortion. Child molestation is another way satan has attacked the children. The hidden shame of child trafficking in America (and in the rest of the world) is a scourge on us all. But those and other methods of attacking children are indirect. So Satan had a thought- why not kill them directly?

There is nothing to make a nation, even a world, weep and mourn as much as a child massacre. Just the thought of vulnerable little bodies strewn bloody on the floor is enough to make the world stop and take a collective gasp.

Jesus indicated this when He spoke of the abomination of desolation during the tribulation- "And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!"

As Gill explained, "whose tender affection to their infants will not suffer them to leave them behind them; and yet such their weakness, that they will not be able to carry them with them; at least, they must be great hindrances to their speedy flight."

What defeats a family more, or crumbles their faith more, than losing a child to senseless violence? Not only would satan delight in the fact that a precious one's childlike faith has been snuffed out, and that they can no longer praise Jesus in purity and trust, but he will also delight in the family's grief and difficulty traversing the mountain of sorrow back to firm faith in Jesus again- if they ever do. Those of no faith will be unlikely to ever turn to Jesus. That likelihood diminishes with each bullet sent from a gun to slay a babe.
Satan is not overlooking the children in his attacks. But neither is Jesus. He ordained praise from babes. He taught us all to have childlike faith and trust in Him. He said that the little children should not be hindered from coming to Him. They were among the first before religious adults to recognize who He was on earth and they sang with joy.

I personally believe that the children who were killed in CT were young enough to see the angels God sent to minister to them as they hid in closets. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you, that their angels in heaven continually behold the face of My Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 18:10). It's something to imagine anyway.

Right now we trust in Him to create something good out of man's horror. If you are finding it hard to move on to the solid rock of trust in a Good and Holy Savior, then ask the Spirit to increase your faith. (Luke 17:5). He surely does equip us to handle what comes in this world, a world I remind us all, is not our home.

As heavy as this affliction is, it is but a light affliction. (2 Corinthians 4:17). The children sang hosannas at the temple, and so should we. Though we cannot see the mercies and the glory that will emerge from this atrocity, we should have a childlike faith that something merciful and good will. If you don't have that kind of faith, then at least do it for the children.

Comments

  1. While I believe in mental impairment (damage causes either by phyiscal injury or some form of non physical abuse, over a long period of time, that can lead to inadequate, and improper speech and behavior, I also believe in demonic possession, and believe that in all cases of such evil as this, that satan is the master mind behind it. I believe mental impairment, as this Adam Lanza obviously had, (perhaps there is even a generational curse involved, original sin of course being the foundation) is what led to the doorway that allowed entry by satan or demons, to possess him and carry out this evil act.

    That being the case, I think it's a great time for such discussion again, especially because of the lateness of the hour, and in which we who know and believe God's holy word, that there is likely to be even more cases of demonic possession, thus even more violence, and on a greater scale. The devil knows the time of his reign is soon to be over, and as such, I believe his destruction, and the means of which he carries it out, is ever increasing.

    J.L.

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    1. Hi J.L.,

      Yes, I agree. You speak wisely. Here is John MacArthur in a 5-minute audio clip of his response tot he massacre. He said similar to you, and his first words were to assign the evil to satan.

      The bible indicates that indeed there will be worse. I fear that- fear on behalf of others who are not in Christ and have no hope and have o Spirit to help comfort them through it. But what I fear worse is that when it happens again, and again, that people will NOT be grieved, that they will become casual and inured to the horror. That is a worse state.

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  2. You are what you eat. When you do not provide the right nutrition for proper brain function, or thinking plus the beleif that there is no God which has been taught for 50 years in school You get what we got at Sandy Hook. America has and is providing Arms, F-16, tanks to Israels enimies, Eygpt. Who have been open in their want of the distruction of Israel . There is no telling how many of Israel's children have been killed by weapons provide by America. What you do to Israel God said he would do unto you. Whosoever Blesses Israel will be Blessed Whosover curses Israel will be cursed.

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