milk & honey mamas

Story contributed by Kristen

Click here for the theological background of Luke 12-17; John 11

Remember, repetition helps children internalize and make connections. It might be a good idea to read the same story every day for a week. You can add different activities every day.

“Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not”

Matthew 19:14

One day, Jesus was talking to the Pharisees. Remember them? They were the ones in charge, the ones who really didn’t want things to change, the ones who wanted to challenge and trick Jesus because Jesus drove them crazy! They were not bad people. They were just scared people. They were afraid to ask their really deep questions, the kind that come to your mind when you’re trying to go to sleep at night. So they asked surface questions instead. They asked Jesus questions trying to trick him, trying to test how well he knew the law. But Jesus saw right through their questions all the way to their fear. 

“The stuff on the outside doesn’t really matter,” he said again and again. “What matters is your heart.”

Well, Jesus and the Pharisees were talking, and suddenly there was a kerfuffle. A big one. People were definitely making noise. The disciples were a little annoyed. “Jesus is having an important discussion here,” they said to themselves, “whoever is making this ruckus needs to cool it.” They went out to see what was going on, and they saw a noisy crowd all right, but not the usual kind. This crowd was full of mothers and children.

One mother saw Disciple John and said, “sir, we know the master Rabbi is in there. We have come with our children to beg for his blessing. We know that his blessing on our children will help them. Please, let him come to us.”

The disciples were annoyed. Jesus had better things to do, they said to each other. They started to tell the mothers and children to leave. But before they could open their mouths, Jesus was there. He had heard everything.

Gently, he came to the front of the crowd and looked at them. There was Gwen with her mama, and Naomi and Hazel, and Graham and Lily, and there was Essie, and baby Eddie, and Clarence, and Cal in his mother’s arms, and Rebecca and Alanna and Eli.

Some of the children leaned their heads on their mother’s chests, and Jesus could see that they were hungry. Some of them were playing in the dirt, drawing pictures with sticks. Some were sick, some were very sad, and all of them recognized Jesus. They looked up at him with hope in their eyes. Jesus knelt down, right there in the ground, and held his arms out. He said their names.

The children ran to him, leaping on his knees and throwing their arms around his neck. He laughed and held them, tousling their curls and listening to their stories. He remembered the things they were working on, and the things they were sad about. He played with them, and laughed with them, and loved them.

After a long time, he looked up. “Let the little children come, whenever they want to come,” he said to his disciples. “They are more important than anything else I could be doing.” 

*******

Later that day, people were still asking Jesus lots of questions. They were wondering what it means to be good. And if being good means you are loved.

And Jesus said, no, you do not need to be good to be loved. You are already loved, and you are already good. And the people were wondering if they could earn good things. And Jesus said no, good things aren’t like groceries you can buy at the market. Good is inside you. And the people were wondering if only a few lucky ones would get to come to God’s great feast. And Jesus said, no, God’s great feast is for everyone, all the time, everywhere. No one is left out. Then he told a story.

There was once a beautiful vineyard. The owner of the vineyard loved his grapes very much, and he always took good care of them. He hired many people to come and help him care for his grapes, and he always treated the workers with kindness and respect. They worked hard, and the vineyard was healthy and beautiful.

But this was a time of great need in the land. Many people were hungry, and they didn’t have enough money to buy food for their families. No one would hire them and give them money for their work, even though they were hard workers. Every morning, they would get up early and go from place to place, hoping and hoping and hoping that someone would say, “you look like a good worker, you can work here today and I will give you money for food.” And every morning, they were disappointed. No one chose them to work, and they went home without any money.

One day, after trying many places, they came to the beautiful vineyard. It was late in the day. They were hot, and tired, and dusty. Lucky others had already been chosen and were working in the fields. The owner of the vineyard saw the people and came out to greet them. “What do you seek?” he asked. “We seek to work so that we can buy food for our families,” they replied. The owner of the vineyard said, “you can work here. Please, take good care of my vineyard.” They were overjoyed! Quickly, they got to work. At the end of the day, all of the workers lined up to receive their pay from the owner of the vineyard. To their surprise, every worker got the same amount of money.

“Wait a minute,” said one worker who had started at the beginning of the day, “this isn’t fair! The ones who came late didn’t work as much as us. Why are they getting the same amount of money?”

The owner of the vineyard looked at them thoughtfully. “Why are you sorry that I am kind?” he asked, gently. 

Ideas for play

Contributed by Kristen

Suffer the little children

• Act it out! 

Read “The Friend of Little Children” in The Jesus Storybook Bible

• Do you think you are important to Jesus? Why?

• What would you ask/do with Jesus if you had been there that day?

• What kind of blessing do you think Jesus gave to the children? What does a blessing mean?

• Watch this video. How do you think Jesus feels about the children? How does the video make you feel? 
  

• Watch this video of Tell Me the Stories of Jesus. What stories would you want Jesus to tell you?

• Spend some time looking at images of Jesus with children. Do any speak to you? Why? 

• Find pictures of children in a magazine and make a collage with a picture of Jesus at the center. Write this week’s focus scripture.

Laborers in the vineyard

• Act it out!

• What does it mean to be fair? Is being kind different from being fair? Was the owner of the vineyard fair? Was he kind?

• What are some of the most important elements to you about the story? Mercy? Kindness? Things not always being fair? Focus on one of these things (or something else) with books, discussion, and play.

• Draw a picture (or series of pictures) of the story. Again, we recommend not using coloring pages but rather relying on the imagination!

Poetry

Compiled by Caroline

This familiar Primary song encourages the imagination, which I think is vital for encouraging a robust faith. Wondering what the flowers will look like when He comes, what the signs and symbols will be, what you will feel like – these imaginings give sight to what is unseen and wonder to what can feel routine. As you read the lyrics with your little one, you can invite them to wonder what Jesus will feel like to them – what will He smell like, what will His voice be like, what will He think is funny? Go with where your child leads and enter their faithful wonder. 

When He Comes Again 

by Mirla Greenwood Thayne

I wonder, when he comes again,
Will herald angels sing?
Will earth be white with drifted snow,
Or will the world know spring?
I wonder if one star will shine
Far brighter than the rest;
Will daylight stay the whole night through?
Will songbirds leave their nests?
I’m sure he’ll call his little ones
Together ’round his knee,
Because he said in days gone by,
“Suffer them to come to me.”

I wonder, when he comes again,
Will I be ready there
To look upon his loving face
And join with him in prayer?
Each day I’ll try to do his will
And let my light so shine
That others seeing me may seek
For greater light divine.
Then, when that blessed day is here,
He’ll love me and he’ll say,
“You’ve served me well, my little child;
Come unto my arms to stay.”

Art

What title would you give this picture? What was your first reaction to this painting? What emotions do you feel when looking at this painting? What do you want to remember about this artwork? Who do you think this child is? What does this painting teach you about Jesus? What do you like/not like about this artwork?

Where is Jesus? What do you think is happening in this scene? What does this artwork teach us about this story? What do you think the weather is like? What do you think the children are like in this painting? If the children were saying something, what would they say? What do you think they would like Jesus to do? What do you think Jesus is feeling? What do you like/not like about this artwork?

Why do you think the babies are upset? Why do you think Jesus is holding the babies? Do you think Jesus can love you when you’re upset? What does this painting teach you about Jesus? What do you like/not like about this artwork? 

Music

Compiled by Caroline

Jesus, Friend of Little Children/Jesus Loves Me