Sick Children

Joseph Winston

October 8, 2006

Sermon

Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1
The topic of Jesus welcoming the children has been a favorite topic of artists
for many years. On Saturday afternoon, I searched on Google using the keywords
“Jesus and children” and came up with over seventeen thousand different images.
Some of this artwork that depicts people bringing their children to Jesus is
quite old. Over one hundred years ago, Gustave Doré created a famous woodcut
of Jesus blessing the children. In this illustration, a calm serene Jesus is sitting
down. At His immediate right and by His feet, there are three children. His right
hand is on the back of one of the rotund children. Further away and to the right,
one can see seven other children. Four of these children are anxiously waiting their
time with the Christ. Two of these children, who appear to be boys, are playing
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3

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on the ground. They are so busy with their game that they do not see Jesus. The
shyness of the remaing child is keeping her away from Jesus. In front of Jesus
and to His left are many well dressed women with their children. Jesus is reaching
out with His left hand and trying to touch one boy’s head. Some of the mothers
are passing their babies to Jesus while other children are holding their mother’s
hands and are toddling toward Him. Behind Jesus are three bearded men. By their
appearances, one could safely say that they are not at all happy with Jesus. Every
one of these children in Doré’s woodcut appears to be healthy and every mother
appears to be in good spirits.
Other pictures on this topic of Jesus and His blessing of the children are more
contemporary. As I young boy, I remember a painting of Jesus that was found in
many Sunday Church School rooms. In my mind’s eye, I see many young children
that surround a bearded Jesus. As I recall the print, most of these girls and boys
were either Scandinavians, Germans or Anglo Saxons while a few of the other
children were Blacks, Chinese, and Native Americans. Just like in the previous
illustration, all of the children were happy and healthy.
This sort of artwork that shows children in the picture of health continues
even to this day and can be found at Lutheran publishing houses. You can pur-
chase books filled full of fit children who cannot wait to be with Jesus. Jesus and
the children can be found on attendance lists. Jesus is happy to see all of the good
children who are coming to Sunday Church School. Through the magic of phon-
ics, Jesus can even help children learn to read.
Unfortunately, none of these artists has captured for us the true essence of the

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story. Not one of the almost five hundred paintings that I looked at on Saturday
has provided us with a correct interpretation of Jesus and His actions. Every one
of them has fundamentally failed us.
There are two basic problems with these sort of illustrations which show us
cheerful children with their untroubled mothers. The health of the children is the
first difficulty. No children are sick. No children are in wheelchairs. No children
are in hospital beds.
Jesus tells us that He came to heal the sick (Mark 2:17). When we listen at the
initial chapter of St. Mark, we will hear the narrator breathlessly recount that yes,
Jesus does indeed come to make the broken whole.
Christ’s first miracle in the Gospel according to St. Mark occurs in the temple
on the Sabbath when Jesus calls a demon out of a man (Mark 1:23-27). Immedi-
ately after this healing, Jesus goes to Peter’s house and cures Peter’s mother-in-
law of a fever (Mark 1:29-31). Because of what had happened earlier that day,
that very same evening, the citizens of Capernaum bring to Jesus all the people
who were either ill or possessed (Mark 1:33). Jesus then spends the night healing
many of these people (Mark 1:34). After an early morning prayer, Jesus leaves
Capernaum and traveled toward Galilee (Mark 1:35). Here, the story of healing
repeats itself once again. Jesus throws out the demons and cured a man of leprosy
(Mark 1:39-42). Next, Jesus pressures the man to tell no one but the priest (Mark
1:43-44). The former leaper disregards Christ’s command and told many people
about his healing. This Good News of the broken being made whole spreads to
the surrounding cities and towns (Mark 1:45). The first chapter of St. Mark ends

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with the narrator telling us that Jesus can go nowhere without a crowd of people
following Him (Mark 1:45).
The first verse of chapter ten, a verse that we did not read today, tells us that
Jesus went into the area of Judea beyond the Jordan and the crowds had once
again gathered around Him. The narrator informs us that Jesus has come to teach
the crowds but one could surmise that at least some of the people had come so that
Jesus could heal either them or someone that they loved.
This brings us to the second problem with the art. The mothers in these illus-
trations all appear to not have a care in the world. They all seem to be content with
their place in life. They are mirror images of thie children: well feed, happy, and
in good shape.
This behavior is completely out of context. Remember, more likely than not,
the children that were brought to Jesus were not well but instead on death’s door.
That is why the people wanted Jesus to touch the children. The parents wanted a
blessing of healing. Therefore, these women do not reflect the inner anguish that
they must be going through.
If you had a sick child, whom you loved, that could not be cured, you would
be desperate. If you had exhausted all of your resources, then you would have no
one left to turn to. If no one could cure your little loved one, Jesus then would be
your last resort.
There are the emotions that the artists needed to capture. They should have
rendered the mother’s heartache that comes when a child is about to die. An artist
that understood the text would have shown us the pain in the mothers’ eyes be-

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cause they cannot relieve the suffering of their little one. A real master would have
made us feel the torment that was felt by all of the mothers.
The stench of death is why the disciples wanted to restrain the children from
Jesus. They did not want to be surrounded by sick children with the smells of
vomit, diarrhea, and gangrene.
Lady Bird Johnson once said that:

“Art is the window to man’s soul. Without it, he would never be able
to see beyond his immediate world; nor could the world see the man
within.”

If Lady Bird’s quote is correct, and I think that it is, then it is quite apparent
what this art says about us. Our paintings of healthy children tell us that we do not
need Jesus. Our crafts say that we are in control of our lives and, thank you very
much, we are doing find all by ourselves. We do not need a savior.
Jesus has already told us this. He said that He came to save the sinner and not
the righteous (Mark 2:7). If we think that we do not need Christ’s help, we then
are free to go our own way.
However, for those of us who realize that our loved ones need help. Jesus is
there for us and for them. For those of us who know that we have no mastery over
the universe’s actions or even over our own bad behavior, Christ is here for us and
He will forgive us. For those of use that know how broken we are on the inside,
Jesus is here and He wil heal us.
The smell of the sick, the dead, and the dying does not bother Jesus. He is
familiar with these odors because He has been there. Not only has He been with

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those on their death bed but He also has laid in the grave for three days. The
graphic and often horrible realities of death have never kept Jesus away from
anyone.
Just like for the little girls and boys that were brought to Him almost two
thousand years ago, Jesus wants to reach out and touch us today. He wants to give
us the ointment that promotes our salvation. Jesus wants to lay His hands on all of
us and give each of us His blessing.
Christ is here with us today and if you will let Him, He will give you these
gifts.
Not every artist has been so insensitive when it comes to interpreting the Bible.
Not everyone has projected their feelings of self grandeur into their artwork. A few
artists truly understand the human condition and our need for a savior.
Donatello’s sculptures have long been praised for its faithful interpretation
of the Holy Scriptures. Art critics and Bible Scholars both agree that Donatello
understood the prophets Jeremiah and Habakkuk.
After almost five hundred and fifty years, Jeremiah’s personality still shines
thrown the marble. Jeremiah appears to be slightly afraid of the Word from God
that he will have to speak to the people. In Donatello’s rendition of Habakkuk,
the prophet is blind. His blank marble eyes stare off in the distance. It seems that
Donatello made Habakkuk blind, not because the Bible has any reference to him
not being able to see but instead because Paul quotes Habakkuk twice. It is as if
Donatello is telling us that Habakkuk is a prototype of a person who walks by
faith and not by sight.

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 Donatello produced, after a protracted illness, what many consider to be his
finest work, the statue of Mary Magdalene. Unlike Jeremiah and Habakkuk, Mary
Magdalene is carved in wood. Her appearance is frankly revolting. She is nothing
like the individuals that we see in the artwork that surrounds Jesus and the chil-
dren. Her blond hair is dirty and matted. She is so thin, that you can clearly see
the bones in her face. Almost all of her teeth are missing. Her collarbone is more
pronounced than her chest. Because of all the manual labor that she has done in
her life, her arms and hands look more like a man’s than a woman’s. She has her
hands uplifted as if she were praying. Her back is scared, her legs are wasting
away, and her feet are cracked.
Jesus came for sick people like Mary Magdalene. Because Jesus loved Mary
Magdalene with all of her visible and invisible faults we can rest assured that He
loves us also.
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”2

2
Philippians 4:7.