As was blind Bartimaeus, the tax collector Zaccheaus, the synagogue official Jairus, the Samaritan woman at the well, the wise Nicodemus, the hemorrhaging woman, the mute demoniac, the disciples, foreigners like the "gentile" Roman centurion, a mix of prostitutes, orphans, widows, sick and leprous, poor and powerless and many, many others. It seems they all sensed Jesus' receptivity, affirmation and safety.
Who, then, wasn’t attracted to Jesus?
Many of the religious officials--temple and synagogue priests, Roman authorities, lay synagogue leaders like the scribes and Pharisees, the wealthy and the well placed like the rich young ruler--considered the same Jesus as unnerving, threatening and dangerous. They wanted nothing to do with him. In fact, many of them wanted to do away with him.
Did the former group, children included, somehow know that this Jesus offered them something they couldn’t get for themselves? Were the latter, both knowingly and unknowingly, so full of themselves and their ego-driven agendas that there was no need—in deed, no room—for anyone else in their lives? God, included?!
“Who wasn’t attracted to Jesus…and more importantly, why weren’t they?” These are good questions to ask ourselves when we leave God out of our picture.
“...but Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs." (Matthew 19:13-14 NRSV)
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