A Child shall lead Them

Kid's say the darndest things, so the television asks. But, they can ask some darn good questions as well.

Q: Did Jesus ever do anything bad when He was little?

A: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin." Hebrews 4:15

I have often wondered about this myself. Given the fact that children seem to be prone to doing bad things, whether they realize it or not, it is hard to believe in a perfect child. The Bible doesn't say much about the childhood of Jesus Christ apart from His birth and a reference to Him and His mother when He was a youth. But, we know, as the passage from Hebrews says, that Jesus was without sin. This means He didn't sin at all His entire life. If He had, then our entire salvation is futile. If Jesus had sinned, then He is not God in the flesh and thus did not have a life to give that would satisfy God as payment for our sins. So, the answer to the question is no, Jesus did not do anything bad when He was little.

Key Passage:

"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth."When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." 1 Peter 2: 22-24

Q: Was Jesus a real person or was He pretend?

A: "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty." 2 Peter 1:16

I don't know of any child who doesn't have a make believe friend, or more, at sometime during their youth. And the fact that Jesus was raised from dead is something that could fit into the realm of make believe or pretend. However, the reality of Jesus Christ as a real person does not rest solely on the testimony of modern day believers who never saw Christ. Some of the best proof that He was a real person comes from those that knew Him personally. One of those people is the Apostle Peter. Peter, while defending the truth of Jesus Christ to those who did not believe in Him, says that he and other disciples were eyewitnesses to His life on earth. Eyewitness testimony is irrefutable in many cases as to the fact of what has been witnessed. Another convincing proof involving Peter is that He denied Jesus in an effort to save his own life. I don't think Peter would have had to deny Jesus Christ if He wasn't a real person. Furthermore, if Jesus wasn't a real person then you have to explain why those who didn't believe in Him felt it necessary to persecute Him and crucify Him on the Cross.

Key Passage:

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us." 1 John 1: 1-2

Q: If Jesus died on the cross, how can He be alive today?

A: "I passed on to you what I received, of which this was most important: that Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say; that he was buried and was raised to life on the third day as the Scriptures say; and that he was seen by Peter and then by the twelve apostles. After that, Jesus was seen by more than five hundred of the believers at the same time. Most of them are still living today, but some have died" 1 Corinthians 15: 3-6

Given the fact that nobody alive today has ever witnessed someone die and come back to life three days later, it makes sense that Jesus being alive would lead to a question like this. But, many of those who saw Jesus die were also eyewitnesses of His resurrection. The Bible tells us that hundreds of people saw Jesus after He rose from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest miracle to ever happen. Without His resurrection there is no hope for a believer. Nobody can be saved and spend eternity with God without Christ being resurrected. We all are familiar with Adam eating the forbidden fruit back in the Garden of Eden. When he ate that fruit, he died spiritually. God removed His life from Adam thus sin and death entered the world. Before God could restore His life back to mankind He needed to do something about the sin that caused His life to be removed. That is where Jesus comes in. Jesus, being sinless, was the only person who ever lived that was able to take the penalty for our sins. Once Jesus died, God was able to restore the life we lost in Adam back to us. He did this through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He now lives inside every Christian who has accepted Him as their savior. And when Jesus returns, He will take all of us who believe in Him to Heaven to spend eternity. We must not forget that Jesus is God and that God is capable of miracles. So, Jesus rising from the dead is something only God could accomplish. If miracles were the norm, then they cease to be miracles. That is why we thank God for performing the miracle of raising Jesus from dead.

Key Passage:

"Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." John 11: 25-27

Although, these are questions asked by children they help us get a clearer picture of the foundations of our Christian faith. It doesn't matter who asks the questions or what their age may be. What matters is that they can be answered and we must be prepared to give one. If we don't answer the questions of the most innocent among us, then we risk losing them altogether. Besides, if an inquisitive child can stump us, then what will happen when adults ask us to give an account for our faith? The answers we give may not convince those who have asked the question. The convincing is between them and God. However, the beneficiary of the answer may the one who gave it. The more we stand for our faith, the more our faith will strengthen as we realize the truth of what we say we believe is revealed with each response we give.