It seems Jesus had left Judea and was now in Galilee, because both Mark 10:1 and 17 have Jesus traveling to Jerusalem. Therefore, if Jesus was teaching his disciples about divorce (Mark 10:10-12), he needs to be back in Galilee after verse-12, and before verse-17. We aren’t told specifically, but it makes sense, at least to me, that the incident concerning the blessing of the children occurred where Jesus lived and was known quite well. The text says that they, perhaps mothers or nursemaids, brought the children to Jesus in order for him to touch or lay his hands upon them, but Jesus’ disciples rebuked them. Mark says they rebuked “those who brought them” (Mark 10:13), but both Matthew and Luke and some of the oldest manuscripts of Mark’s Gospel have only “them” leaving out the reference to those who brought the children. So, were the little ones walking or running to Jesus, and the Apostles rebuked them, or was it those who brought them who were rebuked? The fact that Jesus took them into his arms (Mark 10:16) implies his reaching down to them and their coming to him. The verb is G1723 and is used elsewhere only at Mark 9:36. There Jesus had taken a child and set it in the midst of his disciples, and afterwards he took him in his arms (G1723).
It seems Jesus’ disciples were indignant over the idea of the children disturbing Jesus. After all, the children didn’t need to be healed, so there was no pressing matter that would demand Jesus’ attention. Laying hands upon the them and blessing them didn’t seem to be a worthy enough reason for the attention of the King. Nevertheless, the text implies that Jesus was watching what occurred, and he became very annoyed with his disciples, telling them to permit the children to come to him, and he said that they are like those (adults) who are in the Kingdom of God (Mark 10:14).
What I think is quite striking about the Mark’s record of Christ blessing the children (Mark 10:13-16), is that it immediately follows the event that concerned the Pharisees laying a trap for Jesus (Mark 10:2). On the one hand, we have before us folks who refuse to enter the Kingdom of God, and refuse to submit to the authority of Jesus, but on the other hand we have Jesus’ model of what it takes to enter the Lord’s Kingdom. He who enters the Kingdom of Heaven must enter with childlike faith and submission. A child isn’t concerned with his rights or what he deserves, but is rather concerned with pleasing his parents. He trusts them, and offers them his loving obedience. What a striking contrast to the behavior of the Pharisees, who thought to lay a trap for Jesus in order to embarrass or rid themselves of him!
We are told that Jesus took the children into his arms and blessed them (Mark 10:16). The Greek, according to Robertson’s Word Pictures, tells us that Jesus blessed them repeatedly. That is, he would first take each child into his arms, hugging it, and then place his right hand upon the child’s head and blessed him. The whole event was a process that took time, which Jesus lovingly did without complaint. They were like lambs that were held to the Shepherd’s bosom (Isaiah 40:11). The Apostles thought such a thing would have been an unbecoming burden upon the King of the Kingdom (Mark 10:13). However, Jesus embraced each child as a model citizen of the Kingdom of God (Mark 10:14), holding each one to his bosom, as would a nursing father. Such a picture is so different from how Moses reacted to the children of Israel. He considered it an affliction to bear the burden of carrying them into the land of promise (Numbers 11:11-12). Nevertheless, Jesus was pleased with the prospect of holding and blessing each one of these children, concerning whom both his Apostles and Jewish tradition considered insignificant as far as rights and authority are concerned.
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