“Do You Hear What the Children Are Saying?

”
a Palm Sunday a
Matthew 21:1-17

Kids will say the darndest things! I suppose that’s why the television show bearing that very title was so
popular. What those children used to say on those shows left Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby sppechless. One four
year old described for Art Linkletter how he had three girlfriends, and that he had those girlfriends because they had
money and would buy him candy. Then, after the audience roared in laughter, Art Linkletter asked the young man
if he thought he was handsome, to which he replied, “Of course, look at me, it don’t get much better than this,” a
response that sent the audience through the roof with more laughter and a round of applause. Kids will say the
darndest things, sometimes leaving us awestruck, stopping us in our tracks with their witty remarks.
The things that the Jewish children were saying in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and the Monday of Holy
Week did not arouse laughter and applause from the chief priests and teachers of the law. It grated their ears to hear
such things coming from the lips of children. It burned them up to hear the children referring to Jesus as the King
of the Jews, crying out to him “Hosanna,” which means, “Lord, save us!” Today, on this Palm Sunday, children
become our teachers, our spiritual educators, because they saw clearly what the chief priests and teachers of the law
failed to see. They understood and grasped what so many refuse to understand and grasp. They proudly believed
and confessed what so many in the world fail to confess: that Jesus is the only way to salvation and heaven. “Do you
hear what the children are saying?” Listen to them carefully because they will leave you awestruck with their words,
their wisdom and their spiritual maturity. For as the Psalmist proclaims: “Out of the mouths of infants and
children, the Lord has ordained praise.”
Indignant...incensed...offended...irate, normally reactions to childish or rude behavior, but for the chief
priest and teachers of the law, those were their reactions to Jesus’ miracles and the children worshiping him in the
temple. “14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the
teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of
David,” they were indignant.”
How fascinating that they were irate at Jesus’ miracles and the worship noise of the children. Interesting,
because what should have made them irate was the way that the temple area was being used (abused) by merchants
who had made their way into the outer courts (with their permission!) Now, I know, because of the many blessings
the Lord has bestowed on our congregation in the last few years in the form of many little ones, that there is always
a bit of noise in our sanctuary during worship, something that I tell visiting pastors about especially during Lent.
And as I often tell our people, (and some also tell me), the noise of little children is a good noise in a congregation,
it is the noise of growth and blessing. But the blessed noise of little ones among us each week is nothing compared
to the noise of the temple money-changers and the merchants who were selling animals for temple sacrifices.
Just imagine it! A place of prayer and meditation that was being disturbed by the constant changing of
money, by eastern market haggling, by arguments between merchants and customers, by verbal disagreements
between would-be worshipers and those who had oversight of deeming an animal worthy or unworthy for sacrifice.
Of course, that wasn’t the only problem. The outer court was supposed to be a place for Gentiles to gather for
worship. The Lord, in his foresight and grace had given non-Jews the opportunity to approach him through
sacrifice and receive his forgiveness in his temple. It wasn’t just a place for Jews to gather. The Lord had extended
his gospel promise to the whole world, even providing a way for Gentiles to formally receive his benediction of
peace and joy. And that outer court, which was so prized and so valuable to the Gentile believers, because it was the
place where God promised to meet them in worship, was turned into a Jewish trading post, thus thwarting God’s
design for inclusion of the Gentiles as full recipients of his promises of forgiveness. You talk about offensive! That
was the very definition of offense! 
And yet, that noise was not what made the Jewish officials so irate, so indignant, because they were
benefitting financially from the Jewish trading post noise in the temple. The priests made money with every
transaction, with every bit of money that was changed to the temple half-shekel, with the renting of the space to
merchants, and with every outside animal that was determined to be “unfit” for sacrifice, making it necessary for a
worshiper to purchase a pre-qualified expensive animal inside the temple court. That noise didn’t make them irate,
although it should have. It was the noise of the children that was so offensive to them, children who were shouting
the praises of Jesus, children who continued to sound the Palm Sunday praises of the Messiah even when almost all
others had silenced their worship. It was the God-pleasing worship of the children and the praises that echoed from
their lips through the temple courtyard that made the chief priests so indignant!
How ironic! The temple is finally being used for its chief purpose, the praise of the Messiah, and the priests
who are supposed to prepare the people for the Messiah’s coming and lead them in worship are irate, and working
to stifle his praise. Ironic indeed! We’ve noticed that about many of the statements of Jesus’ enemies this Lenten
season, the irony in them, along with the general irony of Lent, of Holy Week, and of the passion itself. This
question of the indignant chief priests is no different. “Do you hear what the children are saying?” Yes, we do! So,
why aren’t you joining them? What is so surprising is that they, the Jewish leaders are not joining with the voices of
those children, that they are not voicing the praises of Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ of God. Instead, they’re
offended at his praise. They’re not in awe of his miracles, they’re irate at them. They’re not joy-filled that the
temple is finally being used properly by the One who is the very embodiment of what the temple symbolized.
They’re angry, furious, and their clouded consciences blinded them to the point that they failed to see what the
children could clearly see by simple faith – that Jesus was the Son of David – the King long awaited from ancient
times – the one who would redeem Israel from the slavery of sin and death.
No wonder Jesus often praises little children and their simple faith, and uses them as examples for adults, for
scholars, for the learned of the world; because children willingly set aside human reason, they set aside worldly
concerns, they set aside argumentation and simply accept the Word of God as truth, placing their trust under the
leadership and guidance of the Scriptures. You might recall the words of Luke 18:15-16: “15 People were also
bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the
children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to
such as these. 17 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
Do you hear what the children are saying? You who are learned, you who are scholars, who must attend to
the business and the busyness of everyday life, do you hear what your children, your grandchildren are saying?
Because it’s easy for adults to consider themselves to be the wise ones, when in fact, the simple faith of our children
puts our vast worldly wisdom to shame. It’s easy for adults and parents to consider themselves and their various
objectives most important when our children will often remind us what’s truly important in our lives – our
relationship with Jesus our Savior, and our need to meet with him in his house. Do you hear what your children are
saying? Listen to them! For God the Holy Spirit by his gospel has given to them the simple faith that saves, which
urges them to simply lay all their sins on Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God and to walk away from the cross forgiven
and saved. Isn’t it interesting that the children do not question God’s plan of salvation - not one bit. They argue
no theological points from the standpoint of human logic. They do not squabble over minute or mundane details.
They simply set aside their reasoning, they set aside worldly sophistication and go to the cross and look upon Jesus
in faith, knowing that all their sins have been washed away in his holy blood.
Let the children be your educators on this day, on this Palm Sunday. Let them, the children, serve as your
spiritual mentors. Learn from them to set aside your worldly pursuits, your sinful reasoning, your desire to think
that you know more than God or that you can figure out the vast wisdom of God, or that somehow you can find an
alternate route to heaven other than through the cross of Christ. Set all that aside and grasp by simple faith what
you have known by the Holy Spirit since your infancy – that wisdom from God which makes you wise for salvation
– and make that walk with the Holy Christian Church this Holy Week faithfully following your Messiah, never
doubting, never questioning, never wondering, simply believing that the one who carries that old-rugged cross,
carries your sins and shame so that you may be forgiven all your sins by his blood and live with him forever in
heaven.
Kids will say the darndest things! Do you hear what the children are saying? Listen carefully. For their
faith-inspired wisdom is beyond compare. Listen to them and join their hymns of praise: “Hosanna to the Son of
David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna!” Amen.