Luke 18:16

16 Jesus called them back. "Let these children alone. Don't get between them and me. These children are the kingdom's pride and joy.

Luke 18:16 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 18:16

But Jesus called them unto him
Not the disciples, as the Ethiopic version reads, nor the persons that brought the children, but the children themselves; for the antecedent to the relative (auta) , "them", can be no other; which shows, that these infants were not new born babes, or children at the breast, but such as were more grown up, since they were capable of being called to, and of coming to Christ:

and said;
that is, to the disciples; so the Persic version expresses it:

suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not;
(See Gill on Matthew 19:14)

for of such is the kingdom of God;
or "of heaven", as the Syriac version reads, and as in ( Matthew 19:14 ) that is, the kingdom of God belongs to such, "who are as these"; or, "like to these": as the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions render the words; ((See Gill on Matthew 19:14).)

Luke 18:16 In-Context

14 Jesus commented, "This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face, but if you're content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself."

15 People brought babies to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off.

16 Jesus called them back. "Let these children alone. Don't get between them and me. These children are the kingdom's pride and joy.

17 Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in."

18 One day one of the local officials asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to deserve eternal life?"