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ONEFamily Outreach exists to "Connect Kids to Community and Communities to Kids." Have you considered having a mission week for your church? This is one of my favorite "in-depth" ways of reaching out with the Great News of Jesus Christ. Activities can include:

Interactive and participative praise concerts for children, youth, and families;
Morning staff studies on Servant Leadership
Soup lunches for the community with a gospel-study focusing on our scriptural call to justice;
In-service for your volunteers or teachers on reaching today's youth and families with the vibrant, living, message of Jesus Christ;
Evening parent seminar on "Significant Conversations: The 21-conversations you want to have with your child before they leave home";
Local networking with other groups to talk about starting a "Character-Based Mentoring Program" for at-risk youth in your area;
Humorous and thought-provoking assembly for local schools (secular or religious).

ONEFamily Outreach is primarily supported by trainings, workshops, retreats and concerts.

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Way Beyond the Jordan

Mark 10:1-16

Proper 22b

Mark 10:1-16

[Mk 10:1] Getting up, He *went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds *gathered around Him again, and, according to His custom, He once more began to teach them. [2] Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife. [3] And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” [4] They said, “Moses permitted a man TO WRITE A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY.” [5] But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. [6] “But from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE. [7] “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, [8] AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. [9] “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

[10] In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. [11] And He *said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; [12] and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

[13] And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. [14] But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. [15] “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” [16] And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them. (NASB)

Mark 10:1

[Mk 10:1] Getting up, He *went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds *gathered around Him again, and, according to His custom, He once more began to teach them. (NASB)

Way Beyond the Jordan

Never underestimate Jesus. It may seem like the two stories in this reading are entirely unrelated, but nothing could be further from the truth. For they bind together to give us a picture of both the family of God and the inclusive nature of God but it also gives us a picture of a religion—that was founded on these premises—had totally lost their roots. Though this story goes back two millennium, it is a pertinent today as it was in the days when our Lord walked the earth.

In two short illustrations from Jesus’ life, Mark shows us our Lord giving new dignity to both women and children. Jesus is way “beyond the Jordan” here, but not just geographically. He is outside the boundaries of the practiced religion and cultural boundaries of his era.

Jesus is on his last march; he is headed directly towards his prophesied sacrifice. He is in Perea, perhaps paying his final respect to John as he heads towards his own death (this was the region east of the Jordan River where the Baptist had preached). Yet, he is not too busy to pause for the forgotten classes of Israel. We might even consider this one of Christ’s finest hours. For, while on his way to his determined destiny, he shows us the priorities of his mission, giving dignity to those trampled by the Patriarchal Jewish traditions. Jesus actually gives women equal status and children premier status. He challenges his Country’s legalism and instead, sets compassion as the highest attribute of faithfulness.

This is a Jesus who was by now “way beyond the Jordan.”

Where is “way beyond the Jordan” in our communities? Who has a beggar’s access to human dignity, who has less say “at the table” in our time? Whose voice is the least heard because it comes with the least power and who has no voting block at all? That’s where you would find Jesus; granting those people their inherent right to dignity, taking them into his arms and castigating any who would try and prevent the littlest one’s direct access to his embrace.

Let’s pray that Christ’s return finds us doing similar work “way beyond the Jordan?”

According to His custom

The word custom [GSN1486 etho] pertains to what a people have a “custom of doing.” Yet, it is also the root word of ethics - a word that means to operate with integrity of character. We can teach ethics in our universities but that does not instill ethics in a person’s “accustomed behavior.”

To be among the people, always healing, always teaching, that was the “ethos” of Jesus it was “his custom” to love with abandonment. We know that Jesus was as comfortable with the masses as he was with personal solitude. However, it is also interesting to note that he never sought solitude as an end in itself. The solitude of Jesus led to his preaching, teaching, healing, and sacrifice. He had a mission and his end goal was not personal nirvana but communal salvation. It was not only his practice to remain accessible and invitational; it was his ethos, his character.

Mark 10:2

[Mk 10:2] Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife. (NASB)

Testing Him, and began to question Him

People often ask questions to learn more about someone else so as to make an informed opinion about their belief. However, there are also those who ask questions solely to deepen their existing prejudgments. It was for these reasons that the Pharisees were obviously tracking Jesus down way out into Perea (an area that these religious leaders would find uncomfortable, even unclean). Day trips “beyond the Jordan” were not their style; these were not the Holy Lands. We often talk about the wrong side of the tracks; this was the wrong side of the river. Yet, they were intent on undermining or arresting Jesus and Jesus was always on the move. This was a fact-finding mission cloaked in leading questions to debunk the appeal of Jesus to his growing followers.

The term that is used for “testing Jesus” [GSN3985 peirazo], is also the term Matthew uses for the temptations of Jesus by Satan [Matthew 4:1] and it is even a term that Matthew uses as one of the names of Satan [4:3].

The person who follows Jesus faithfully should expect this kind of questioning, even if (as with Jesus) it comes from the religious authorities. In our last reading, from Mark 9:38-40, we saw how even the disciples acted in a similar inexcusable manner towards a man who used the power of Jesus to cleanse out demons. The key thread here is that—Pharisees or disciples alike—they hated it when other people were doing what they should have been doing all along. However, we must acknowledge that if we truly do what God tells us to do we will make enemies and we will be tempted.

Matthew 10:22

[22] “And you will be hated by all on account of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.” (NASB)

In our last three studies, we have also seen the titles of Satan revealed in three different ways:

1. Satan;

In Mark 8:33, Jesus calls Peter, “Satan” [GSN4567 SataNASB], the Aramaic equivalent of the devil. Its primary translation is “the Accuser.” We need to understand that Satan is our final accuser. He knows that the wages of sin is death and his final accusation will not be; “Were you mostly good or were you mostly bad?” It will be; “Have you sinned?”

There is no middle ground here. We have either sinned or not and since all of us have sinned, Satan can rightly demand all of our lives (Romans 6:23a, “for the wages of sin is death”). Yet, praise God, there is one who died who in our stead (Romans 6:23b, “but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord”). The one who did not sin gave his life for all of us who have sinned. The perfect life became the perfect sacrifice and those who accept his gift receive his glory.

2. Demon

Demons [GSN1140 daimonion], as described in Mark 9:38, comes from a word that means to “manipulate destinies.” It has been Satan’s obsession to manipulate the destinies of all people since he cannot rule over God. In his evil passion, he seeks to take all lives into his fall with him and to cause as much sorrow for God as he is able. Yet, our lives are of no consequence to this most malevolent entity, his only purpose in using us is to cause pain to God. We’re merely tools of manipulation in his quest. Evil then, can best be described as manipulating others for your own compulsive or addictive need for pleasure, acceptance, or power; that three temptations of Jesus.

1. Tempter

Finally, we can see Satan’s character through the Pharisees and their testing [GSN3985 peirazo] of Jesus. It was not their intent to learn more about Jesus, but to undermine the work of God whenever it encroached upon their temporal authority.

These examples offer us some critical insights into the Ethos of Jesus versus the Ethos of Satan. Jesus was increasingly available, accessible and open. While Satan shouts out accusations from the crowd, he slashes at our heels from behind and uses manipulation as his primary modus operandi.

We will know that we are drawing nearer and nearer to Jesus if we find ourselves increasingly moving from hidden desires to integration—transparency and consistency with what Jesus models. Let us pray that our lives continually lead us toward that path, that ethos of a transparent, integrated character.

Mark 10:3-5

[Mk 10:3] And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” [4] They said, “Moses permitted a man TO WRITE A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY.” [5] But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.” (NASB)

“What did Moses command you?”

Satan could never trap Jesus through the Pharisees with his usualy ploys; Jesus was neither on the high road of self-righteousness or the low road of manipulation. What becomes evident in this reading is that the Pharisees see the whole realm of religion from a litigious context while Jesus sees religion in the realm of communal restoration—the restoration of all God’s people and not just the favored few. We see here how the Pharisees try to trap Jesus into a legal debate on divorce. They know if Jesus sides with Mosaic Law (according to their traditions); they can switch their position and call him lenient on sin. If he denies their interpretation he opens the floodgates to situational ethics (where culture, politics, or bias interprets moral principles).

Here was the Pharisee’s stance:

Deuteronomy 24:1-4

[Dt 24:1] “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, [2] and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, [3] and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, [4] then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance. (NASB)

Did you notice that the entire perspective of this reading is written from a male perspective? The woman had no choice in the matter; women were just chattel, little more than a beast of burden. Mosaic Law protected the female to some degree by demanding two witnesses and a writ of divorce (a legal document). The only rite a woman had in those situation was to reclaim her dowry, but even that would then be put into the care of a brother or scribe (if she had no remaining family) and they would dole it out to her as they saw fit. Women could not manage property or money, thus they were at the mercy of the male-dominated society.

So woman had no say in these matters; the continuation of the covenant was viewed as the man’s prerogative; the women simply had no right to an opinion. Marriage—arranged by the father and continued at the whim of the husband—was a grotesquely lopsided legal proposition. It had a “presumption of subservience” built into it.

It is not difficult to imagine where such a presumption would lead. For example, one recent example of Islamic legalism allows a husband to call his wife on a cell phone in the presence of two witnesses and simply say; “I divorce thee,” three times. At that point, she must leave the house at once. In like manner, to a Pharisee, this would not qualify as an issue of social justice; it was an issue of legal interpretation.

Legalism will always be the least (and worst) common denominator for evaluating the treatment of humans. Slave traders used it to denigrate blacks as sub-human. The Nazis used legalism to treat the Jews inhumanely. The Bush Administration is using the same tactics to exert war powers and circumspect the Geneva Convention in treatment of suspected terrorists and terrorists use it when they attack civilian targets to create fear and chaos. This all results from trying to legally treat certain people as “less than human” and to take away their inalienable rights.

This type of legalism was the starting point of every accusation the Pharisees would level at the compassion of Jesus. Whether he was healing a palsied arm, protecting a woman caught in adultery (notice that the man was never hauled naked before the crowd), or feeding his hungry disciples in a harvested field, the Pharisees used legalism to condemn others and excuse themselves. We say that negligence of the law is no excuse, but legalism is its abuse.

In addition, that must lead us to a caveat about these important readings of Jesus’ confrontations with the Pharisees and Scribes. Jesus was not being asked how one could live out such a strict adherence of the marriage covenant (though he gave that answered that as well). Jesus is being asked to justify or rationalize the sinful nature of man. He was being asked to give a legalistic interpretation of how far a man could go in sinning without losing his salvation.

We must see Jesus’ response not in the context set by the Pharisee’s. This is not a lesson in fundamentalism. Our Lord’s response is set on a higher ground. Sin is sin; it is never justifiable. There is no scriptural evidence of greater or lesser sin (mortal or venial). “We sin, we die,” that’s the strict definition.

Yet, the whole time that Jesus was being harassed by the Pharisee’s he was in the middle of acts of compassion. Jesus did not come to condemn sinners, he came to restore God’s children to right relationship with him.

John 3:17

[17] “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.” (NASB)

Hardness of heart

Arteriosclerosis is a hardening of the arteries but Jesus condemns the Pharisees of sklerokardia [GSN4641]; a hardness of heart. It was not a physical condition but a spiritual one. They had lost the ability to see beyond their legal lenses and into the impact that their interpretations would have on the lives of women and children and the stability of family.

How often have we seen similar injustices inflicted upon people in the name of legalism?

· Health care and legal systems that favor the wealthy and restrict their access by the poor; environmental

· Economic policies that exploit the resources of future generations for short-term political or corporate gain.

· Immigration laws that exploit the cheap labor of millions while closing the door to basic human rights.

This Pharisaical attitude of legalism has not changed in two thousand years. It is just simply an example of what happens when a few people have the political, financial, and legal capacity to manipulate a whole class of human beings (whether it be women, children or the poor). This is sklerokardia—hardening of the heart—or perhaps even “sklerosystema” the hardening of a system against human rights.

Mark 10:6-9

[6] “But from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE. [7] “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, [8] AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. [9] “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” (NASB)

From the beginning of creation

Jesus pulls the rug out from under the Pharisees. They use the words of Moses, so he does likewise. However, Jesus will predate the religious leaders by recalling the way God designed marriage and not the allowances that were made to accommodate human sinfulness.

“From the beginning [GSN746 arche] of creation [GSN2937 ktisis],” states Jesus. It means not just the earliest ruling but the archetype principle, or truly, “the way that God designed it to be.”

What is “the way that God designed it to be?” How is the marriage covenant supposed to operate? Jesus takes this statement from all the way back in the second chapter of Genesis:

Genesis 2:24

[Ge 2:24] For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. (NASB)

While the Pharisees saw marriage as a legal issue, Jesus saw it as a spiritual one.

The two shall be joined [HSN1692 dabaq] and become one [HSN259 echad]. The words are dramatic, like grafting a new shoot into an old vine. Their sap mixes and becomes one, you cannot cut one vine without scarring the other and one part of the plant cannot become diseased without affecting the other. This is not a legal agreement or a contractual arrangement; it is transplanting of one’s heart into another’s body. No longer is it viable to say; “What about me?” Because “me” does not exist anymore. That was the covenant of marriage that was supposed to model the covenant that God had with his people.

This is “the archetype,” the way that marriage was designed. The Pharisees were not holding to “the standard” in the first place they were conveniently succumbing to the lenient. “They are no longer two, but one flesh;” declares Jesus. “What therefore God has joined together let no man separate.”

What does that mean? It was a reminder to the Pharisees of their smallness. They might be able to come up with piles of papyrus rationalizing their reasoning; but they still could not change what God had designed. Everything else is a concession, an allowance for man’s sickness. In doing so, Jesus is challenging the very premise of the Pharisee’s existence. It is like telling an attorney; “Stop rationalizing the law and help people abide by it.” In other words, “Get a real job.” He is telling these men that, not only is their premise wrong, but also that the complete focus of their lives is in error.

In like manner, Jesus would attack many pastors, theologians, and churches today. “I’m sick of lengthy diatribes that focus on helping people justify their exorbitant lifestyles while poverty and classism grow all around you. Get out of your offices and practice love on your streets!”

Mark 9:10-11

Commits adultery against her

Jesus makes two statements here that would rock the Pharisees foundations:

1. “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.”

2. “If she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

Rather than rationalize the behavior of men looking for an “out” to their commitments and responsibilities, he tells them; “All right, you can divorce; but not to marry someone else. If you leave your wife, don’t be looking for another wife. You are already cleaved to someone and you always will be.”

This statement shocked even the disciples. Matthew shares their private response with us:

Matthew 19:10-11

[Mt 19:10] The disciples *said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” [11] But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given.” (NASB)

Marriage is a holy and permanent union. This is God’s design. “Not all men can accept this statement,” Jesus would tell us; but it didn’t make it any less true. It is a premise that every married person must remember to begin their day and end their night; “Whatever I do today that will further or damage this partnership will further or damage my eternity.”

The Pharisees were wasting energy, indeed, grievously sinning by focusing on how to end marriages legally; they should have been pouring every ounce of energy into preserving it. Is that what our churches do? Is that what our legal and economic systems focus on? How do we help marriages? How do we focus our resources on helping families?

Are the teachings, resources, and efforts of your church advocating for family? Does your budget and time commitment reflect an obligation to the family’s growth and development?

If she herself divorces her husband

Next Jesus steps up his radical assertions. He states; “If she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

Why is this radical? Doesn’t it make sense that if a man divorces his wife and marries another woman he is committing adultery, then wouldn’t the same be applicable to the woman?

Of course! But we would be missing the point. Women just went from zero to equal rights in one fell swoop! Jesus is talking about a woman putting a man out on the street! A woman contemplating whether she wants to stick around with him! A woman having a right to say; “I am sick of your behavior, bud. You’re out of here!”

The Pharisees lined up to bat a home run but, instead, their fast pitch makes a line drive back into their face. Suddenly, the issue shifts from how far men can abuse a woman according to the law to how all people are equal in God’s eyes. For the Pharisees, this argument was not going well. Suddenly, they see that Jesus’ whole interpretation is not to define the rules for a “right divorce,” but to establish equality for everyone on the playing field. That was definitely NOT in the Pharisees game plan that day.

Still Jesus does the same. We ask “when is it right to torture prisoners?” He asks, “When you sign up first.” We ask, “When is it right to withhold basic human rights?” He asks, “When you take away the your personal rights first.”

That’s not the Jesus most of us want to engage.

Mark 10:13-16

And they were bringing children to Him

It seems like this statement comes out of the blue, but if we trust Mark’s chronological order we will see that is Jesus is deepening his point about human sanctity!

The Pharisees attack is timed to humiliate Jesus in front of a crowd; their goal is public embarrassment. Yet, nothing could have made them look more stupid than their attacks. They are arguing for divorce while Jesus is in the very act of blessing children; the most vulnerable victims of the breakdown of the family. Nothing could look more ridiculous!

As the Pharisees turn up the heat, the disciples begin to panic. What’s on their minds? “The Pharisees are questioning us and Jesus is blessing children, just who is more important here? Here are the doctorates of the Law, the interpreters of the Jewish legalities, they are presenting important matters and Jesus won’t even look up at them.

My friends, what greater statement could Jesus make about, “getting your priorities straight,” than to ignore the Pharisees while blessing every child? Could any speech or legal briefing compare to his actions?

Jesus was doing what was most important to God and the disciple’s “didn’t get it.” Blessing the sanctity of family by loving these children was the very purpose of Jesus. Arguing theology with the sanctimonious meant nothing compared to embracing each child that was presented to our Lord.

Nothing could show how screwed up the priorities of the Pharisees or the disciples were than their attempts to distract Jesus from these young ones. Where does your church focus its priorities? If a church focuses on loving, compassion will be its theology. If a church focuses on doctrines, legalism will be its undoing.

“Permit the children to come to Me.”

Here is one of the most poetic words in scripture, permit [GSN863 aphiemi], “permit the children to come to Me.” It is the word for permit, but it is also the term for “to yield.” Could there be any greater peace than to yield those whom we love to Jesus?

Yet, this is also the word for “forgive”; or, more accurately, to “pay the ransom” for a hostage. It is used in the Lord’s own prayer; “Forgive us our debts as we forgive the debts of others. Quite literally it means; “I am a hostage to sin, Lord. Pay my ransom and I will pay the ransom of others.”

Our Lord paid the ultimate ransom for these least, little ones. We must never hinder them by thinking there could possibly be anything greater on his agenda than their closeness to God.

For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these

It is too small an emphasis to say “the kingdom belongs [GSN1510 eimi] to such as these.” The phrase means “exists because of” or “amounts to such as these.” We might even literally say that that the kingdom is property of the vulnerable, that God has given it to them!

Jesus embraces this belief to such an extent that in Matthew 10 and 18 he says that there are four paths to heaven:

1. The path of those who become a prophet that goes out to rescue the littlest one (the word is interchangeable with smallest, youngest, most vulnerable or most remote;

[Mt 10:6] but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. [7] “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ [8] “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.” (NASB)

2. The path of those who receive (provides physically, emotionally, and spiritually) to a prophet;

[Mt 10:41] “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.” (NASB)

3. The path of the one who gives exorbitant care to the least, little one [GSN3398 mikros] whom the prophet brings home;

[Mt 10:42] “And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.” (NASB)

4. And, the path of those who themselves become like a child again [GSN3398 mikros];

[Mt 18:3] and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. [4] “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (NASB)

We cannot get around this issue, to be a part of the Kingdom is to be a part of the lives of those who are most forgotten and more rejected. They own the heavenly property that we hope to settle in someday, the Kingdom Belongs to such as these [Mt. 19:14, Mk 10:14, Lk 18:16]. If we are not comfortable with these people now then heaven will not be comfortable for us as our hearts only begin to harden over the years [GSN4641 sklerokardia].

Began blessing them

Here’s the kicker, while unraveling the confounding legalism of the Pharisee, pressed upon by crowds and harassed by the disciples, Jesus still pauses to bless each child. Could you imagine how your heart would soar to see Jesus lay his hands upon your little one?

When Jesus blessed each child [GSN2721a kateulogeo], he “claimed their eulogy.” Normally, we think of a eulogy as summarizing an older person’s past. Instead, Jesus was claiming these young children’s future. He was “pro-claiming” them; forward-claiming them in his name. Not only that, he was “laying hands” on them [GSN5087 tithemi]. This is the same term from which we get “tithe.” It means to assign, designate or predestine someone or something toward a specific purpose.

What an incredible concept! What a life-changing image! Yet, also, what a call to us as the living body of Christ!

What greater goal could a church have than to “forward claim” or “declare the destiny” of children? To the Christ, that was more important than debating subtle legalities or “making room for the elite.” Shouldn’t that also be what is most important to church, the living body of Jesus? Our time, our expenditures, our vision must reflect this mission. If it doesn’t, then we too will find ourselves like the Pharisees arguing over dead points of law or the disciples trying to please the influential.

James 2:1-5

[1] My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with {an attitude of} personal favoritism. [2] For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, [3] and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” [4] have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? [5] Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world {to be} rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? (NASB)

“Lord, let our passion be your compassion and our mission be self-abandoning love. Keep us from the demon of legalism and the tyranny of the elite. Let us be among those who make room for the forgotten and seek the neglected, and let us, like you, boldly claim the destinies of the least, little ones.”

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