Context, Context, Context

One of the most important aspects of Bible study is to understand a passage within its context. There is an immediate context, the context of the book, and the context of the Bible as a whole. We begin with the immediate and then compare that with the broader context of Scripture.

I say all of this because this is important in our discussion on wheter or not babies go to heaven. My son, Bobby, asked about the passages in Matthew 19:14 and Luke 18:16. To those passages we could add Mark 10:14. In all of these passages we read of Jesus saying (regarding babies) that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. Now, is He talking about physical babies or is He speaking of His followers becoming like babies (dependent, trusting, etc.)? There is no doubt that Jesus says that His followers must become like little children, but in these verses Jesus is talking primarily about physical babies. Parents were bringing their little children to Jesus and the disciples were discouraging them. Jesus became indignant towards His disciples and He picked up the children and blessed them. These are the children Jesus is referring to in this context.

Now these verses don't resolve the question as to whether or not babies who die go to heaven. But they are a part of a list of very interesting verses and passages that give insight on this issue. In a previous post I referred to some fascinating statements made by Job. Today consider an important expression used by God to describe children in Nineveh. As you might remember, Jonah was angry that God had shown mercy to Nineveh. Part of God's explanation to this pouting prophet was that He had to have compassion on this city because there were 120,000 persons who couldn't discern between their left hand and their right hand (Jonah 4:11). This is generally understood as a reference to little children who are not yet able to show moral discernment. God felt that He had to show mercy to these children. This gives us reason to think about this subject of what happens to babies who die.

Again, we need to be careful as we approach the Scripture and look at just what it says and all that it says. We must avoid making deductions from what it does not say. More important than what you might think about the subject of babies that die is that you have a solid approach to the Word of God and that approach must include an emphasis on context, context, context.

That's how we cut it straight.