Let the Little Children Come

Painting by Chen Yuandu 陳緣督 (1902-1967)
Housed in the Société des Auxiliaires des Missions Collection – Whitworth University

 
Image taken from Chinese Christian Posters . For more information on the “Ars Sacra Pekinensis” school of art, see this article , for other artworks of that school in TIPs, see here.

Following is a 1973 painting of the JESUS MAFA project, a response to New Testament readings from the Lectionary by a Christian community in Cameroon, Africa. Each of the readings was selected and adapted to dramatic interpretation by the community members. Photographs of their interpretations were made, and these were then transcribed to paintings:

This dramatic painting is full of joy—calling the viewer to be happy alongside the children running to Jesus. We know from the gospel passage that the disciples were rebuking the people bringing the children to him. Jesus responds saying, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” Mark 10:14. Imagine choosing a life of humility, one that recognizes the value in others and fully celebrates the beautiful differences and similarities we share as humans. Imagine a world where the weakest and most vulnerable are not rejected but protected, heard, and valued. Let us be like the children in this painting—eager to hear Jesus and accept his blessings. Let us be like Jesus, accepting the vulnerable into our hearts and lives.

From Art in the Christian Tradition , a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. Image retrieved March 23, 2026. Original source: librairie-emmanuel.fr.

Following is a hand-colored stencil print on washi by Sadao Watanabe (1992):

Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe.

For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.

Even the least significant members of society he embraced (image)

“Adult activities are only for adults and the activities of child are only for children. Usually only very elderly Thai adults will spend time with children, but here we see Jesus doing it. The shaved hairstyles are different for the different boys and girls. Those with two pony tails are actually boys with two crowns of hair indicative of either great intelligence or belligerence.”

Drawing by Sawai Chinnawong who employs northern and central Thailand’s popular distinctive artistic style originally used to depict Buddhist moral principles and other religious themes; explanation by Paul DeNeui. From That Man Who Came to Save Us by Sawai Chinnawong and Paul H. DeNeui, William Carey Library, 2010.

For more images by Sawai Chinnawong in TIPs see here.

complete verse (Matthew 19:14)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 19:14:

  • Uma: “Yesus said to his disciples: ‘Let those children come to Me, do not forbid them. For it is people who are like them who become God’s people in his Kingdom.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But Isa said, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not oppose them. For people like the children are willing to be ruled over by God.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But Jesus said, ‘Let the children come here. Don’t you forbid them, for the person who has trust like the trust of a child, he is the one who can let God rule over him.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “but Jesus said to them, ‘Permit that the children come to me. Don’t forbid (it), because the ones like these are the ones who will be added to God’s ruling.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “However Jesus spoke, ‘Don’t forbid the children to come here to me. Just leave them alone. Because humble ones like these children, they are the ones who are acceptable to become subjects of the kingdom of God.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Then Jesus said: ‘Let the children come here to me. Because these children are like those who are in the hand of God.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

kingdom (of God / heaven) (God's new world)

In the German Gute Nachricht (Good News) translation of 1982, this occurrence of the Greek term which is translated in most English versions of “kingdom (of God or heaven)” is translated with “God’s new world” (Gottes neue Welt). The das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022), also in German, translates these occurrences as “God’s new reality” (about Werner’s translation, see here .

For an explanation of the differentiated translation in German as well as translation choices in a number of languages, see Kingdom (of God / heaven).

heavens

The Greek that is translated in English as the singular “heaven” but is actually a plural form in the original Greek is translated in that plural form in the Greek original (ouranōn or ouranois instead of the singular ouranos) are translated in the German translation by Fridolin Stier (1989) as the plural form “heavens” ((die) Himmel). Note that this is particularly often used in the Gospel of Matthew (see the referenced verses). The German translation of Walter Jens (publ. 1998) translates likewise.

See also heaven.

kingdom (of God) (Japanese honorifics)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-kuchi (御国) or “kingdom (of God)” in the referenced verses. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also kingdom (of God / heaven).

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("say")

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )