Matthew 19:14 Meaning: What Did Jesus Mean by 'Like These'?

The word Jesus uses for 'allow' or 'suffer' in older English is aphiēmi, which means to let go, let alone, or release. It is the same word used for forgiving debts. Jesus is telling his disciples to stop blocking the children, to release them into his presence. The word for 'forbid' is kōluō, a strong word meaning to cut off or prevent. Jesus sees the disciples making a barrier where none should be.

But the key word is toioutōn, translated 'ones like these' or 'such as these.' It does not simply mean 'these children' but 'of this kind, of this quality.' The kingdom does not just belong to children by age. It belongs to those who share the qualities children show: trust, openness, a sense of their smallness, a willingness to receive. Jesus turns the moment into a lesson for every adult who thinks they must earn or deserve a place.

Christians across traditions have heard this verse in different ways. Some, like John Wesley and the early Methodists, understood it to mean that little children themselves belong to the kingdom. Adam Clarke wrote that the kingdom is literally composed of such children, and that any teaching that excludes infants from salvation is 'inhuman and diabolic.' Others, including many Reformed and Baptist voices, read it as a lesson about the character of believers: the kingdom belongs to those who are humble and dependent like a child. Matthew Henry and Albert Barnes both stress that Jesus uses the children as examples of the trust and simplicity required for all who enter. The passage has also been central in debates over infant baptism, with Calvin citing it in favor and Gill pointing to Jesus' silence on baptism as an argument against. What all traditions share is the sense that Jesus turns the world's priorities upside down: the greatest in the kingdom are those who become small.

A common mistake is to read this verse as a blanket guarantee that all children who die go to heaven, no matter what. 'The kingdom belongs to such as these' seems to say it is their automatic possession. In fact, the Greek word toioutōn means 'of this kind' or 'like these.' Jesus is pointing to a quality, not simply an age group. Christians have understood that quality differently: some as the childlike faith that receives grace, others as God's special care for those who cannot yet reject him. The verse itself, however, was spoken to adults as an invitation to become like children, not as a technical statement about the eternal state of every infant.

Who are the children in your life this week? Not only your own kids, but anyone the world considers small, unimportant, or a bother. The disciples thought children were an interruption to Jesus' important work. He saw them as precisely the people his kingdom is for. This week, notice who you are tempted to push aside because they seem to have nothing to offer. And notice also the child in yourself: the part that simply needs to come to Jesus with empty hands, not with arguments or achievements. You do not need to get your life together first. Like a child, you can just come.