Have a look at the image below. I captured it in the hall this week. Mr Le Fevre has created a new frieze that wraps itself around the hall wall telling the Christian story in full. This is one of the images. It tells the story of Jesus, who was with his disciples doing some teaching, when parents started arriving and allowing their children to run up to Jesus and introduce themselves. The disciples were disapproving of this because they felt that Jesus’ teaching was more important than having young children gathered around him, asking for a hug. Jesus noticed their attitude and took the opportunity to remind the disciples that children are the kind of people we should look up to because of their openness and humility.
‘Let them come to me and do not hinder them,’ Jesus said. And that was that. The story also shows us that Jesus was good with children. Children are incredibly perceptive and know the people they feel comfortable with. Jesus obviously gave them a loving sense of well-being and the children felt safe being with him. They acted naturally.