In Africa, the children are sometimes buried alive; and sometimes left out in the fields or forests for the wild beasts to devour them.  In the South Sea Islands three-fourths of all the children born used to be killed.  Sometimes they would strangle their babies.  Sometimes they would leave them, where oxen and cattle would tread on them, and trample them to death; while, at other times, they would break all their joints, beginning with their fingers and toes, and then go on to their wrists, and elbows, and shoulders.  How dreadful it is to think of such practices!  And when we turn from these scenes of heart-rending cruelty and think of the gracious Saviour,—­the “gentle Jesus, meek and mild,” stretching forth his arms in loving tenderness, and uttering the sweet words,—­“Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God,”—­what a wonderful contrast it makes!

And when we think of all that Jesus did and said to show his interest in children, we may well ask ourselves such questions as these,—­Why was it so?  What did he do it for?  And when we come to look carefully into this part of the life of Christ, we can see four great things in it; and these are the reasons why Jesus did and said so much about children.

In the first place we see—­GREAT LOVE—­in the interest Christ manifested towards the young.

It was the same love which brought him down from heaven, and made him willing to become a little child himself; the same love which made him willing to live in poverty—­and suffer the dreadful death upon the cross that led him to show such interest in the little ones.  But if he had not told us himself how he feels on this subject, we could not have been sure of it.  Children might well have said, when they heard about the love of Christ, “Yes, we have no doubt that Jesus does love grown up people, men and women in general.  We believe this because the Bible tells us so; but how do we know that he loves us children?” If he had not told us so himself, we could not have been sure of it.  But we know it now.  And when we hear, or read of the love of Christ, we may be sure that it takes the children in.

During a famine in Germany, a family became so poor that they were in danger of starving.  The father proposed that one of the children should be sold, and food provided for those that remained.  At last the mother consented; but then the question arose which one of the four should be selected.  The eldest, their first-born, could not be spared; the second looked like the mother, the third was like his father, and they could not give either of them up; and then the youngest—­why, he was their pet, their darling, how could they give him up?  So they concluded that they would all perish together, rather than part with one of their little ones.  When those children knew of this, they might very well feel sure that their parents loved them.  But Jesus did more than this for us, he was willing to die upon the cross, and he did so die, that “not one of his little ones should perish.”