I find more and more that I want to know what it was like to live in the time of Jesus' ministry. There are still so many parallels with our day and age, but there are so many things that have changed as well. This passage does have parallels in our age, but it's different.
If you asked today, "Who is the greatest person of our age?", what would you say? President Obama or George Bush or Bill Clinton? Richard Dawkins or Stephen Hawking? J.K. Rowling or George Lucas? Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie? Sydney Crosby or Alex Rodriguez? Certainly, there is a broad spectrum to choose from nowadays, depending on what you see as important. The arts, politics, science, sports, etc.
In the first century Roman World, everyone knew who was most important... Caesar. But he was one of a long line of rulers and conquerers. Alexander (the Great!, no less) and his kind cast a long shadow over history. They were the greatest. And it goes on down the line. They had people under them, that were more important than the next guys and so on down to the bottom. The disciples had to ask, then; Who is the greatest in God's kingdom? They asked because they wanted to know. They wanted to be that guy. The most important ones.
God turns the world upside down. The most powerful aren't the greatest. The most successful aren't the greatest.
Why children? Well, kids have no claim to fame. No power. No authority. No nuthin'. They rely on others for everything. As adults, you don't get very far living like that, especially in the first century. Nowadays, we have governments that look after us, welfare and health care and all that. In the western world, we tend to look after people like that (but that's mostly attributed to the fact that Jesus told us to.) I don't think this was one of those things that people should have known anyway, like "love your neighbour". This was new, and different, and sort of stupid, if not for the fact that God wants us to as little children, to live in that personal powerlessness and reliance on Him.
Easier said than done, but God's not building a kingdom of power... He's building a kingdom of love.
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