10:13–16 The appearance of this passage dealing with children right after the passage on marriage may have been prompted by the fact that the two subjects naturally are linked in life. There were some in the ancient church who felt that marriage was evil because they saw sexual intercourse as a fleshly pollution (this point of view seems to be what Paul corrects in 1 Cor. 7:1–40 and was certainly held by some later heretics among those called Gnostics). These same people also believed that the procreation of children was evil, and it is possible that this incident of Jesus welcoming children was intended by Mark partly to correct this attitude (see note). Whether this is correct or not, in its present context the saying certainly ties in with the general theme of discipleship in Mark 8–10.…