This is an account of the ministry of Jesus as seen through the eyes of the children he met, healed and befriended: the children who were always there amongst the crowds who followed him.

No less than seven of the miracles of Jesus involved children or young people, yet not one of them is named and none were given speaking parts by the gospel writers. Remarkably they represented all strata and divisions of society: Roman, Greek, Jew and Gentile; religious leaders and royalty; the rich and the poor. In this narrative, we will read how their amazing and life-changing experiences drew them first to want to follow Jesus and then bound them closely to each other in a shared purpose.

I have kept as closely as possible to the words and order of Scripture as recorded in the four gospels and the first few chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. Inevitably we shall meet a large number of individuals throughout this story and, where Scripture does not name them, I have done so in order to help the reader identify them. Some characters are entirely imaginary, created to help the flow of our story. All this is indicated in the character listing that follows. So far as 'The Jesus Kids' themselves are concerned, whilst some of its members are individually recorded in Scripture, this little gang as such may never have existed, but it might very well have done so. What is certain is that whilst the adults in the crowds tolerated or just ignored the children who were always hanging around, Jesus himself included them to the extent that they were an integral part of his ministry. He clearly loved them and recognised that their understanding, simple although it was, often surpassed that of their adult counterparts. They followed him with growing conviction of who he was, and their unshakeable loyalty earned them their attribution as 'The Jesus Kids'. Their voices deserve to be heard.

Anthony Knight

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