Mark 10:16

(Mark 10:16) . . .And he took the children into his arms and began blessing them, laying his hands upon them. . .

Have you ever wondered what it meant to be 'given a blessing' or what it meant when Jesus gave a blessing to someone else? Perhaps some in their own minds picture something like the above image.

Note what one sources says about this verse and about the cultural context of a 'blessing' in the first century when Jesus, our Lord, was walking this earth.

kateulogeō (only here in the N.T.; cf. eulogeō 6.41) ‘bless’: in accordance with the customs of the time, we are to understand that Jesus invoked God’s blessings upon them (‘May God bless you’) rather than pronounced a blessing himself (‘I bless you’). Some commentators and translators understand the preposition kata in this compound verb to have the meaning ‘tenderly,’ ‘warmly,’ ‘lovingly.’ The imperfect of the verb describes Jesus blessing the children one by one, not all at the same time. ( A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. New York : United Bible Societies, 1993)

Indeed, a blessing in the context of Jesus' day meant an invoking or petitioning to Jehovah God for another's well being. This one invoking a blessing for another didn't claim that he himself could take credit for the blessing of the person, but that it was God alone who could bless an individual. Concerning the laying of hands one commentary notes:

What exactly did people hope to receive from the touch and blessing of Jesus? The ritual of blessings was well known in Israel. Noah blessed Shem and Japheth (Gen 9:26–27), Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau (Gen 27; 28:1–4), and Jacob blessed his sons and grandsons (Genesis 48–49). Such blessings tended to be officious in nature, related particularly to the passing on of one’s name or property. “A father’s blessing establishes the houses of his children,” declares Sir 3:9. The laying on of hands was also a priestly rite of investiture in Israel, whereby wisdom (Deut 34:9) and the spirit of office (Num 27:18–20) were conferred on the ordinand. This rite was also continued in early Christianity (Acts 6:1–6; 13:1–3). (The Pillar New Testament Commentary)

We note that the laying hands on people during a blessing was a characteristic of Israelite priests, and Jesus as high priest-designate surely had all sorts of rights to do so. Moreover, I should note that the Greek word for 'bless' is in the imperfect tense, suggesting that Jesus was continually blessing the children. The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures does a great job of producing the verb as "began blessing" them. This rendering accurately reflects not only the meaning of the verb, but also the aspect of the verb. Many Bibles lose Greek-gems like this in their English Translations, so I thought I'd point that out.