Revealed
Matthew 11:25-26
Originally scheduled for January 28
At that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and
intelligent and have revealed them to infants. "Yes, Father, for
this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.
(Matthew 11:25-26)
Just to provide you with a little context,
Jesus is commenting on the revelation he has just given the
disciples of the day of judgment, concerning how various cities will
be treated. It is curious that this type of knowledge is described
as something hidden from the wise and revealed to infants. The fact
is, however, you cannot truly know God by analysis — only by
revelation. If he does not choose to reveal himself to you, no
matter how much you search you cannot know him. So then: how does
the Christian prepare himself to have God revealed?
·
It helps if you’re listening.
·
As we learned in the Sermon on the
Mount, it is the pure in heart who see God.
·
Note that Christ begins his prayer
with praise. It is the proper attitude of the human being towards
God.
All these things add up to that virtue which
we know as humility.
It is a paradox. We would expect the wise and
knowledgeable to be the fountains of knowledge about God; he tells
us that he explicitly withholds that from them. This is so that they
will know that He is searching them out and found them, not the
other way around. Instead, he makes his wisdom known to little
children and the infants — in spirit. This conforms nicely with the
title he most cherishes: Father. What father would not share with
his children? In so doing this glorifies God; it points us to our
heavenly Father. By doing this, he reveals himself to the largest
possible number of people. Not many of us have a PhD; most of us
have ears to hear and eyes to see.
A primary example of this is communion, as it
is rooted in the Cross. Paul tells us that the cross is foolishness
to the wise. So it is that communion is indeed a very simple thing.
The elements that we partake in are representative of his body and
blood. It is a simple picture. It carries a simple message: “for God
so loved the world…” His atonement is our salvation. And in all of
this he makes one simple request: that when you do this, you do it
in remembrance of Him. It is not the stuff of brilliant worldly
wisdom; it is the essence of divine love.
