- At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” The context of Matthew 11 is how the learned religious elites fail to recognise the truth that Jesus proclaims and ultimately the truth of who Jesus is. This is their downfall. Why did Jesus think that it is good that God chose to engage with “little children” rather than “the wise and learned”? What does this teach you about how you are to relate to Christ?
If God continues to dispense truth to the elites they will be encouraged to be even more arrogant. To me this is often the case with church leaders. As the people who are so used to telling others what they should be doing they fall into the trap of thinking that they are right all the time and what they say and think are right and what they teach has to be right and they start to be trapped inside this layer of “rightness”, cut off from the truth of Scripture. At some point cultural and personal biases as well as “tradition” gets baked into the churches they lead and shape.
“Little children” may be looked down upon by the elites. It is true that they are probably more easily led astray but because they are at the beginning of their journey in the development of truth in their hearts, this allows them to respond to truth and acknowledge truth more readily and purely.
- “All things have been committed to me by my Father.” God has placed all things under Jesus’ authority and will and this is why those who are too clever and reject Jesus have made the biggest mistake of their lives. At the same time the path to all things must necessarily go through Christ. What do you think is the implication of this truth? What would you understand “all things” to encompass?
It is no mistake to entrust ourselves to Jesus, to make him our be all and end all, to put all our eggs in the Jesus basket. In that sense, there is no limit to “all things”. The child prays for a pet that is sick, the teenager prays for a boyfriend, Hannah prayed for a child, Corrie Ten Boom’s sister prayed for a handkerchief for her, a parent prays for her children’s spiritual development.
Whatever is our need in this life—health, career, resources, opportunities, healing, friends and family—Jesus can meet them. This is not to say that he gives us a blank cheque or that every of our prayers will be answered positively. Jesus has a mind of his own, an understanding of what is good and what is good for us, a strategy or strategies for his mission. He is not going to blindly put us in a position where our will and our wishes dominate. The point is that all is available to him and there is no better person to turn to.
In turning to him we do not disqualify ourselves from using the resources the world provides—medicine, education, wealth, etc—even these are his to use. Beneath it all therefore, the foundation of our life and future is Jesus, wrapped up in a destiny—heaven, adoption as sons and daughters of God—that is already baked in stone.