Luke 10:21-24
He Chose to Reveal the Father to Us?
Throughout history and across the ages there have been some very intelligent and wise men. The mind automatically goes to the Greeks – Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Indeed, these men were so blessed with wisdom that early Church Fathers such as Augustine sought to incorporate their teachings into the faith. Among the Romans was Cicero whose writings still serve as models of style and elegance. In American history, the names of Jefferson, Hamilton, and Madison will forever live as the ones whose ideas, so eloquently penned in our founding documents, have served as models for so many other governments of the world.
And yet Jesus seems little interested in the towering intellects of world history. When the seventy-two return marveling that even the demons are subject to them in Jesus’ name, when he informs them that these are telltale signs of the defeat of Satan, and that, most important, their names are written in glory, Jesus rejoices in the Holy Spirit and says, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” Indeed, Jesus puts forth little children as examples of faith (Matthew 18:3). He called fishermen and a tax collector to be among his disciples to take his message of salvation to the ends of the earth. God chooses “what is foolish in the world to shame the wise…what is weak in the world to shame the strong…what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.” And why does God do this? “So that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). Then Jesus informs the disciples (and we, living on this side of the cross) how blessed they are: “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
We see that it is God’s gracious will to hide the most important matters in this world from those whom the world considers wise and strong, and to reveal them to those whom the world deems unimportant. (We speak, of course, of matters of salvation.) You see, “All things have been handed over to [the Son] by the father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” So God chose to reveal His Son to us instead of Cicero or Thomas Jefferson. It is good to be humble; let us remain so.
