At that time Jesus declared, “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.
Matthew 11:25 (ESV)
In Matthew eleven, Christ offers an astonishing admission; so astonishing in fact that, had He’d said it to a contemporary congregation, He would’ve most likely been shown the door. Jesus actually gives thanks to God for hiding the mysteries of the gospel. When most of us read this passage, we’re encouraged to discover that God imparts His divine wisdom to young hearts and minds. Yet, on closer examination, we learn this prayer should be interpreted more accurately as a rebuke, not an encouragement.
Whenever the New Testament refers to the “wise and understanding,” we tend to conjure images of those “teachers of the law” or Pharisaic priests, the kind that crucified Jesus and tested His words. Seldom do we realize that we, in all probability, would fall right in with such a crowd. Today, we have more Bible translations, insightful commentaries, and accurate scripture interpretations than the “wise and understanding” of biblical days ever had. We can expound on the cultural importance and spiritual significance of every passage and verse. We “understand” more than the scholars of Christ’s day could’ve ever dreamed. We’re able to put things into “context” and see the much bigger picture of over two thousand years of prophetic consistency. Yet, our eyes and hearts are often more blind and stubborn than any ancient Pharisee ever was.
And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. …And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Luke 19:41-44 (ESV)
It remains a sad commentary of our day that the vast majority of Biblical teaching and so called Christian insight is nothing more than a glorified game of pin the tail on the donkey. The life-shattering, divinely inspired truths of God’s holy word have been completely hidden from us. And the devastating fact remains, it’s on purpose. God Himself has chosen to hide it. This truth alone should make us pause and deeply consider. If God has chosen to keep from us the secret mysteries of His word, how then can we hope to discover the truth that will save? We grope around in the dark, convinced we see “the light,” and Jesus weeps for us. As a result, everything we do and say in His name crumbles to dust because we fail to recognize His coming to our hearts.
When you walk into a dimly lit restaurant or dark movie theatre, the pupils of your eyes unconsciously adjust, automatically enhancing what minimal light is present. Within a few moments, the darkened room appears much brighter until you can easily see the food on your plate or the seat number on the chair. The room remains darkened but appears much brighter once your eyes have fully adjusted. In the same way, we walk about in spiritual darkness, refusing the light of conviction, but are convinced that the light of Jesus somehow magically guides our lives.
The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Matthew 6:22-23 (ESV)
Many of us have gotten into a bad habit of reinventing the doctrines of Jesus in an attempt to justify our sluggish Christianity. Compromise is rechristened as compassion, mediocrity translates into grace, and worst of all, our lies become divine inspiration. The darkness is doubly dark, and tragically, we’re completely unaware of just how dark the room actually is. God hides His face, His wisdom, and His truth from us because we refuse to repent when He calls.
But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
Luke 18:34 (ESV)
In the book of Luke, we read how Jesus outlines for His disciples the things that will happen to Him once they return to Jerusalem. In just three short verses, Christ once again foretells His death and what they can expect to take place. This is His third attempt to explain the high cost of the crucified life. However, we read in verse thirty-four how the entire narrative is completely lost on the disciples. Not only that, we see that it was “hidden from them” as they could not even remotely “grasp what was said.” In the same way, the message of the cross and of its saving conviction, is written all over Scripture. Its seal is on every single chapter and verse. Yet, we gloss over it, read through passages without a second thought, completely clueless of the obvious truths hidden from our eyes. We simply do not want to hear a message of self-denial, change, and a cross which puts us to death. We cover our ears and attack the messenger. (Acts 7:57-58)
So the question remains: if God hides His wisdom from us, how can we possibly come to fully understand? To answer this question, we must go back to Matthew 11:25. Here, Christ gives us the answer.
“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;..”
Our heavenly Father reveals His truth to little children. Why is this? What makes a child able to hear the truth, unlike us so-called “wise and understanding?” The answer is quite simple. A young child genuinely and honestly desires to know the answers. They’re not encumbered by all their preconceived opinions, theologies, justifications, years of deceit, and biases. They simply ask a question directly of Jesus. This is why He calls them to His side and tell us that if we want to likewise understand, we must become like a child.
And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:2-4 (ESV)
There have been several occasions while performing at a concert or special event, when one or two young children will ask questions about the meaning of my songs. My lyrics often attempt to explore deeper concepts in scripture which, apparently, little kids want to know more about. They’ve sometimes made their way through the crowd to have a quick chat. On other occasions, they inquire of their parents who ask the question for them. This is all Jesus is looking for. A simple, unabashed sitting at His feet, humbly drawing near, relinquishing all our stupid opinions and defenses. Oh, that we would have that childlike boldness to simply ask.
And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that “‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’” And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word.
Mark 4:10-13 (ESV)
We have to get near enough to Jesus to ask our questions. To be near Him is to humble yourself. To ask a question is to admit that you don’t already know. Unlike those Pharisees who asked Him questions but only as a trap. To listen is to have a soft heart. To understand is to repent and change. For now, we remain outside the fellowship, and everything taught to us is in vague parables which we haven’t a prayer of comprehending. No wonder our congregations are sick and pastors inept. We’re just not close enough to Jesus to understand, and so the message of the cross remains hidden from our sight. The Sower sows the word but we fail to compute because our hearts are hard. We possess a form of light or godliness and could expound on all the deep cultural significance and life application, but we’re unable to perceive anything by the power of the Holy Spirit. As a result, our words may all be in the right place but our hearts remain far from Him. Brothers and sisters, we need to realize just how much is hidden from us. The deep mysteries of Gods holy word are cloaked from our full understanding. We can’t know what we don’t know until we soften our hearts. Until we come to such a day that we humbly approach Jesus and relinquish our arrogance, He will continue to hide.
The single stroke of innocence that every child has
Is lost when he realizes his existence as a man
And through every phase of his life he strives to regain
That which he somehow lost, never feels the same
Bridge
Oh, time is a thief that steals our lives away
And we can never learn to live until we learn to say
Chorus
Your grace is sufficient, Your forgiveness real
That teaches me that innocence that all children feel
To learn the wisdom only time can bring
Shunning the sorrow of men’s suffering
To learn to live as a child with the maturity of a man
Though we may desire to rebel against our fate
When we finally realize it we are years too late
And every sin that we commit against the Lord Most High
We lose one piece of innocence and one day of our lives
Repeat Bridge
Repeat Chorus
Through every phase of my life I’ve struggled to survive
To keep alive this innocence and never let it die
Days turn into weeks and the weeks into years
Innocence has been regained through each crying tear
Repeat Bridge
Repeat Chorus
Jesus loves me this I know
To learn to live as a child, with the maturity of a man