At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”
Here’s a curious thought: God reveals his truth, not to “the wise and the intelligent” but to “infants.” Yes, that’s what Jesus said in Luke 10. How can I be an “infant” who knows God truly? The answer has to do with my assuming a posture of humility and dependence on God. I will never know God because I’m so brilliant, but rather because God is so gracious.
In the passage from Luke that comes right before our text today, seventy of Jesus’s disciples “returned with joy” from their mission trip (10:17). They were excited about the fact that demons had submitted to them. Jesus affirmed the importance of their efforts (Luke 10:19) but encouraged them to rejoice mainly because of their eternal relationship with God (10:20).
“At that same hour,” Luke tells us, “Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit” (10:21). The context suggests that his joy was related to what had recently happened with the seventy disciples. The language of this verse emphasizes the great joy Jesus felt. The Message renders well the sense of the Greek, “Jesus rejoiced, exuberant in the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus revealed the curious reason for his joy in a short prayer: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will” (Luke 10:21). In context, “these things” are what the seventy disciples learned and what Jesus added with his coaching. “These things” have to do with the spiritual authority of Jesus’s followers and their everlasting relationship with God.
The curious part of Jesus’s prayer, from my point of view, has to do with the Father hiding “these things” from the “wise and intelligent” and revealing them to “infants.” (Yes, “infants” translates to the standard Greek word for babies.) It’s clear that Jesus is using “infants” metaphorically, for those who are not known for their wisdom and intelligence. God’s revelation comes to people like the disciples of Jesus; ordinary, even simple people, not those with academic degrees or religious credentials (see 1 Corinthians 1:18-31).
As I think about this, I wonder, “Am I left out? Does God reveal his truth to me? Or do I have way too much education?” The fact is that I’m pretty far from an infant when it comes to learning. I’ve spent a great deal of my life trying to develop my wisdom and intelligence. But does this actually count against me when it comes to knowing God and his ways?
I think it can, actually. I’ve known quite a few people who are brilliant when it comes to knowledge, even knowledge of the Scripture, but greatly lacking when it comes to knowing God truly and intimately. Their learning does get in the way of their knowing. Yet, I have known others who are people of great learning who also know God deeply. I think for example, of Chuck Smith, who was brilliant whose personal knowledge of God was profound. I know this from knowing his writing and from several personal encounters with him.
So how can a learned person know God? What’s required is true humility, genuine dependence on God, and freedom from intellectual arrogance. One can be a highly-regarded pastor, like Chuck, and still know God if one approaches God in the posture of a child. Later in Luke, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it” (18:17).
For me, becoming like a child when it comes to Scripture is a matter of submitting myself fully to God and God’s truth. Especially when I’m working on a tricky passage, I continually ask God to teach me. And when I’m done, I pray something like this, “Lord, I’ve tried my best to understand this passage. But I realize that I might be quite wrong in my conclusions. So I submit my thinking to you, indeed, my whole self to you. If I’m wrong, correct me. Teach me your truth. I give myself to you now.”
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