The Reading of the Week: Matthew 11:25-30.
Have you ever walked in on a conversation where people had begun using pronouns and other forms of unclear speech? You know, where they are talking about "things" and "stuff" in such a way that it's obvious to you that they have already established just what the "things" and "stuff" are, but, because you're not privy to their conversation prior to your arrival, you can only guess exactly what they mean.
This week, as we begin to explore Matthew 11:25-30, we find ourselves hearing Jesus thanking the Father for his work of hiding and revealing something, however, if we don't first establish what that something is, we'll never be capable of understanding the passage on the whole.
Thankfully, unlike a conversation with your friends, when it comes to Scripture, we can just skip back a few verses and find ourselves able to discover just what Jesus is referencing. In this case, it's verses 11:20-24 (and to some extent 11:18-19), all of which refer to how the Jewish people of Jesus day, specifically those in the major cities of Galilee, respond to his proclamation that the Kingdom of Heaven is near.
In verses 18-19, Jesus points out how this rejection of the Kingdom looked one way with John the Baptist and another with Jesus, but, in the end, rejection was still rejection. Then, in verses 20-24, Jesus compares the cities of Galilee with historically wicked Gentile cities and declares that, on Judgment Day, the wicked Gentile cities will be better off than the supposedly righteous cities of Israel who reject Jesus even as he miraculously manifests the Kingdom of Heaven in their midst.
Given how Jesus opens verse 20, we can conclude that Jesus' prayer to the Father was one of thanks that the meaning of his "mighty works" had been made known to the "little children" while being hidden from "the wise and understanding".
This naturally prompts the question, "Just who are the 'little children' and who are 'the wise and understanding'?" We'll address this tomorrow.