Musing 16

I don’t remember how it was pointed out to me (ie whether through a para-church ministry, a sermon I heard, or a book I read), but one of the impactful moments for my faith in my later teenage years was pointing out how Jesus thanked God for hiding the truth from the Pharisees in Matthew 11.

This passage was really one of the times when my picture of who Jesus is was enlarged to be more Biblical. Because this was not just Jesus directly responding to the sins of the Pharisees (whether in responding to their teachings or the thievery in the temple) but also we see Jesus’ prayer life towards His enemies modeled for us.

And in a day when we are challenged to be emotionally simplistic and to ignore nuance in how we feel, it can be comforting to see how Jesus models prayer here. In the same breath, He thanks God for the hiding of the truth from the Pharisees and turns around to thank God for revealing Himself through Jesus to the children of Israel (ie the laity).

I think we too often move past the first part of this prayer because it’s uncomfortable. What do you mean, it was part of God’s gracious will to bypass the leaders and reveal His truth directly to the laity? Isn’t that mean of God to hide His truth to those Pharisees?

And perhaps we should remember that when God demonstrates His justice, there is still grace because the fact we can witness it means we can repent. Just as the Pharisees opposed Jesus (and John the Baptist before Him), we too were opposed to Jesus in our natural state. And in the midst of a people who were on track to face judgement greater than that of Sodom’s, Jesus shows Himself to be the solution. Not only does He reveal the Father to people, but He also provides rest for those who follow Him. Unlike the Pharisees, who lay burden upon burden on their disciples, Jesus instead gives a light burden.