Jesus was thanking his heavenly father

JESUS WAS THANKING HIS HEAVENLY FATHER
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Matthew 11:25 25At that time Jesus said, "I praise
you, Father, LORD of heaven and earth, because you
have hidden these things from the wise and learned,
and revealedthem to little children.
“Even So, Father”SPURGEON
“At that time Jesus answeredand said, I thank You O Father, Lord of
Heaven and earth because You have hid these thing from the wise and
prudent and have revealedthem unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it
seemedgoodin Your sight.”
Matthew 11:25, 26
THAT is a singular way with which to commence a verse–“Atthat time Jesus
answered.” If you will look at the contextyou will not perceive that anybody
had askedHim a question, or that He was indeed in conversationwith any
human being. Yet it says, “Jesus answeredand said, I thank you, O Father.”
Now when a man answers, he answers a person who has been speaking to him.
Who, then, had been speaking to Jesus? Why, His Father!Yet there is no
record of it which should just teachus that Christ had constantfellowship
with His Fatherand often did His Father silently speak into His ear.
As we are in this world even as Christ was, letus imitate this lesson. Maywe
likewise have silent fellowship with the Father, so that often we may answer
Him. And when the world knows not to whom we speak, may we speak to God
and respond to that secretvoice which no other ear has heard–while our own
ear–openedby the Spirit of Godhas attended to it with joy. I like the
Christian sometimes to find himself obliged to speak out, or if not to speak
out, to feelan almostirrepressible desire to say something though no one is
near, because a thought has been brought to him by the Holy Spirit–a

suggestionhas beenjust castinto the midst of his soul by the Holy Spirit–and
he answers it.
God has spokento him and he longs to speak to God–eitherto setto his seal
that God is true in matter of revelationor to confess some sinof which the
Spirit of Godhas convinced him, or to acknowledgesome mercy which God’s
Providence has given, or to express assentto some greatTruth which God the
Holy Spirit has then opened to his understanding. Keep your hearts, my
Brethren, in such a state that when God speaks to you, you may be ready to
answerin spite of whatever troubles may ruffle you or whatevertrials may
disturb you. Jesus Christ had just had a time of weeping and it was succeeded
by a seasonofgrateful communion. Like Him maintain an ear ready to listen
to the voice of God and at that time answerthankfully and bless the Lord
your God.
Now it seems to me, in looking through these two verses that the Saviorwould
teachus three things. When we have learnedthese three things, I shall
endeavorto turn them to practicalaccount. He will have us first of all seek
after an enlightened apprehension of the characterofGod as Fatherand yet
Lord of Heaven and earth. He would have us next observe carefully the
manifest discrimination of hidden grace–“Youhave hid these things from the
wise and prudent and have revealed them unto babes.” He would have us,
thirdly, cultivate a spirit entirely in harmony with the divine will, thanking
Him that He has done all things according to His own purpose–“Evenso,
Father, for so it seemedgoodin Your sight.”
1. First of all, then, THE SAVIOR WOULD HAVE US ATTAIN TO AN
ENLIGHTENED APPREHENSIONOF THE CHARACTER OF GOD.
What gross mistakes men make concerning the characterof God! I believe it
is a mistake about God Himself which has been the root and foundation of all
the mistakes in theology. Our convictionis that Arminian theology, to a great
extent, makes God to be less than He is. The professors ofthat systemhave
come to receive its doctrines because theyhave not a clearunderstanding
either of the omnipotence, the immutability, or the sovereigntyof God. They
seemalways to ask the question, “What ought God to do to man who is His
creature?”
We hold that that is a question that is never to be put for it infringes on the
sovereigntyof God who has absolute right to do just as He wills. They ask the
question, “Whatwill God do with His promises if man change his habit or his
life?” We considerthat to be a question not to be asked. Whateverman does
God remains the same and abides faithful though even we should not believe

Him. They ask the question, “Whatwill be done for men who resistGod’s
grace, if in the struggle man’s will should be triumphant over the mercy of
God?” We never ask that question–we think it is blasphemous.
We believe God to be omnipotent and when He comes to strive with the soulof
man, none canstay His hand. He breaks right clearapprehension of the
characterof God, we believe, would put an end to the Arminian mistake. We
think, too, that ultra-Calvinism, which goes vastly beyond what the
authoritative teaching of Christ, or the enlightened ministry of Calvin could
warrant, gets some of its support from a wrong view of God. To the ultra-
Calvinist His absolute sovereigntyis delightfully conspicuous. He is awe-
strickenwith the great and glorious attributes of the MostHigh. His
omnipotence appalls him and His sovereigntyastonishes him.
And he at once submits as if by a stern necessityto the will of God. He,
however, too much forgets that God is love. He does not make prominent
enough the benevolent characterof the Divine Being. He annuls to some
extent the fact that while God is not amenable to anything external from
Himself, yet His own attributes are so blessedlyin harmony that His
sovereigntynever inflicted a punishment which was not just–nor did it ever
bestow a mercy until justice had first been satisfied. To see the holiness, the
love, the justice, the faithfulness, the immutability, the omnipotence and the
sovereigntyof God–allshining like a bright corona of eternal and ineffable
light–has never been given perfectly to any human being. And inasmuch as we
have not seenall these and as we hope yet to see them, our faulty vision has
been the ground of many mistakes. Hence has arisenmany of the heresies
which vex the Church of Christ.
Now, my Brethren, I would have you this morning look at the way in which
our Lord Jesus Christ regards God–“Father, Lord of Heaven and earth.” If
you and I cannot know the Almighty to perfectionbecause ofHis greatness
and of our shallowness, neverthelessletus try to apprehend these two claims
upon our adoration, in which we owe to God the reverence ofchildren and the
homage of subjects. Father!–Oh what a precious word is that! Here is
authority. “If I am a father where is My honor?” If you are sons where is your
obedience?
But here is affectionmingled with Authority. An authority which does not
provoke rebellion. An obedience demanded which is most cheerfully
rendered–whichwould not be withheld even if it might. Father!–here is a
kingly attribute so sweetlyveiled in love that the king’s crownis forgottenin
the king’s face and his scepterbecomes not a rod of iron but a silver scepterof
mercy–the scepterindeed seems to be forgottenin the tender hand of Him

that wields it. Father!–here is honor and affectionateness. Whatis a father’s
heart to his children? That which friendship cannot do and mere benevolence
will not attempt to do, a father’s heart and hand must do.
They are his offspring, he must bless them. They are his children, they spring
from his ownloins–he must show himself strong in their defense. Oh get that
thought of God, that while you obey Him as Father, yet you love Him as
Father! Do not go about the service of God as slaves about the taskmaster’s
toil, but run in the way of His commands because it is your Father’s way.
Yield yourselves up to be the instruments of righteousness,because
righteousness is your Father’s will and His will is the will of His child.
In a father, then, you will observe there is mingled authority with affection
and there is also mingled origination with relationship. The man is not father
to everything he produces. He may make the vessel–he may spend much skill
upon it as he turns it upon the wheelbut he is not its father. Even so God
made the stars but He is not their Father. He made the very angels, but I
know not that He said unto them at any time, “You are My sons.” It is true in
the sense oforigination we are all His offspring, for He made us all. But oh,
againwe repeatthe sweetword–Father!Father!There is relationship here as
well as origination. We are like He that made us–we, His chosen, are the next
of kin to the King of kings, His children! Then heirs–heirs of God and joint-
heirs with Christ Jesus–a relationshipwhich never can be dissolved.
A child can never be anything but the son of his own father–a relationship
which no sin can ever break and no pains canever loosen. The father is a
father still, though his child be dragged in the mire–although he spit in his
very father’s face. The relationship is not to be removed by any acteither of
father or of son. So stands it with the people of God. They are not only His
creatures but doubly His creatures, for He has createdthem anew in Christ
Jesus. Theyhave a relationship, for they are partakers of the divine nature,
having escapedthe corruption which is in the world through lust.
They are so near to Him that none can stand betweenthe sons of God and
God their Father, save Jesus Christ the only begottenSon who is the link of
union betweenthe two. Father! He that can lisp that word upon his knees has
uttered more eloquence than Demosthenes orCicero ever knew. Abba,
Father! He that can saythat has uttered better music than cherubim or
seraphim can reach. Abba, Father! There is Heaven in the depth of that word!
Father! There is all I need. All I canask. All my necessitiescandemand. All
my wishes cancontrive. I have all in all to all eternity when I can say,
“Father.” Oh, do not, I pray you, look upon God as a greatKing unless you
can also regardHim as your Father.

Do not dare to come into the intense brightness of His sovereigntyor it will be
to you thick darkness unless you cancall Him Father. While you stand
amazed at Him, dare not to look at the sun till you have the eagle eye of the
spirit of adoption lestit blind you. Launch not upon the sea of sovereigntytill
you have Fatherhoodat the helm–but then your little vesselmay go from the
shallows to the greatdeeps and the deeperthe sea shallbe the farther shall
you be from the rocks and the higher shall you be lifted above the quicksand.
You may go as for as you can in having Him to be Lord of Heaven and earth if
you canfirst recognize Him as being Father to your soul.
Permit me here, however, to remark that many Christians are effeminate in
their theology. They are weak in their faith because while they can say,
“Father,” they do not know God as being Lord of Heaven and earth. I take it
that Jesus meant by this expressionthat the Fatherwas by power and by right
Lord of Heaven and earth. We all concede that He is Lord of Heavenand
earth by power. From the dazzling wing of the angel down to the painted wing
of the fly–all nights of beings are controlled by Him. From the roar of earth’s
direst convulsions down to the gentle falling of a rain drop–all sounds that
break on mortal ears are modulated by Him.
From the flash of lightning down to the glimmer of the glow-worm’s lamp–
there is no light or spark that His powerdoes not kindle. He does as He wills.
Fools see men doing–wise mendiscern God doing all. In the loftiest emperor
we see Jehovah’s tooland nothing more. In the mightiest patriot we see but an
instrument in the hand of God. In all that man has done, whether it be
perverse or excellent we have learned to look beyond the material agents.
While we awardto one man curses and to another honor yet we see God
working all things after the counsels ofHis will. I am verily persuadedthat the
wildest fury of the storm is ordered in the eye of God.
I am convincedthat He has a bit in the mouth of the tempest to rein in the
winds. And so it is when battle is let loose and war rages abroadand nations
are brokenas with a rod of iron–as though they were but potters'vessels–in
every catastrophe and calamity there is the reigning God, stalking victoriously
over the battle-field to whicheverside triumph may turn. He walks among
cabinets and makes their folly serve His wisdom. He enters the heart of man
and makes its very stubbornness the pliant slave of His superior might. He
rules everywhere by power.
There are some Christians who, not knowingly perhaps, but unwittingly,
discountenance the factthat Jehovahis Lord of Heaven and earth by right.
Brethren, I pray you learn this. You have not the key of a solid theologytill
you know this GreatGod you have has absolute right to do whateverHe will

with His owncreatures. And especiallysince man has fallen does He have a
right utterly to destroy him or to save him as seems goodin His sight. No man
has any right to anything from God. Whateverright he had as a creature he
forfeited when he sinned.
Now God declares and we must acknowledgeit to be a declarationof
unimpeachable right–“I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will
have compassiononwhom I will have compassion.”“So,then, it is not of him
that wills nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy. What if God,
willing to show His wrath and to make His powerknown, endured with much
long-suffering the vessels ofwrath fitted to destruction, so that He might make
known the riches of His glory on the vessels ofmercy which He had afore
prepared unto glory?” Who shall find fault, or who shall dispute His will? I
would that the Christian Church did not think so lightly of God’s sovereignty.
I grant you it is an awesome doctrine. All greatTruths must produce awe
upon little minds like ours. I grant you it is a doctrine which the boasted
freedom of man’s thoughts will not readily receive. Be it so, it is the more true
to me, for what is this freedom of men’s thoughts in modern times but
licentiousness?Whatis it but a sort of mental dissoluteness by which they say,
“We will castoff the yoke of God, we will break His bands in sunder and cast
awayHis Words from us”? Oh, be wise. Kiss the Son for he is your King. Bow
down before your God–fordispute it as you may–He is your Lord. Yield to
His sovereigntyfor He will be sovereignevenif you will not meekly yield.
Confess that He has a right to do as He wills, for He will do as He wills
whether you confess it or not. Do not seek to deny His right to reign, but
rather say, “The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice, let the multitudes of the
isles be glad thereat.” Where could powerbe better placed–who bettercould
be trusted with all strength than the infinitely Wise, the boundlessly Good?
GreatGod! It were a calamity indeed if You had not an absolute right to do
Your own will when that will is always goodand always right and always kind
and always bestfor the sons of men.
II. Well now, Brethren, if you have got a clearand enlightened apprehension
of God’s relationship as Father and as SovereignLord, I am not afraid to
trust you with the study of doctrine. You will not go far wrong.
But next, Christ would have us carefully observe THE DISCRIMINATING
CHARACTER OF GOD’S GRACE. “Youhave hid these things from the wise
and prudent and have revealedthem unto babes.”
Is it not, my dear Friends, a notorious fact that the things of God are hidden
from the wise and prudent? Castyour eye around now upon the greatmen in

the literature of today–how very few of them are willing to receive the things
of God! And though in the past we can number among reasoners suchmen as
Locke and Bacon. And among poetic minds such men as Cowperand Milton.
And though we can go back and find some men of wisdom and some men of
greatmental caliberwho have receivedthe Truth as it is in Jesus–yetstillit is
to be confessedthat they make but a very small part of the great whole. They
are but the exceptionwhich proves the rule.
It is true of ancient and modern, the past and the present–“These things are
hidden from the wise and prudent.” See what the wise and prudent do. A
large number of them will disdain to listen to the things of God. “Pooh,” they
say, “religionfor the mob–it suits very well the poor, we dare say–but we are
intelligent, we are instructed–we do not need to go and hear such mere
simplicities and elementary teaching as that.”
So they turn upon their heel and go and speak againstthe thing which they
have never heard, or which, if they have heard, they have not understood.
Then those who will hear–do you not perceive how they laugh? Where the
poor simpleminded man walks right straight into Heaven’s gate–thesemen
have raisedobjections to the manner in which the nails are put in the gate–or
to certain stones that pave the way and they cannot go in until they know the
precise pattern of everything in the heavenly place. They raise objections
where we should see none.
While we take the provisions of Truth and sit down and feed at the table they
are objecting to the way in which the flesh is carvedor the wine poured out.
And then there are others of them who not only raise objections but set
themselves willfully to oppose. Mark you this–I do not believe there is a single
honest man living who, having heard the Gospelsimply preached–doesnot in
his conscience believe it to be true. I am persuadedthat light will penetrate.
There is such force, suchenergy in Christ–the powerof Godand the wisdom
of God–it must and will pierce through some crevice and convince at leasta
natural conscience.
But this is the very reasonwhy men oppose it–they do not want it to be true. It
would be unpleasant for them if it were true. They would be compelled to live
more strictly than they do. They feel it would cut againsttheir previous
notions and pull down their old prejudices. They love darkness. Whatthey do
not want to be true they try to prove not to be true and that is the easiestthing
in the world. I could prove by syllogismany lie which I wanted to believe and
so could you. You caneither bid the Truth be quiet because its shrill note
awakensyou out of a sleepwhich you love–orelse you can setup a counter-

noise which shall drown the unwelcome sound, so that you cannothear the
celestialvoice.
I know why men brag. We well understand why they speak loud words of
blasphemy. As sure as ever a man is too bold, there is an unquiet conscienceto
prompt him. Do not set down the blasphemies of Voltaire to any real doubts.
That man was as firm a believer as you and I, but he was not honest. Do not
put down, I pray you, the blatant blasphemy of Tom Paine to a convictionthat
Christianity was not true. He knew it was true and he, perhaps, of all men was
the grossestofliars to his own soul–forhe fought againsta Truth which his
own conscienceacknowledgedto be taught of God.
Oh, let us see to it that while these wise and prudent men are discussing and
disputing and objecting and dividing–let us see to it that we do not imitate
them! Lest haply these things should be hidden from us and not revealedto us
though we are babes.
But while these wise and prudent ones are passedby, how graciouslyGodhas
revealedHis Truth to babes, to men of simple minds! In the eye of the wise
they might be credulous–inthe judgment of the prudent they might be
superstitious–but they heard the Gospel. It fitted their case. It was just the
thing they wanted. They were guilty–it offeredthem pardon. They were lost–it
provided them a Savior. They were castaway–itfound them a Shepherd who
had come to seek and to save that which was lost. They took it–they laid hold
of it. They found it gave them joy and comfort, peace and rest.
They went on, they found their experience tallied with what they had learned.
They examined more and more. They never found a flaw or discrepancy
betweenthe feelings within and the teaching without. And they, though they
were but babes and could not argue, though they were but children and could
not discuss, though they were fools and did not pretend to be wise–they
entered into the kingdom of God–andattained to the enjoyment of the peace
which Jesus gives to them that trust Him!
Do you ask why is it God has not been pleasedto call by His grace the wise
and prudent? Albert Barnes says as a reasonwhy the wise and prudent do not
come, “Becausethey have peculiar mental temptations, because they think the
Gospelto be beneath their consideration, because itdoes not flatter their
pride. And because againthey are so occupiedwith their wisdom that they
have no time for the things of God.” Now these are very goodreasons why
they do not acceptthe Gospel, but not the reasonwhy God does not call them.
God’s reasonfor calling or not calling a man is not in man but in Himself. So
we are told in the text–“Evenso, Father, for so it seemedgoodin Your sight.”

Why, then, did He not ask them? You may ask Gabriel before the Throne, but
he cannot tell you. You may ask all the people of God everywhere–butthey
cannot tell you either–forthe reasonis that Godwilled it and there we must
let it rest. “Evenso, Father, for so it seemedgoodin Your sight.” He could
have converted emperors upon their thrones. He could have made the
philosopher a preacher. He could, if He would, have subdued the loftiestmind
to His service. If He chose the fishermen and the unenlightened peasants of
the Lake of Galilee, He did so because He would. There we must leave it–ask
no accountof His Affairs–but tremble and be still.
III. Yet when we come to our lastpoint, which we shall now do, I think we
shall see some reasonwhy we canin our very hearts most truly acquiesceand
admire the wisdom and graciousness ofthe divine choice.
I come, then, to this third point, THE SAVIOR WOULD HAVE HIS
PEOPLES'HEARTS IN PERFECTAGREEMENTWITHTHE WILL AND
ACTION OF GOD.
“Father,” saidJesus, “Ithank You that You have hid these things from the
wise and prudent and have revealed them unto babes.”
Brothers and Sisters, canyou say, “I thank You, Father,” too? Many of you
can for personalreasons, foryou were babes. Ah, we were eachof us but
babes. He who stands before you, if he is chosenof God, as he trusts he is,
certainly never belonged to the wise and prudent. When I have sometimes had
it flung in my teeth–“This man was never educatedat college. This man came
into the ministry in literary attainments totally unprepared for it. He is only
fit to address the poor–his ministry is not polite and polished–he has but little
classicalinstruction. He cannot read forty languages.”
I say to them, Preciselyso. Everyword of it is true and a greatdeal more. I
would not stop you if you would go on–if you will just show me more of my
folly–if you will just point out to me yet more of my lack of prudence. If the
wise man would say, “This man takes a daring projectin hand and does not
consult any man, does not tell anybody about it, but goes and does it like a
madman”–just so, preciselyso. I will agree to the whole of it. But when I have
said this I will remind you, “God has chosenthe base things of this world to
confuse the mighty and the things that are not to bring to nothing the things
that are.”
This time I will sayit, in this thing I will become a foolin glorying–Whathave
your college men done that is comparable to this work? Whathave the wisest
and most instructed of modern ministers done in the conversionof souls

compared with the work of this unlettered boy? It was God’s work and God
chose the most unfitting instrument so that He might have the more glory.
And He shall have the glory–I will not take any of it myself by pretending to
an education I have not received, or an attainment I do not possess,oran
eloquence which I never coveted. I speak God’s Words and God, I know,
speaks through me and works through me and unto Him be the glory. I can
join with many of you personally for thanking Him that He has “revealed
these things to babes, which have been hidden from the wise and prudent.”
But don’t you understand, my Brethren, that if the Lord in His sovereignty
had takenanother course, it would have been our duty still to be thankful?
Ah, you that boastyour pedigrees!He has dashedthem. You that flaunt your
golden eagles–youlack the splendor of His smile. You who are clothed in
purple and you who fare sumptuously every day–what cares He for your
greatness?Letthe crowdstand and gape at you. Let the fool bow down in
admiration but the King of kings, the Lord of lords, regards you no more then
menials that serve His will but are not of His council and know not His secret.
He has put a stain upon proud distinctions. See, too, how He spits upon the
boastfulness ofhuman learning! And you that have the keyof Heaven and will
not enter yourselves, neither suffer the poor and ignorant to enter–how has
He laughed at your pretensions!
“The scribes and Phariseessitin Moses'seatand they say, ‘We are the men
and wisdom will die with us.’ ” They come forth flaunting their degrees and
boasting their high and lofty credentials but He casts dust into your faces and
leaves you all to your blind confusion. Then, stooping down from His
mightiness, He takes up the babe. Though it be a learned babe, if it be a babe,
He takes it. I mean, though it has riches, though it has skill, though it has
credentials, He does not castit away from Him for that reasonbut He does
not choose itfor that reason, either.
He takes it, it is a babe. It is willing to be nothing. It is willing to be a fool. The
prince may be as willing to be saved as the pauper is. The greatman may be
willing to stoopand to lie at the feet of Jesus as though he were nobody. He
takes these, these are the men that God has chosen–humble and contrite–they
that tremble at His Word. Oh, because He has thus stained the pride of all
glory, let His people rejoice. Let all His saints be glad thereat!
I wish, my dear Friends, that those who are so afraid of the doctrine of
electionwould remember that it is the only lasting source of joy to a Christian.
You say, “How is that? Surely we ought to rejoice most in our usefulness.” No,
note the twelve Apostles went out to preach and they were so successfulthat

Christ said, “I saw Satanas light fall from Heaven,” but He said to them,
“Nevertheless, rejoicenotin this but rather rejoice becauseyour names are
written in Heaven.” Our electionis a perennial spring. When other streams
are dry, the factthat our names are written in Heaven shall yield us comfort
still.
And you will remark, as I have before observed, Christ had just been
exceedinglysorrowfulbecause Capernaum and Bethsaida had rejectedHis
Word, but He finds comfort and begins to thank His God because there was a
remnant after all, according to the electionof grace. PeopleofGod! Do not
stand afraid of this precious Truth but love it, feed upon it, rejoice in it and it
shall be as oil to your bones, it shall supply them with marrow and give
strength to your very being!
IV. Having thus explained the text as best I could, I want your earnest
attention while I try to make some practicaluse of it. Three or four things to
three or four characters.
A word to those Christians who are downcast, trodden, afflicted. You have
lost a friend, you have had losses in your business. You have been tried in
body, you have been afflicted by the calumnies of your enemies. Very well, but
you have still something to rejoice about. Come, dry those eyes, take that harp
from the willow. Come now, sit no longer on the dunghill. Take offthat
sackcloth, remove those ashes. Takethe oil of joy and put on the garment of
praise and say this morning, “Father, I thank You that You have hid these
things from the wise and prudent and have revealedthem unto babes.” At
leastyou have this to thank God for–althoughyou were a simpleton, a very
fool in your own estimation–yetyou have received the Truth as it is in Jesus
and you have been savedthereby. Let all the chosenseedbe glad and take
heart and rejoice in God.
The next piece of practicalinstruction is this–let us learn, my Brethren, the
wickedfolly of those professedChristians who despise the poor. There is
growing up, even in our Dissenting Churches, an evil which I greatly deplore–
a despising of the poor. I frequently hear in conversationsuchremarks as this,
“Oh, it is no use trying in such a place as this, you could never raise a self-
supporting cause. There are none but poor living in the neighborhood.” If
there is a site to be chosenfor a chapel, it is said, “Well, there is such a lot of
poor people round about you would never be able to keepa minister. It is no
use trying. They are all poor.”
You know that in the City of London itself, there is now scarcea Dissenting
place of worship. The reasonfor giving most of them up and moving them into

the suburbs is that all the respectable people live out of town and of course,
they are the people to look after. They will not stop in London–they will go out
and take villas–andlive in the suburbs. And therefore, the best thing is to take
the endowment which belongedto the old chapeland go and build a new
chapel somewhere in the suburbs where it may be maintained.
“No doubt,” it is said, “the poor ought to be lookedafter, but we had better
leave them to another order, an inferior order–the City Missionaries willdo
for them–sendthem a few streetpreachers.” But as to the idea of raising a
cause where they are all poor people, why there is hardly a minister that
would attempt it. Now my experience of poor people convinces me that all this
talk is folly. If there are any people who love the cause ofGod better than
others, I believe it is the poor–whenthe grace ofGod takes realpossessionof
their heart. In this place, for instance, I believe we have but very few who
could be put down among the rich.
There have been some who have castin their lot among us just now but still
the mass who did the work of building this house and who have stoodside by
side with me in the battle of the last sevenyears must be reckonedamong the
poor of this world. They have been a peaceable people, a happy people, a
working people, a plain people and I say, “Godbless the poor!” I would fear
no difficulties whateverin commencing a cause ofChrist, even though the
masses were poor. I am persuaded that the rich who are truly the people of
God love to come and assistwhere there are poor. If you were to castout the
poor you would castout the Church’s strength–youwould give up that which
is after all, the backbone ofthe Church of Christ.
I think we have been doing wrong in neglecting the City of London itself. It is
true, I do not believe some ministers could getcongregationsin London–it is a
pity they have them anywhere–menwho cannotcall a spade a spade, or a loaf
of bread a loafof bread. They are so refined and speak suchfine and polished
language that you would think they were not natives of England and had
never heard the people speak their own homely brogue.
May the Lord raise up among us men that speak marketlanguage, that have
sympathy with the people and that speak the people’s tongue and we shall
prove that it is an infamous falsehood, that the causescannotbe maintained in
poor neighborhoods. They canbe and they shall be. Why, Brethren, are we to
say that we will give up the poor merely to the missionary? We complain that
the artisanwill not come to hear. That the coarse jacketwill not listen. It is
not true. The coarse jacketis as ready to listen as is the broadcloth if he had
something to listen to.

If it is the Gospel, they that walk are as ready to come as they that ride, if they
could but understand. I think that those who are gifted with this world’s
goods, orwith this world’s wisdom, will do right wellif instead of looking out
for respectable positions they will look out for the poorestpositions, for there
they will find the most of those whom God has chosen–the poorin this world,
rich in faith, heirs of the kingdom. I would not saya word to setglass against
glass. ForI suppose that the soul of a rich man is no less worth than the soul
of the poorest. All stand alike in the sight of God. But I do enter my solemn
protest againstmen who say that the religion of Christ is not fit for the poor
neighborhoods and only meant for our respectable suburbs.
It is not true, Brethren! It is a greatand gross heresyagainstthe goodness of
God and againstthe adaptation of the GospelofChrist to the needs of the
poor. They can sustainChurches. Look at the raggedchurches in Glasgow
and Edinburgh. They call them ragged. But you see as cleanfaces and as
intellectual countenances there as you would anywhere. If they find a man
who can preachthat they can hear, they will maintain and support him. The
Gospelof Christ will find as ready and faithful adherents among the poorest
of the poor, as amongstthe richest of the rich and far more so in proportion.
Another homily, which you will think rather strange, is this–How wrong the
Church of Christ is when it neglects the rich. “Well,” you say, “that is not in
the text. It says these things were hidden from the wise and prudent.” Yes, I
know they were, but Christ thanked God they were. “I thank you,” He said
“that you have hid these things.” What then? If I preachto the rich, to the
wise, to the prudent and they rejectit, have I lost my toil? No, no–there is
cause for thankfulness even then. We are to preach the Gospelto every
creature without any distinction whatever–highor low–greatorsmall.
“Well, but the wise and prudent will not hear it.” We know. But if they reject
it, still there is matter for thankfulness that they heard it. “Why?” you say.
Why because we are unto God a sweetsmelling savorboth in them that are
savedand in them that perish. To the one we are a savorof life unto life and to
the other a savorof death unto death but to God, still, a sweetsmelling savor.
What? Is God glorified in the damnation of the wise and prudent? Yes,
tremendous fact! At the winding up of this world’s drama, God will be
glorified in the men that shut their eyes againstHis grace as wellas in the men
whose eyes are opened to receive it.
The yells of Hell shall be but the deep bass of the everlasting music of which
the songs in Heaven are the air. God, the Terrible One, shall have praise from
the wise and prudent when their folly shall be discovered, whentheir wisdom
shall be dashed in pieces or torn to shreds. God, the terrible avengerof His

own Gospelshall be glorified when those are castout who having heard the
Gospelwere too wise to believe it and having listenedto it were too prudent to
give their praise to it. In either case Godis glorified and in either case Christ
gives thanks and devoutly gives thanks.
To the rich, then as well as to the poor. To the hopeless case as wellas to the
hopeful. To the wise as well as to the babe we should preachChrist–because
even if they are not saved, still, God is glorified. He gothonor even upon
PharaohHis enemy, when he perished in the midst of the sea.
And now, last of all, you who are babes, you who perhaps, “know and know
no more than the Bible true,” you who never read a word of Greek or Latin
and sometimes cannotspell the hard words of English–you say, “I do not go to
a place of worship, I am so ignorant.” Do you not perceive your own
wickednessin staying away? Godhas revealedthese things unto babes and if
there are any men that ought to come certainly it is you. When the poor man
says, “Oh, a place of worship is not for me,” he is without excuse becausethe
Scripture expressly says, “Godhas chosenthe base things and the things that
are not, to bring to nothing the things that are.”
I invite any man and every man to listen to the Gospeland if you do not come,
you certainly do despise a very precious promise. You think the Gospelis not
meant for hard-working men, but it is meant for you–for you above all others.
You say, “Christ is a gentleman’s Christ.” No, He is the people’s Christ. “I
have exalted One chosenout of the people.” Do you think our religion is
meant for the learned? Notso–itis meant for the most foolish and most
ignorant. We rejoice to know that the poor have the Gospelpreachedto them.
But if they will not come and hear it their guilt shall be sevenfold–seeing there
were specialwords of comfort for them–there were choice sentencesof
invitation for them.
If they do not come and listen they must perish miserably–without the
pretense of a shadow–ora dream of an excuse. Ah, you who are so poor that
you scarceknow where to lay your heads. You that are so ignorant that a
raggedschoolmight perhaps be your best academy, “Come you, come buy
wine and milk, without money and without price.” Come you as you are to the
greatTeacherofyour souls. Trust Him as you are. Trust His precious blood,
His glorious Cross, His intercessionbefore the Eternal Throne–and you shall
have reasonto sayin the words of the Master, “Father, I thank You that You
have hid these things from the wise and prudent and have revealedthem unto
babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemedgoodin Your sight.”

BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The RevelationTo Babes
Matthew 11:25
W.F. Adeney
St. Luke associatesthese words with the return of the seventy from their
triumphant mission (Luke 10:21). Therefore we see that our Lord is not
thinking only or chiefly of children, but rather of the childlike. To these God
has revealedgreattruths which he has not given to the worldly wise. So,
following the context of St. Matthew, we are reminded that the citizens of
Capernaum and other towns missed the truth which a handful of fishermen
had laid hold of. At first the gospelbeganto spread among the lowerclassesof
the Romanempire. The same is seenin India to-day.
I. WHY THE REVELATION IS HIDDEN FROM THE WISE. This cannot
be owing to an arbitrary decisionof God without need or reason. We must
look for the explanation in the characterand conduct of the wise. Now, it is
not to be supposed that our Lord would depreciate intellectas such, because
that would be to speak ill of one of the greatworks of God; moreover, he had
a greatintellect himself. Neithercould he wish to discourage mental activity,
to praise indolence and carelessnessofthought. Where, then, do the
disadvantages ofthe wise lie?
1. The wise have no specialprivilege in regardto religious truth. This does not
reachus through intellectualefforts, nor does it rest on a foundation of
scientific or literary acquirements. The child and the philosopher, the simple
and the learned, must find God's greatesttruth in the same way, and that a
way as open to the babe in intellect as to the intellectual giant.
2. The wise are tempted to look in the wrong direction for religious truth. The
man of science cannoteasilyescape fromthe thraldom of his scientific
methods; the scholaris often so buried in his learning that he finds it hard to
lift up his eyes from his books - and, alas ] the truth he most needs is not in
them; the thinker cannotescape from the notion that he by his thought must
reachtruth more readily than those who have not his trained faculties, and he
tries to climb to religious truth on the aerialladder of speculation.

3. The wise are in danger of pride. It is difficult for them to confess their
ignorance and helplessness.The truly wise are perhaps most ready to do this;
but Christ rather referred to those who accountedthemselves wise orwho had
a reputation for wisdom, such as the scribes.
II. HOW THE REVELATION IS REVEALED TO BABES.
1. We must remember that it is a revelation. The truth of Christ is not a
product of human thinking, nor is it a discoverythat men have to make for
themselves. It could never be got by the pursuit of science orlearning. It is a
gift of God, and he cangive it as readily to a babe as to a wise man.
2. This revelationonly comes to those who are receptive. A feeling of wisdom
is rather one of fulness and satisfaction. It is necessary, however, to feel empty
and needing light and guidance. Now, the childlike soul is just in this
condition.
3. The knowledge oftruth is conditioned by faith. Some despise religious faith
as lacking in foundation, and treat knowledge oreven doubt as superior to it.
But this is to misapprehend religious faith, which is not the acceptanceofa
creed, but trust in a Person. We want grounds for this confidence, but when
we trust God we are prepared to receive his revelation, and the most childlike
are the most ready to trust him. - W.F.A.
Biblical Illustrator
Becausethou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent.
Matthew 11:25
Why God reveals to babes

J. Leckie, D. D.
The babe is the representative of the receptive spirit — trusting, open to
impression, free from prejudice. Wisdom — like wealthand power — is an
obstruction, not in itself, but in the temper and frame of mind it is apt to
produce. On the other hand, there is, in this preference of the child-spirit, no
encouragementofspiritual pride, as if ignorance and mental indolence were
things of dignity and worth in themselves. The prime requisites in the child-
spirit are unconsciousness andhumility. The grounds for God's dealing thus
are as follows: —
I. To REVEAL TO BABES HARMONIZES WITH GOD'S CHARACTER
AS A FATHER, AND ILLUSTRATES IT. "Babe" is counterpart to
"Father." A father's heart is not attractedto the brilliance or powerin his
family, but to the want. The child who knows his father will have a knowledge
of things beyond the reachof research.
II. To REVEAL TO BABES GLORIFIES GOD AS LORD OF HEAVEN
AND EARTH. The higher and mightier you conceive Godto be, the more
necessaryit is to know that he is lowly, and to have abundant proof of it. But
oh I how near God comes;how dear He is to us by His frequent close
relationship to the poor and lowly. We are drawn to the mighty God who is
drawn to the babes.
III. GOD THUS MANIFESTS THE SUPREMACYOF THE MORAL
ELEMENT. The understanding has but a narrow horizon; the spirit
embraces eternity and God. Intellect is the fibre of the plant, the moral and
spiritual are the sap that turns everything into flowerand fruit. Knowledge
and ingenuity are as nothing without righteousness.Whatinventiveness or
brilliancy could ever supply the place of honesty faithfulness, goodwillin the
homes of men?
IV. GOD THUS SHOWS HIS DESIRE TO REVEAL AS MUCH AS
POSSIBLE, AND TO AS MANY AS POSSIBLE. Had He revealedspecially
to intellect, to the wise and understanding, what a little circle, what a select
coterie it would have been! The greatmass of mankind are burdened with
labour, and cannot develop greatlytheir intellectual nature. But by revealing
to babes, God gives hope to universal humanity. While few can be wise and
learned, all may become babes. It is man himself that God wants, not his
accomplishments, his energies, his distinctions.
(J. Leckie, D. D.)

The greatparadox
H. R. Reynolds, B. A.
Ignorant men have argued from these words that sound knowledge is
incompatible with the child-like spirit. It is possible to forgetin the wisdom of
this world Him whom the world by wisdom never knew. Our Lord uttered
these words when He permitted His disciples to listen to His communings with
the Father. We know more of eachother when we pray than when we teach.
I. THE APPARENT PARADOXINVOLVED IN THESE WORDS. "Thou
hast hid," etc. All revelation is to some extent a concealment. The veil is
drawn aside, but never taken away. When an infinite God reveals Himself to
man, by necessityofour nature He hides far more than He manifests. The
specialrevelationwhich Godhas made to some individuals, is the very process
by which he has concealedHimself from others; for there are two conditions
of Divine revelationby which God brings his truth to bear upon the human
heart.
1. The external circumstance and event. There can be Be specialrevelation to
any man without a willingness on God's part to confer upon some events or
some teacherHis ownauthorization, and a willingness on man's part to
receive the revelation as such. Therefore the revelationmade to some is
necessarilya concealment from others.
2. The mental pro-requisites, subjective state or moral condition capable of
receiving a Divine revelation. All conditions of understanding and emotion are
not equally receptive; hence it is concealedfrom those who have not right
moral conditions. It becomes ofgreatimportance to know what is the
disposition which most of all fits us for the receptionof the Divine message?
The highest revelations of Godare made to the moral nature, other knowledge
is illumined by the higher spiritual wisdom. The humble heart knows more
than the massive intellect. It may be mortifying, but it is patent.
II. THE REDEEMER'SJUDGMENT, AND GRATITUDE CONCERNING
IT.
1. He attributes this arrangement to the universal Lord — "O Lord of heaven
and earth." The apparent paradox is a Divine arrangement, not an
unfortunate accident. There is not more conformity betweenthe eye and light,
betweenthe earand sound, than betweenthe child-like soul and God's
revelation of heavenly things. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom." He has determined with royal independence, through what organs,
to what condition, He will revealHimself.

2. The Saviour acquiescesin this arrangement, not simply as an actof
universal sovereignty, but as most merciful and good;as the Father's good
pleasure. It was a fatherly wayand method.
3. Christ does more than throw the responsibility on God; He thanks God that
it is so. He rejoicedbecause He felt the amplitude of this provision. This
principle of discrimination was the widestand noblest that canbe conceived.
Had it been to intellect only a few could have receivedthe revelation;moral
conditions are possible to all. Christ rejoicedin this mode because it satisfied
the yearnings of His own heart, for He proceeds to say to the weary"Come
unto Me, all ye that labour," etc. To man distractedby the wisdom of the
world He thus appeals.
(H. R. Reynolds, B. A.)
The proud and the lowly
The ConregationalPulpit.
I. THE INHERENT PROPRIETYOF THIS ARRANGEMENT.
1. There were greatmoral disqualifications in the wise and prudent.
(1)They were covetous.
(2)They were proud.
(3)They were prejudiced.
2. There were greatpreparatory qualifications in the babes.
(1)They were humble.
(2)They were tractable.
(3)They were conscious oftheir needs. In what frame of mind do you seek
gospelblessings?
II. SEE THE REASONS OF THIS ARRANGEMENTIN RELATION TO
THE MINISTRYOF CHRIST.
1. His position was one of self-humiliation, and therefore it was unsuitable
that the rich and mighty should be among His followers.
2. His work was peculiarly a work of God, therefore He avoidedthe
appearance ofusing the wisdom of this world, or any of its carnalagencies.
3. He came for the sake of all classes, andit was needful, in order to elevate
all, that He should begin at the lowest.
(The ConregationalPulpit.)

"Even so, Father
C. H. Spurgeon
I. THE SAVIOUR WOULD HAVE US ATTAIN TO AN ENLIGHTENED
APPREHENSIONOF THE CHARACTER OF GOD.
II. Christ would have us carefully observe THE DISCRIMINATING
CHARACTER OF GOD'S GRACE.
III. THE SAVIOUR WOULD HAVE HIS PEOPLE'S HEARTS IN
PERFECTAGREEMENTWITH THE RULE AND ACTION OF GOD.
IV. PRACTICAL USE OF THE TEXT.
(C. H. Spurgeon)
The kingdom, of God hid from the wise and revealedunto babes
J. C. Philpot.
I. THE CHARACTERS NAMED in the text from whom certain truths are
hidden.
1. "The wise " seemto be those who are seeking to become acquainted with
Divine truth by the exercise oftheir natural faculties.
2. The " prudent " man is one who always shapes his course in the path which
is most consistentwith his worldly interests.
3. "The babe" is the direct opposite of those we have described, and yet one to
whom the Lord graciouslycondescends to reveal these things which He hides
from them. The feature of the babe is
(1)helplessness,
(2)ignorance. But we need not limit the "babe " to the age ofinfancy.
(3)Greatteachability,
II. WHAT ARE THESE THINGS THAT GOD HIDES FROM ONE
CHARACTER AND MAKES KNOWN TO THE OTHER?
1. The workings of godly fears in the soul is a branch of Divine truth which
the Lord hides from the wise and prudent and reveals unto babes.
2. God hides from the wise and prudent a spiritual acquaintance with His law.
3. The operations and exercisesofa living faith in a tender conscienceare
hidden from the wise and prudent.

4. God hides from them the exercise ofa living hope.
5. The breathing forth of spiritual affections he hides.
6. He hides all the savour, and unction, and sweetness, and powerof truth.
(J. C. Philpot.)
Revelationa concealment
H. R. Reynolds, B. A.
The belt of light thrown oversome divisions of the greatsphere of knowledge
leaves the rest in apparently deepershade. All language by expressing some
thoughts conceals many others. Much is repressedby every effort that we
make towards expression. If we try to unbosom our hearts to eachother, we
hide as much as we reveal. We wrap ourselves round in mystery when we are
most communicative. All art is concernedas much in hiding what ought to be
concealedas in making knownwhat is meant to be expressed.
(H. R. Reynolds, B. A.)
Revelationaddressedto the heart of man
F. W. Newman.
It should not surprise us when men of acute and powerful understandings
more or less rejectthe gospel, for this reason, that the Christian revelation
addresses itselfto our hearts, to our love of truth and goodness, ourfear of
sinning, and our desire to gainGod's favour; and quickness, sagacity, depth of
thought, strength of mind, powerof comprehension, perception of the
beautiful, powerof language, andthe like, though they are excellentgifts, are
clearly quite of a different kind from these excellences — a man may have the
one without having the other. This, then, is the plain reasonwhy able, or,
again, why learned men are so defective Christians, because there is no
necessaryconnectionbetweenfaith and ability; because faith is one thing and
ability is another; because ability of mind is a gift, and faith is a grace. Who
would ever argue that a man could, like Samson, conquer lions, or throw
down the gates ofa city, because he was able, or accomplished, or experienced
in the business of life? Who would everargue that a man could see because he
could hear, or run with the swift because he had " the tongue of the learned
"? These gifts are different in kind. In like manner, powers of mind and
religious principles and feelings are distinct gifts; and as all the highest
spiritual excellence, humility, firmness, patience, would never enable a man to

read an unknown tongue, or to enter into the depths of science, so allthe most
brilliant mental endowments, wit, or imagination, or penetration, or depth,
will never of themselves make us wise in religion. And as we should fairly and
justly deride the savage who wishedto decide questions of science orliterature
by the sword, so may we justly look with amazement on the error of those who
think that they can masterthe high mysteries of spiritual truth, and find their
way to God, by what is commonly calledreason, i.e., by the random and blind
efforts of mere mental acuteness, andmere experience of the world.
(F. W. Newman.)
Hidden for want of sight
Hoge.
Unconverted men often say, "If these things are so, if they are so clearand
great, why cannotwe see them?" And there is no answerto be given but this,
"Ye are blind." "But we want to see them. If they are real, they are our
concernas well as yours. Oh, that some preacher would come who had power
to make us see them!" Poorsouls, there is no such preacher, and you need not
wait for him. Let him gather God's light as he will, he canbut pour it on blind
eyes. A burning glass will condense sunbeams into a focus of brightness;and if
a blind eye be put there, not whir will it see, though it be consumed. Light is
the remedy for darkness, notblindness. Neitherwill strong powers of
understanding on your part serve. The greatEarl of Chatham once went with
a pious friend to hear Mr. Cecil. The sermon was on the Spirit's agency in the
hearts of believers. As they were coming from church, the mighty statesman
confessedthat he could not understand it all, and askedhis friend if he
supposedthat any one in the house could. "Why yes," said he, "there were
many plain unlettered women, and some children there, who understood
every word of it, and heard it with joy."
(Hoge.)
The .Mysteries ofthe gospelhid from many
John Newton.
I. WHAT MAY BE INTENDED BYTHESE THINGS?
1. In general, the things pertaining to salvation.
2. More particularly, those doctrines which are in an especialsensepeculiarto
the gospel, seemhere to be intended, such as

(a)the Divinity of Christ,
(b)distinguishing grace,
(c)the new birth,
(d)the nature of the life of faith.
II. WHERE, AND IN WHAT SENSE, ARE THESE THINGS HID?
1. They are hid in Christ (Colossians 2:3); therefore
(a)you canattain to no saving truth, but in and by the knowledge ofJesus
Christ.
(b)Whatever seeming knowledge you have, if it does not endear Him to you it
is nothing worth.
2. They are hid in God's Word.
(a)They are containedthere.
(b)Yet though contained there, they are not plain to every eye.Theyare not
hid in the sense that seekers shallnot find, but that those who seek to cavil
shall meet with something to confirm their prejudices. Application: Do not
entertain hard and perplexing thoughts about the counsels ofGod, either
respecting others or yourselves.
(John Newton.)
Concealmentand Revelation
M. Braithwaite.
I. Divine things CONCEALED. Notthrough any deficiencyof revelation, nor
by arbitrary will.
II. Divine things REVEALED. The revelationof Divine realities is made to
prepared souls. Elicits thankfulness.
III. THE UNWILLING ALONE SUFFER PRIVATION AND LOSS. God will
not force His truth and mercy upon man.
(M. Braithwaite.)
Saintliness better than learning
Canon Adam S. Farrar.
There died five-and-twenty years ago in France a village priest, the Cure of
Ars, a small hamlet about thirty miles north of Lyons. He was so devoid of

worldly learning that he was long unable to obtain orders, until some bishop
had the wisdom to perceive that saintliness was a better claim to orders than
technicallearning. In that village this priest ministered for many years,
preaching, lecturing, hearing confessionsallday long. Sceptics came from
Paris;and the bursts of his spiritual fire burnt deep into their consciences.
During the last year of his life no less than 80,000 persons flockedto his
church to listen to his religious advice. Such as he was, a standing argument
for Christianity, a standing evidence of its being a living influence, such may
every one of us be; for it was not knowledge but holiness that constituted his
power. The secretofhis strength was his weakness. His powerwas not his
own. His soul lay at the foot of the Cross, his body at the foot of the altar; he
was made a temple of the Holy Ghost. He was an epistle knownand read of all
men.
(Canon Adam S. Farrar.)
The things of revelation cannot be seenunless shown
Newton.
Let me suppose a person to have a curious cabinet, which is opened at his
pleasure, and not exposedto common view. He invites all to come to see it, and
offers to show it to any one who asks him. It is hid, because he keeps the key;
but none cancomplain, because he is ready to open it whenever he is desired.
Some, perhaps, disdain the offer, and say, "Why is it lockedat all?" Some
think it not worth seeing, or amuse themselves with guessing atthe contents.
But those who are simply desirous for themselves, leave others disputing, go
according to appointment, and are gratified. These have reasonto be thankful
for the favour, and the others have no just cause to find fault. Thus the riches
of Divine grace may be compared to a richly-furnished cabinet, to which
Christ is the door. The Word of God is likewise a cabinet, generallylockedup,
but the key of prayer will open it. The Lord invites all, but keeps the
dispensationin His own hand. They cannot see these things, except He shows
them; but then He refuses none that sincerelyask Him. The wise men of the
world can go no further than the outside of this cabinet; they ,may amuse
themselves and surprise others with their ingenious guesses atwhat is within;
but a child that has seenit opened can give us more satisfaction, without
studying or guessing at all. If men will presume to aim at the knowledge of
God, without the knowledge ofChrist, who is the Way, and the Door;if they
have such a high opinion of their own wisdom and penetration as to suppose
they can understand the Scriptures without the assistanceofHis Spirit; or if

their worldly wisdom teaches them that these things are not worth their
inquiry, what wonderis it that they should continue to be bid from their eyes?
They will one day be stripped of all their false pleas, and condemned out of
their own mouths.
(Newton.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(25) Answeredand said.—The phrase is more or less a Hebraism, implying
that the words rose out of some unrecorded occasion. St. Luke connects them
(Luke 10:17-24)with the return of the Seventy; but as their mission is not
recordedby St. Matthew, it seems reasonable to connect them, as here
recorded, with the return of the Twelve, and their report of their work (Mark
6:30; Luke 9:10). Their presence, it may be noted, is implied in the narrative
with which the next chapter opens. The words, however, were probably
repeatedas analogous occasions calledforthem.
I thank thee.—Literally, I confess unto Thee—i.e., “acknowledge withpraise
and thanksgiving.” The abruptness with which the words come in points to
the fragmentary characterofthe record which St. Matthew incorporates with
his Gospel. The contextin St. Luke implies a reference to the truths of the
kingdom which the disciples had proclaimed, and makes specialmention of
the joy which thus expresseditself. The two grounds of that joy are
inseparably linked together. The “wise and prudent” (comp. the union of the
same words in 1Corinthians 1:19) were the scribes and Pharisees, wise in their
conceit, seekingmen’s praise rather than truth as truth, and therefore shut
out from the knowledge that requires above all things sincerity of purpose.
The “babes” were the disciples who had receivedthe kingdom in the spirit of
a little child, child-like, and sometimes evenchildish, in their thoughts of it,
but who, being in earnestand simple-hearted, were brought under the
training which was to make them as true scribes for the kingdom of heaven.
He, their Lord, taught them as they were able to bear it, giving (to use St.
Paul’s familiar image) the milk that belonged to babes (1Corinthians 3:2); but
beyond His personal teaching there were the flashes of intuition by which (as,
conspicuously, in the case ofPeter’s confession, Matthew 16:17)new truths
were suddenly disclosedto them, or old truths seenwith increasing clearness.

BensonCommentary
Matthew 11:25-26. At that time Jesus answered, &c. — This word does not
always imply that something had been spoken, to which an answeris now
made. It often means no more than the speaking in reference to some actionor
circumstance preceding. The following words Christ speaks in reference to the
case ofthe cities above mentioned: I thank thee — That is, I acknowledgeand
joyfully adore the justice and mercy of thy dispensations. The original word,
εξομολογουμαι,sometimes denotes to confess sins, sometimes to acknowledge
favours, and sometimes also to adore or celebrate. It is chiefly in the last of
these senses thatthe word is to be here understood. Because thouhast hid —
That is because thou hast suffered these things to be hid from men, who are in
other respects wise and prudent, while thou hast discoveredthem to those of
the weakestunderstanding, to them who are only wise to God-ward. We have
the same idiom, Romans 6:17, God be thanked that ye were the servants of
sin, but ye have obeyed, &c. — The thanks are not given for their having been
formerly the servants of sin, but for their being then obedient. “It seems they
were but a few, and those generallythe lowersort of people, who embraced
Christ’s doctrine, and co-operatedwith him in erecting his kingdom; nor was
his religionsoonto meet with a better receptionin the other countries where it
was to be preached; circumstances which, in the eyes of common wisdom,
were melancholy and mortifying. But our Lord foresaw that, by the direction
of God, these very circumstances wouldbecome the noblest demonstrations of
his personaldignity, the clearestproofs ofthe excellence ofhis religion, and
the most stupendous instances ofhis power, who, by such weak instruments,
establishedhis dominion in every part of the habitable world, against the
policy, the power, and the malice of devils and men combined to oppose it.
Our Lord, therefore, properly made the rejectionof the gospelby the great
men of the nation, and the reception of it by persons in lower stations, the
matter of a specialthanksgiving, both now and afterward in Judea, Luke
10:21. Νηπιοι, babes, in Scripture language, are persons whose faculties are
not improved by learning, but who, to that sagacityand understanding which
is purely natural, join the dispositions of modesty, sincerity, humility, docility,
and all the other engaging qualities that are to be found in children. This is
plain from Matthew 18:3. Babes, therefore, standin opposition, not to men of
sound judgment and reason, but to proud politicians and men of learning,
who are so full of themselves that they disdain to receive instruction from
others, and who make all their abilities subservient to their advancementin
this world.” — Macknight.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:25-30 It becomes children to be grateful. When we come to God as a
Father, we must remember that he is Lord of heaven and earth, which obliges
us to come to him with reverence as to the sovereignLord of all; yet with
confidence, as one able to defend us from evil, and to supply us with all good.
Our blessedLord added a remarkable declaration, that the Father had
delivered into his hands all power, authority, and judgment. We are indebted
to Christ for all the revelation we have of God the Father's will and love, ever
since Adam sinned. Our Saviour has invited all that labour and are heavy-
laden, to come unto him. In some senses allmen are so. Worldly men burden
themselves with fruitless cares forwealth and honours; the gayand the
sensuallabour in pursuit of pleasures;the slave of Satan and his own lusts, is
the merestdrudge on earth. Those who labour to establishtheir own
righteousness also labourin vain. The convincedsinner is heavy-laden with
guilt and terror; and the tempted and afflicted believerhas labours and
burdens. Christ invites all to come to him for rest to their souls. He alone gives
this invitation; men come to him, when, feeling their guilt and misery, and
believing his love and power to help, they seek him in fervent prayer. Thus it
is the duty and interest of weary and heavy-laden sinners, to come to Jesus
Christ. This is the gospelcall;Whoeverwill, let him come. All who thus come
will receive restas Christ's gift, and obtain peace and comfort in their hearts.
But in coming to him they must take his yoke, and submit to his authority.
They must learn of him all things, as to their comfort and obedience. He
accepts the willing servant, howeverimperfect the services. Here we may find
rest for our souls, and here only. Nor need we fear his yoke. His
commandments are holy, just, and good. It requires self-denial, and exposes to
difficulties, but this is abundantly repaid, even in this world, by inward peace
and joy. It is a yoke that is lined with love. So powerful are the assistances he
gives us, so suitable the encouragements,and so strong the consolations to be
found in the way of duty, that we may truly say, it is a yoke of pleasantness.
The way of duty is the wayof rest. The truths Christ teaches are suchas we
may venture our souls upon. Such is the Redeemer's mercy; and why should
the labouring and burdened sinner seek forrest from any other quarter? Let
us come to him daily, for deliverance from wrath and guilt, from sin and
Satan, from all our cares, fears, andsorrows. But forcedobedience, far from
being easyand light, is a heavy burden. In vain do we draw near to Jesus with
our lips, while the heart is far from him. Then come to Jesus to find rest for
your souls.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible

From the wise and prudent - That is, from those who "thought" themselves
wise - "wise" according to the world's estimationof wisdom, 1 Corinthians
1:26-27.
Hast revealedthem unto babes - To the poor, the ignorant, and the obscure;
the teachable, the simple, the humble. By the wise and prudent here he had
reference probably to the proud and haughty scribes and Pharisees in
Capernaum. They rejectedhis gospel, but it was the pleasure of God to reveal
it to obscure and more humble people. The reasongiven, the only satisfactory
reason, is, that it so seemedgoodin the sight of God. In this the Saviour
acquiesced, saying, "Evenso, Father;" and in the dealings of God it is proper
that all should acquiesce."Suchis the will of God" is often the only
explanation which can be offeredin regard to the various events which
happen to us on earth. "Suchis the will of God" is the only accountwhich can
be given of the reasonof the dispensations of his grace. Our understanding is
often confounded. We are unsuccessfulin all our efforts at explanation. Our
philosophy fails, and all that we can sayis, "Evenso, Father; for so it seems
goodto thee." And this is enough. That Goddoes a thing, is, after all, the best
reasonwhich we "can" have that it is right. It is a "security" that nothing
wrong is done; and though now mysterious, yet light will hereaftershine upon
it like the light of noonday. I have more certainty that a thing is right if I can
say that I know such is the will of God, than I could have by depending on my
own reason. In the one case Iconfide in the infallible and most perfect God; in
the other I rely on the reasonof a frail and erring man. God never errs; but
nothing is more common than for people to err.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
25. At that time Jesus answeredand said—We are not to understand by this,
that the previous discourse had been concluded, and that this is a record only
of something said about the same period. For the connectionis most close, and
the word "answered"—which, whenthere is no one to answer, refers to
something just before said, or rising in the mind of the speakerin consequence
of something said—confirms this. What Jesus here "answered" evidently was
the melancholy results of His ministry, lamented over in the foregoing verses.
It is as if He had said, "Yes; but there is a brighter side to the picture; even in
those who have rejectedthe messageofeternallife, it is the pride of their own
hearts only which has blinded them, and the glory of the truth does but the
more appear in their inability to receive it. Nor have all rejectedit even here;
souls thirsting for salvationhave drawn waterwith joy from the wells of
salvation;the wearyhave found rest; the hungry have been filled with good
things, while the rich have been sent empty away."

I thank thee—rather, "I assentto thee." But this is not strong enough. The
idea of "full" or "cordial" concurrence is conveyedby the preposition. The
thing expressedis adoring acquiescence, holy satisfactionwith that law of the
divine procedure about to be mentioned. And as, when He afterwards uttered
the same words, He "exulted in spirit" (see on [1264]Lu 10:21), probably He
did the same now, though not recorded.
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth—He so styles His Father here, to signify
that from Him of right emanates all such high arrangements.
because thou hast hid these things—the knowledge ofthese saving truths.
from the wise and prudent—The former of these terms points to the men who
pride themselves upon their speculative or philosophical attainments; the
latter to the men of worldly shrewdness—the clever, the sharp-witted, the men
of affairs. The distinction is a natural one, and was well understood. (See 1Co
1:19, &c.). But why had the Fatherhid from such the things that belongedto
their peace, and why did Jesus so emphatically set His sealto this
arrangement? Becauseit is not for the offending and revolted to speak or to
speculate, but to listen to Him from whom we have broken loose, that we may
learn whether there be any recovery for us at all; and if there be, on what
principles—of what nature—to what ends. To bring our own "wisdomand
prudence" to such questions is impertinent and presumptuous; and if the
truth regarding them, or the glory of it, be "hid" from us, it is but a fitting
retribution, to which all the right-minded will set their sealalong with Jesus.
hast revealedthem unto babes—to babe-like men; men of unassuming
docility, men who, conscious thatthey know nothing, and have no right to sit
in judgment on the things that belong to their peace, determine simply to
"hearwhat God the Lord will speak."Suchare well called"babes." (See Heb
5:13; 1Co 13:11;14:20, &c.).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
See Poole on"Matthew 11:26".
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
At that time Jesus answered, andsaid,.... The time referred to is, when the
disciples returned to him, and gave him an accountof the success oftheir
ministry, Luke 10:17 who say nothing of the conversionof sinners, but of the
spirits being subjectto them; and may also refer to the severalthings spoken
of in the context: it was at that time when Christ spoke to the multitude about
John, and the excellencyof his ministry, which yet was ineffectual to great
numbers, who for a while attended on it; and when he took notice to the

people, how he himself, as well as John, was rejectedand vilified by the
Pharisees,and receivedby publicans and sinners;and when he upbraided
Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, for their impenitence and unbelief:
taking occasionfrom hence, he "answeredand said";an Hebrew way of
speaking, usedwhen nothing goes before, to which what is said canbe an
answer;see Job3:2.
I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth. This is an address to God,
by way of thanksgiving; glorifying and praising him, confessing and
acknowledging his wisdom, power, grace, and goodness, discoveredin the
things he after mentions: so far was he from being discouragedand dejected
at the poor successofthe Seventy: at his ill treatment by the Pharisees;and at
the generalimpenitence and unbelief of the cities, where he preachedand
wrought his miracles;that he is abundantly thankful, and admires the
distinguishing grace ofGod in the calling of a few in those places. This address
is made to God as a "Father", as his Father, his own Father; for he was the
only begottenof him, and dearly beloved by him: this epithet he makes use of,
to show the near relation he stoodin to him, and the freedom he could use
with him: he also addresses him as "the Lord of heaven and earth"; he being
the maker, upholder, and governorof both, and which he fills with his
presence;the one is his throne, and the other is his footstool. This he mentions
to show the sovereigntyof his Father, in the conversionof men; and that it
was not for want of power in him, that there were no more wrought upon
under the ministry of John, himself, and his disciples. The things he expresses
his thankfulness for, follow;
because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent. The "things"
he means are the doctrines of the Gospel;such as respecthimself, his person,
as God, and the Son of God; his office, as Messiah, Redeemer, and Saviour;
and the blessings of grace, righteousness,and salvationby him. The persons
from whom these things were hid, are "the wise and prudent"; in things
worldly, natural, and civil; men of greatparts and learning, of a large
compass ofknowledge, having a considerable share of sagacity, penetration,
and wisdom; or, at least, who were wise and prudent in their ownconceits, as
were the Scribes and Pharisees, andthe schools ofHillell and Shammai, the
two famous doctors of that day: and indeed the people of the Jews in common
were so; who thus applaud themselves at the eating of the passoverevery year,
and say, , "we are all wise, we are all prudent, we all understand the law" (s);
the same is elsewhere (t) saidof all Israel; in their opinion they were so, yet
the things of the Gospelare hidden from them. God may be said to "hide"
these things, when either he does not afford the outward revelationof the

Gospel;or, if he does, it is given forth in parables, or he does not give along
with it the light of his Spirit and grace, but leaves men to their owndarkness
and blindness; so that they cannot see, perceive, and understand the beauty,
glory, excellency, and suitableness ofthe doctrines of it. Now, when Christ
confesses this, or gives thanks to God for it, it is a declarationthat God has
done so, and denotes his acquiescencein it; and is not properly a thanksgiving
for that; but rather, that forasmuch as he has thought fit, in his infinite
wisdom, to take such a method, he has been pleasedto make a revelationof
these things to others;
and hast revealedthem unto babes;foolish ones, comparativelyspeaking, who
have not those natural parts, learning, and knowledge others have, that
wisdom and prudence in worldly and civil things; and are so in their own
account, and in the esteemof the world; and who are as babes, helpless,
defenceless, andimpotent of themselves, to do or say anything that is
spiritually good, and are sensible of the same: now to such souls God reveals
the covenantof his grace, Christ, and all the blessings of grace in him, the
mysteries of the Gospel, and the unseen glories ofanother world. The veil of
darkness and ignorance is removed from them; spiritual sight is given them;
these things are set before them; they see a glory and suitableness in them;
their desires are raised after them; their affections are set on them; their
hearts are impressed with them; and they are helped to view their interest in
them. The Jews themselves have a notion, that in the days of the Messiah,
children and babes shall have knowledge ofdivine things.
"Says Simeonben Jochai(u), it is not the pleasure of God that wisdom should
be so revealedto the world; but when it is near the days of the Messiah, even,
"little children", or the "babes that are in the world", shall find out the
hidden things of wisdom, and know thereby the ends, and the computations of
times; and at that time it shall be revealedto all:''
and there is more truth in what they ownelsewhere (w), than they themselves
are aware of, when they say, that
"from the day that the temple was destroyed, prophecy has been takenaway
from the prophets, and given "to fools and babes".''
(s) Haggada Shel Pesach, p. 5. Ed. Ritangel. (t) TzerorHammor, fol. 135.
1.((u) Zohar in Gen. fol. 74. 1.((w) T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 12. 2.
Geneva Study Bible
At that time Jesus answeredand said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, because thou hasthid these things from the wise and prudent, and
hast {g} revealedthem unto babes.

(g) Through the ministry of Christ, who alone shows the truth of all things
pertaining to God.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
Matthew 11:25. Ἀποκρ. means, like ‫ָע‬‫נ‬ָ‫,ה‬ to take up speech, and that in
connectionwith some given occasion, to which what is said is understood to
refer by way of rejoinder. Comp. Matthew 22:1, Matthew 28:5; John 2:18;
John 5:17, al. However, the occasionin this instance is not stated. According
to Luke 10:21 (Strauss, Ebrard, Bleek, Holtzmann), it was the return of the
Seventy, of whom, however, there is no mention in Matthew. Ewald,
Weissenborn, and older expositors find it in the return of the apostles. See
Mark 6:12; Mark 6:30; Luke 9:6; Luke 9:10. This is the most probable view.
Luke has transferred the historical connectionof the prayer to the accountof
the Seventy, which is peculiar to that evangelist;while in Matthew 12:1,
Matthew assumes that the Twelve have already returned. The want of
precisionin Matthew’s account, whichin Matthew 10:5 expresslyrecords the
sending out of the Twelve, but says nothing of their return, is, of course, a
defectin his narrative; but for this reasonwe should hesitate all the more to
regard it as an evidence that we have here only an interpolation (Hilgenfeld)
of this “pearlof the sayings of Jesus” (Keim), which is one of the purest and
most genuine, one of Johanneansplendour (John 8:19; John 10:15;John 14:9;
John 16:15).
For ἐξομολογ. with dative, meaning to praise, comp. on Romans 14:11;Sir
51:1.
ταῦτα]what? the imperfect narrative does not say what things, for it
introduces this thanksgiving from the collectionofour Lord’s sayings, without
hinting why it does so. But from the contents of the prayer, as well as from its
supposedoccasion,—viz. the return of the Twelve with their cheering
report,—it may be inferred that Jesus is alluding to matters connectedwith
the Messianickingdomwhich He had communicated to the disciples
(Matthew 13:11), matters in the proclaiming of which they had been
labouring, and at the same time been exercising the miraculous powers
conferredupon them.

The σοφοί and συνετοί are the wise and intelligent generally (1 Corinthians
1:19; 1 Corinthians 3:10), but used with specialreference to the scribes and
Pharisees,who, according to their own opinion and that of the people (John
9:40), were pre-eminently so. The novices (‫ְּפ‬ ‫ת‬ָ ִָ ‫י‬‫,)ם‬ the disciples, who are
unversed in the scholastic wisdomof the Jews. Comp. on this subject, 1
Corinthians 1:26 ff. Yet on this occasionwe must not suppose the reference to
be to the simple and unsophisticated masses (Keim), which is not in keeping
with Matthew 11:27, nor with the idea of ἀποκάλυψις (comp. Matthew 16:17)
generally, as found in this connection;the contrastapplies to two classes of
teachers, the one wise and prudent, independently of divine revelation, the
others mere novices in point of learning, but yet recipients of that revelation.
Observe, further, how the subjectof thanksgiving does not lie merely in
ἀπεκάλυψ. αὐτὰ νηπίοις, but in the two,—the ἀπέκρυψας etc., and the
ἀπεκάλυψας, etc., being inseparably combined. Both togetherare the two
sides of the one method of proceeding on the part of His all-ruling Father, of
the necessityof which Christ was wellaware (John 9:39).
Expositor's Greek Testament
Matthew 11:25-27. Jesus worshipping (Luke 10:21-22). It is usual to callthis
golden utterance a prayer, but it is at once prayer, praise, and self-
communing in a devout spirit. The occasionis unknown. Matthew gives it in
close connectionwith the complaint againstthe cities (ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ καιρῷ),
but Luke sets it in still closerconnection(ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ) with the return of
the Seventy. According to some modern critics, it had no occasionat all in the
life of our Lord, but is simply a compositionof Luke’s, and borrowed from
him by the author of Matthew:a hymn in which the Pauline mission to the
heathen as the victory of Christ over Satan’s dominion in the world is
celebrated, and given in connectionwith the imaginary mission of the Seventy
(vide Pfleiderer, Urchristenthum, p. 445). But Luke’s preface justifies the
belief that he had here, as throughout, a tradition oral or written to go on, and
the probability is that it was takenboth by him and by Matthew from a
common document. Wendt (L. J., pp. 90, 91) gives it as an extractfrom the
book of Logia, and supposes that it followeda report of the return of the
disciples (the Twelve)from their mission.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
25. answeredand said] A Hebraism=“spake andsaid.”

prudent] Rather, intelligent, acute. The secrets ofthe kingdom are not
revealedto those who are wise in their own conceit, but to those who have the
meekness ofinfants and the child-like eagernessforknowledge. In a special
Jewishsense “the wise and prudent” are the Scribes and Pharisees.
25–27.The revelationto “Babes.”
St Luke 10:21-22, where the words are spokenon the return of the Seventy.
Bengel's Gnomen
Matthew 11:25. Ἀποκριθεὶς, answering)Sc. to those things which He was
considering concerning His Father’s design, His own thoughts, and the
characterof His disciples.[539]—ἐξομολογοῦμαι, Ipraise) Nothing can be
predicated with praise of God,[540]which is not so in fact: ‫,הדוע‬ praise,[541]is
predication.[542]Jesus returned thanks to His Father afterwards in the same
words, when the seventy disciples had wellperformed the work which He had
appointed them.—Πάτερ, Κύριε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς, Father, Lord of
heaven and earth) He is frequently called the Father of Jesus Christ,
sometimes also His God; never His Lord, but the Lord of heavenand earth.
Let us learn, from the example of Jesus Christ, to apply to God those titles
which are suitable to the subjectof our prayers. The Jews also forbid to
cumulate divine titles in prayers. The address in this passageis indeed most
magnificent.—ὅτι ἀπέκρυψας—καὶ ἀπεκάλυψας, κ.τ.λ., becauseThouhast
hid—and revealed, etc.) A double ground of praise. For ἀπέκρυψας, Thou
hast kept concealed, cf. Matthew 11:27; for ἀπεκάλυψας, Thouhast revealed,
cf. againMatthew 11:27, at the end.—ταῦτα, these things)Concerning the
Father and the Son, concerning the kingdom of heaven.—σοφῶν, the wise)i.e.
those who arrogate to themselves the characterofwisdom.[543]—συνετῶν,
prudent) i.e. those who arrogate to themselves the characterof prudence.[544]
Cf. 1 Corinthians 1:19.—ἀπεκάλυψας, Thouhast revealed)See ch. Matthew
16:17.—νηπίοις, to infants) Such as the twelve apostles and seventydisciples
were:See Luke 10:21; they were very young, for they bore witness for a long
time afterwards. They were infants, as being ready to believe and simple-
minded; see Matthew 18:3.
[539]He uttered the words which follow with an exulting spirit.—V. g.

[540]The word used by Bengelis “Confiteor,” whichoccurs in the Vulgate,
both here and in 1 Chronicles 16:35 with the same sense. Thatsuch is his
meaning, is clearfrom his employing in his German Version the phrase, Ich
preise Dick, which, when applied to God, signifies “I PRAISE or MAGNIFY
Thee.” Bengelemploys the word “Confiteor” in preference to any other,
because, like the Greek ἐξομολογοῦμαι, itsignifies both generically, with an
accusative, to confess,acknowledge,proclaim, etc., and specifically, with a
dative, to laud, praise, or magnify [GOD].—See Riddle and Schleusnerin
voce.—E. V. renders ἐξομολογοῦμαι,I thank.—(I. B.)
[541]The word used by Bengelis “Confessio,”whichhe employs with direct
reference to his previous “Confiteor,” onwhich see preceding footnote.
[542]And conversely, therefore, Predicationis Praise. They are the two sides
of an eternaland immutable equation. Much to the same effect, Bengelsays
elsewhere (ch. Matthew 6:9), “Deus estsanctus, i.e., Deus sanctificaturergo,
quando ita, ut est, agnoscituret colitur et celebratur.” Consequently, in
confessing, acknowledging,and proclaiming, or in any other mode
PREDICATING the truth cuncerning GOD (and not otherwise), we PRAISE
Him.—(I. B.)
[543]Beng. attributes to the σοφοὶ the “habitus noëticus;” to the συνετοὶ, the
“habitus dianoëticus;” the same difference as betweenνοῦς and διάνοια, mind
and discriminative intelligence or discernment.—Ed.
[544]Beng. attributes to the σοφοὶ the “habitus noëticus;” to the συνετοὶ, the
“habitus dianoëticus;” the same difference as betweenνοῦς and διάνοια, mind
and discriminative intelligence or discernment.—Ed.
On the meaning of ‫ע‬ ָ‫ו‬ ‫,הְּד‬ Gesenius says:—(1.)Confession, Joshua 7:19;Ezra
10:11. (2.) Thanksgiving, Psalm26:7; Psalm42:5. ‫ע‬ ָ‫ו‬ ‫הדד‬ ‫ו‬ ̇‫ָד‬‫ה‬ to offer praise to
God (for a sacrifice), Psalm50:14;Psalm 50:23;Psalm 107:22;Psalm116:17
(where the phrase is not to be takenas though proper sacrifices were spoken
of). ‫ע‬ ָ‫ו‬ ‫הדד‬ ‫ו‬ ̇‫ָד‬‫ה‬, Leviticus 22:29; ̇‫ָד‬‫ה‬‫ְּפ‬ ‫ת‬‫דָי‬ ‫י‬‫ת‬ ̇‫ע‬ ִ ̇‫ו‬ְָּ‫ה‬ ‫ו‬ Leviticus 7:13; Leviticus 7:15,
comp. 12, and ellipt. ‫ע‬ ָ‫ו‬ ‫,הדד‬ a sacrifice of thanksgiving, Psalm56:13. (3.) A choir
of givers of thanks, praising God. Nehemiah12:31; Nehemiah12:38;
Nehemiah 12:40.—(I. B.)

Pulpit Commentary
Verses 25-27. -Parallelpassage:Luke 10:21, 22, where the verses are
recordedimmediately after the return of the seventy. We know no other
occasionwhich would be so likely to evoke this utterance. Although it is just
possible that the seventy returned when our Lord was addressing the people
in the manner relatedin the preceding verses ofthis chapter, it seems much
more likely that a sense of a moral and not of a temporal connexion guided St.
Matthew in his arrangement. What is true in a time of success(Luke 10:17,
18) is equally true in a time of failure (vers. 20-24). Observe the difference in
the style of ver. 27 (Luke 10:22)from that of vers. 25, 26, suggesting the use of
another, apparently Johannine, source. But this must have been added before
either St. Matthew or St. Luke incorporatedthe passage. Observe thatthe
comparatively early date thus indicated for Johannine phraseologysuggests
that the language and form of the Fourth Gospelunderwent a long process of
development before St. John completed his work. Verse 25. - At that time;
season(RevisedVersion);ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ καιρῷ. St. Luke's phrase ("in that
very hour," ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ) is more precise, definitely connecting the
utterance with the return of the seventy. St. Matthew's refers rather to that
stage orperiod in his ministry (cf. Matthew 12:1; Matthew 14:1). Jesus
answered. Only in Matthew. If we could suppose this to be the original context
of the passage, the" answer" wouldprobably refer to some expressionof
astonishment or complaint at his solemn statementin vers. 20-24. Professor
Marshall's derivation of both "answered" and "rejoiced" (Luke)from a
common Aramaic original (Expositor, April, 1891)appears very strained.
And said, I thank thee; better, as the RevisedVersion margin, praise
(ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι). There is no thought of gratitude, but of publicity in
assent(Luke 22:6), in confession(Matthew 3:6) and in acknowledgment
(Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:11), and thus of praise (Joshua 7:19; Ezra 10:11
(Lucian); 2 Chronicles 30:22; Romans 15:9). It implies a professionof
personalacceptanceby Christ of God's methods. "I profess to thee my entire
and joyful acquiescencein what thou doest." Hence St. Luke introduces the
utterance by ἠγαλλάσατο, adding τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ, thus giving us a
glimpse of the unity of purpose and feeling inherent in the Trinity, even
during the time that the Word "tabernacledamong us." O Father. Father
occurs in Matthew 6:9; Matthew 26:39;Luke 23:34, 46;John 11:41; John
12:27;John 17:1; in fact, in all the recordedprayers of our Lord except
Matthew 27:46, which is a quotation, and where the phrase, "My God, my
God," emphasizes his sense of desolation. The word expresses perfect
relationship and intimate communion. It points to the trust, the love, and the

obedience of Christ, and to the depth of natural affectionand confidence (if
we may say so)betweenhim and the First Personof the Trinity. It suggests
mercies in the past, care in the present, and provision for the future. Lord of
heaven and earth. Acts 17:24, by St. Paul, who may have derived it from these
words of our Lord (Resch, ' Agmpha,' p. 150), or perhaps from Psalm 146:6
or Isaiah 42:5. As "Father" was the note of personalrelationship, so is this of
sovereignmajesty. Christ unites the thought of God's love to himself with that
of his ownershipof all creation, thus paving the way for the main subject of
the prayer - his Father's method of dealing with men of various kinds and
tempers. Because;that (RevisedVersion), perhaps as more idiomatic with
"thank." But ὅτι here gives, not the contents of the "thanksgiving," but the
reasonfor it. Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealedthem unto babes. The laws by which religious impressions are
received, whether ultimately for goodor for evil (2 Corinthians 2:15, 16; John
9:39), are here attributed to God. Observe that the sentence is not a kind of
hendiadys, but that Christ accepts his Father's actionin both directions. The
one is the subject of his entire acquiescenceas much as the other. Hast hid...
hast revealed. The aorists (cf. ver. 19, note) may be understood here as either
(1) describing what took place in eachcase,or
(2) regarding God's action as a whole from the standpoint of the hereafter(cf.
Romans 8:29, 30). These things. The truths respecting Christ's teaching and
work. In this context the reference would be to the generalcontents of vers. 2-
24. From the wise and prudent; i.e. as such (there is no article). Formental
excellence andintelligence (vide infra)in themselves cannot graspspiritual
truths, but are, on the contrary, often means by which the veil betweenman
and God is made thicker. On the difference between"wise" (σοφοί)and
"prudent" (συνετοί, understanding, RevisedVersion), see BishopLightfoot,
on Colossians1:9. (For the generaltruth, cf. Job 37:24; 1 Corinthians 1:19-
27.)And hast revealedthem (Matthew 13:11, note); for even the most guileless
heart has no power to see spiritual truths unless God draws back the veil.
Unto babes (νηπίοις). The thought is of their helplessness anddependence. In
comparisonwith the Phariseesand scribes, allour Lord's disciples were little
more (cf. Matthew 11:16).
Matthew 11:26 Verse 26. - Even so;yea (RevisedVersion); ναί. A renewed
acceptanceofthe immediately preceding facts. Father. In ver. 25, Πάτερ:

here, ὁ Πατήρ. There the term referred more directly to God as his own
Father; here to him as Father of all, notwithstanding the methods he used.
For. Giving the reasonofChrist's acceptance. That(RevisedVersion margin)
would make this clause closelydependent on the preceding. But this seems
unnatural. So; i.e. in this double method. It seemedgood(it was well-pleasing,
RevisedVersion) in thy sight (εὐδοκία ἐγένετο);literally, it was goodpleasure
before thee - an Aramaism equivalent to "it was thy will" (compare the
Targum of Judges 13:23;1 Samuel 12:22 [‫ָדער‬ ‫פוק‬ ְּ‫;]ד‬ see also Matthew
18:14). The phrase implies, not merely that it seemedgoodto God, but that, in
a sense, it was his pleasure. For the workings out of the laws of truth must
give pleasure to the God of truth. (On the aoristἐγένετο, see ver. 25, note.)
Matthew 11:27 Verse 27. - All things. Not in the widestsense, for this would
forestallch. 28:18 but all things that are required for my work of manifesting
the truth. The utterance is thus both closelyparallelto John 8:28, and also in
most intimate connexion with the preceding verses. God's twofoldactionin
hiding the truth from some and revealing it to others is, our Lord says, all of a
piece with my whole work. This is all arranged by my Father, and the
knowledge ofGod by any man is no chance matter. Are delivered unto me;
have been delivered (RevisedVersion); rather, were delivered (παρεδόθη).
Here also it is possible to interpret the aoristfrom the standpoint of the
hereafter(ver. 25, note); but, as it is immediately followedby the present
tense, it more probably refers to some time earlierthan that at which our
Lord was speaking. The time of his entrance on the world naturally suggests
itself. Observe when bringing out his dependence upon his Father, our Lord
lays stress onthe notion of transmission(παρεδόθη);but in Matthew 28:18,
where he is bringing out his post-resurrectiongreatness(Philippians 2:9), he
merely mentions his authority as an absolute gift (ἐδόθη). Notice the contrast
implied in παρεδόθη to the Jewishπαράδοσις. The Phariseesboastedthat
their tradition came from God, though through many hands; Christ claimed
to have receivedhis from God himself. Of (ὑπό). Forthe transmissionwas
immediate; there were no links betweenthe Giver and the Receiver(cf.
Bishop Lightfoot, on Galatians 1:12). My Father; me... my. Observe the
double claim; his unique position as Teacheris due to his unique relation by
nature. And no man knoweth;i.e. with a gradual, but at last complete,
perception (ἐπιγινώσκει). In the Gospels this word is used of the knowledge of
God and of Christ in this verse alone, though such a reference is especially
suited to its meaning of perfection of know. ledge (cf. Bishop Lightfoot,
Colossians 1:9). The Son. Not "me," because Christwished to bring out more

clearly his unique relation to God, and thus to emphasize the impossibility of
any one, even an advanced disciple, fully knowing him. But the Father. Not
"his Father." It may be that Christ wishes to include the suggestionthat after
all there is a sense in which his Father is the Father of all men, but more
probably, by making ὁ πατήρ completely parallelto ὁ υἱός, he wishes to
suggestthat the full idea of Sonship and Fatherhoodis nowhere else so fully
satisfied. Neither knowethany man the Father, save the Son, and he to
whomsoeverthe Son will reveal him. The connexion is - You may think this
(i.e. ver. 25) strange, but I alone have that knowledge ofGod which enables
me to understand his ways; I alone, yet others also, if I revealhim to them. As
St. Luke expressedit in his form of our ver. 19, "Wisdomis justified of her
children" (comp. also John14:9). To whomsoever. Thoughbut a babe (ver.
25). Will reveal; willeth to reveal(RevisedVersion); βούληται... ἀποκαλύψαι.
Not "is commanded," for Christ claims equality (see Chrysostom). Notice the
idea of plan and deliberation, and not that of mere desire, unable, perhaps, to
assigna reasonfor its existence (θέλω); cf. Philemon 1:13, 14.
Vincent's Word Studies
Answered
In reply to something which is not stated.
I thank (ἐξομολογοῦμαι)
Compare Matthew 3:6, of confessing sins. Lit., I confess. Irecognize the
justice and wisdom of thy doings. But with the dative, as here (σοι, to thee), it
means to praise, with an undercurrent of acknowledgment;to confess only in
later Greek, and with an accusative ofthe object. Rev. gives praise in the
margin here, and at Romans 14:11. Tynd., Ipraise.
Prudent (συνετῶν)
Rev., understanding; Wyc., wary. From the verb συνίημι, to bring together,
and denoting that peculiarity of mind which brings the simple features of an
objectinto a whole. Hence comprehension, insight. Compare on Mark 12:33,
understanding (συνέσεως). Wise (σοφῶν) and understanding are often joined,
as here. The generaldistinction is betweenproductive and reflective wisdom,
but the distinction is not always recognizedby the writer.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES

GREG ALLEN
"A Gracious Discrimination"
Matthew 11:25-27
Theme: The Fatherreveals kingdom truth selectively, in accordancewith His
own goodwill, in such a waythat He canonly be knownthrough faith in His
Son.
(Delivered Sunday, April 30, 2006 at Bethany Bible Church. All Scripture
quotes, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New King James Version.)
As I read this morning's passageto you, I'd like to share with you a little bit of
my experience ofstudying it lastweek.
As you may know, I often like to gather up a few books and study with a cup
of coffee at the McDonalds restaurantdown the street. (I do that so often, I'm
afraid, that now - when they see me pull into the parking lot - they just pour
my cup of coffee and have it ready for me when I come inside.) Earlierlast
week, I gotmy coffee and begin studying this morning's passage.
The passageconcerns words that the Lord Jesus spoke to the proud Jewish
people of His day. He had lived among them and performed many miracles in
their midst; and yet, in spite of all that they saw, He found it necessaryto
rebuke them because they did not repent and believe in Him.
And then, we come to the remarkable words of this morning's passage. It
reads as follows:
At that time Jesus answeredand said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and
have revealedthem to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemedgoodin Your
sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows
the Sonexcept the Father. Nordoes anyone know the Father exceptthe Son,
and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him" (Matthew 11:25-27).
I satin the restaurant and reflectedon those words for a while. They contain
the words of a prayer. Jesus prayedthis prayer to His Fatherwith all
sincerity; but He deliberately prayed them - it seems to me - in the earshotof
those He had just rebuked. In fact, it says that He was "answering" in praying
this prayer. It doesn't say that Jesus "prayed" - although that's clearly what
He did. Instead, it says, "He answered, and said. . ." It's as if He was

Jesus was thanking his heavenly father

Jesus was thanking his heavenly father

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