As for you, son of man, obey me when I speak to you:
be not rebellious like this house of rebellion,
but open your mouth and eat what I shall give you.
We need to receive God's words because of from whom they come rather than because the content measures up to our evaluation. If we insist on being arbiters of the Word of God ourselves we risk becoming people who "will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths" (cf. 2 Tim. 4:3-4).
The only distinction that matters is that it is not a human word. We need to open our mouths and eat it so that we can receive it as "it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe" (cf. 1 The. 2:13).
We're self-styled sophisticates. We are so protective of our ability to choose what we consume. It has been a long time since we simply receive what is set before us.
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever becomes humble like this child
is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
This is just one way in which Jesus means children to be an example to us. Children trust their parents to provide for them. They receive simply and rely utterly on the nourishment their parents provide. Which is not to say they always enjoy it. It is not that they aren't given bitter vegetables which they don't want. But even so, children don't hold back from family meals in favor of their own plans. They aren't going to go to their own pantry and prepare something. They aren't able to get to a restaurant on their own. They rely on their parents. For them it is that or going hungry.
"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (cf Mat. 7:11)
Indeed, when we receive what we are given it not only feeds our bellies and fills our stomachs it is "as sweet as honey" in our mouths. God truly does give good gifts to those who ask him. He teaches his disciples to eat what is set before them, even on a human level, to help them to understand this. "When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you" (cf. Luk. 10:8).
He wants us to rely on him. He wants us to come to believe what the psalmist proclaims.
How sweet to my palate are your promises,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
We need to learn to trust what the LORD provides and not hold back from the banquet he sets before us in the sight of our enemies. Even if the food is a scroll proclaiming "Lamentation and wailing and woe" if the Father serves it then we must eat it. Even words like these are meant to guide us away from the perils of sin and selfishness to the bread from heaven which has within it all sweetness.
This sweetness is not just for us. It is for all of the lost sheep. It only grows in sweetness as it is shared. So let us be little ones ourselves. Let us find all of the little ones who need to hear this and not despise them. Let us follow our shepherd who comes to seek and to save the lost.
How sweet to my taste is your promise!
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