for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to little ones.
Jesus himself was in some sense a little one in relation to his Father. Only those who were willing embrace this littleness and learn from Jesus himself could come to know the Father. And it was not merely an abstract idea. Jesus was not proud or arrogant but rather meek and humble of heart. In this we see that he practiced what he preached about being childlike. Being his disciple meant coming to terms with this aspect of Jesus, but also learning to imitate and embrace it for oneself.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
Only by becoming a little one and and sharing the yoke of Jesus can we find rest. This is because rest is found in knowing the Father, which itself can only come about by partaking in the very life of Jesus himself. Jesus is the only way to come to know the Father, so much so that he said, "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him". But then, should we be concerned that the Father was a secret only for a select few? No, because he goes on to call "all you who labor and are burdened", that is, the entire world.
When we insist on making the struggle our own and not sharing it with Jesus we may fool ourselves into believing that we are competent adults rather than little ones, as though this were somehow desirable. But this idea, that bearing our burdens without help is praiseworthy, is among the lies that wears us out the most. This is why often seem to have such difficulty when we first decide to share the yoke of Jesus. At times we tend to push ahead and waste a lot of energy all at once, accomplishing nothing. And at other times we tend to hold back, virtually planting our feet in the ground and forcing Jesus himself to pull us forward. Whereas what we can do and are meant to do is to be utterly responsive and sensitive to the yoke we share, to move evenly and with ease precisely because each movement is a response to Jesus himself.
The wise and the learned tend to have trouble embracing the littleness of Jesus and don't easily accept the need to share a yoke with another. They are like the Pharisees who desire knowledge in order to wield it is a weapon over others, who insist that others take the yoke entirely and offer no help. There is, by contrast, a genuine Christian wisdom, but it is only made known to little ones. It can be held, but never possessed or manipulated or weaponized. The moment Christians forget that what they have is entirely grace and received gift, that they are not the master of the truth but always the student, the wisdom they once seemed to have becomes twisted and deficient.
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe (see First Corinthians 1:20-21).
The revelation that Jesus came to bring was the antidote to sinful pride, and so the mode by which it was communicated was designed to ensure that it itself could not become the source of pride. For us then, if our knowledge of the Bible or doctrine, or ability to argue apologetics, or any other 'skill' at which we seem to excel has become a point of pride for us this should be a call to check ourselves and a warning that we may have ceased to be little ones. And just as Jesus is always a little one in relation to the Father so too are we never meant to outgrow being childlike in the Christian sense. It is rather a consistent process of reverse aging to which we are called, becoming increasing simple, more unified in purpose, more trusting, and as a consequence more joyful, more peaceful, and more able to rest.
See, your king shall come to you;
a just savior is he,
meek, and riding on an ass,
on a colt, the foal of an ass.
Our king, the Lord Jesus, demonstrates the meekness which he also recommends to us. It is because he so completely embodies this littleness that he has genuine peace, more the the mere absence of war, to proclaim to the nations.
He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim,
and the horse from Jerusalem;
the warrior's bow shall be banished,
and he shall proclaim peace to the nations.
His dominion shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
How then do we, concretely, share the yoke of Jesus? How do we embrace it with the sensitive dynamism that can allow it to actually shape our lives day-to-do? It is by embracing the presence of his Holy Spirit in us. Let us plead to be more aware of his work within us, of the gifts and the fruits he is trying to bestow. He himself is the one who makes us realize that we are children of God, heirs together with Jesus, and makes us cry out, "Abba!" (see Romans 8:15).
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die,
but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body,
you will live.
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