I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to little ones.
We get the impression that those who saw themselves as sophisticated intellectuals had difficulty accepting the message of Jesus. They saw signs, but talked themselves out of believing in them, insisting instead on signs that were more according to their taste. They thought that in some ways Jesus was too lax, welcoming sinners, and sharing table with tax collectors. They thought that he ought to take a hard line against the occupying Roman force, perhaps even raising an army in imitation of the Judas Maccabeus. But instead Jesus had instructed his followers, "if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles" (see Matthew 5:41). In our own lives, whenever someone says 'Can't we all just get along?' it usually implies they don't appreciate the difficulties of the barriers dividing people. Yet Jesus seemed to suggest that peace without the need for violence was a genuine possibility. At other times he appeared naive in the strictness of his moral teaching. Not even look at someone lustfully? Was he not asking of them more control than was possible for weak flesh, however willing the spirit might be?
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
Apparently this superficial implausibility of the message of the Gospel was by design. The Gospel could not be unearthed by a sufficient philosophical or scientific explanation. It could only be revealed. The reason for this was that Jesus desired his followers to stand in the same current of grace flowing from the Father in which he himself stood. This was not a project of the ego, not something that could build up the pride of those who learned it. Instead it required the openness, humility, and vulnerability of love, of entrusting oneself to a lover, the lover of his soul. It was in fact intentionally resistant to human pride. As Paul wrote
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 Son was not being purposefully obscure about what had been revealed to him by the Father. He desired to reveal him to others, and took delight when people like Peter had revelations that went beyond the limits of flesh and blood. He invited those who were frustrated by the eternal insufficiency of their own efforts to come to him and try his gentle yoke instead. He would show them how to become like him, open to the Father as he was, meek and humble of heart as he was, and so experience the rest of the soul that Jesus himself exemplified. Jesus invited his disciples to share the very lightness and ease which some must have found so off-putting about him. About his disciples too people may have said asked if they should not be more aggressive or strategic, or avoid some people while currying favor with others, or if they should not teach an actually attainable moral standard rather than something so lofty and angelic. But since the disciples would then be acting on the basis of their shared yoke of Jesus they could respond without retaliating. They could preserve their gentleness, persevere in humility, and maintain a restful spirit even in the face of hostility and aggression.
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.
Jesus seemed too impractical to be a king. And yet his apparently naive love has triumphed over the forces of violence and he now reigns over us from his heavenly throne. There are still many "debtors to the flesh" who feel like they have to do all that they can to push back their own mortality for even a few more years, months, or minutes. But we are meant to be debtors to the Spirit who believe and know that our lives are in the hands of another. It is in the power of his Spirit that we are meant to live. And it is by that same Spirit that the Father "will give life to your mortal bodies also", just as he did for Jesus.
The LORD is faithful in all his words
and holy in all his works.
The LORD lifts up all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
Relient K - For The Moments I Feel Faint
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