The Gospel according to Matthew (11:25-27)
At that time Jesus exclaimed:
“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 the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
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.”
Reflection: Today’s words of Jesus are a great hope for each of us. Why is that? It’s because we don’t have to understand the faith intellectually (even assuming we could). It’s a reminder that the object of our faith, Jesus Christ, is one who has qualities that are beyond what our human intellect can grasp. And, that’s just the way it should be!
If the God we worship is one that we can comprehend, then how can He be bigger than and solve our problems? I mean, if we can understand His abilities, then what can He do that we ourselves cannot? Thankfully, that is not the way it is at all. As Jesus says, knowledge of God is “hidden from the wise and the learned”. We can’t “think” our way to being a follower of Jesus. We have to trust in a God who is bigger than we imagine.
I know that goes against our human yearning to learn and to understand. That yearning is why humankind is always exploring, always trying to learn more and to make sense of the world and the universe we live in. We certainly do know a lot more (intellectually) than we ever have about ourselves (our bodies) as well as our world. But, we know very little overall. Even the most knowledgeable doctors and surgeons will say that there is much more that they don’t know than they do.
As I said before, we can’t “think” our way to knowing God better. We have to trust Him and look for Him each day and try to recognize Him better each day. Trust is that characteristic that demonstrates that the one we trust has our best interests at heart and will always seek to do good on our behalf. It does mean giving up some of the control over things, but why not give that control to the God who created us and who loves us so intently that He never stops thinking of us.
Trust and faith go hand-in-hand. If we ever feel that our faith is shaken, or not alive, let us ask God to renew it in us. When we feel He has wandered away from us, the truth is that it is ourselves who have wandered. No matter how far we wander, God is there, like the father in the Prodigal Son story, watching for us from afar, and when He sees us coming toward Him, He races to meet us, throws His arms around us and draws us close. Nothing we ever do can earn that love, but thankfully, we never have to earn it. Let us just accept it and ask Him each day to renew it and to help us continue to walk as His child and as a disciple of His Son, Jesus.
Action for the Day: Let others see how awesome God is through your smile and through your kind acts today.
