21At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
22“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
The seventy missionaries return from their assignment full of joy and excitement. God had used them. They were not academically elite or spiritual superstars. They simply obeyed Jesus and were amazed at the fact that God worked through them in powerful ways.
Jesus rejoices too because in the seventy missionaries, He sees the beauty of God’s plan.
God reveals His nature and His power to those who are receptive and humble. To know God, one cannot approach Him as a subject to be mastered or a power to be harnessed or a tool to be used for one’s own purposes. God is “Lord of heaven and earth.” To know Him, one must approach Him with humility, like a child coming to His Father in trust and dependence. Those demanding that God reveal Himself to them on their terms have already missed the boat. God reveals Himself to those kneeling in humility not those standing in defiance.
This is basically what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1.
26Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)
God reveals Himself through the person of Jesus Christ. To know God, we have to know Jesus. Jesus is God in the flesh. Jesus is the One who has revealed the nature of God to us in a way that we could see and understand. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. (John 1:18)
Those who come to know God through Jesus are blessed. Jesus’ disciples were eyewitnesses to all that Jesus said and did. We are “earwitnesses,” hearing and believing the message through them. Either way, knowing God through Jesus by faith is the ultimate blessing and joy of life.
As I contemplated this passage this morning, I was reminded of how easily I complicate things. Sometimes I get too bogged down in details of theology and forget that I am seeking to know God. The true God. The Lord of the universe. It is not about academics. It is about relationship. And whenever I try to fit God into my own little box, I have already lost Him. God reveals His truth to those with the heart attitude of a child. I am learning about my Father not about some mystical being or some philosophical concept.
Lord, deliver me from myself. Simplify my heart. May I not reduce You to manageable terms. May I come to experience Your power and Your love in real ways as I humbly trust You and seek to obey You.
