Matthew Explains Himself

No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. from Matthew 11:27

We are going through Matthew in our marvelous Sunday morning group. Last week, our teacher asked, How does Jesus (“the Son” in the passage above) decide who will get to know the Father?

Immediately John 14:23 came to mind, where Jesus says, If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. But another answer, probably a better one, is close at hand. Rather than going to another gospel, we can look around, right where we are. Here's a bit more of the context:

²⁵At that time Jesus 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. ²⁶Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.

²⁷“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

²⁸“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:27-30

To whom does the Son reveal the Father? Those who come to him and take his (easy) yoke upon them! Now that's not a mathematical proof, but look at verse 25: things (such as "who is the Father?") have been revealed to little children (i.e., those who follow Jesus—that is, those who came to Jesus) but were hidden from the "wise and learned" who did not.

The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom

That was last week; this week's passage included a verse about secrets: The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. (from Matthew 13:11, NIV)

What are the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, and how did Jesus’ listeners get this knowledge? Again my mind went quickly to John (in 8:32 Jesus says, "Then you will know the truth") but why go there when there's plenty right here?

²[H]e got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. … ⁹He who has ears, let him hear."

¹⁰The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"

¹¹He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. ¹²Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.

from Matthew 13:2–12

What am I saying here? As our teacher pointed out this week, Jesus was in a boat, and a crowd stood on the shore. As he spoke, his words landed on various kinds of people in the crowd, just as the farmer's seeds landed on various kinds of soil in the parable.

After Jesus’s closing line, He who has ears, let him hear, many in the crowd said, "Great sermon, Rabbi," and went home with no idea of what Jesus had just said. But some came to him—Matthew calls them "disciples" (i.e., followers)—and said, basically, "Huh?"

It is exactly to these people that Jesus says, "You've got the knowledge of kingdom secrets." The secrets actually come to one big secret, an open one: it's Jesus. To paraphrase Archilochus: the wise and learned know many things; Jesus’s disciples know one big thing.