This morning I sat down and was looking over my list of the prayers of Jesus. I had originally planned to skip over most of them and go straight to the High Priestly Prayer. Coincidentally, however, the very next one, after Matthew's account of the Lord's Prayer, stood out to me.
It touches on a topic that had recently run through my mind. That topic is Childishness vs Childlikeness.
Childish vs Childlike
I have heard many sermons on 'childlike faith'. They all tend to emphasize being 'childlike' and not 'childish'.
One night, while doing some chores, it dawned on me that that distinction is nonsense.
There is no difference between being 'childlike' and 'childish'.
Okay, well, there is, but not meaningfully so. The difference between 'childlike' and 'childish' is that one emphasizes perceived good qualities of children, while the other emphasizes perceived bad qualities of children. Good or bad, qualities of children are qualities of children.
Having faith like, or being like, a child means the whole package. You can't have one without the other.
The fall began with the knowledge of good and evil. Taking the characteristics that make up a child and distinguishing between what is good and what is bad is a symptom of the fall.
When we hear God say to be like children, and leave the 'bad' parts of children behind, we miss what God is calling us to. We become half obedient in intention, and completely disobedient in practice.
The 'good' characteristics of children do not exist without the 'bad'.
We are called to leave the learned maturity of adulthood behind and embrace the ignorant innocence of childhood.
Jesus's Prayer
Now, through this lens, let us look at Jesus's prayer:
At that same time Jesus uttered the words, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that, though you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, you have revealed them to the childlike!
Yes, Father, I thank you that this has seemed good to you.”
Matthew 11:25-26 (OEB)
(Luke 10:21 has a nearly identical prayer)
Things have been hidden from the wise and are only known to those who are like children. But, what things are Jesus speaking of?
The 'at that same time' wording is present in both Matthew and Luke's account. However, what proceeds this prayer is different in each.
In Matthew, this prayer is proceeded by Jesus denouncing the town who didn't believe in the signs He had done. In Luke, Jesus's disciples returning from a trip where they did works in His name is in between Jesus denouncing the towns and this prayer.
While different, both accounts point to a disbelief in the sighs of Christ as the impetus for Jesus's prayer. These things then can be found by looking at what the signs of Christ were pointing to.
Then Jesus began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been done, because they had not repented
Matthew 11:20 (OEB)
The signs (miracles) were supposed to lead to repentance.
So, the things that are hidden are still slightly ambiguous, but they lead to repentance.
It is at this point that I am humbled. In, writing this, things haven't been adding up to where I thought they were going to go, and I have divulged into a meaningless quest to answer what the things that are hidden are. As I was reviewing the verse to try and figure it out, it hit me, the things are hidden. Specifically, they are hidden from the wise. They are hidden from the logical deduction and proof texting I have been trying to use to uncover them. If I want any hope of understanding what these things are, I must be like a child.
Children tend to not be known for thinking things through. They also tend to take things on faith and at face value. A 'good' aspect of children is that they tend to rely more on their gut and intuition to know things. A 'bad' aspect of children is that they require, and give, less hard evidence of the things they say.
So, I will embrace both. I will trust my gut level understanding of what the hidden things are. Despite not being comfortable with it, I will share my intuition without explicit proof.
At that same time Jesus uttered the words, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that, though you have hidden [the Truth of Christ] from the wise and learned, you have revealed them to the childlike!
Yes, Father, I thank you that this has seemed good to you.”
Matthew 11:25-26 (OEB)
The Truth of Christ isn't something to study and deduce, but to be embraced with all the attributes of a child. It's only when we let go of the wisdom of the world that we are able to see the Truth hidden in plain sight. It's only when looking though the eyes of a child that we see the Kingdom of God all around us.
God Bless