The praise of the Father

Today's Reflections 

      

The praise of the Father

Mt 11:25-30

[On one occasion,] ²⁵Jesus said, “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. ²⁶Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. ²⁷All 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.

²⁸“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

A JOYFUL SHOUT. Scholars refer to today’s Gospel in Matthew (parallel with Lk 10:21-22) as Johannine shower pouring upon the Synoptic plain. This is because the way Jesus expresses himself here is more similar to the way he speaks in the Gospel of John than in the Synoptics.

In his book Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict XVI notes that this is typically—and correctly—described as a Johannine text within the framework of the Synoptic tradition. He calls it Jesus’ messianic Jubelruf (joyful shout).

That Jesus “knows” God, and that he alone truly knows God, is possible only because he is “the Son.” As the Pope explains, truly to know God presupposes communion with God; it presupposes oneness of being with God. Hence, “the Son” (without further qualification) is the title that reveals to the fullest Jesus’ identity, higher even than “the Son of God” which could be extended to a political power or a person who enjoys God’s special protection. Jesus’ Jubelruf expresses his perfect communion with God in knowledge, which is at the same time his communion with God in being.

Jesus not only knows God; he also reveals God to men and women. He reveals that God’s pleasure, God’s gracious elective will, is to reveal the mysteries of God’s kingdom to the childlike, the “unlearned”—and not to the wise and the clever. The childlike are his disciples who are poor in spirit, who mourn, who are meek, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who are merciful and clean of heart, who are peacemakers but are persecuted—those he calls “blessed” in the Sermon on the Mount (cf Mt 5:3-10).

Their life’s burdens and troubles are rendered “light” by Jesus who, like a good shepherd, leads them to verdant pasture and flowing stream and offers them rest.