Matthew 11:25-27

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.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I praise you for who you are and thank you for what you have done. You are the Lord who humbles the prideful and exalts the lowly. You are the Creator of all things and perfectly bring your eternal plan to fulfillment. I love you and renew my faith and trust in you.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Jesus and the Model of Prayer: Today, we hear the prayer of Jesus, the Son of God. “Jesus’ thanksgiving prayer stands in contrast to the preceding narrative (Matthew 11:20-24). While several towns reject Christ, there is a remnant (including the disciples) who trust him with the simplicity of infants” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, 1745). Jesus’ prayer in Matthew is known as the “Cry of Messianic Exultation.” Jesus is our model of prayer and begins his prayer fully recognizing what the Father has done and being in total, conscious, and joyful agreement with the Father’s plan and action. “The ‘Cry of Exultation’ is the apex of a journey of prayer in which Jesus’ profound and close communion with the life of the Father in the Holy Spirit clearly emerges and his divine sonship is revealed” (Benedict XVI, December 7, 2011). Jesus calls God “Father” and expresses his intimate communion with him. Only by being in communion with God can I know him intimately. True knowledge of the Father belongs to the Son of God, but it is a knowledge that Jesus can share with us, as adopted sons and daughters of the Father through Baptism. “In praying, [Jesus] recalls the great biblical narrative of the history of God’s love for man that begins with the act of creation. Jesus fits into this love story; he is its culmination and its fulfilment. Sacred Scripture is illumined through his experience of prayer and lives again in its fullest breadth: the proclamation of the mystery of God and the response of man transformed” (Benedict XVI, December 7, 2011). Jesus reveals these mysteries not to the proud but to the humble of heart.

2. Embracing the Royal Son of God: Jesus, today, praises his Father and acknowledges that the Father has entrusted all things to him. With this phrase, “Jesus is claiming to be the heir of the universal kingdom of David and the universal kingdom of God. The two are ultimately one and the same. Just as David handed all things over to Solomon, who then rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to claim the throne; so God has handed all things over to Jesus (Ephesians 1:22), who is also the Son of David” (Bergsma, The Word of the Lord: Year A, 308). Jesus is thankful for his Father’s gracious will to reveal who he is to the “little ones” who have become his disciples. They know more about God and Jesus than the scholars – the scribes and Pharisees – who oppose the Kingdom of heaven. Such little disciples are willing to embrace the mystery of Jesus through the grace that comes from the Father.

3. The Johannine Thunderbolt: At the end of today’s Gospel, we read: “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.” This verse has been called the “Johannine Thunderbolt.” It is called this because Jesus’ speech in the Gospel of Matthew suddenly sounds like the high Christology of the Gospel of John, making it feel like a meteorite or thunderbolt dropped “from the Johannine heaven” into the Gospel of Matthew (11:25-27). In this “thunderbolt,” Jesus refers to God simply as “the Father” and to himself as “the Son.” The unique relationship between the Father and the Son is characterized by mutual intimate knowledge. Furthermore, Jesus claims the exclusive authority and power to reveal the Father to whomever he chooses. It doesn’t matter how wise and learned you are. Jesus’ divine sonship is not something you can naturally come to understand on your own without divine help. It is something that God supernaturally reveals through Jesus Christ and the Spirit. And Jesus doesn’t reveal this truth to the wise and prideful. He does it for little ones, for the humble. And these are the ones who can enter the Kingdom of God. This acceptance of divine revelation and the Kingdom is a gift of divine grace and supernatural faith.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, teach me to praise and thank the Father in prayer as you do. I do not know how to pray as I ought, and I always need to attend your school of prayer. Grant me a humble heart that always seeks to follow your example.

Living the Word of God: When I pray, do I pray in the Spirit through the Son and to the Father? Do I adore God and praise him for who he is, thank him for what he has done, ask for the good things I need to accomplish his will, offer up my life as a pleasing sacrifice, intercede for others, and beg for forgiveness when I have sinned? Which of these – adoration, praise, thanksgiving, petition, oblation, intercession, penitence – is lacking in my daily prayer? What can I do better?