*WISDOM FOR TODAY.*
*JESUS THE PIPER (4)*
*Scripture Treasure.*
Matt 11:25 *At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.*
*Insight and Highlight.*
'Babes' in the Lord will see more than the 'wise and prudent'.
*Scripture Commentaries.*
After His rebuke on Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum, Jesus’ prayed a prayer thanking His Father because the Father had *“hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes"*
Looking at Matt 11 and Jesus's encounters with the people in His days, the 'wise and prudent' may be reffered to as the rulers of the law, the religious leaders and these sects of people are the Pharisees, the rulers of the synagogues and the Saducees.
Most of them were of Galilean origins; Jewish by extractions.
They knew too much.
They were too wise in their eyes that they rejected Jesus's messages, and Jesus often rebuked them for their self-mportance and hypocrisy.
As legal in profession as they were, they became legalistic, Matt 23:1-4, 23-28; 5:20-48; ref Eccl 7:16a and as they pride themselves as being learned in law, Jesus said they had *"....omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith:.....*
Jesus said to them that *.....these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.* yet they paid *".....tithe of mint and anise and cummin,....."*. Jesus called them hypocrites, Matt 23:23.
They followed the letter of the law without understanding the interpretation of the Spirit behind it. They were more concerned with appearances than with the heart of the law
Jesus warned us of them. In Matt 16:6, He said *"....Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.*
The babes, on the other hand, are the humble in heart. They are the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the persecuted, all whom Jesus called blessed (Matt 5:3-12). They believe anything as long as it is Christ's.
'Babes' here are not to be interpreted as those who are naive or as Paul defined them in Heb 5:13 "*For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe"*
This was not what Jesus meant.
Paul was using 'babes' as an illustration of a measure of stage of growth and spiritual maturity. Jesus' statement was referring to babe as an expression of what growth and spiritual maturity truly are (ref the beatitudes, Matt 5: 3-12).
While the 'wise and prudent' fail to dance to the piper who had piped all day long, the 'babes' dance.
While the 'wise and prudent' fail to respond to Jesus because they know too much or they feel they know Jesus or the scriptures more than anyone, the 'babes' humble themselves and listen to Jesus.
The problems facing people whom Jesus said were 'wise and prident' and who failed to dance to the piper are often two-fold.
First, too much knowledge just as we have aforementioned.
People take too much pride in their professional qualifications, forgetting they are now in a relationship with God.
These Pharises had learned so much in legal professions that they failed to know what true justice, mercy, and faith stood for in God's Kingdom.
The second is familiarity. Most of the people who gave Jesus many troubles were Jews.
They championed the course of resistance and rebellion. They hatched the conspiracy against Him and the very purposes of God, Matt 12:14, 26:3–5. They also did the same to Paul, Acts 9:23-28, 23:12-35.
They were those Jesus referred to as *".....a man's foes shall be they of his own household.*, Matt 10:36.
They were the ones Jesus had in mind when His people did not honour Him and He said *"A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house."* Matt 6:4.
John said in John 1:11 *He came unto his own, and his own received him not.*
When we feel we are too wise and educated or we feel what we have achieved in the secular is high enough that we could not humble ourselves before God, we will miss hidden secrets of God.
*The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him.....,* Ps 25:14, and only those who are babes qualify for this.
While education and acquiring knowledge are good, the process can lead us to pride, and we will often have philosophical reasoning rather than spiritual understanding.
Academic reasoning has limits, and the very moment we think it surpasses biblical foundation, we may appear too much for God to grant us deep and hidden things of the Kingdom.
A babe who, though academically educated or who may even be new in the Lord, but who releases himself and counts all that he ever knew as dung by following the knowledge of God first and then applying his acquired knowledge to it secondarily, will be counted by God as a custodian of the Kingdom's hidden treasures.
He will be counted as worthy of these revelations than someone who feels he is qualified academically, not needing more of God but solely walking in the pride of his educational achievement.
Often, a newly born-again would believe in spiritual declaration than those who have been too familiar with the same prophetic prayers and declarations.
Do you wish to receive hidden teasures of the Kingdom? Humble yourself as a babe.
Do not see yourself as big or too big to dance the tunes of Jesus, the piper.
*Remorse corner.*
The Bereans who *"....were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."* served as a perfect illustration of babes whom Christ would reveal hidden treasures of His Kingdom to, ref Acts 17:11.
*Call to Word action.*
Paul considered his achievement less in order to attain the excellency of Christ's knowledge!
Philpns 3:8 *Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,*
*The Christian clarion duty.*
God loves knowledge, but whatever knowledge you have achieved in life must never come before the knowledge of Christ. While knowing Christ is highly esteemed, any wisdom or knowledge acquired in this world is still dangerous, can cause sorrow, and increases grief (Eccl 1:18).
*Prayer.*
Lord, help me to humble myself enough to receive hidden Kingdom treasures of Christ.
Do not let me be prideful to lose them, in Jesus name.
Good morning all, and have a blessed day.
God bless you.
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