Wise

In Matthew 11 Jesus spontaneously breaks into a prayer of thanksgiving. What is he so thankful for? “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.” (Matt 11:25)

Does this bother you? Is he saying only fools and the unintelligent will buy what he’s preaching?

If we consult multiple translations and dig into the Greek words (with the help of lexicons), we find that there’s broad agreement that “wise” is in fact what Jesus meant. The second characteristic is variously rendered prudent, intelligent, understanding, learned, educated. Don’t those all sound like good things to be? Why would Jesus be so happy that intelligent, informed, thoughtful people don’t get his teaching?

Very likely you’ve already concluded that Jesus’s intent would be best conveyed by putting the terms in quotes, that he’s talking about the “wise” and the “intelligent” in their own eyes. You might also be remembering that wisdom is actually spoken of very favorably in the New Testament, although there are also multiple cautions to NOT be “wise in your own sight”.

Paul has a fair bit to say about this topic. Remember, he was most definitely among the “wise” and “educated” in his former life as Saul of Tarsus. Look, for example, at 1 Corinthians 1:18 - 2:10. This theme goes on into chapters 3 and 4. He makes similar points elsewhere, relegating his former sophistication and education to the trash bin, for example in Philippians 3:4-15.

We need to pay attention to the main point in Jesus’s prayer. He doesn’t say, “Thank you God for revealing this teaching only to fools and dummies.” He thanks the Father for revealing the teaching to babies. The word literally refers to a pre-speech infant, and figuratively to one who is unskilled or immature. Is this any better?

Let’s look at the context—always the best place to start. Jesus has just berated the cities where he’s done a lot of miracles, but been rejected (verses 20-24). Before that, he had praised John the Baptist, who was eagerly accepted by most of the populace but was rejected by the “sophisticated”, “learned” religious leaders (verses 7-19).

I think what Jesus is getting at is that if we don’t have our own pre-conceived ideas about him and the Father and their teaching, if we’re babies in that sense, we can truly get it. Jesus thanks God for this, that the message can be grasped and responded to by anyone. People don’t have to be highly educated or sophisticated—it’s for everyone.

But what about Jesus’s thanks that the teaching is “hidden” for some? Is it God’s or Jesus’s intent to exclude them? Clearly not, for we find that later on many of those religious sophisticates actually turn around. Besides Saul of Tarsus, you might recall Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. There are others: John 12:42, Acts 6:7 & 15:5, and some others. As Jesus suggests, it’s tougher for them. In some cases these folks brought baggage with them that created problems within the church—which validates what Jesus says in his prayer. It’s hard to grasp something different, when you’ve been highly educated … in something that turns out to be incorrect or incomplete. You don’t want to give up the idea that you are one who is in the know. You don’t want to be a baby again.

So what do we take from this? Well certainly, that we shouldn’t be looking down our noses at anyone—neither the sophisticated nor the unsophisticated. For ourselves, we need to consciously make ourselves “babies”, impressionable by the Lord’s message. Get rid of the “wisdom” and “intelligence” that the world admires so much, and that we tend to pride ourselves on. Being “wise in our own eyes” is going to get in the way of absorbing the true wisdom from Jesus and the Father.

There is nothing wrong with then gaining depth of insight and understanding, after absorbing the basic message. Indeed, we are exhorted and even expected to do so (1 Corinthians 3:2-3, Hebrews 5:11-14 & 6:1-2, James 1:5). Here’s the bottom line:

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom… But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:13-18)

Love, Paul