Devotional: Matthew 11:25

Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim:
Matthew 11:25: “At that time Jesus answered them 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 babies.”
“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.”  Wizard of Oz
Rab. Jochannan Ben Zarkai was a popular Sage or teacher during the time of Jesus.  He died about 30 years before Jesus was born.  He was honored for him wisdom and knowledge as many of our popular theologians are today who lived in the past century such as C.S. Lewis, Bonheoffer, and Karl Barth.   The works of these men are studied by the great religious scholars today in our Universities and Seminaries.  They are often quoted because of their deep insight into philosophy and their knowledge of complex theological thoughts.  Yet, a popular quote from Karl Barth is his response to a reporter to summarize his massive work in Systematic Theology.  He replied: “Jesus loves me this I know.”
We place our spiritual leaders on such high pedestals that we forget they are after all just human beings, struggling like they are to understand the things of God. They have no more of the Holy Spirit than we do.  They may have the benefit of broader studies, maybe an IQ a few points higher than ours, but does that really qualify them to be a notch above us?
Jesus did not think so.  You see the Pharisees and Scribes of Jesus day were the scholars and teachers of His day.   The Pharisees were much like many of our popular conference, radio and TV preachers and teachers.  They were honored much like our conference speakers are today.  The Scribes were like our scholars or theologians today.  People of those days honored such men as we do today.  They carried the final word in Scriptural interpretation.   The Pharisees knew and studied the works of their fathers, the great teachers as we do today in our Bible Colleges and Seminaries.   They would dispel any arguments by quoting the wisdom of their great teachers as we do today.   Their knowledge and grasp of the knowledge of their teachers brought them respect and honor from, what Jesus called in Matthew 11:25 “babies.”
In Matthew 11 we learn that Jesus was addressing the multitudes that had sort of lifted John the Baptist up as a man of great revelation and honored him as a prophet.  Among the multitudes would have been Pharisees and Scribes. So in verse 25 He addresses them by quoting the Pharisee’s favorite teacher Rab. Jochannan Ben Zarkai.  He actually ratifies Jochannan’s words by expressing them in a prayer which was a common way in the Semitic culture to declare a statement is really from God and not from man’s own mind.  This would have shaken the Pharisees to their core for what Jochannan said and was ratified by Jesus was: “From the time the temple was destroyed, wisdom was taken away from the prophets and given to fools and children.”  Baba Batra, fol. 12.    Sort  of like a uneducated person arguing with a great Seminary scholar who looks at this learned man and quotes his favorite theologian, Karl Barth and says: “Jesus loves me this I know.”    How do you argue with that?   How were the Pharisees to argue with Jesus when he just put them down in one mighty swoop by quoting and ratifying the words of their favorite theologian.  But those words are very important to us today for we today honor and glorify our great teachers and scholars and just like the Pharisees we study them and teach their teachings as if their words were just as authoritative as Scripture.
Yet Jesus said that God has hid  “these things.”   “These things” in Greek is “taua” which is simply a demonstrative pronoun meaning “this” or “these.”  The Aramaic uses the word “han” which is also a demonstrative pronoun but would more suggest that Jesus is speaking of Himself and his purpose.  The people were looking to John the Baptist, the Pharisees looked to their teachers when all John the Baptist and the sages were trying to do was direct the people’s attention to the simple love of God.  John the Baptist, the great teachers, the scholars, the common people are just “babies.”  In the Aramaic the word used is “yalad.”  There are three words in the Aramaic for babies or children.  There is aval, abra, and yalad.  Yalad is the same word in the Hebrew which has the idea of a child or one who has the mind of a child, i.e., unlearned, simple, questioning, searching, and making personal discoveries.  Yalad is used for a student or learner. Yalad pictures a baby who is learning on his own. He learns by using his own personal senses for he is yet unable to understand the words of his parents.  His father may point to a ball and say:  “ball,” but that word is mere gibberish to him. He must look at it, touch it, listen to its bounce,  smell it and even put it to his mouth to taste it.  He must experience a ball to know what a ball is.  His parents cannot teach him what a ball is, only give him the opportunity to learn on his own and through his own senses. Learning for a baby comes from experience, which is Yalad.
Jesus said the hidden things or knowledge about Him is revealed only to the yalads, those who will experience Him and learn of him through their own senses, for the words of our great scholars and teachers are just gibberish until we really know Jesus on a personal level.
I am very uncomfortable when people point to me and say flattering things about my studies.  Some even add very flattering adjectives to the word teacher.  I cringe because I know one day Toto will pull back that curtain and reveal that this great teaching wizard is nothing more than a friendly little man holding his empire together with a lot of bluff and bluster just as the Pharisees and Scribes of Jesus’s day.