(Matthew 11:25-27)
When the Lord came to open up the word of the New Covenant, he intended for the message to be accessible and available to all mankind. The revelation of his word was such that any person would be able to understand it if they came to him seeking to understand.
Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2:3-6, “This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” In this Paul showed that there was to be no intermediary between man and God apart from Jesus. This was unlike under the Old Covenant where there was a priesthood selected only from the tribe of Levi and the high priests were to be of the blood lineage from Aaron.
Again it was shown that access to God was no longer the domain only of the high priest, for when Jesus died the curtain of the temple was torn from top to bottom indicating every man had access to the Holy of Holies through Jesus. (Hebrews 9:1-12) Prior to this only the high priest was permitted to enter into the Holy of Holies and then only once each year. But when Jesus came and died, he entered on our behalf and now sits at the right hand of God to mediate the New Covenant on our behalf directly with the Father.
So if there was to be no intermediary apart from Christ as high priest, and the job of the priests was to teach the people the requirements of the religion, then it was important that the teachings of the New Covenant be accessible to all. It was necessary that it be simple enough that everyone could understand the Covenant and the teachings that would lead to life. To that end, after Christ died he said we would receive the Holy Spirit to teach us all things as we see in John 14:26, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
Simplicity is the key and we see this in many places. The basis of the New Covenant and receiving God’s gifts is faith and through faith to come to know the love of God. The reason it was based on faith is so that every person would be able to receive it and every person would be equal. Everyone has the capacity to believe and this is the one great equaliser.
But some men tried to seek God through other means, such as knowledge, and they missed the mark. For it is written that “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Corinthians 8:1) So here in Matthew 11:25-27 we see Jesus extolling the fact that God has seen fit to open up his word of faith and love in the New Covenant to those who were not of great standing with regards to wisdom and knowledge of this world, but to babes in such matters. Paul noted this too saying in 1 Corinthians 1:18-21
“18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will thwart.”
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.”
To those who seek knowledge and wisdom of this world the teachings of Christ are like foolishness because they are based on faith. They cannot begin to understand how it works or can work because they do not understand the wisdom of God and matters of the Spirit. But to those who accept Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, this same word is all-powerful and able to change a man’s life. And the Son of God reveals this to us when we are called and answer his call. He reveals to us all matters pertaining to life and the very nature of the Father, for the nature of God is love.
Hi! I’m John, the owner, author, and editor of this site. Over the past 50+ years as a Christian I have been teaching, preaching and writing about the Bible to help Christians gain a deeper insight into the scriptures that are easily understood. I also answer specific Bible related questions, so feel free to contact me.
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