"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.� Matthew 11:25.
�At that time,� these were miraculous times. Signs and wonders were following the ministry of Jesus. God had put His hand of approval on His Son. Blessings were being poured forth through the hand of Jesus. He was out amongst the people performing extraordinary feats. Everywhere He went, people were being cleansed, healed and changed. And yet the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes could not accept these miracles. They did not see them as being from God. They completely missed what He was doing in their own need to be His equal. They continually attempted to pull Him down so that they would be back in the spotlight again. They followed Jesus and were watching His every step to trip Him up. They were in competition with Him for the attention of the people.
These were the times and the Scripture has just told us that it would be better for Sodom than these cities where the miracles were being performed, because they did not recognize the miracles as having come from the very Son of God!
�At that time, Jesus answered and said,� Herein lies the hope of us all, in every situation that we find ourselves we need Jesus to answer us. Can we accept anything less than the word of Jesus over our lives? No. He is our Shepherd and King, our Counselor and High Priest, our Advocate and Judge, our Ambassador and Redeemer, our Blessed Hope and Anointed One, our All in All and Bread of Life, our Living Water and our Rock. Of whom else can we find the direction we need for our lives?
�At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank thee,� Whom is this that Jesus is thanking? Who would our Lord be paying homage too? Jesus the Creator of our universe, the Sustainer of all we hold dear and the Inheritor of all things is paying respect to�.
�At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father,� �His Father. Wow, what a lesson! In and of itself this verse speaks of the bond between a Father and his Son. Forget that they were God, they were Father and Son first and foremost. Jesus was the Only Begotten of the Father. He was the cherished Son. No one in all creation could lay claim to that title. He was the Only Begotten of the Father. We cry �Abba Father, by the spirit of adoption�, but Jesus cried Daddy, because He was the first. What an example this sets for us.
God is the �God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,� I Peter1:3. Who can dispute the Scriptures. And yet there are those who would say that Jesus was just a man like you and I. No, He is the only God-man ever to be born of a Virgin, but fathered by God through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit.
�At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,� Jesus gives place to God as the Supreme power of heaven and earth. And God gives place to Jesus as His Son and Mediator who receives all His power and glory from the Father in Matthew 18:18 after His resurrection.
This Son of earthly and heavenly heritage honors His Father. This should be the pattern of earthly sons and fathers. And when we teach our children to respect their fathers peace reigns in the home. We have lost this in our country. Our children disrespect their fathers and fathers disrespect their sons. There is no mutual bond between them as we see in the divine order set forth here. Our society has nurtured a generation of children who have been encouraged to disrespect not only their fathers but their homes. In Malachi 4:6 the last prophesy given to His people under the law was that the day is coming when the hearts of the fathers shall return to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers, or God will come and smite the earth with a curse. God help us.
If we think we will win the world without winning our children, we are fools indeed. Our first responsibility is to raise children of integrity who honor and respect God, the Father and their family. It is through these children the world will be won. They will be the champions for Jesus Christ. They will rise up and come forth in the power of the Son of God and trample down the enemy. These children and youth will SEE things we have never seen and have NO FEAR in them! Because they will walk in the perfect love of the Father and in the power of His might!
�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 here is the crux of the matter, those who thought themselves to be wise and prudent and religious and holy did not accept the miracles of Jesus. And they did not accept them, because they did not initiate them. Don�t you know that the religious believe that all things come through their hand from God? God just hadn�t figured that out yet. So He said I thought those miracles were performed at the hands of my Son. And they said, �No it was by the power of Beelzebub He performed these things. They could not accept that all power did not rest in them. Therefore anything that originated outside of their circle could not possibly be God.
�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.� And He revealed Himself to the children. Unless you are as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of God. Let the little children come unto me and do not forbid them. I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name�s sake. I write to you , little children, because you have known the Father. Little children abide in Him, that when He appears, we many have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. Little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Little children keep yourselves from idols.
The revelation of Jesus Christ is coming again to our children.
But beyond that we are to be as little children. Loving and playing, laughing and enjoying, snuggling and whispering, running and leaping into the arms of a loving Father. If we give ourselves fully to Him we will never find ourselves wise and prudent or left in our ignorance, because we will always be wanting more of �His Presence� in our lives We are feeding at His breast constantly and pulling at His heartstrings, He is our Father.
Jesus always referred to God as His Father, a term of endearment, honor and respect. Let us draw into that same pattern. He is waiting for us, He wants to reveal Himself to us.
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