21 At that time Jesus was filled with joy by the Holy Spirit and said, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth! I thank you because you have shown to the unlearned what you have hidden from the wise and learned. Yes, Father, this was how you were pleased to have it happen.
22 “My Father has given me all things. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23 Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said to them privately, “How fortunate you are to see the things you see! 24 I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not.”
Read Luke 10:21-24 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
If you have ever wondered where to find/get joy, you don’t need to look any further than our passage in Luke’s gospel. This passage in Luke’s gospel opens by sharing Jesus’ source of joy. Luke tells us, “At that time Jesus was filled with joy by the Holy Spirit” (v. 21a)
For Jesus, the Holy Spirit was His Source of joy. Jesus was full of joy because of the Holy Spirit working in His life, and it gave Jesus even more joy to be doing the will of His Father.
But Luke doesn’t stop there, because while full of joy, Jesus makes a profound statement that both confuses and clarifies what we see in the world today. Luke continues by sharing Jesus’ statement, which is a prayer of thanks to God: “Father, Lord of heaven and earth! I thank you because you have shown to the unlearned what you have hidden from the wise and learned. Yes, Father, this was how you were pleased to have it happen.” (v. 21b)
In Jesus’ prayer, we see an interesting characteristic of God. It would seem that He hides knowledge from those who are wise and educated, while sharing this knowledge with those who are not educated. This idea challenges me because in many ways, I may fall into the camp of the educated (though still developing wisdom).
This idea challenges me because it makes me wonder what God may be hiding from me, but more specifically, I wonder what the unlearned people have that I don’t have.
There is one possible answer that stands out as being the most probable reason those who are uneducated have more knowledge of God – and that is because they have greater trust and faith in God. While it isn’t a universal idea, generally those who are less knowledgeable about a subject will have a greater need to develop trust in God. I must trust the doctors, nurses, and surgeons when going into surgery since I have almost no knowledge of their area of specialty. In turn, most medical professionals have no knowledge of how a website is programmed, and so they get to trust web developers with the building of their websites.
The more educated someone is, the less they will feel dependant on someone or something else. This also extends to God as well – and because the educated don’t tend to trust God as much, they miss out on seeing the ways God is working and moving around them.
God opens the eyes of those who trust Him and who are looking for examples of Him working. While skeptics may try to explain God out of the situation, too often God simply chooses to work within the structure of the world He created, rather than breaking the rules of nature that He set up. For someone who is looking, examples of God and His love are everywhere, but it takes a level of faith and trust to be open to seeing the world with these eyes. The more “educated” someone is, it seems the less likely they will have this perspective.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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