When God shared a secret- Wednesday, 15th week in ordinary time- Matthew 11: 25-27

The gospel of today is both a prayer and a cry of jubilation in the face of rejection. Jesus has bewailed the fate of Capernaum, Bethsaida and Chorazin, not merely for their lack of faith but their unwillingness to transform and repent. In this, they failed and the ground for tragedy is laid.

In the face of their incredulity, Jesus breaks into a public prayer of praise.  Although the prayer begins with a typical Jewish blessing formula, He goes on to make it very intimate. Here, as in so many places we see Jesus breaking out into prayer publicly. He was not afraid or ashamed to pray.  Five times in three verses He will call out to His Father, Abba, proclaiming His closeness to the Father.

What is at the heart of this prayer and why does Jesus make it? Verses 25 and 27 consist of the prayer itself and are a ‘thanksgiving for revelation’. Verse 27 reveals the contents of that revelation, and what we will read in tomorrow’s gospel is the invitation that stems from this revelation.

The prayer is a thanksgiving for the revelation that the Father has shared. This revelation however has been screened and hidden from those like the Pharisees, who continue to live in their arrogance of wisdom. Yet it is those who are uneducated who seem to grasp the mysteries of the kingdom!

Verse 26 tells us that God does this out of His “gracious will”.  God does not have to be bought by our little trifles which we have to offer Him, however kindly He may look upon them. This is His predilection; it is He who loves us first and loves us freely that makes us worthy of His revelation to us.