Wednesday, 15^th week in ordinary time – Matthew 11:25-27

Unlike our usual tendency to offer gratitude only when specific desires are met, Jesus models a radical form of thanksgiving. His praise to the Father emerges directly in the face of rejection and mission setbacks, teaching us to anchor our hearts in God’s divine purpose rather than worldly success. True faith thanks God in the valley of rejection, not just on the mountain of answered prayer

We know from scripture, that the cities that Jesus preached to and worked miracles in, would not repent (11:20-23). Supernatural signs may amaze the eyes, but they cannot convert a stubborn will. The people to whom Our Lord ministered to were perpetually ungrateful; they would not mourn even if a dirge was sung nor dance when the flute was player (11:17-18).

People who teach the skills in the art of staying positive need to take a leaf out of Our Lord’s life. In the face of such rejection, Jesus does not walk away, rather he says a prayer of thanksgiving. In the face of hostility, he sees the plan of God. He is not consumed by the negativity that his mission receives but rather sees that God had a method to this apparent madness. Modern ‘positivity gurus’ teach us how to manifest success; Jesus models how to give thanks in the middle of a shipwreck.

The text of today has two parts; a prayer of thanksgiving for the revelation of God (verses 25&26) and then we are given the content of that revelation (verse 27). Tomorrow’s text has an invitation that is extended as a result of this revelation. It consists of those ever-loved words of Jesus, “come to me all you who labour and are overburdened.”

For now, let us focus on the prayer of thanksgiving and the revelation made. The thanksgiving is not for some super achievement. It is a thanksgiving to God for the way He works. We usually thank God only when we win, but Jesus thanked Him simply for how He works.

We are told that his plan is not revealed to the wise and the learned. That should not lead one to falsely assume that God is opposed to scholars and scholarship. For the message of God to sink into our hearts, we have to place our human learning aside and become students in God’s university of simple surprises. Stepping into God’s university does not mean abandoning our intelligence; it means humbling it. This is the first lesson we take away from today’s text.

But to this prayer of thanksgiving is added the secret itself. God reveals his top-secret plans and he gives Jesus the honour to ‘reveal’ it. “ALL things have been handed to me by my Father,” says Jesus, “no one knows the son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the son and anyone to whom the son chooses to reveal him.”

God handed over to his son Jesus, ALL things; not some things. It is in the power of Jesus to give all things that we need. We frequently live with a mindset of spiritual scarcity, treating God’s provisions as if they are limited or rationed. We carefully calculate our requests, wondering if our problems are too big or if we are asking for too much. Yet, Jesus shatters this scarcity mindset by declaring that the Father has handed over all things to Him—not a partial custody, not a restricted allowance, but absolute ownership.

It is for this reason that tomorrow’s text begins with the words “come to me.” Does this take away the important role that God the creator plays in our lives? Does he stop functioning as a loving father? Not at all. It is easy to misinterpret the phrase “all things have been handed over to me” as a celestial transfer of power, as if the Father has stepped back into passive retirement.

Because the Father hands over all things to Jesus that does not mean he as Father can’t also hand things to us. But now like Mary, he gently nudges us to go to his Son. Our Blessed Mother said, “do whatever he asks you” and those thoughts seem to resonate in the revelation of God to us, through Jesus. From the halls of heaven to the wedding at Cana, the divine directive remains beautifully unchanged; ‘look to the Son’.

But Jesus also has the intimate knowledge of God as Abba. The God of the Old Testament was rendered nameless because his name could not be taken in vain or just about any time. The God of the Old Testament was feared and held in awe as if he was distant from his people.

Jesus knows the father and he calls him ABBA. He shares with us that intimate knowledge of the Abba he knows. Yet this is not some mutual admiration society that Jesus and God the Father are exclusive members of. Jesus cracked open the inner circle of heaven to turn strangers into sons and daughters of Abba. This deep knowledge of who God is, was meant to be shared and that knowledge is shared by Jesus.

Is this knowledge of the Father meant for all? No! Jesus makes this very clear. While this knowledge could be for anyone the decision to reveal it is left with Jesus alone. It is for this reason that the next verse which we will study tomorrow begins with the words, “come to me.”

Yet we may choose to reject that call of Jesus but by doing that we reject the way to Father. “NO ONE can come to the Father”, says Jesus, “except through me.” (John 14:6). God’s love has no boundaries, but His access has a name: to decline the call of Jesus is to lock the door to the Father.