Praise the Father Who Conceals and Reveals Truth (Matthew 11:25-26)

Pride as Your Mother

Cyprian once said, “He cannot have God for his father, who has not the Church for his mother.”(St. Cyprian, The Lapsed; the Unity of the Catholic Church, Ancient Christian Writers, vol. 25, trans. Maurice Bévenot [New York: Paulist Press, 1956], pp. 48, 49). Pastor and theologian Sean O’Donnell, after he studied Matthew 11:25-27, borrowed Cyprian’s language to sum of what he learned about out text.

Matthew—All Authority in Heaven and on Earth Chapter 31: Resting in the Son (Matthew 11:25–30)

HE WHO HAS PRIDE as his mother cannot have God as his Father.

I cannot agree with him more on the truth of his statement and its point in our text this morning. Pride is the main sin that keeps you from responding rightly to the Father.

Jesus refers to the Father five times in our text; he praises the father, his authority comes from the father, He knows the father, and the father knows him. Pride, however keeps you from knowing the father.

Our greatest adversary, Satan, fell from the presence of god because of pride. Pride was the principle of his life. Pride was th authority by which he lives and has his being. His pride was the voice of his reason, and the very idea to try to overthrow the kingdom of God. Pride is what drives Satan to hate God, and hate you. His pride deceives him and destroys him. It is what drove him away from the Father.

Pride is what is drove away the pharisees and sadducees, and much of the Jewish people who refused to see Jesus as the Messiah, the way to the Father. Pride is the greatest obstacle of your faith. If you hold your pride as dear as your mother, you will never see the Father.

The problem with sinners is that pride is in our DNA. It is what kills us spiritually, what makes us dead in our transgressions and sins. Pride is what makes as hostile to the things of God and blinds us from seeing the humility we need to know the Father. Pride is so ingrained ion our spiritual DNA, we can never muster the righteousness necessary to be in the Father’s presence.

With pride having such a deep grip on your heart, is there any hope for the sinner to know the father? Yes! That is why Jesus came. He came to save sinners from their pride. He came raise them to life, changing their spiritual DNA so they can forever live in the presence of God, the Father.

But we cannot see him, unless the Father works on our behalf. We need God to give us life, open out eyes to see, and save us. This morning Jesus calls us to praise the Father for such a thing. In two short verses, Jesus calls us to

Praise the Father for revealing His sovereignty over creation, revelation, and salvation.

Jesus has finished his rebuke of the cities. He has turned his attention to His Father in the form of a public prayer so to speak. He offers three praises concerning His sovereignty.

Jesus’ praises His Father’s Sovereignty (Matthew 11:25-26)

The term kurios means Lord or master. God is frequently called “Lord” in the Old Testament citations and allusions found in the New Testament. The Father exercises His authority as Lord over all His created universe. In our text Jesus praises Him, as “Lord of heaven and earth” (Matthew 11:25; Luke 10:21). When Jesus says, “Praise your Lord of heaven and earth,” he is saying “praise God the creator, sustainer, and sovereign of the universe.” He is revealing God is soverign over creation.

Praise the Father, He is sovereign over creation (v25)

The Father is the creator of heaven and earth, as expressed in Isaiah 37:16: “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.” And how did he create the heavens and the earth,“By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host (Psalm 33:6 ).” The Father does not need anything, because “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” (Acts 17:24-25). God maintains the natural order through the power of his word (Hebrews 1:3). He sustains humanity because “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). He governs the seasons and times of all creation for the good of his image bearers: “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22). There is something awe-inspiring when you pause to contemplate God's sovereign power over creation—something that moved Jesus to praise his Father. Reflecting on God's sovereignty over creation, the Puritan Thomas Brooks once said,

What are the heavens, the earth, the sea, but a sheet of royal paper, written all over with the wisdom and power of God?

Thomas Brooks

Praise the Father, He is sovereign over revelation (v25-26)

Jesus also praises God’s sovereignty in revealing truth whenever and however he wants to reveal it. Jesus expresses God’s sovereignty over revelation when he says,

“25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you…that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” Matthew 11:25–26

What does it mean “God has hidden these things?”

You first must understand that man, in his natural state, cannot understand the things of God. Paul makes this abundantly clear,

“14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14

Furthermore, those who are not of Christ are captive to the devil’s power and deception. Speaking of the natural man, Paul says, “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4).” Jesus tells the unbelieving Pharisees and Sadducees that their lack of faith stems from their affiliation with the Devil, and they only wish to imitate his actions (John 8:43-47).

So, in one sense, man cannot see the truth of God because of his own sinful pride that imitates the actions Satan. Fallen man refuses to acknowledge God because he is heart hardened toward God. Seeing they cannot see.

There is also the soverign will of God to exercise judgement on the proud heart by hiding the truth. Jesus explains why the people continuously reject Him.

“37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.” John 12:37–41

What has he blinded their eyes from seeing? (25-26)

These things. The “these things” is the truth about John the Baptist as the Herald and Jesus as the Messiah. No matter what Jesus said or did, in their natural state of being, they could not see Jesus as the Messiah nor could they understand the message of the gospel, and in God’s judgement of their arrogance, He hides the truth from them. Notice the main problem of their seeing and understanding is their pride.

The Father conceals truth from the proud (v25)

Jesus suggests that the Father intentionally hides the truth from the “wise and understanding.” These individuals are the religious elite, whose hearts have become arrogant and proud. They are educated men, self-proclaimed wise, believing they know God better than he knows Himself. These Jews, proud of their learning, overlooked the revelation of God, who was present among them as the Word made flesh. They were no different than the Roman pagan governor Pilate, who had the gumption to stand before Jesus Christ and ask him, “What is truth?” If you had eyes to see and ears to understand, you would know that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but through Him (John 14:6). Just as Pilate in his arrogance and pride could not see Jesus as the truth, neither could the wise and understanding Jews see Jesus as the Messiah.

If there's a warning for religious individuals like us, it appears in Matthew 11:25. People in church can sometimes develop a strange arrogance—we hold the very word of God and speak of matters far above our understanding. We share about the Everlasting Almighty God of heaven and earth, yet pride can quietly take root in our hearts in the form of self-righteousness. Soon, we see ourselves as the only authorities on scripture, dismissing anyone who disagrees. I see this most in tribalism among denominations. Our tone becomes sharp, and our words unkind, no longer speaking truth in love. We become like the Pharisee who proudly condemned the tax collector, saying, “Thank God I am not like that man!” Arrogance blinds us to the precious gift of humility—a humility that keeps us on our knees, pleading with God for mercy, keeping us close to Christ.

The story of the Tower of Babel from Genesis 11:1-9 often comes to mind when considering the consequences of pride. Humanity, speaking one language and driven by ambition, aimed to build a tower that reached heaven, where God lives, and that tower would make a name for themselves, equal to God.  This reflects their arrogance in that, first of all, God had told humanity to go to the ends of the earth and make My name great.  Second, no man or angelic being can be equal to God.  It was that kind of prideful thinking that God excommunicated Satan from heaven.  In response, God intervened.  He humbled them.  He tore down their tower,  dispersed them, and confused their language. Pride provokes God’s judgment.

So, who does God reveal the too?

The Father reveals truth to the humble (v25)

The term “little children” is a metaphor for those who are lowly, full of humility. Jesus is likely contrasting the arrogant Jews with his disciples. The Pharisees and and the Sadducees where the spiritual elite who were deemed as wise and understanding. By comparison, Jesus was walking around with fishermen, tax collectors, and a thief.

Jesus’s disciples are those whose hearts who have been lowered, made prostrate before the Lord. The word humble derives from the word humus, the Latin word for “earth” or “ground”. A humble heart is a grounded heart. A grounded heart is a prepared heart ready to hear the truth.

Praise the Father, He is sovereign over salvation

If man cannot know the things of God on his own, and God sovereignly hides things, how does a person know God? How can a person be saved? Where does the humility come from to see the truth of the gospel? Well, it comes from God.

All of us are dead in our sin from our pride. And a spiritually dead person cannot respond to the gospel any better than a physically dead person could respond to a doctor. We need God to regenerate our heart. We need God to fulfill what he promised in Ezekiel 36:26-27,

“ 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” Ezekiel 36:25–27

The natural man needs to be born again. It is the Spirit of God who makes your heart alive to see the works and hear the message of the good news. It would be like a doctor doing heart surgery on a dead corpse. He takes the dead heart out, and replaces it with a live beating heart. Then miraculously, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the person is made alive. Isn’t that how Paul describes it? Paul says,

“4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” through faith.” Eph 2:4

John Calvin says it as plainly as I have ever heard it.

Faith does not proceed from ourselves, but is the fruit of spiritual regeneration.

John Calvin (French Reformer)

The Spirit of God brings life to the heart that is dead in sin (Eph 2:1-2). The eyes of the sinners heart is humbled enough to finally see its spiritual bankruptcy in light of God’s holiness. They are finally humble enough to see their need for a savior because God has granted them godly sorrow over sin that leads to repentance.

The late Founder of Prison Fellowship, Church Colson says,

Repentance is an inescapable consequence of regeneration.

Charles Colson

When I was saved at 22 years old, something supernatural happened to me. I was in a night club looking for love in all the wrong. I had no idea love was looking for me, chasing me into the darkness of a den of sin. I was dead partying among the dead. The Holy Spirit jolted my heart. My eyes were opened to my arrogance toward God and His wrath for such arrogance.

I ran as hard as I could, but I could not escape him. On the Causeway bridge, over Lake Ponchetrane, my heart felt godly sorrow over my sin. I could do nothing but repent, and cry out to Jesus. My regeneration was sure because my repentance was the fruit of the Spirit of God making my heart alive.

I wept. God had humble me. He tore down that tower and put an end to me making my name great. Then I rejoiced. Because he showed me my soul’s desire, my purpose in life, is to make His name great. Faith, great saving faith was given to me and I am saved by it.

I cannot boast in my salvation. It is by God’s soverign good grace I am saved. Nothing more. Nothing less. He deserves all the glory and honor, and I am but a blessed recipient of His good favor. That is the truth that was revealed to the disciples That is the truth that has been revealed to me. That is the truth that has been given to all the little children who are God’s elect.

Praise the Father Who Slays the Mother of Pride!

Praise the Father! He is sovereign over all creation. Nothing is outside his control. Priase the Father! He is sovereign over revelation! He has the sole authority and power to reveal and conceal truth as he pleases. So, as you praise the Father for not having to be the one who persuades sinners to come to Christ or is responsible for making them alive in Christ, pray that God would reveal his truth to sinners!

Praise the Father! Praise him for his soverign grace. It is God’s sovereign grace that enables you to respond rightly to Jesus. You can respond to Jesus rightly because the Spirit of God is at work in your heart. God has the power to make you alive in Christ, and he does that by humbling your heart that prides itself on being “wise and understanding” to a heart eager to be “little children” who receive the truth.

Is your heart feeling any godly sorrow over sin? Do you sense the Holy Spirit drawing you to Jesus? Have you surrendered your wisdom and understanding to God’s way of salvation? Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. You must make a decision to follow Jesus. If God is humbling your heart to see your sin and your need for a Savior from His wrath, that humility is a gift of godly sorrow to compel you to repent, turn from your sin, and accept the salvation Jesus offers you. Become the little child who receives his truth.