Slow Climb Upwards

Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. 

Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Turning to the disciples in private he said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.” (Luke 10:21-24)

Children are simple; adults are not.  We analyze and doubt; children do not.  Knowing God is easier for children than for adults.  This is why being childlike helps us find that which is hidden from us, or we tend to misplace.  

William Barclay made an interesting observation in his book about Luke and Jesus’ revelation: “All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”  Barclay said: “Jesus was the peak to which history had been climbing, the goal to which it had been marching, the dream which ever haunted men of God.  If we desire to express this in terms of modern thought, we might dare to put it this way.  We believe in evolution, the slow climb upwards of man from the level of the beasts.  Jesus is the end and climax of the evolutionary process because in him man meets God; and he is at once the perfection of manhood and the fullness of godhead.”

We must be childlike to appreciate this conclusion offered by Jesus through Luke.  For many of us it is a slow climb upwards to reach this peak.  But it is well worth it.  The view is spectacular!

Deacon David Pierce