Proper 9: Gospel, Matthew 11:25-30

If you remember, Kimber gave us a wonderful peeking into God’s heart as she gave her meditation on our Old Testament reading in Zechariah 9. Well this week closes with our Lord praying and coaxing in Matthew chapter 11. Praying to His Father and coaxing us homeward to Himself. In this chapter of the first gospel we have startling statements from Jesus. In prayer He thanks God for “hiding” Himself from those who would have prided themselves on their spiritual pedigree and performance. And then in His conversation with the Father He allows us access to a grand truth. That the Son is the only one who truly knows the Father. But that isn’t good enough for the Son. No. He wants others to know the Father; His Father.

“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 (11:27). The Son and Father (and by implication the Holy Spirit) know one another truly and perfectly and no one else can. How could they? Do you have someone you know like no one else? I’ll bet you do. And no matter how well someone else might know the same person, their knowledge just doesn’t measure up to yours. That kind of knowledge of another is a gift. And here that type of knowledge is about to be shared. And this knowledge could ONLY be a gift. Jesus in effect is saying, “Father I know You. But I simply cannot keep this all to myself.” In another place Jesus, also in prayer, had said, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).

Our knowledge of the Father is a gift. A gift of Jesus’s own choosing and you and I know the Father because of a specific act of revelation. And John has shared that Jesus calls it “eternal life.” In Zechariah God called out for the return of his “daughter.” Remember, Daughter of Zion? And here Jesus calls to us by first showing His desire that we know our God and then closes this marvelous passage with a stunning invitation. “Come to Me …” (v. 28).

Oh there is a day coming when we will literally be welcomed to our Father’s house, but the trek home has begun. And why? Because our Lord couldn’t wait. God couldn’t wait. And soon we will all hear it. “Welcome home.”