Smoodock's Blog

Relevance!

How do we keep the Gospel relevant in each new generation born into the world? Things change—fashions, modes of entertainment, even what we call science. So, how do we keep up and present the Gospel to the world in a relevant manner? According to one website, the word relevant means “directly related, connected or pertinent to a topic” and also “not out of date, current.”

Well, the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven is not “directly related” to the world, nor is it “connected” to this world’s affairs. However, it is “pertinent to” how men should relate to one another, and to what this world might consider its goals, vis-à-vis what it desires to have or achieve. In other words, although the Gospel is not “directly related” or “connected” to the world, it is relevant enough to be given a place at the world’s table, where decisions are made concerning how we should behave and where we should be headed.

With the above in mind, why would God want to hide the truth from the Jewish authorities, or any other authority, or any common person for that matter? According to Jesus, he was thankful that God “hid these things (the truth) from the wise and prudent, but revealed them to babes” or common folk, because it seemed good for him to do so (Matthew 11:25-26). Yet, we must ask ourselves, why would it be good to hide the truth from anyone? What makes an educated person unworthy of the truth? Is Jesus saying that only uneducated fools are worthy of the Gospel? Not at all! Paul was no fool; both he and Jesus were rabbis, highly educated in the scriptures. Yet, Jesus claimed God had hidden the truth from the wise and prudent, or the rabbis of his day (Matthew 11:25). How was this a good thing (verse-26)?

To begin with, the hearts of the rabbis of that day had grown callous, and their ears were deaf to the truth, meaning they chose a method of understanding—a worldview, if you will—that was opposed to the truth. For them, all things were physical; the Messiah would provide food for everyone (cp. John 6:13-15; cp. Matthew 4:3); he would be a great king who would never die (John 12:34, cp. Matthew 16:21-22 and Matthew 4:5-6), and he would rid Israel of their oppressors (Luke 1:68-71; cp. Matthew 4:8-9). The worldview which they embraced and taught others as true was according to the ways of this world. They were not wise and prudent in the affairs of God, but wise and prudent in the affairs of this world. Everything in scripture was interpreted with this worldview as its context. Therefore, when Jesus said God “hid” these things from them, it was in the sense that he didn’t disturb their ignorance of the truth, which was the manner they had chosen to understand truth (cp. Matthew 13:15; Acts 28:27).

Therefore, how could truth ever be understood if the Lord our God hides it from our teachers? Jesus tells us that only he knows the Father, and only the Father knows Jesus, the Messiah. We are able to understand who God is and what he reveals to us in Christ only if we receive Jesus as our teacher/rabbi (Matthew 11:27; cp. John 1:11-12). In so doing, we become changed (John 1:13-14; cp. 2 Peter 1:3-4), and being changed, we become able to understand what Jesus tells us in the word of God.

Therefore, Jesus calls us—those of us who labor in religion and those of us who are overwhelmed with guilt and condemnation from the teachings of this world. He calls us to find rest in him (Matthew 11:28). The yoke is intended for two purposes. First, it is laid upon two oxen so the younger would learn from the older and more experienced oxen. Secondly, together they plow a field that man cannot do as well or as quickly as the beasts of burden. The sense is, we are heavily laden when we try to be like men, to do as they do. However, Jesus gives us rest in that he is able to cause us to enjoy our labor with him. Thus, what was burdensome under men is light under Christ (Matthew 11:29-30). We find our Sabbath Rest not in the Law, vis-à-vis a day of the week, but in Christ, a Person (cp. Hebrews 4:9-11).