Matthew 11:25

II. THE FATHER'S REVELATION.

25. At that time.

Immediately after this judgment upon the impenitent cities was denounced.

O Father, Lord of heaven and earth.

Christ addresses God as his Father, not as his Lord. The obedience he yields is that of. Son, not of. subject. Four more times, in deep emotion, Christ thus addresses the Father (John 11:41; John 12:28; John 17:1; Luke 23:34). Here the cause of the emotion was the impenitence of his own people in contrast with the devout, childlike faith of the believers.

That thou didst hide these things from the wise and prudent.

From the worldly wise Pharisees and Jews. God had hid these things from this latter class through the natural operation of their own corrupted hearts and perverted minds, and he had revealed them to the former class through their more teachable mental and moral condition; the same light shining on both alike.-- McGarvey. God "revealed" and "hid" by the laws of our being, of which he is the author. By these laws the spiritually proud and worldly wise have such trust in themselves that they are blinded to the simple truths of the gospel, while those who are simple, childlike and humble, are in the condition to become believers. Why should the Lord be thankful for this? Because if the "wise and prudent" had received the gospel they would at once have perverted it, as they did three hundred years later; while the "babes" would not be wise enough in their own conceits to change and corrupt it.