I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes

 

 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

 

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."

 

- Luke 10:17–24 

 

Yesterday we read that, having begun His long journey toward Jerusalem, the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.  Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.  Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.  Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.  But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.'  And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.  And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages.  Do not go from house to house.  Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.  And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'  But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you.  Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.'  But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city. Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.   But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.  He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."   Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."

 

  Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."  My study Bible comments that "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" is a description of an event that took place before the creation of the world. It notes that five times Satan set his will against God (Isaiah 14:12-15; see also Revelation 12:7-12).  

 

 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."  My study Bible defines babes as people of simple faith and open hearts (see Luke 18:15-17).  These are those who now see the things which many prophets and kings have desired to see, and have not seen it, and to hear what they hear, and have not heard it.  

 

What does it mean to reveal the things of God?  To have the things revealed to us that Christ reveals to us?  Here He makes it clear that there is none who knows the Father except the Son -- and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.  This is the reality of the revelation of our faith.  It is not understood from theories or fanciful notions about how the world should work.  Ultimately, the "all things" that are give to Christ by the Father are revealed to human beings to whom Christ wishes to reveal them.  It's an important distinction, because it reveals reality that exists in places you or I can't know and don't experience in the fullness of that reality.  Certainly visions have been given to prophets throughout the spiritual history we read of in the Bible, such as the vision of the prophet Isaiah cited above (Isaiah 14:12-15), and of course the Revelation of the New Testament Scriptures.  These are the ways that things have been revealed to us, and it's important that we understand this process.  For what we have been given is a gift, a priceless gift for each of us.  St. Irenaeus of Lyon (125-220 AD) writes:  "True knowledge is the teaching of the Apostles, the order of the Church as established from the earliest times throughout the world, and the distinctive stamp of the body of Christ, passed down through the succession of bishops in charge of the church in each place . . ."   Ultimately, we also have the Holy Spirit given to us, alive and well and at work in our world and in ourselves, and that gift is what will be celebrated this coming Sunday, the feast of Pentecost (see Acts 2).  While theology is essential to our understanding, and great saints and visionaries have helped us to understand God through their capability in their education and also in the holiness of the love of God and certainly through prayer, our foundation is in these revealed realities given to us as a gift from God.  When Christ praises and thanks God the Father for hiding these things from the wise and prudent, and revealing them to babes, He is glorifying for us this process in which we are to understand further that God does not work on worldly terms, but on God's terms, and that this gift of what is revealed is given to all of us.  So there are none left out of the great salvation plan of God, in the Son's revelation of God to the world.  The visions inspired and given by the Holy Spirit are also those things that reveal the things of God to us, such as the vision of St. Stephen which he revealed even as he was stoned for doing so.   This is told explicitly to us in Acts 7:55-56:  "But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, 'Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!'"  See Acts 7 for his entire testimony before the Sanhedrin.  These things are important for us to understand, for they give us our foundation upon which the Church and our faith is built.  All that we do, every sacrament, every element of worship and prayer, is informed through revelation -- and shaped through Christ's revelation of the Father to the apostles in order to be given to us.  Let us stand on that foundation and receive Him and His word, and the great gift and blessings of the Holy Spirit.