Matthew (Written)

Saturday, 19 July 2025

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. Matthew 12:1

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen)

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“In that time, Jesus, He went – the Sabbaths – through the grainfields, and His disciples, they hungered, and they began to pluck kernels and eat” (CG).

In the previous verse, Chapter 11 finished with Jesus’ words concerning His yoke being handy and His burden being light. Chapter 12 now begins with, “In that time.”

It is a particular time, noted by the word kairos (a particular time or season) rather than chronos (time as it marches on). In other words, Matthew is highlighting the season in which they are walking. Of this phrase, Barnes notes –

“Luke 6:1 fixes the time more particularly. He says that it was ‘the second Sabbath after the first.’ To understand this, it is proper to remark that the ‘Passover’ was observed during the month ‘Abib,’ or Nisan, answering to the latter part of March and the first of April. The feast was held seven days, commencing on the fourteenth day of the month Exodus 12:1-28; Exodus 23:15, on the “second” day of the paschal week. The law required that a sheaf of ‘barley’ should be offered up as the first-fruits of the harvest, Leviticus 23:10-11. From this day was reckoned seven weeks to the feast of ‘Pentecost’ Leviticus 23:15-16, called also the feast of weeks Deuteronomy 16:10, and the feast of the harvest, Exodus 23:16. This second day in the feast of the Passover, or of unleavened bread, was the beginning, therefore, from which they reckoned toward the Pentecost. The Sabbath in the week following would be the ‘second Sabbath’ after this first one in the reckoning, and this was doubtless the time mentioned when Christ went through the fields.”

Understanding the time of year, Matthew next records, “Jesus, He went – the Sabbaths – through the grainfields.”

There are two new words. The first is sabbaton, the Sabbath. It is the seventh day of the week corresponding to the day of rest from the labors of creation noted in Genesis 2. It became a mandatory requirement for the Hebrew people, being first introduced as such in Exodus 16. It was to be a day of rest, including no secular work of any type.

The word is often in the plural, indicating the weekly nature of the appointment. This is like someone in English saying, “My Sundays are always set for church time.”

The second new word is sporimos, a word coming from sporos, scattering (and thus, sown). As such, it refers to a planted field. While on a Sabbath, Jesus is walking through the fields, which would have included both barley and wheat at this time of year. It was also ready for harvesting. However, He is not alone, as indicated by the words, “and His disciples.”

It is a group of Jesus and His disciples walking through the grainfields. As they did, it says that “they hungered.” This helps to explain the use of the word kairos rather than chronos. One can walk through the grainfields in September, and there won’t be anything to harvest. However, at this time of year, there would be stalks all around coming to full maturity. As such, Matthew notes, “and they began to pluck kernels and eat.”

There is another new word here, tilló, to pluck or pick in order to pull off. The word will only be seen here, in Mark 2:23, and Luke 6:1. All three uses refer to the same incident. As for the words, they seem innocuous enough. Here is a group of people walking through the grainfield. As they walk, they are hungry. Because they are hungry, they take the time to pick some grains and eat them.

From our modern thinking, one might think, “What are they doing, they have no right to eat someone else’s grain.” That would be incorrect. In the law, it says –

“When you come into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes at your pleasure, but you shall not put any in your container. ²⁵ When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain.” Deuteronomy 23:24, 25

Thus, they are doing nothing wrong in eating in this regard as they go through the fields. Their actions are in accordance with the law concerning that particular aspect of the matter.

Life application: Jesus came to fulfill the law. The gospels are a record of His life and actions in relation to the law. This is one of the main purposes for which they are recorded, and it is the reason why there are three separate but similar gospels known as the synoptics.

They provide a witness and testimony to the conduct of the Messiah as He lived under the law. In Leviticus 18:5, it says –

“You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.”

From the time of the giving of the law until the time of Jesus, the record of Israel, including every person of Israel, was a record of failure. The law promised life to the one who would do the things of the law. And yet, they all died, generation after generation. Elijah was taken directly to heaven for a particular purpose. If he had remained, he would have died too.

Jesus came. He was born under the law. The gospels record His life under the law, demonstrating that He was without sin. It is the reason why Jesus is alive to this day. He prevailed over the law, even in His death, because His death was in fulfillment of the law. Because of this, He rose again. It is the sure proof that He was without sin and that He is God because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Only God incarnate was born and lived without sin. Therefore, when we see an account about Jesus’ life, even if we think there is wrongdoing, such as His disciples picking and eating someone else’s grain, we can be certain that what occurs is acceptable according to Scripture. Be sure to think about why the law records things as it does. In it, we will find Jesus’ perfection highlighted for us.

Lord God, it is marvelous to think about what You have done, coming under the law that You gave to Israel, living it out perfectly in the Person of Jesus, and then granting us the life that You possess while redeeming us from sin and death. Thank You, O God, for Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Friday, 18 July 2025

For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:30

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen)

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“For My yoke – handy, and My burden – it is light” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus told His hearers to take His yoke upon themselves and learn from Him because He is benignant and lowly of heart. In doing this, He promised rest for their souls. He now continues with the closing words of the chapter, “For My yoke – easy, and My burden – it is light.”

He introduces two new words. The first is chréstos, easy. It is derived from chraomai, to treat or use. As such, it signifies employed, but by implication, it would mean useful while being kind or good. There is no direct English word that blends kind and good, but the word was a common slave name in the Greco-Roman world. A slave who was both kind and good may have been called Handy.

The second new word is phortion, signifying a burden. It is the diminutive of phortos, an invoice. As such, the word figuratively refers to a task or service as a burden.

Jesus explains here why they should take His yoke upon them. His yoke is one that is handy to have, being useful and good, while at the same time it is essentially burden-free. The fulfillment of the law by Him is something that is beneficial to all because it removes that burden from us. It is always available and good (handy) because it is offered to all people. When it is accepted, the results are eternal in nature.

Life application: Why anyone would want to put themselves back under the yoke of the law is hard to figure out. The easy example of tithing is a perfect illustration. Those who are having financial troubles cannot give cheerfully if they cannot afford dinner. And yet preachers will beat a precept from the Law of Moses over the people’s heads as if it still applies.

No matter what law it is, if Jesus has fulfilled it, we are free from it. We are no longer being imputed sin (2 Corinthians 5:19). By law is the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20). This doesn’t mean we should go out and do wrong things. It means we are to rest in the grace of Christ and not try to take up the burden that He has already carried for us. In doing so, we will only offend God who sent Jesus to do what we could never do.

Lord God, thank You for the infinite grace of our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.

Matthew 11

11 And it was, when Jesus, He finished through-arranging His twelve disciples, He departed thence to teach and proclaim in their cities. ² And John, having heard in the prison the works of the Christ, having sent two of his disciples, ³ they said to Him, “You, You are ‘the Coming,’ or do another we anticipate?” ⁴ And Jesus, answering, said to them, “Having gone, you report to John what you hear and you see.” ⁵ Blind – they up-look, and lame – they walk, lepers – they are cleansed, and deaf – they hear, dead – they are roused, and poor – they are evangelized. ⁶ And blessed, he is, who if not he should stumble in Me. ⁷ And these going, Jesus, He began to speak to the crowds about John: “What you went out into the wilderness to view? A reed wavering by wind? ⁸ But what you went out to see? A man having been enrobed in fine cloaks? You behold! Those wearing the fines, they are in the kings’ houses. ⁹ But what you went out to see? A prophet? Yes! I say to you and beyond a prophet. ¹⁰ For this, he is about whom it has been written, ‘Behold, I, I send My messenger before Your face, who, he will prepare Your way before you.

¹¹ Amen! I say to you, not he has risen in ‘born of women’ greater than John the Baptist, but the least in the kingdom of the heavens, he is greater than he. ¹² And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of the heavens, it is forced, and forcers, they seize it. ¹³ For all the prophets and the law, until John, they prophesied. ¹⁴ And if you incline to receive, he, he is Elijah, the ‘being about to come.’ ¹⁵ The ‘having ears to hear,’ let him hear. ¹⁶ And to what I will liken this generation? It is like children in markets, sitting and addressing their companions, ¹⁷ and they say, ‘We piped to you and not you danced. We bewailed to you and not you breast-beat.’ ¹⁸ For, he came, John, neither eating, neither drinking, and they say he has a demon! ¹⁹ He came, the Son of Man, eating and drinking, and they say, ‘You behold! A man, a glutton, and a winebibber! A friend of taxmen and sinners!’ And it is justified, the wisdom, from her children.”

²⁰ Then He began to defame the cities in which they occurred – the most of His miracles – because they reconsidered not. ^{21 “}Woe, you, Chorazin! Woe, you, Bethsaida! For if in Tyre and Sidon, they occurred – the miracles, those done in you– if in sackcloth and ashes formerly they reconsidered. ²² Moreover, I say to you, it will be sufferable – Tyre and Sidon – in Judgment Day than you. ²³ And you, Capernaum, the ‘until heaven, you having been elevated,’ until Hades you will be descended. For if in Sodom they occurred – the miracles, the ‘having occurred in you’ – it remained, if until the day. ²⁴ Moreover, I say to you that it will be sufferable – land Sodom – in Judgment Day than you.”

²⁵ In that time, Jesus answering, He said, “I acknowledge You, Father, Lord ‘the heaven and the earth’ that You hid these from wise and sagacious, and You revealed them to infants. ²⁶ Yes, Father, for thus it was satisfaction before You. ²⁷ All, it was delivered to Me by My Father. And none, he knows the Son if not the Father, nor any he knows the Father if not the Son, and whom if the Son He should will to reveal. ²⁸ You come to Me, all those laboring and having been encumbered, and I, I will give rest to you. ²⁹ Lift My yoke upon you, and you learn from Me, for benignant I am, and lowly of heart, and you will find rest – your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke – handy, and My burden – it is light.”

Thursday, 17 July 2025

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:29

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen).

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“Lift My yoke upon you, and you learn from Me, for benignant I am, and lowly of heart, and you will find rest – your souls” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus said to those around Him, “You come to Me, all those laboring and having been encumbered, and I, I will give rest to you.” He now continues His words, beautifully calling His people to Himself, beginning with, “Lift My yoke upon you.”

The word zugos, a yoke or a pair of scales, is introduced. The word is derived from the root of zeugnumi, to join. This joining is usually by a yoke. Thus, it speaks of a coupling. Figuratively, it is applied to servitude, such as by law. This is just how both Peter and Paul will later use it –

Peter: “Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? ¹¹ But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.” Acts 15:10, 11

Paul: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. ² Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.” Galatians 5:1, 2

Jesus is using the same figurative language. He is telling those who will hear that what He offers is available. By saying this, He is conveying the thought, “All people are slaves to something. I offer you my yoke, which is far preferable to the one you now bear.” In coming under Jesus’ yoke, He next says, “and you learn from Me, for benignant I am.”

It is the same word used in Matthew 5:5 where Jesus said –

“Blessed – the benignant,
For they – they will inherit the land.”

The word gives the sense of being mild or humble. Added to that, He continues with, “and lowly of heart.”

Here, the word tapeinos, lowly, is introduced. It signifies depressed, as in (figuratively) humiliated. This could be in circumstances or in disposition. Jesus is indicating that because of His gentle and lowly disposition, the yoke that He offers will be similar in its effect upon those who accept it. Because of this, He provides a sure promise to those who accept it, saying, “and you will find rest – your souls.”

Another new word, anapausis, is provided. It is a noun signifying intermission. By implication, it gives a sense of recreation or rest. It is the noun form of the verb just introduced in the previous verse. Jesus is saying that in taking on His yoke, something normally associated with work, toil, and physical effort, a person will instead receive rest for their souls.

The thoughts, seemingly contradictory, are expressed based on His position as the Messiah. He indicated in the previous verses that in knowing Him, one would then know the Father. Jesus was sent on a mission, specifically to fulfill the law that stood opposed to the people. This law, as indicated above by both Peter and Paul, is a yoke of bondage.

One must work in order to be pleasing to God under the law. But because of sin, the works remain unacceptable. However, Jesus had no sin. He lived life under the law perfectly. He is indicating, even before His completion of the law, that He would accomplish all that is necessary for the law to be fulfilled. In doing this, what He will offer is not a yoke of bondage, but one of humility.

His subjugation under the law will lead to His exaltation. His labors will be complete, and He offers the fruit of His labors to all who will believe.

Life application: Applying these words of Jesus to those in the church does not violate the dispensational model. He is referring to an action which is future to the point in time at which He states it. As such, it is an action that is open to all when that point is met.

Jesus was in the process of fulfilling the law. If He had failed to do so, the words of this verse would be nullified. Of course, He would not fail, and He did not fail. It was a given that He would prevail. As such, He could rightly proclaim these words, offering Himself as the provider of rest even before He had finished His labors.

In the completion of His efforts, what He accomplished is now available to any and all who will accept the premise. Though spoken to Israel while under the law, they are words anticipating the ending of the law and the granting of rest. Therefore, they reflect an ongoing offer to any and all who will accept His yoke.

This is the point of the words of Peter and Paul. They are telling the people of the world that law observance is not the way to please God, except as it was observed by Jesus. In coming to Christ, our yoke is that of “law fulfilled” not “law to be fulfilled.” Thank God for His tender mercies in sending Jesus to make this our happy state of servitude.

Lord God, thank You that the yoke we take upon ourselves through Christ Jesus is one of being Your bondservant under His fulfillment of the law and the paying of humanity’s sin-debt. We no longer have to bear the burden of sin. Instead, we can be free in the Lord to serve You in a state of rest, refreshment, and eternal joy. Hooray for Jesus! Amen.

For a direct link to The Superior Word Translation by Pastor Charlie Garrett of The Gospel According to Matthew Chapter 11, click on this link for (YouTube) or this link for (Rumble).

Matthew 11

11 And it was, when Jesus, He finished through-arranging His twelve disciples, He departed thence to teach and proclaim in their cities. ² And John, having heard in the prison the works of the Christ, having sent two of his disciples, ³ they said to Him, “You, You are ‘the Coming,’ or do another we anticipate?” ⁴ And Jesus, answering, said to them, “Having gone, you report to John what you hear and you see.” ⁵ Blind – they up-look, and lame – they walk, lepers – they are cleansed, and deaf – they hear, dead – they are roused, and poor – they are evangelized. ⁶ And blessed, he is, who if not he should stumble in Me. ⁷ And these going, Jesus, He began to speak to the crowds about John: “What you went out into the wilderness to view? A reed wavering by wind? ⁸ But what you went out to see? A man having been enrobed in fine cloaks? You behold! Those wearing the fines, they are in the kings’ houses. ⁹ But what you went out to see? A prophet? Yes! I say to you and beyond a prophet. ¹⁰ For this, he is about whom it has been written, ‘Behold, I, I send My messenger before Your face, who, he will prepare Your way before you.

¹¹ Amen! I say to you, not he has risen in ‘born of women’ greater than John the Baptist, but the least in the kingdom of the heavens, he is greater than he. ¹² And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of the heavens, it is forced, and forcers, they seize it. ¹³ For all the prophets and the law, until John, they prophesied. ¹⁴ And if you incline to receive, he, he is Elijah, the ‘being about to come.’ ¹⁵ The ‘having ears to hear,’ let him hear. ¹⁶ And to what I will liken this generation? It is like children in markets, sitting and addressing their companions, ¹⁷ and they say, ‘We piped to you and not you danced. We bewailed to you and not you breast-beat.’ ¹⁸ For, he came, John, neither eating, neither drinking, and they say he has a demon! ¹⁹ He came, the Son of Man, eating and drinking, and they say, ‘You behold! A man, a glutton, and a winebibber! A friend of taxmen and sinners!’ And it is justified, the wisdom, from her children.”

²⁰ Then He began to defame the cities in which they occurred – the most of His miracles – because they reconsidered not. ^{21 “}Woe, you, Chorazin! Woe, you, Bethsaida! For if in Tyre and Sidon, they occurred – the miracles, those done in you– if in sackcloth and ashes formerly they reconsidered. ²² Moreover, I say to you, it will be sufferable – Tyre and Sidon – in Judgment Day than you. ²³ And you, Capernaum, the ‘until heaven, you having been elevated,’ until Hades you will be descended. For if in Sodom they occurred – the miracles, the ‘having occurred in you’ – it remained, if until the day. ²⁴ Moreover, I say to you that it will be sufferable – land Sodom – in Judgment Day than you.”

²⁵ In that time, Jesus answering, He said, “I acknowledge You, Father, Lord ‘the heaven and the earth’ that You hid these from wise and sagacious, and You revealed them to infants. ²⁶ Yes, Father, for thus it was satisfaction before You. ²⁷ All, it was delivered to Me by My Father. And none, he knows the Son if not the Father, nor any he knows the Father if not the Son, and whom if the Son He should will to reveal. ²⁸ You come to Me, all those laboring and having been encumbered, and I, I will give rest to you. ²⁹ Lift My yoke upon you, and you learn from Me, for benignant I am, and lowly of heart, and you will find rest – your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke – handy, and My burden – it is light.”

Wednesday, 16 July 2025

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen).

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“You come to Me, all those laboring and having been encumbered, and I, I will give rest to you” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus spoke of the intimate connection of knowing the Father and the Son, and that knowing the Father can only come through the Son’s revelation of Him. Next, Jesus speaks some of the most comforting words found in all of Scripture, beginning with, “You come to Me.”

As noted, He just spoke of the Father/Son relationship. He is now building on that thought, not stating something disconnected from it. It is the hope of the human soul to be reconciled to God, to know that He hears and will respond to our prayers, and to feel assured that the relationship between the two is sound.

Even people who deny this know deep inside that it is true. When the greatest crises of life arrive, we utter prayers and ask God for relief. We want Him to favor our steps and bless our efforts. It is instilled in us, and such knowledge must be suppressed. Jesus is essentially saying, “If you want the favor of the Father, come to Me.” He next defines who He is referring to, saying, “all those laboring and having been encumbered.”

The first word, kopiaó, was already seen in Matthew 6:28. It signifies to labor, toil, be wearied, etc. The second word, phortizó, translated as encumbered, is new. It signifies to load up, as in a vessel or on an animal. Figuratively, it gives the sense of overburdening. A single word that fits this thought is “encumbered.”

The words speak of those who are working to please God, feeling the weight and burden of both the law and their sin, which is imputed from violating the law. Add in the doctrines of the leaders of Israel, and the weight upon the people’s souls would have been a heavy burden. And yet, in their attempts to be pleasing through their efforts, they only felt more disconnected from God.

This is the problem with law. It seizes the moment and traps us, just as it did with our first father. Paul carefully and precisely details this in Romans. The weight and burden of the law could never provide rest to the people. On the other hand, Jesus emphatically declares, “and I, I will give rest to you.”

Here is a new verb, anapauó. It signifies completing a process. The thought is that of giving or experiencing rest after a needed task is complete. One can think of finishing a job and stopping for refreshment.

What is one of the main purposes of the plan of redemption? It is to return man to the state of rest that existed at the beginning –

“Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. ² And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” Genesis 2:1-3

This is why Jesus spoke of the Father/Son relationship before speaking of the granting of rest. The word used by Jesus here is not the same as a Sabbath rest, but it would be what one does on a Sabbath rest. There is the week of toil followed by the Sabbath. The rest that occurs on that day would be the refreshing effect that is realized.

God rested from His labors. That state of rest was set forth for man to eternally enjoy His Creator in a harmonious relationship. But that relationship was disrupted through sin. Sin came by a violation of law.

Adding more law to man only increased the knowledge and imputation of sin. Jesus, without yet explaining how He would do it, asks those around Him to trust Him. The rest that was lost would be restored through Him. To make that happen, Jesus said this in John’s gospel –

“But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.’” John 5:17

“But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.” John 5:36

The Father is working through the Son to effect the redemption of man. Jesus is the One who offers and grants God’s rest to His people. As it says in Hebrews 4:3, “For we who have believed do enter that rest…”

Life application: Jesus has promised rest, the rest offered by the Father through Him, to His people. How would this come about? What works can we do to be right with God? Paul says in Romans 7 –

“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’ ⁸ But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. ⁹ I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. ¹⁰ And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. ¹¹ For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. ¹² Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” Romans 7:7-12

The law only exacerbates man’s problems. When there is no law, there is no imputation for wrongdoing. But when a law is introduced, violating that law brings about guilt. This is why Jesus came. He was born under the law to fulfill it for those who could never do so. In His fulfillment of the law, He now imparts His righteousness to those who trust Him and His accomplishments.

In believing this good news, a person moves from law to grace. There is no longer the imputation of sin because that person is no longer under law. This is what Jesus is telling the people. He is the offering of God for release from the burden and toiling that man faces. He is the One to grant God’s rest. Through Him, harmony between the Creator and His creatures is restored.

“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” John 6:29

Lord God, thank You for the giving of Your Son for our transgressions. He has lifted our burden! He has restored us to You! In Him, we have found Your promised rest. Thank You, O God, for Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Tuesday, 15 July 2025

All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Matthew 11:27

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen).

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“All, it was delivered to Me by My Father. And none, he knows the Son if not the Father, nor any he knows the Father if not the Son, and whom if the Son He should will to reveal” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus acknowledged the Father’s decisions, noting that it was satisfaction before Him. Now, to build upon that thought, He next says, “All, it was delivered to Me by My Father.”

The context of the word “all” determines the meaning. He has just referred to things hidden by the Father from the wise and prudent but which have been revealed to infants. Jesus is saying that these hidden things have been delivered to Him by His Father. He is the central focus of the illumination of the plan that the Father has set forth. From there, He continues with, “And none, he knows the Son if not the Father.”

Jesus has rebuked the cities where His miracles took place. He came in the Father’s name because He is the Messiah. Only the Father knew this at first because He was with the Father in the beginning. Eventually, the time came for God to reveal Himself in the Person of Jesus, the incarnate Word and the Son of God. Only the Father could reveal this because He came from the Father –

 ^“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.’” John 8:42

God could have established His covenant with the Peruvians or the Thai people. Instead, it was with Israel. He chose them to reveal Himself and His plans and purposes. At a certain point, He could have chosen someone named Ben Gad to witness to Israel. Instead, He chose Isaiah. He could have chosen Gibeah to be His capital, but He instead chose Jerusalem.

God has been guiding the plan of redemption in a carefully set forth and methodically implemented way that ultimately leads to the coming of Christ. Along the way, He selected people to receive, write, and compile His word. The word tells of Christ Jesus, but not everyone has accepted that premise. But the Father knows the Son. Likewise, Jesus continues, saying, “nor any he knows the Father if not the Son.”

Because Jesus came from God, He intimately knows the Father. They are in eternal union. The knowledge of the Father is thus to be understood as knowing the Son. Again, Jesus said this to them explicitly –

“Then they said to Him, ‘Where is Your Father?’
Jesus answered, ‘You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.’” John 8:19

Jesus unambiguously ties the knowledge of Himself to having knowledge of the Father. If the Son is rejected, the Father is by default rejected. It would make no sense to say, “I want that piece of bread, but I don’t want the dough in it.” The dough is the bread, and the bread is the dough. How much more is God One!? He is. He is unchanging. He is One. With this stated, His words of this verse finish with, “and whom if the Son He should will to reveal.”

Jesus uses the same word, apokaluptó, to take off the cover and thus disclose, that He just used in verse 11:25. He is tying the two thoughts together –

…You revealed them to infants
… and whom if the Son He should will to reveal

The hidden things of God are revealed by God. His word didn’t come through the Edomites or Moabites. It came through Israel. God revealed Himself to Abraham, He covenanted with him, and continued His revelation through a particular chosen line. He presented Himself to Israel at Mount Sinai in a formal, covenant-making way.

He revealed His faithfulness to them despite their constant turning from Him. He sent His word through the prophets. He judged, exiled, and returned the people at the time of the Babylonian exile. He faithfully maintained them under foreign rule, and He sent His Messiah into the world at the time prophesied in His word.

And there stood Jesus, the fulfillment of all that God laid forth from the beginning. And yet, despite His works that validated His messiahship, the people refused to believe. The wise and sagacious of Israel, the stewards of God’s word, failed to believe their own writings –

“And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. ³⁸ But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. ³⁹ You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. ⁴⁰ But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” John 5:37-40

Despite their failure to acknowledge the Son and thus the Father, there are those who believe. These are those to whom the Father and the Son are revealed –

“He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ¹³ who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:11-13

The choice of revealing by God is not active in the sense that God says, “I will make this person believe and this person not believe.” Rather, the choosing spoken of here is in the sense of, “I will present My Son to the world. Some will believe Him, some will not. Those who do are those whom I have chosen to reveal Myself to.” Paul confirms this when he says –

“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.” Acts 26:19, 20

Paul could have said, “I just cannot accept these things. I am checking into a hospital to clear my head and get back to my work. However, he had sufficient evidence to support his calling. He chose to accept it, and he continued on in his apostleship from there.

Life application: Because of what Jesus says in His words in Matthew 11:27, and because it aligns with everything He said and that the Bible proclaims concerning a right relationship with God, there is a formula we must consider.

Jesus is not physically here among us today. Jesus has claimed that we cannot know the Father without knowing Him. We cannot know Jesus, because of His absence, without knowing the word that tells of Him –

You cannot know God without knowing Jesus.
You cannot know Jesus without knowing the word that reveals Jesus.
Therefore, you cannot know God without knowing the word.

Read and know the Bible if you desire to know, be pleasing to, and have a right relationship with the God who created all things. And when you read it, look for Jesus. In finding Jesus, you will find the Father –

“Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. ⁴⁷ But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” John 5:45-47

The word tells of Jesus. To accept the writings of the word, one must accept Jesus. And in knowing Jesus, God will be made manifest –

“No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” John 1:18

Jesus is the One who exegetes the Father, declaring Him to the world. Look to Jesus and you will find God.

Lord God, help us to fix our eyes on Jesus. In doing so, we will have our eyes on You because You have revealed Yourself through Him. May we always come to Your word with this in mind as we seek out Your glory in the manner You have chosen to reveal it. Amen.