The Son of Revelation

Matthew 11:20-27

Immanuel – 6/2/24

Last week I defined two terms for you.

The Eschaton = The culmination of the divine plan and the initiation of the final age.

Eschatology = The study of the last things, or the study of the eschaton.

In the time since then, I think the feedback I heard most frequently was, “I had no idea there was so much eschatological significance in that passage.” And indeed, echoes of the eschaton were absolutely bursting from those verses.

Though you’ll be able to hear some of those echoes today, it will be much less significant. Instead, we will hear a thunderclap of the nature of Jesus Christ, the Son of Revelation. What He reveals about Himself, and His relationship to the Father, is incomprehensibly deep. We’ll only be able to scratch the surface, for Jesus cracks open the door to a reality that confounds the reach of human minds.

So again, as I said last week, let us focus our minds that we might see beyond what eyes can see. And what is amazing is that these unimaginably deep truths have been revealed not to the wise and understanding, but to those with a child-like trust; trusting that Jesus will make it known.

Read vs 20

According to how Matthew has arranged this book, Jesus has confined His travel to Galilee. All the deeds of the Christ – “The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news preached to them” (Matthew 11:5) – these have all broken upon Galilee. The point at which the eschatological kingdom of heaven first touched earth was upon the shores of Galilee.

In the history of planet earth, there has been nothing as significant as Yahweh stepping down from glory, becoming a man, and bringing with Him all the hidden promise and humble majesty of the kingdom of heaven. Truly, if Galilee was the beachhead where heaven invaded earth – in the person of Jesus of Nazareth – then there can hardly be a more privileged people than the Jews of Galilee.

And yet this spectacular blessing has become a curse to them; a mournful, horrible, curse. For the Son of God stands in their midst and denounces them. Look carefully: Jesus denounces these cities because He performed works that could only be from God, and the people did not repent.

Remember the heart of Jesus’ message? “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” -Matthew 4:17

To receive the kingdom of heaven, there must be repentance. What is repentance? It’s a call of total life change; to turn away from the former ways of self-reliant living and turn towards complete dependence upon God. It is a new orientation for life, and being sorry for your sins is not enough. Sorrow must be followed by pursuit of a new life. Emotions of sorrow must be followed by a lifestyle of repentance!

But as we see in verse 20, the people of Galilee did not repent. They remained comfortable in their proud, selfish, sinful, self-reliant way of living. They were amazed by Jesus, they admired Him, but they made no changes to how they lived.

Read vs 21-22

Chorazin and Bethsaida were two large towns on the north shore of Galilee; predominantly populated by Jews. Peter, Andrew, James, and John – some of Jesus’ own disciples – were from Bethsaida. Chorazin was less than an hour’s walk from Capernaum; certainly a town Jesus frequented.

We have now had plenty of time to observe how the Jews of these cities responded to Jesus. The majority were excited about Jesus; but they were excited because of the spectacle, not because heaven had come to touch earth. The religious leaders were a mixture of suspicion and resentment. Certainly, there were the faithful followers, but this was an insignificant minority.

By and large, Chorazin and Bethsaida remained unmoved, hardhearted, comfortable. They are Jews. They are the chosen people of God. If the kingdom of heaven belongs to anyone, isn’t it them? Why would they need to repent? But bloodlines mean nothing in the kingdom of heaven, only repentance.

Conversely, if Jesus had gone to Tyre and Sidon – two ancient Gentile cities – they would have turned out in repentance. Sackcloth clothing and ashes on the head were two customary displays of mourning and repentance. Dawning such vestments was a visual announcement that you have been undone; you have been humbled, broken.

Jesus knows Tyre and Sidon would have repented thus. And Jesus isn’t picking Tyre and Sidon randomly. Does He do anything randomly? There are numerous prophetic denouncements of both Tyre and Sidon in the Old Testament. Again and again, they are condemned for their staggering arrogance. Here’s a brief denouncement of Tyre:

Because your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,’ yet you are but a man, and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god…therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you, the most ruthless of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and defile your splendor. They shall thrust you down into the pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas. -Ezekiel 28:2,7-8

Tyre and Sidon, a signal of arrogance in the Jewish mind, even they would have humbled themselves in repentance if Jesus had walked through their streets. Jesus is effectively saying that Jewish Chorazin and Bethsaida are more arrogant than Gentile Tyre and Sidon.

Woe to them! Their judgment shall be severe. For the Son of God had brought to them the kingdom of heaven, and they did not want it. Woe to them when that final, eschatological judgment comes upon men. Their rejection of God is far more intense than Tyre and Sidon’s ever were, and thus their condemnation is more severe.

But Capernaum; Capernaum’s woe is even greater.

Read vs 23-24

Capernaum was Jesus’ home base for ministry. Though He didn’t have a home, He effectively lived there. No one had seen more of the Son of God than did those in Capernaum. Still, they did not repent.

There is no city in the entire Bible that symbolizes wickedness like Sodom. It wasn’t that long ago that we studied the fall of Sodom – in all of their perversity and pride. But even wicked Sodom would have repented if the Christ entered its gates. Woe to Capernaum for failing to receive the King of heaven and earth! How great will their judgment be!

And why are these cities so doomed? Did not Jesus just look like any ordinary man, a carpenter with a Nazareth accent? How can God blame the people of these cities for missing it? Well, apart from miracles (the like of which no one had seen) if they were to look beyond looks, they would have seen the very face of the Living God.

[Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. -Hebrews 1:3

[Christ] is the image of the invisible God…For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. -Colossians 1:15,19

To see Jesus is to see God. To be in His presence is to bump up against the kingdom of God. The people of Capernaum have no excuse. Woe to Capernaum. Woe to Chorazin and Bethsaida, for you did not recognize the time of your visitation.

And then Jesus begins to pray aloud.

Read vs 25-26

We have heard Jesus talk about His Father, we’ve heard Him teach on how we should pray to the Father, but this is the first time we hear Jesus pray to His Heavenly Father. How precious that Jesus gives us a peek into His prayer life with His Father.

And this is a prayer of thanksgiving. How strange this is, because Matthew intentionally links this prayer to what Jesus has just been saying. He was just pronouncing woes over unrepentant cities, and now Christ’s heart overflows with thanksgiving.

See the complexity of Christ’s emotions: pronouncing woe followed by a flood of thanksgiving. And His thanksgiving has nothing to do with the woes, it has everything to do with God’s revelation.

I wonder if you can relate to such complex emotions. You’re filled with one emotion, and then another emotion swells up and eclipses the other. These emotions can flow seamlessly, even if they appear to contradict one another. It is such a human experience, and here Jesus is having it. And yet, His divinity is clear within it.

Pay close attention as to what causes Jesus’ heart to swell with thanksgiving. I wonder if you saw it. He is struck by the nature in which God makes Himself known, and Jesus suddenly bursts with gratitude. He is so overcome that He just starts declaring His prayer so all can hear. Picture it.

And why is Jesus so overcome with thanksgiving? I’ve already mentioned it in brief. Because of how the Father has chosen to make Himself known.

First, let’s consider what Jesus means when He says, “These things”: as in, you have hidden these things. “These things” are the hidden things. And what is hidden? The kingdom of heaven; the very thing that Jesus has been telling everyone is so near. Listen to what Jesus says elsewhere.

“The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

-Luke 17:20-21

The treasures of the kingdom of God are the hidden things that God has revealed. And God the Father has revealed these precious treasures to little children. Of course, Jesus isn’t talking exclusively and literally about children.

This may remind you of another of Jesus’ sayings:

“Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” -Luke 18:17

Little children depend upon others. They cannot do things for themselves. They need someone stronger, more capable, wiser than them. They are helpless without their parents. And so they implicitly trust in their parents, love them and listen to them.

People who understand that they are sinners, completely incapable of earning a spot in the kingdom of heaven, these are like little children, dependent upon God to change their desperate estate. They understand their unworthiness and trust that their Heavenly Father has made a way. In short, the little children Jesus speaks of are those who are desperate for the Father’s salvation.

Jesus’ heart is a flood with thanksgiving because it is to these dependent little children that God graciously lavishes His salvation.

But the wise and understanding, they miss it. Here again, Jesus is not being literal; because you can be wise and understanding, you can be intelligent and well learned, and still have faith like a little child. But those that think they know it all, who can find a way for themselves, who are happy with their self-reliance, who don’t need any help (thank you very much): the Father has hidden the kingdom of heaven from them.

Perhaps you can think of someone who is absolutely brilliant, with a formidable intellect, but they look down their nose at Christians for being weak and foolish.

Paul writes about this exact dynamic.

Read 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

How good it is that the doors of the kingdom of God are open wide to the unworthy, the desperate, the needy, and the weak! Such people have no payment to give, no mighty works to offer that would gain them access into the kingdom of heaven. All they have is their trust in the goodness and mercy of their Heavenly Father. So, if there is any reason to boast, we boast in the Lord. For all things are from Him and through Him and for Him.

And if these truths are causing some gratitude to stir in your heart, know that you are in good company. For Christ’s heart was so stirred that He was moved to loud thanksgiving.

Read vs 27

Once more, Jesus says, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father.” What things? Again, it’s the treasures of the hidden kingdom. But being that these treasures have been handed to Jesus, He has authority over them. It’s much like Jesus’ last declaration in Matthew’s Gospel: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

Jesus then tells us how He exercises His authority. You’ll want to pay careful attention to this.

First, Jesus says that the only one in existence that truly knows Him is the Father. But similarly, no one knows the Father except the Son. This is not a knowing of intellect; like having facts about each other. This is a relational knowledge: a deep knowing of what each other loves and dislikes, of what brings pleasure and pain, of what makes the heart soar and the heart sink.

Truly, Jesus is revealing mysteries beyond our wisdom. The relationship held between God the Father and God the Son is more intimate, and more loving, than our minds can comprehend. They are so unified that they are one. So much so that what one does, it is completely within the will of the other. And what the other does, it is completely within the will of the first. They are one.

Our most intimate relationships – like within the very best of our marriages – is only a faint echo of the oneness that the Father and the Son experience. Their love for each other is incomparably perfect.

Jesus isn’t mentioning the Holy Spirit in this prayer, but this is a profound revelation of the Triune Godhead. Three persons that are one God. One God that is three persons. It is such a powerful relationship that the universe pivots upon it; and all things are from Him and through Him and to Him!

Hear Jesus’ words again: “no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son choses to reveal Him.”

The knowledge of the Father – which the Son so intimately knows, which is beyond the wisest wisdom of men – this knowledge, the Son reveals to whom He pleases. There is no greater revelation of God than what Jesus Christ has made know.

[Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. -Hebrews 1:3

[Christ] is the image of the invisible God…For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. -Colossians 1:15,19

This is exactly why Jesus can rightly claim that He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). And if – as you hear Jesus’ words and behold His miracles – you see in His face the very face of God, then that means that Jesus has chosen to reveal the Almighty Father, awesome in all His sovereign plans, wildly generous with His love; then Jesus has chosen to reveal Him to you.

And knowing that there is nothing within you that deserves such revelation, cry out with Christ, “I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children” like me. Thank you for showing me the truth of Jesus, that you have made Him my hope in life, and that He is my only way into the kingdom of heaven.

Cling to Christ little children. Repent of your self-reliance and cling to Christ. He is gentle and lowly of heart, and He will bring rest to your soul.