Daily Devotion

There are three great thoughts in the passage; (1^st) verse 21 tells us of the wisdom of simplicity. The simple minds could receive truths that learned minds could not take in. Once the British author, Arnold Bennett said, "The only way to write a great book is to write it with the eyes of a child who sees things for the first time." It is possible to be so learned that in the end, we can't see the woods for the trees. A saying I read goes like this, "The test of a really great scholar is how much he is able to forget." After all, Christianity does not mean knowing all the theories about the New Testament; still less does it mean knowing all the theologies, and the Christology. Christianity does not mean knowing about Jesus, it means knowing Jesus, and to do that requires not earthly wisdom, but heavenly grace.   (2^nd) Verse 22 tells of the unique relationship between Jesus, and God. This is what John's Gospel means when it says, "THE WORD BECAME FLESH" (John 1:14), or when it makes Jesus say, "I, and the Father are one," or, "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 10:30; 14:9). To the Greeks, God was unknowable. There was a great gulf fixed between matter, and spirit, man, and God. "It is very difficult," they said, "to know God, and when you do know him it is impossible to tell anyone about Him." However, when Jesus came, he said, "If you want to know what God is like, look at me." Jesus did not so much tell people about God as show them, God, because in himself were God's mind, and heart.

(3^rd) Verses 23 & 24 tell us that Jesus is the consummation of all history. In these verses, Jesus said, "I am the One whom all the prophets, the saints, and the Kings looked forward to, and for whom they longed." This is what Matthew means when over, and over again in the gospel he wrote, "This was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying..." (Matthew 2:15, 17, 23). Jesus was the peak to which history had been climbing, the goal to which it had been marching, the dream which had ever haunted men of God. Jesus is the end, and the climax of the evolutionary process because in Him man meets God, and he is at once the perfection of manhood and the fullness of Godhead.

Life Application: Do you really know the Father? You can through Jesus. Develop such a relationship with Jesus that He is your doorway to the Father. I call on the Father regularly.

Praise/Prayer: Dear Father, I am so thankful that I was introduced to You many years ago. I remember having to recite memory verses that I learned in my Sunday school class. So many things came into my life growing up, but Your Word was always on my mind. I know that someday I will meet You, and Jesus. What a day that will be! Thank You for sending Jesus to show us what You are like.   Amen!