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; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
Matthew 11:25-26

I mulled over this prayer for a while wondering why it seems as though wisdom and understanding are cast in such a bad light. Why does it sound like Jesus is anti-wisdom? Why bother thinking and studying about the things of God when the resulting understanding will only put a thick veil over our faces? Why bother aspiring to be wise?

In C.S.Lewis’ excellent novel ‘Till we have faces’, the high priest of the pagan goddess ‘Ungit’ decries the king’s top adviser’s opposition to him when he draws from his intellectual Greek reasoning. For the high priest, what’s evident at the end of the day is that Greek wisdom “brings no rain and grows no corn”. (The land was going through severe famine and pestilence among other things). This wisdom which is dry and dispassionate and not alive enough to “give them boldness to die” was of no use. The Priest continues:

Holy places are dark places. It is life and strength, not knowledge and words, that we get in them. Holy wisdom is not clear and thin like water, but thick and dark like blood.

It seems as if God himself wants to keep the realms of ‘faith’ and that of reason completely separate. One would argue that no one, in the entire biblical corpus, ever received a commendation for being smart and witty. However, we have many that are praised for their faith; especially in circumstances when the faith in question demanded going in the opposite direction to the path of reason; they are the “heroes of faith”. So what’s the use of all the intellectual labor, especially when God says things like this:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts
Neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9

Beyond the question of intellect versus faith, and coming back to Jesus’ prayer above, it weighed on me (most probably because of my toddler son) that I should get the meaning of being as “little children”, not least because Jesus doesn’t make it an option:

“Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭10‬:‭15‬

What is it then about children (as opposed to the wise and understanding) that graces them with the revelation of hidden things? What is it that they have, the thing without which no one can enter God’s kingdom?

First, I’d like to hope that Jesus doesn’t imply we should remain literal (perpetual) babies. It is obvious He’s only speaking figuratively as He does in many other places; notably when He calls us to be like sheep, or like doves, or — believe it or not — like serpents (Mat 10:16). Taking it all literally would be very strange — if not erratic.

Moreover, speaking of serpents, for Jesus (and for the rest of the Bible), snakes are rarely cast in a positive light: You can be assured the saying “You brood of vipers” that He uttered elsewhere was not a compliment. We need to be careful then with his imagery and only take it to mean we should only emulate snakes in one particular aspect and sheep in another — and doves, and children.

As a case in point, the Apostle Paul reminisces (poetically) the time when he “spoke like a child, thought like a child, reasoned like a child” (1 cor 13:11). However, now that he’s become a man, so he says, he “gave up childish ways”. Beyond emphasizing the fact that we shouldn’t be children in all ways possible, this passage gives us a clue on what aspect of being a child should remain in childhood: a weak and undeveloped intellect! There must be growth! We shouldn’t be “children in our thinking”, he says elsewhere.

Paul is also aware of an obvious danger that comes when we “mature” in our thinking. He knew the danger well enough to put up the warning sign: “knowledge puffs up”! He adds few paragraphs later that someone could “understand all mysteries and have all knowledge” but himself “be nothing” (1 cor 13:2). Side note: It’s bad enough when one “has” nothing, but “being” nothing is truly a deeper level of awfulness.

Knowing full well about these dangers, Paul nevertheless doesn’t discourage the pursuit of knowledge and understanding. Just because reckless driving is a serious danger, it doesn’t mean we should altogether avoid learning how to drive at all cost. That would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Likewise, in the prayer quoted above, Jesus surely doesn’t wish there was more ignorance and gullibility in people for them to be in a position where they could receive the ‘revelation’. He wasn’t looking for babies in grown up bodies. If that was the case, then his countless rebuking people for “not understanding” when they should have and his constant laments that they “have eyes but fail to see” and “ears but fail to hear” would make no sense. Jesus expects people to have discernment and the ability to grasp deep realities — something one shouldn’t expect from children.

I could talk about the numerous times I read scholarly works defending views I perceive to be wrong. I did sometimes acknowledge the brilliance of their work, even as I, still on rational grounds, maintained it all to be false. The logical acrobatics, impressive as they were, were only pushing what they truly loved. And going back to our car analogy (the one that’s recklessly driven), our hearts (loves, desires…) are really what set the course; they are, if you will, the real drivers.

I maintain that Jesus and Paul (and Isaiah) are not complaining about those who bring in too much intelligence in the things of God and therefore they need to check their clever little heads at the door. This is not what’s going on. I suggest that it is the content of our hearts, and not the content of our brains (however much useful) that is ultimately judged.

Jesus and Paul do not wish there was a little more childish naïveté and confusion, but they wished there was less pride and stubbornness and arrogance (which were the real drivers behind their intellect). Jesus wished they remained humble and open to instruction — as little children — and Paul wished they remained “as innocent as infants” when it comes to evil. The religious scholars did bring up a number of valid questions (some of which are still wrestled with to this day) and it’s my opinion that Jesus wasn’t dismissive of their learning and intelligence; neither was He of their questions! However the questions only masked their evil intents; and so, they weren’t asking in order to learn (as children would) but in order to incriminate.

Just as it was then, so it is now: our Lord sees deeper than the surface level of the seemingly intelligent questions and speeches and personas we put out. He sees the envy, pretenses, jealousy, pride, power plays, greed, abusive behaviors, obsession with power, particularism, etc. He sees it all however much veneer of intelligence and sophistication we use to cover it all up. And it is this evil drive, which the childlike are innocent from, that is ultimately judged.

The same Lord also requires that we grow up in discernment and wisdom, keeping in mind that He never says good things about things that do not grow, or mature and ‘bear fruit’.

Therefore, let nothing deter us from cultivating clarity and precision in thinking (about the things of God); let’s not fall into seemingly spiritual and dark mysticism that give no place for knowledge and understanding and discernment; let’s not be tricked into contrasting faith and reason as if they’re always separate and will never be reconcilable, but in all, let’s take care of the heart that is driving us, ensuring that it is as pure and innocent as that of children, and let God (in his word) lay bare its true motives and true loves.