Thursday after Ad te levavi, the First Sunday in Advent
Posted on December 1, 2022 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 11:25-30 (NKJV)
11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. 26 Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 27 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. 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Devotion
How glorious the wisdom and prudence of babies! Not that we should be ruled over by children (Is. 3:1–12), but that we should adopt the wisdom of a Christian child over the childish thoughts of those who deny Christ, no matter how educated, shrewd, or ‘street smart’ they may be.
What do babies know before they are mobile and exploring the world to make their own discoveries? That which is told and revealed to them is all they know, and they trust the parents who do that revealing. As far as they know—and as they should rightly be able to expect!—their parents know everything the children need to know, and are good, just, and want nothing but what is best for them. Even those parents who are evil and unbelieving try to improve themselves to do what they understand as being best for their children. Yet, due to their inborn sin and lack of faith in Christ (and even due to the flesh of those reborn in Jesus), parents fail to reveal God the Father’s love perfectly.
For those who bring their children to Holy Baptism and to the preaching and teaching of the Word, Christ Himself reveals the Father. For both young and old, the One who perfectly knows the Father desires to give us rest by revealing Him to us in the only way we can truly know Him: in God the Son’s atonement for all our sins!
Prayer: Stir up, we beseech Thee, Thy power, O Lord, and come, that by Thy protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins, and saved by Thy mighty deliverance; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
