At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” Matthew 11:25
God shows his grace by revealing truth to children, that is, those who have child-like faith. But it’s also grace to hide truth from the wise and learned, that is, the proud. The proud won’t acknowledge God, so it’s better to hide spiritual truth from them. God is just and he will judge people based on their response to the truth they have been given. He will take into consideration the opportunity people have had. So if they are proud and hard-hearted then hiding truth is a merciful thing to do since it lessens their accountability.
Later Jesus explained that this was the reason he taught in parables. If people didn’t accept the basic truth of Jesus being the Messiah, then additional truth wouldn’t help them. In fact, it condemns them, because they now have more truth they aren’t responding to. Speaking in parables limited their responsibility. We may think God is being harsh by withholding information to some, without realizing that he’s being kind.
As Constable writes in his commentary “…the greater the revelation, the greater the accountability.”
It’s a sobering thought to realize that here in the West, where we have an abundance of Bibles and other resources, we are more accountable than those who don’t have this much access to God’s truth. Yet, we can take comfort from the knowledge that God is just and merciful. He knows our limitations. Remember too that we’ve all been given the opportunity of knowing God (Romans 1:20).
