Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 9A)
July 5, 2026
Text: Matt. 11:25-30
The Lord Jesus gives us three tremendous gifts in our Holy Gospel this day, one gift built upon another.
The first is His declaration that our Father reveals the things of the holy Christian faith… that is, the plan of salvation in Christ, the cross, the resurrection, the Holy Spirit, and His saving doctrine… not to human wisdom and understanding, but to “little children” (Matt. 11:25; ESV). In fact, the Greek word includes “infants.” Which, to be sure, means the precious little ones here in our congregation (and baptized children everywhere), the ones concerning whom Jesus says to His disciples, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:16). Parents, and all adults, let us be warned that we dare never step between our Lord Jesus and His babies. Bring your children to Church. Bring them to Sunday School. Teach them the faith. Hold them always before Him in prayer. Do not hinder them. Place them in His arms. It is a sacred obligation.
But also heed the very next words of our Lord: “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (v. 17). And that explains what Jesus means in our text when He says that the things of the Kingdom are revealed to “little children.” He means not just babies and toddlers, but all who have a simple, childlike trust in our heavenly Father, and in Jesus Christ, His Son. All who believe His Words, like a precious child believes Dad. All who know that, while we don’t know all the whys and wherefores of our life in this world, our Father knows, and that is enough. He’ll take care of it. He’ll take care of us.
This is not to say, by the way, that wisdom and understanding play no role in the Christian faith. Faith, after all, always seeks wisdom and understanding. Faith always wants to grow in knowledge of the things of God. But it is to say that the things revealed by the Father are precisely the things that give true wisdom and understanding. Human reason is always servant to the Word of God (the ministerial use of reason, we call it in theology), and never to be master over it. When reason seeks to be master over the Word of God (the magisterial use of reason, we call it), suddenly, the things our Father would reveal to us are, in fact, hidden. When you are the smartest person in the room, and you know it, that is exceedingly dangerous to your faith. Repent of that, and become a child before God once again. One who simply relies upon, and receives all things from, your Father in heaven, through Jesus Christ.
Because that is the second gift. No one knows God by means of his own reason and intelligence. But our Father has graciously sent Jesus to reveal Him to us as our Father, who loves us, and makes us His own in the sacrifice of His dear Son. Jesus possesses all the things of the Father, and He gives us those things by His Spirit through His Word. “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matt. 11:27). By choosing to reveal Him to us, our Lord Jesus brings us up into the very life and love… the Communion… of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit.
But He can only do that for those who give up their own claims to wisdom and understanding. Because the wise and understanding will always say of the things Jesus says, “It can’t actually be that way. That doesn’t make sense. We know better than that.” This is what Paul preaches to the Corinthians, that “in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom,” so “it pleased God through the folly of what we preach,” namely, the Gospel of Jesus, “to save those who believe” (1 Cor. 1:21). That is, the little children who receive what Jesus gives… who receive what Jesus says, and believe it because Jesus says so, and because the Father says so. Whether it squares with human reason, or not. Because good children know that Father knows best.
And this gives us the third gift. Rest. Unburdening. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Because, in coming to Jesus in this way (which is to say, in faith), you can rest as a child in the care of your loving heavenly Father. You don’t have to know everything (you don’t, anyway!). You don’t have to be in control of everything (you aren’t, you realize!). You don’t have to see into the future and plan for every eventuality (as if you could!). You don’t have to protect yourself against every danger. You don’t have to save yourself. You are free of those burdens, because your Father is there to take care of those things. And He does. That’s what fathers are for.
I always remember when I was a child riding in the car, that I never worried about anything when Dad was behind the wheel. I realize now that not every child is blessed with that sense of security, but I was, thank God, and it’s a great illustration of why we can rest under the care of our heavenly Father. When Dad was driving, I had… what now appears to be a rather unreasonable… expectation that we would always arrive wherever we were going, safe and on time. And I didn’t worry about going hungry on the way, even if I didn’t know the plan, because I knew Dad (and Mom, too… let’s give a little credit where credit is due) would stop and feed me at the proper time. And when it was time to get back in the car, and on the road, Dad wouldn’t forget me, or leave me in the dust. He’d make sure I was with him. Nor was I ever afraid he would pull over and tell me to get out. That I couldn’t belong to the family anymore. Because he loved me. And he knew what he was doing, and had the power to do it, and would always do it for my good.
You know, that is not an unreasonable expectation of our Father in heaven. The Father Jesus reveals to us. Our fallen reason may think it unreasonable, and try to convince us, but that’s just evidence that we’re getting too big for our britches. When those thoughts afflict you, beloved… that maybe God will suddenly stop caring for you, so you shouldn’t rest in His care… repent and run again to this passage. Receive again the gift. Kids in the car do often get cranky, and even throw tantrums, and… well, that’s us, isn’t it? When we doubt. But even then our Father doesn’t kick us out of the car and abandon us. See, He could never do that. Because He purchased us with the blood and death of His Son. That’s how precious we are to Him. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things” (Rom. 8:32). He loves us. Rest in that.
And, you know, that is the rest we have in Christ above all else, that we don’t have to earn our spot with the Father, or keep our spot by our good behavior. We don’t have to perform, or work our way into God’s good graces. No, no. We’re born into His Family by water and the Word, washed clean of all sin and guilt by the cleansing blood of Christ, who also fulfilled the whole Law of God for us, and credits that to our account. To come to Him is to believe that, and receive that. To rest from this unrelenting quest to justify yourself before God, and simply be justified by God in Jesus Christ. It’s a load off. A crushing load off.
Though, Jesus does tell us there is a yoke to be harnessed (albeit an easy one), and a burden to be borne (albeit a light one). What is that yoke? What is that burden? It is the holy cross of discipleship in this life, which crucifies us to ourselves, and shapes us into the cruciform image of Jesus, so that we be raised with Him, and live with Him, and in Him, and Him alone. Like when I was a kid in the car, and told my Dad that I’m hungry now, and want to eat now, and he told me I had to wait. I had to suffer it for a while. Be patient. It’s good for me. It’s a yoke. It’s a burden. Oh, it seems so heavy in that moment, to a child. But it was really nothing. One only sees that later. As we will see with our crosses from the perspective of eternity.
Beloved, you are children of the heavenly Father, safely in His bosom gathered, by the Lord Jesus who loves you. Rest in that. Those are the gifts Jesus gives us today. As such, we conclude by echoing our Lord’s own Words: I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them even to me. Let me always be Your beloved, blood-bought child, and grant me to know and trust You as my loving heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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