Matthew Study 11:25

"... you've hidden these things from the wise and revealed them unto babes..."

In a sense, one is more apt to experience God's Grace when one is less apt to excel in one's own self-righteous worldview.

When a person approaches Grace with a predetermined bias -  a "prove it" mentality, or a disposition of spiritual elite-ness - Grace gracefully slips away and waits patiently in the shadows for that person to come around. Many seek to make sense of - to discover God -through Bible reading, hymns, prayer, liturgy, etc. - in a Pharisaical spirit, seeking what these things can do for them, rather than leveling themselves under the Author's Authority.

Do we live the Life with the intent of proving our own interior logic - making sure that each piece of the theological puzzle is present, accounted for, and confirmed, making certain that everything is Kosher? Or do we come to Christ like a child, completely accepting of the fact that this thing is so much bigger than can be imagined, self-resigned to God's most mysterious ways?

Jesus is saying that the pseudo-righteousness of the Pharisees has, in itself, distanced them from the very thing they long to live for. The flute playing isn't danceable - it's too loud!  And the mourning seems superficial - they're getting paid to do this!  And everyone knows John ate bugs - probably demon possessed. And Jesus? All he does is hang out with sinners and drink all night! Nobody does nothing right anymore. In the Name of God, somebody bring order back to this thing...  But a child doesn't have these thoughts. A child sees, a child trusts, a child believes for the sake of Belief.

Jesus isn't asking us to forsake adulthood. He's warning us of the trap of presuming ourselves to be too grown up.

Come to me. Humility is a wonderful thing. In humility the Kingdom is seen and experienced. Humility enables us to recognize the the Father, extending his desire to co-yoke himself to us. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. Come to me.

 If I am to be co-yoked with Christ, certain headstrong principles need to be forsaken (killed?) in order for me to shoulder up to the Beast, steer my head through the hole, and become sacrificially fastened to  its sturdy frame. In short, we need the same humbled acceptance which fastened Jesus to the Cross to fasten us to a similar Wood.

The Pharisees missed it. Their theological astuteness got in the way of what Jesus really was asking for: a simple, child-like faith. Trust and faith, by nature, transcend the temptation to pick "it" a part, judging whether a matter is heanvenbound or hell-bound at the first red flag it sees. This "wise and prudent" disposition has it's place to be sure (especially in an age where orthodoxy is challenged) but, if not rooted in a deeper experience of a sincere babe-like faith, it will drain us of all we have.

Thank you, Father... that you have revealed these things unto babes...