The Children See The Kingdom – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

“At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, 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. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. ” Luke 10:21 (NIV). This is one of my favorite verses. First, notice that Jesus was full of joy. During Easter week we think a lot about Jesus’ suffering. But we need to remember that Jesus also experienced great joy and this joy was due first to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And in this particular passage the 72 ministers Jesus had sent out had returned with news about the miracles and exorcisms God had done through them. And so Jesus rejoices because all these people got to see the kingdom of God! The Jews had waited for centuries for God’s kingdom to come and now it was here. But the “wise and learned” could not see it; presumably it was because of their pride. But to those of us who are willing to be “little children”, we can see the kingdom of God. This is more of Jesus’ upside-down kingdom. Thus, we are encouraged that even though we are “children” to the intellectual elite, we partake of the kingdom of God, now and forever.