Tuesday in the First Week of Advent, December 5, 2023

Luke 10, 21-24

Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”  Turning to the disciples in private he said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

St. Luke records the Lord’s rejoicing at the time his disciples returned from the mission he had sent them on.  He is reacting to their joy at how God had worked through them to cure the sick and even to expel demons.  “Although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.”  Previously, only certain rabbis had dared to attempt exorcisms.  At the time, the title “rabbi” was earned by popular acclaim rather than conferred by other rabbis.  A rabbi taught the Law and usually belonged to the Pharisaic sect.  A rabbi who attempted to perform an exorcism used a number of complex rituals, incantations, the burning of herbs, and immersing in water of the subject.  It is possible that the rabbis were at least occasionally successful in their attempts.  It is also possible that the demons simply hid within the person they possessed until the exorcist went away.  The Lord had bestowed upon his disciples temporary authority and power to cast out demons though they had no special training and knew no rituals.  They were to act as their Lord in these situations and simply command the evil spirits to depart.  Their success stunned onlookers, themselves, and the demons themselves.  As yet unaware of the Lord’s divinity they could not understand how the carpenter from Nazareth could confer either authority or power over them to anyone.  Now, the Greek word translated here as “childlike” actually means “child” or “an unlearned person”.  “Childlike” implies an emotional disposition as opposed to the lack of learning or experience that the Lord means.

“Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.”  This sentence does not translate easily, but “such as is your “favor” is better.  The Lord Jesus is praising his Father’s marvelous Providence, his plan from all eternity for the salvation of the human race.  The Father’s favor rests upon the disciples whom his Son has chosen so that they might carry out his gracious will towards those whom they will meet and towards themselves.  “All things have been handed over to me by my Father.”  The Lord elaborates on his relationship with the Father for the benefit of his hearers.  Knowing him primarily as a powerful preacher and wonder-worker, they hear him speak of the Father handing “all things” over to him, that is, the authority to give power to his disciples, for all authority originates with the Father.  “No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”  Here the Lord speaks of the Son of the Father, apparently without preamble for the benefit of his hearers, though they might have understood that he was speaking of himself as the Son to whom the Father had handed all things over, for the Father would hardly do this to anyone not his Son.

“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”  The Lord Jesus says this only to his disciples, and by this appellation Luke certainly means the Apostles and not the larger group that followed him, for no one else was prepared to hear him say this.  He continues to rejoice in their success, and points out to them the glory of their part in God’s plan of salvation.

We ought also to rejoice in the parts that Almighty God has allotted to us in his work.  Each of us has been chosen for a specific vocation and to go among certain people in order to bring them to Christ.  Relatively few of us literally cure the sick and exorcise demons but all of us do this through prayer, good example, good works, and the apt word.