Blog:Salvation is for the "childlike"? Matthew 11:25: Difference between revisions

Without straying into the theological implications of finding, or "un-covering,"<ref>"un-cover", "dis-cover", "in-vent" all mean to reveal what already exists, and not to create anew. Uncover and discover are obvious, but "invent" comes form ''in-'' (into) + ''venire'' (to come), i.e. come into something that already exists.</ref> what God "hides," a look at [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/3?1 John 3] and the secret meeting with Nicodemus, we can see how God wants us to "uncover" (un-hide) himself through both reason and belief. Jesus tells Nicodemus, quite literally,  

''“Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”''

''“How can a person once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?”''

''"What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit."''

"If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?"

Jesus continues his literal explanation,  

"The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

''"Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God."''

Here at night, in a dark room, and in a secret meeting, Jesus next lays it all down upon poor Nicodemus, the incomprehensible<ref>see the [[Senses of Scripture]] for the interpretational tools of the ''literal'', the ''allegorical'', the ''moral'' and the ''anagogical.''</ref> meaning of it all,  

"But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God." ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/3:21 Jn 3:21])

Going back to Matthew 11, in his prayer to the Father, Jesus says,  

"no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him." ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/11?26 Mt 11:26-27])<ref name=":1" />

Nicodemus, '''the one who had first come to him at night''', also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds. ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/19:39 Jn 19:39])

So "the wise and the learned" can discover God. They just have use <u>both</u> wings of faith <u>and</u> reason, and wrap their minds around belief: that is, not to let the limits of reason impede the mysterious.