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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - Matthew 11:25 - 11:25
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At that season Jesus answered and said (en ekeinōi tōi kairōi apokritheis eipen). Spoke to his Father in audible voice. The time and place we do not know. But here we catch a glimpse of Jesus in one of his moods of worship. “It is usual to call this golden utterance a prayer, but it is at once prayer, praise, and self-communing in a devout spirit” (Bruce). Critics are disturbed because this passage from the Logia of Jesus or Q of Synoptic criticism (Mat 11:25-30; Luk 10:21-24) is so manifestly Johannine in spirit and very language, “the Father” (ho patēr), “the son” (ho huios), whereas the Fourth Gospel was not written till the close of the first century and the Logia was written before the Synoptic Gospels. The only satisfying explanation lies in the fact that Jesus did have this strain of teaching that is preserved in John’s Gospel. Here he is in precisely the same mood of elevated communion with the Father that we have reflected in John 14-17. Even Harnack is disposed to accept this Logion as a genuine saying of Jesus. The word “thank” (homologoumai) is better rendered “praise” (Moffatt). Jesus praises the Father “not that the sophoi were ignorant, but that the nēpioi knew” (McNeile).