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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_11:25-27
25At that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants. 26Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. 27All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."
Mat_11:25 In Luk_10:21 these words of Jesus are spoken after the return of the mission of the seventy. Remember the Gospels are not necessarily in chronological order! See Gordon Fee and douglas Stuart, How To Read the Bible For All Its Worth, pp. 127-148.
▣ "I praise You" This compound term in this context can mean to make open avowal (cf. Mat_3:6; Php_2:11), to praise, or to celebrate. This same Greek term translated the Hebrew term for "praise" in the Septuagint. The Aramaic possibly meant "openly agree."
▣ "Lord of heaven and earth" This is a Hebraic idiom for physical creation. This affirms God as creator of all things. Interestingly, John, Joh_1:3; Joh_1:10; Paul, 1Co_8:6, Col_1:16; and the author of Hebrews, Heb_1:2; Heb_2:10, assert that Jesus is the Father's agent in creation.
▣ "You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants" This is a Semitic idiom meaning the things that all humans, not just the religious or worldly elite, can know about God. "Infants" referred to new believers (cf. Mat_18:6). It is still surprising that the Jewish religious leaders who knew the OT did not recognize Jesus and put their faith in Him (cf. Romans 9). Isa_50:5 must occur before the result of sin (Isa_6:9-10) can be reversed!
Mat_11:26 "for this was well-pleasing in Your sight" This is a Hebrew idiom for "it was God's will" (cf. Luk_10:21).
Mat_11:27 "all things have been handed over to Me by My Father" This was a strong affirmation of Jesus' self-understanding and sense of unique authority given very early in His ministry (cf. Mat_28:18, Joh_3:35; Joh_13:3; Eph_1:20-22, Col_1:16-19; Col_2:10, and 1Pe_3:22). Jesus makes such strong statements about Himself (i.e., Joh_10:1-18; Joh_14:1-24). He cannot be a great teacher, a religious genius! He is either the incarnated Son of God or a lunatic or a liar! There is no middle ground here! The NT is true or Christianity is a lie (cf. 1Co_15:12-19). You must decide!
This verse sounds like John's Gospel (cf. Joh_3:35; Joh_10:15; Joh_13:3; Joh_17:2). Yet this same truth is repeated in Mat_28:18.
▣ "nor does anyone know the Father" The intensified term "know," used twice, meant full, complete, and personal knowledge (i.e., epiginoskô). No one knows the Father but the Son (cf. Joh_1:18; Joh_17:25; 1Jn_5:1-12).
▣ "and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him" This is not a proof-text for Jesus choosing some and not choosing others. Mat_11:28 shows that God, by choosing Christ, chose all humans (cf. Joh_3:16; Joh_4:42; 1Ti_2:4; Tit_2:11; 2Pe_3:9; 1Jn_2:1; 1Jn_4:14). It also asserts that Jesus is the ultimate revelation of the invisible, eternal God (cf. Joh_1:1; Joh_1:18; Col_1:15; Heb_1:3). He is the only way (1) to know the Father (cf. Joh_1:18; Joh_3:11) and (2) to the Father (cf. Joh_10:1-9; Joh_14:6; Act_4:12; 1Ti_2:5)!