Reading… and Thinking

At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.

— Luke 10:21 (NASB)

Who was it that accepted Jesus wholeheartedly? It was primarily the poor and the working class, people who were not highly educated. Who rejected him? Primarily the middle and upper classes, the well-educated. In this passage, Jesus give thanks for the difference in educational levels.

So, is education bad? I don’t think we can quite draw that conclusion! What we can say is that it’s possible for education to make us so “sophisticated” that we look down on simple things – including simple things that are true and profound. You don’t have to spend much time in an academic environment to realize that this phenomenon is widespread.

In the next chapter, Jesus says, “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.” (Luke 11:52) The lawyers made a careful study of the law, they knew it inside out. They could tell you what parts related to other parts, point out the development of key themes, etc. And most of the time they were correct. But, far from having a truly superior knowledge, they had taken away the key of knowledge! Turning God’s Word into essentially an academic game, competing with each other in dissecting the fine points, they lost the ability to actually see what the message was. And even worse, they confused the message for others.

Later on in this chapter, we read:

Now as they were traveling along, he entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to his word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

— Luke 10:38-42 (NASB)

Here is an example of how to really learn: sit at the Master’s feet and listen to him. And make that your number one priority. All of the pressures of life, the things we “must” do, are far less important than this one thing. We can be very busy, even busy doing things that are in fact for the Lord (as Martha certainly was), but miss the key, central point. We must work – it’s part of God’s design for human existence, and work is good and valuable. Detailed study of the Word is also good and valuable. And, we need to remember that, sometimes, we must stop, sit down, and just listen to Jesus.