Yea, Father, Such Was Thy Gracious Will

Today, the Gospel reading at Mass was one of my all-time favorites.  I have decided to copy it below, but from the RSV, which is, as usual, lovelier than the NAB translation of the same passage.

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will.  All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."  Then turning to the disciples he said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see what you see!  For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it," (Luke 10:21-24).

This prayer of Jesus is laden with terms, phrases, and themes used in the Old Testament in the prayers offered by prophets to thank God for his mighty deeds, like when Jethro thanks God for having delivered Moses from Egypt (Ex 18:8-11).  The second part, about eyes seeing, etc., is a definite answer to Isaiah's prophecy (Isa 6:9-10; 18:3; 29:18; 32:3; etc).  Though Isa 52:13-15 is typically seen as predicting the passion of our Lord, I believe it applies here as well, because many who think they know what's what do not expect Jesus as he is, and so cannot see how he is acting and what he wills.  As C. S. Lewis reminds us in The Chronicles of Narnia, God "is not a tame lion."  If we wish to see him, we have to set aside our preconceived ideas and be open to him-as-he-is.  That's because he does crazy and unexpected things, like die on a cross or be born in a pigsty.