In our time, the gospel is not hidden. Everyone knows it and everyone can know it. God makes no secret of it. For centuries already, Christ has been preached in all lands. In all the known languages, the Word prepares a way for itself in their words. Still, there was a time when the gospel was hidden. Men could vaguely be aware of it, but no one knew the truth about it. Prophets gave hints of it. They themselves only understood them in part. God let no one guess his secret counsel.

5 pages. Translated by Liz DeWit.

The Hidden Gospel

At the seminary of the churches, the work is the education of ministers. Therefore the work is totally focussed on the service of the Word. In the center of all our work stands the gospel.

In our time, the gospel is not hidden. Everyone knows it and everyone can know it. God makes no secret of it. For centuries already, Christ has been preached in all lands. In all the known languages, the Word prepares a way for itself in their words.

Therefore it seems to speak for itself, an education for the service of the Word. That education demands attention, manpower and financial means. We are busy with those things, but the Word itself has been there for a long time already. It does not appear to be anything special to us; imagine that there was no gospel in which we might be educated.

Still, there was a time when the gospel was hidden. Men could vaguely be aware of it, but no one knew the truth about it. Prophets gave hints of it. They themselves only understood them in part. God let no one guess his secret counsel.

There is only one who has always known it. There is only one from whom God has never hidden his counsel. That is the Son. He knows. He knew everything and did not have to conjecture or speculate.

Jesus himself, on earth, said it in this manner, “No one knows the Father except the Son” (Matt. 11:27). You find this statement at the conclusion of Matthew 11. There we hear that the inverse is also valid “No one knows the Son except the Father.” That is a closed circuit of knowledge. No person can come between. Philosophers and pedants are excluded. All of this creation moves, without its knowledge, in the great ocean of the knowing of the Father through the Son and of the Son, through the Father. Created beings receive their breath through their nostrils; they are set upright and receive a handful of knowledge, but only God unlocks everything with his knowledge and only the Son knows his mysteries.

The Father shares only with the Son. God shares his knowledge with the Son and thus everything is delivered over to him. This knowledge which undergirds everything is itself encompassed by the eternal love of the Father for the Son. Behind the curtain of this creation, to which on this Lecture day, special attention will be given, is the secret of the love that knows and gives and also is silent.

Toward people, God remained silent about his greatest secret: the Son, the Mediator, the gospel. He gave hope to Adam. How would that be possible?  How would it go?  No one knew. God pointed in a direction, but no one saw the horizon. That was God’s secret and that secret was shared with the Son.

Today the gospel is so public that all unwilling critics are able to sink their teeth into it. Then we so easily forget that it was once hidden. It could not be touched or damaged, but it also allowed no admission. In the Old Testament, one could not be educated for the preaching about the Christ, the Mediator. He was, although hidden, present in the prophecies, but one could behold him only from a distance. Just as a child can know that he will receive a present and perhaps even knows where the package is kept, but it is still sealed; tension and excitement rises: the secret remains. Who is going to pull the wrapping off?  Who will reveal the gospel?  None other than him, the only one who knows: the Son. He received the right of distribution:  he was allowed to bring it. “No one knows the Son except the Father...and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”  How dependent the world was on that One!

To whom has he now entrusted that secret?  To a few initiates?  To apostles in the inner chamber?  When Jesus comes to earth we see it: he takes it to the synagogues and he walks dispensing it along the Sea of Galilee. He does not sell it: he dispenses it freely. Finally he tells the world what God’s secret was: the Son through whom creation will be renewed, the death of the Lamb of God through whom a hostile people, living in enmity, will be reconciled. The mighty Word is revealed. After centuries, the hidden gospel becomes a public gospel. We can study it and ministers can be trained to preach it.

How great the wonder is of this revelation. For us, perhaps, it seems no more than an accomplished fact, a self-evident point of departure. We think: naturally the gospel is known, but how should we now go about bringing it. We should be ashamed of ourselves: it is totally not natural that the gospel is known. It is the greatest wonder in the world that what was hidden is hidden no longer and that we may share in the loving secrets of the Father and his Son.

The Son himself is amazed at this. He thanked the Father for it. We read that at the conclusion of Matthew 11. It was at an emotionally intense moment. He had already done many wonders. Many believed, but others turned against him; cities where he had brought the gospel. This was a gospel that would have had great effect in Tyre and Sidon and in Sodom and Gomorrah. It remained without effect in Korazin and Bethsaida. The hidden gospel was revealed there: the blind were given sight, the deaf heard and the lame stood up to walk, but what finally was made known was soon rejected as old news. People were not truly thankful: they issued a dismissive thanks!

At that moment, the Son publicly turns to the Father:  “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children”. Where people dismiss it, he himself gives thanks. An example!

His tone is that of a song of praise (“I thank you, Father”). His horizon is that of creation lying in the hand of the Creator: therefore he addresses God “Lord of heaven and earth”. His heart inclines itself to his Father. So he speaks to him, “Father”. Israel may witness the intimate relationship between a Son and his Father.

That word of thanks is surprising. Whoever gives thanks that good news is remaining hidden?

Some commentators say: it is just that the gospel remains hidden for the wise and understanding. They thumbed their nose at it: although they are always in an advantaged position, now they are drawing the short straw. This time little children precede them. They are so often the victims of the mighty. This time, for once, they have precedence.

Still, it is not all that easy to apply this word to the bringing or to the receiving of the gospel. To whom did Jesus bring the Word?  Also to the rich and to the distinguished people; he singled no one out, not the little children brought by fathers and mothers, but also not Nicodemus, learned in the law, or the rich Joseph of Arimathea. Even money and intellect is no hindrance to be allowed to hear the gospel, however much wrong is sometimes done with those. Is it not also the case that this good news was accepted by people from all layers of society?  Although there are not many rich and distinguished people in the church, they have their place there, just as the poor and the children. The gospel is not kept hidden because of age, race, colour, or class. Faith does not limit itself to one or two groups within the populations. If that were so, how would Jesus by able to give thanks for that?  Does he not have a worldwide message: “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden” (Matt. 11:28). Would he then give thanks if his invitation remained hidden from a section of the people?

The “wise and understanding” are not the leaders, the elders and the Pharisees. The reference is truly to the wise and understanding in the positive sense of the word.  This is about the people in leadership roles, the gifted. God did give gifts to man. To some, God reveals much knowledge and insight into the mysteries of the creation. Wise men and men of understanding, scientists and philosophers become the appointed officials of the peoples and the leaders of mankind.  God has given them knowledge of much that others do not notice or pay attention to. However, now, Jesus speaks about “these things”. He is especially referring to everything connected to the gospel. All of that was kept hidden from the wise and understanding by God. Plato presented much wisdom in his philosophy, but he did not find the gospel. Confucius taught the Chinese a way of life, but the way of the life remained unknown to him. Whenever God opened gateways during history, he always kept one locked.

That is, until the Son came to earth. He, however, did not discover it, but came to announce it. The secret was not discovered, but was revealed. No one solved the riddle; the Son came to tell us the answer.

And he comes to share it — with children. He does not require our utmost mental exertion. He does not ask us to think it through. He gives. One only needs the open hand of a child to receive it.

Athens did not discover it: Paul says this openly in this city of centuries old philosophies (Acts 17:22-31). None of the leaders of this age have known of the wisdom of God: Paul writes this quite openly to a business and trade center, the seaport city Corinth (1 Cor. 1:18 -2:20). Jesus, God’s Son, did not enter the world as the conclusion of what the wise and understanding on earth or in Israel had deduced. Their thoughts did not lead to this. God’s Son is now revealed to the simple. He is standing, the personification of the wisdom of God, in the middle of the Jews and associates with them. The world considers this a foolish and backward people, not up to par with the wise men, thinkers, statesmen and poets of that time. What remains hidden to India and Greece is being revealed to everyone in small places such as Korazin and Bethsaida. God’s revelation in Christ is a centuries-long kept secret, hidden from the understanding of the deepest thinkers. And now this revelation comes; it advances by its own power. It comes walking towards children in living physical form; Immanuel on the street!

In his song of praise, Jesus praises the Lord of heaven and earth for the way in which the Son could come. He did not descend along the ladder of the learned, but stood, unexpectedly among the people. This revelation does not evade the notice of the wise and understanding, but reaches them in the same manner as it does the children. In Matthew 11:25, Jesus speaks about extremes. We would be able to write about it in this manner: “No one was able to think out these things; even for the wise and understanding they remained hidden. And now, just like that they are revealed; even for children they are able to be known and understood. Given this manner of revelation, every person advances no further than a child who can only accept what others give”. By looking at it in this way, this verse does not receive its tone out of the polemics of unbelieving leaders in Israel. The verse refers to the wonder of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ after a time of withholding it in previous centuries and in a manner which touches everyone in this time of God’s Son. Such is God’s gracious willingness. Jesus says: “yes, Father, for such was your gracious will” (Matt. 11:26). The word eudokia (gracious will) speaks about a will for good. The choice of this word would be strange, if in Matthew 11:25 there had been mention of the rejection of unbelievers because of the truth being hidden from the wise and understanding. One would then expect to see a more neutral word (will or righteousness). Now, instead, Jesus uses a word that is typical of God’s gracious attitude towards people. That word fits with the above mentioned exegesis of verse 25. In that way, God intended good for the people!  That which they needed was not their own wisdom but a Mediator. For that reason, God held his hand in front of the eyes of the wise and understanding until he would send his Son. Because of that, redemption does not become an achievement of a privileged group with wisdom and knowledge but rather a gift for all people who receive it as children.

Our Saviour praises his Father for it. We may not view it as ordinary or as a matter of course that the hidden counsel is known everywhere today. We can enter the school of theology only with reverence and personal thankfulness. Then we do not leave in order to dispense acquired wisdom, but we are trained there to hold up our hands, together with others, for the revelation of the Son. We learn to praise God.

Paul comes to this conclusion at the end of the letter to the Romans. There he speaks about the gospel, about preaching Jesus Christ. He refers to that as “the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations”. Paul also indicates the purpose of this:  it is “to bring about the obedience of faith”. When he has said this, the apostle joins his Master in the praise of his God “to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ!” (Rom. 16:25-27).

Theology does occupy itself — and thereby we oppose much of what is called theology today — with the evolution of human religiosity. Christian theology concerns itself with the latest news from God. That seems old: already almost 2000 years. But it is new.  Until that time, no one approached it or advanced toward it, neither Greek nor Jew. In the school of theology in Kampen, the culture and religion of Jews and Greeks in the time of the Bible receives every attention: we need knowledge of those in order to understand the basic content of the text of the Bible. However this study of the time of the Bible always retains a supporting and inferior role. Ultimately the gospel was not derived from the Jewish state nor from Hellenism. It came from above: it was suddenly there!  Therefore Paul, in Ephesians 3, speaks about the mystery of Christ:  during the time of earlier generations, it was not made known to the children of the people. But now it has been revealed to the saints. From ages past, this mystery was kept hidden in God the Creator of all things. But now it is made known to authorities and powers by means of the congregation.

The gospel is today so generally known that every unbeliever can sink his teeth into it. For this reason it is good to stand still and ponder how it was made known. It is an eternal wonder that it did not forever remain a secret between the Father and the Son. This is so special that you can remain amazed at this throughout your lifetime. Theology cannot exist without amazement, otherwise it becomes opinionated or stupid; whereas in the study of theology one must become more and more humble and small before the great God.  Finally, nothing higher remains than joining in with the praise of Jesus of the Father, who did not keep the mystery hidden any longer:

To God the Father be the glory,

To God the Son for evermore,

To God the Spirit who comforts and leads

Be praise now and forevermore  (Dutch songbook #253:3).     

Add new comment

(If you're a human, don't change the following field)
Your first name.
(If you're a human, don't change the following field)
Your first name.

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.