Matthew 13:35 … To proclaim what has been hidden (11/03/16)
“I proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.” ~ Jesus (Matthew 13:35)
Many scholars have wondered what Jesus meant with this verse – and rightly so. For if we accept the premise that Jesus was indeed an Enlightened Being (all evidence being equal, it is always Wise to assume the best of others, that we might then be inspired to learn the most from them), and we accept his own protestations against being worshiped – against being treated as anything “more than” – against being honored as the only Son of God (see Mark 10:18, John 7:16, John 8:50-54, John 12:44 et al), then we realize that he cannot be speaking about himself here, much less about any supposedly unique form of personal Divinity. Indeed, for him to be speaking even indirectly in the 3rd person (which many Christians do indeed believe) is to pronounce an arrogance in Jesus that he himself openly & vehemently abhorred (see Matthew 23:12) …
As such, in order (ironically) to provide Jesus with the greater honor, we must assume that something else is being said in this verse – something that does not contradict the very core of Jesus’ teachings or deny the very essence of his ministry.
But what could that something else be? Well, if we focus on the latter half of the verse – on the words “foundation of the world”, that “something” happens to reveal itself. For “the foundation of the world” – as the Bible itself so often states – is self-interest; self-interest that takes the various sinful forms of fear and lust and loathing. And thus this verse suddenly makes complete sense, and makes sense in a way that perfectly harmonizes with the central themes of what Jesus so often shared & showed – namely, that what he came to proclaim was selfless Love; the ability we all have to consciously choose to set aside self-protective instinct in favor of self-sacrifice for others. And as “the foundation of the world” is the opposite thereof, it is quite clear that Jesus did indeed come to proclaim a Love that must by its very nature remain hidden from the same – hidden until we choose to uncover it; hidden until we choose to change that same foundation; hidden until we rebirth our Selves in humble Kindness and thereby make our world anew.
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