The Lord praised the Father for having revealed these things to babes. The word “babes” refers to the disciples, who were the children of wisdom. The Father was pleased to reveal both the Son and the Father to them. To know the Son and the Father is altogether a matter of the Father’s sovereignty. In 16:17, after Peter had received the revelation that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus said to him, “You are blessed, Simon Bar-jona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father Who is in the heavens.” Thus, knowing the Son is a matter of the Father’s revelation.
Verse 26 says, “Yes, Father, for thus it was well pleasing in Your sight.” It was well pleasing in the Father’s sight that the Son was rejected. The Father was glad to see the Son’s rejection. It is very difficult for us to believe this. If your parents and relatives would be one with you regarding the Lord’s recovery, you would be excited and praise the Lord. But you must praise the Lord as you are experiencing rejection, saying, “I praise You, Father, because You are the Lord of the heavens and of the earth. All things are of You, and I praise You for this situation.”
Verse 27 says, “All was delivered to Me by My Father.” “All” refers to all the remnant whom the Father has given the Son (John 3:27; 6:37, 44, 65; 18:9). This word implies that the wise and intelligent rejected the Son because the Father was not pleased to give them to the Son. However, all the remnant has been delivered to the Son by the Father. Peter, John, James, and Andrew were some of those given to the Son by the Father. The Lord Jesus said, “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and him that comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37). It is absolutely of the Father’s sovereign mercy that we are in the Lord’s recovery today. We need to worship the Father for this. Among the many Christians in the world, we are in the recovery. I have the deep sense within that through the years the Lord’s recovery has been in this country, He has been reaping a harvest. He has been gathering a remnant among the Christians. During the years we were in Elden hall in Los Angeles, the Lord was gathering His remnant. Month after month, the Lord brought His remnant from various cities, states, and countries. That was a real gathering of the remnant. All those who were gathered together can testify that we were delivered by the Father. The Lord’s recovery is not a common Christian work; it is the gathering of the Lord’s remnant to recover God’s kingdom in the church life. The Lord is still doing the work of gathering His remnant today.
In verse 27 the Lord says, “No one knows the Son except the Father, neither does anyone know the Father except the Son and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” The Greek word translated “knows” in this verse means full knowledge, not mere objective acquaintance. Concerning the Son, only the Father has such knowledge; and concerning the Father, only the Son has such knowledge. Hence, to know the Son requires the Father’s revelation (16:17), and to know the Father requires the Son’s revelation (John 17:6, 26). The Greek word translated “wills” means to deliberately exercise the will through counsel. “These things” mentioned in verse 25 are difficult for the natural man to understand. The Lord’s recovery is absolutely against the enemy’s kingdom of darkness. No doubt the evil one is not willing to let people know the things of the Father, the Son, and the Lord’s recovery. Thus, there is the need of the Father’s sovereign mercy. It is sovereign of the Lord that we have seen certain things and have been brought into them. Although others condemn them, we rejoice over them because we have seen them. Our seeing is not due to our intelligence; it is due to the mercy of the Father. The Father has shown us all these things.