25 At that time Jesus said in reply, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.

These words are not a prayer of praise for the ignorant, as elsewhere Matthew regards wisdom and understanding as positive attributes of the disciples themselves (7:24-27; 13:51;23:34; 25:1-13).  Rather Matthew affirms that those who recognize Jesus do not do so on the basis of superior religious status or individual intelligence, but by revelation, as the gift of God to those who are open and unpretentious. The childlike have no real basis for claiming knowledge of God, yet they are the very ones to whom the divine revelation is given as a gift of the Father’s gracious will (v.26).

In the larger context of Matthew’s narrative, one should not fail to grasp that even in the ongoing revelation of God taking place in their midst, there are still those who fail to understand/accept. John the Baptist, who had baptized Jesus, knew his own unworthiness, and had heard the heavenly voice did not understand. There were those whose predetermined criteria (cf. 11:16-19) did not accept the revelation. Towns where Jesus had given a testimony of words and actions did not accept the revelation.  Nor did the scholars and the wise, who could explain much, but could not explain the revelation in their midst (11:25a).  There is a reversal unfolding.

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