Matthew 21:16 · World English Bible
Matthew 21:16 Meaning And Said to Him
and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes. Did you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing babies you have perfected praise?’ ”
What does Matthew 21:16 mean?
The knowledge of God is not reached by the clever thoughts that pride themselves on judgment. Those who question the praise are the ego's reasoning, always demanding credentials before it will allow love to be true.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
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The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
The knowledge of God is not reached by the clever thoughts that pride themselves on judgment. Those who question the praise are the ego's reasoning, always demanding credentials before it will allow love to be true. But the recognition of what is holy comes from the part of a mind that has not yet learned to defend and dispute, the simple trust that sees and says so without argument.
This is why a mind must become as the untaught to understand. What the learned mind overcomplicates, the childlike mind receives whole. Praise is perfected not by those who reason their way to it but by those willing to know without first needing to prove.
Babes and sucklings: the childlike part of the mind, unspoiled by the ego's need to judge and defend, that recognizes love at once.
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Christian Psychology lens
Live Matthew 21:16 today
- Next time you catch yourself reading one more take on something you already felt was true, close the tab and sit with your first response instead. It probably knew something.
- When a friend says something good happened to them, just be glad with them. Skip the follow-up questions that quietly check whether the good thing holds up.
- In a meeting where you feel the pull to prove you understand, let one point go unchallenged. Not because you lost, but because being right there would cost more than it gave.
What do I already know is good, that I keep waiting for permission to admit?
The same truth in other traditions
Tao Te Ching 48
Learning piles things up, but the way asks you to put things down. The mind that stops adding its own cleverness arrives at what was already plain.
Zen
A teacher told a scholar his cup was already full, so nothing could be poured in. Beginner's mind holds what the expert mind keeps arguing with.
Hinduism · Upanishads
What is nearest cannot be won by sharp reasoning or long study. It shows itself to the one who is simple enough to receive it.
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