Luke 10:21 In that hour He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to babes. Yes, Father, for thus it has been well pleasing in Your sight. (22) All things have been delivered to Me by My Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
The Son in 10:21 praised the Father that He has “hid these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to babes.” The “wise and intelligent” may refer in particular to the people of the three cities mentioned in verses 13 and 15, people who were wise and intelligent in their own eyes. The Father’s will was to hide the knowledge of the Son and the Father from such people. The “babes” in verse 21 refer to the disciples, who were children of wisdom. The Father was pleased to reveal both the Son and the Father to them.
We should not regard ourselves as wise and intelligent. If we have such a view of ourselves, we shall not receive the revelation of the Son and the Father. Instead of considering ourselves wise and intelligent, we should regard ourselves as babes, as those who are not knowledgeable. It is well-pleasing in the Father’s sight to reveal the knowledge of the Son and the Father to babes, but to hide it from the wise and intelligent.
In verse 22 the Lord says that no one knows who the Son is except the Father and who the Father is except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. The word “knows” here denotes full experiential 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 (Matt. 16:17), and to know the Father requires the Son’s revelation (John 17:6, 26). The word “wills” in 10:22 means to deliberately exercise the will to counsel.