“All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.”
My Notes
What Does Luke 10:22 Mean?
Luke 10:22 is one of the most exclusive claims Jesus ever made — and it comes in a moment of joyful revelation, not confrontational debate. "All things are delivered to me of my Father" — panta moi paredothē hupo tou patros mou. Panta — all things, everything, the totality of what exists. Paredothē — delivered, handed over, entrusted. The Father has given everything to the Son. The transfer of authority is complete and comprehensive.
"And no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father" — kai oudeis ginōskei tis estin ho huios ei mē ho patēr. The knowledge of who the Son truly is belongs exclusively to the Father. Oudeis — no one, nobody, zero human beings. The Son's identity is accessible only to the One who sent Him. No amount of human investigation can crack this code. The Father alone knows the Son.
"And who the Father is, but the Son" — kai tis estin ho patēr ei mē ho huios. The reciprocal: no one knows the Father except the Son. The mutual knowledge is exclusive and bilateral. Father knows Son. Son knows Father. Nobody else has access to either knowledge without an introduction.
"And he to whom the Son will reveal him" — kai hō ean boulētai ho huios apokalupsai. The exception: the Son chooses (boulētai — wills, decides, deliberately selects) to reveal the Father to specific people. Apokalupsai — to unveil, to uncover, to disclose what was hidden. The knowledge of God isn't publicly available information. It's personally distributed revelation. The Son decides who receives it. The door to knowing the Father is opened exclusively by the Son's will.
The verse establishes that knowing God isn't a human achievement. It's a divine gift — distributed by the Son, according to His will, to whomever He chooses.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Do you know about God or has the Son revealed the Father to you personally? What's the difference?
- 2.How does knowing that the Father is only accessible through the Son's choice change how you approach God?
- 3.Why does Jesus rejoice about exclusivity — and how does the 'babes' qualifier (v. 21) prevent it from being elitist?
- 4.If the Son 'wills' to reveal — actively chooses — what does that say about your capacity to know God by your own effort?
Devotional
Nobody knows the Father except the Son. And nobody gets to know the Father unless the Son decides to introduce them.
The exclusivity of this verse is absolute. The knowledge of God isn't lying on a library shelf waiting for the right researcher. It's locked — secured behind a door that only the Son controls. No human intellect can reach the Father through investigation. No philosophical framework can deduce the Father through reasoning. No mystical experience can access the Father through spiritual technique. The Son reveals. Or the Father remains unknown.
The mutual knowledge is the foundation: the Father knows the Son completely. The Son knows the Father completely. The intimacy between them is inaccessible to anyone outside the relationship — unless the Son opens the door. Boulētai — He wills. He decides. The revelation isn't automatic or universal. It's selective, personal, chosen.
That sounds exclusive because it is. But the exclusivity isn't elitist — it's relational. The knowledge of God isn't withheld to create a spiritual elite. It's distributed personally because knowing God is a relationship, not information. And relationships require introduction. You don't know the Father the way you know a fact. You know the Father the way you know a person — through the One who brings you into the room.
Jesus spoke this with joy (v. 21 — "Jesus rejoiced in spirit"). The exclusivity wasn't burdensome to Him. It was cause for celebration — because the Father had chosen to reveal Himself not to the wise and prudent but to babes (v. 21). The door is narrow. But the people it opens for are the ones nobody expected.
Has the Son revealed the Father to you? Not: do you have information about God. Has the Son personally, willfully, deliberately disclosed the Father to your heart?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
All things are delivered to me of my Father,.... In some ancient copies, and in the Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic…
The Codex Alexandrinus, several other very ancient MSS., and some ancient versions, as well as the margin of our own,…
Christ sent forth the seventy disciples as he was going up to Jerusalem to the feast of tabernacles, when he went up,…
All things are delivered to me of my Father Rather, were delivered to me by, cf. Luk 20:14 . This entire verse is one of…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture