FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Zechariah 9:9-10; Romans 8:9, 11-13; Matthew 11:25-30

(Rev. Dr. Francis Perry Azah)

On this Sunday, in different ways, the scriptural texts refer to God’s Kingdom, the final definitive reign of God at the end of time, and its current inner presence in those who accept him. Zechariah urges the Jews to rejoice on the day of the Lord’s coming. He will bring an era of universal peace: the war will end. He is visualized as meekly riding on the foal of an ass. In St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus declares himself to be meek and humble of heart and asks his followers to learn from him. The Christian experiences a strange paradox: although weighed down by difficulties and work, he experiences his burden as light and easy.

Jesus also says that a particular disposition is required if we are to understand his doctrine: the trusting simplicity of one who is willing to go beyond his own vision of things to see greater realities at work. In Psalm 145 the psalmist can see in all things the greatness of God, and also God’s graciousness and mercy. He is especially attentive to those burdened and afflicted. St. Paul uses a contrast, common in his writings, to show the distinctiveness of the Christian life. He contrasts the “life of the flesh” (v9): a purely mundane, disordered worry about earthly life, with the “life of the spirit”: the desires, interests and concerns of those in whom God’s Spirit dwells.

Jesus praises the Father for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. We can readily understand that God reveals his mysteries to the simple, but why does he hide them from the learned and the wise? Jesus says as answer to our question why, that it is what pleased the Father to do. One might wonder whether there is anything wrong with being learned and clever. Are these not all gifts from God? Evidently that is what pleased Jesus too, not only because he and the Father are one but also because he praises the Father for acting like that. And since we know that whatever God does is perfect there is no point in further inquiring why.

Another question is what is it that is hidden from the learned and the wise and revealed to mere children? That is answered within the gospel episode. No one knows the Son except the Father just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Basically it is the knowledge of God that is hidden from some and revealed to others. Like the Father, the Son also chooses to reveal his Father to some and not to others. It is not important to know why. What is important is to know to which category we belong: whether to those to whom the Father is revealed or not.

More important really is to strive to belong to those to whom the Father is revealed. The good news today is that we are all invited to this knowledge. We have heard this invitation: “come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” Now, we all labor under some burden or other. Some labor under the burden of worry or doubt, sickness or pain, fear and anxiety, difficulties of every kind. Without specifying the Lord invites us all to come to him.

Jesus also presents himself in today’s Gospel as the ultimate fulfillment of our longings. And he sharpens our hunger for it through the paradoxical image of the “easy yoke.” How can a yoke ever be easy? The dual purpose of yokes gives us a clue. On the one hand, yokes serve to link a draught animal to a heavy burden, like a plow. In this sense, a yoke seems wholly negative; it only adds to our heaviness and toil. But yokes do not link animals only to their load; yokes also link animals to one another. That’s how a pair of oxen came to be called a “yoke of oxen,” because a yoke fixes the two oxen side by side. Yokes don’t just serve to impose burdens; they also serve to distribute burdens. This dual purpose suggests, in turn, two ways of understanding Jesus’ command to take his yoke.

We can imagine Jesus strapping the heavy cargo of moral and spiritual perfection to our necks and walking away. And it’s true that it requires effort to be a Christian: Jesus doesn’t hide this fact. But we know that Jesus cannot mean this alone, since he reproaches the Pharisees elsewhere for “tying heavy burdens on men’s backs” without “lifting a finger to help them” (Mt 23:4). No, there is a second way to imagine taking on Christ’s yoke: namely, becoming Christ’s yokefellow, stepping into the yoke that he already shoulders. Here we imagine Jesus in the yoke alongside us, distributing the weight onto his own shoulders. Both images capture a part of what it means to cooperate with grace in the Christian life. But this second aspect is the one that, in my experience, we most easily forget.

Our conscience rarely allows us to forget the first, that Christianity sets a high moral bar. We all know that Jesus didn’t stop at commanding his followers not to commit adultery and not to kill. He went deeper. He insisted that they stop entertaining lustful thoughts that they let go of grudges. This is all true. But sometimes when we go about tackling our sins of weakness, we forget that we do not face them alone. When temptations of lust, or anger, or laziness beset us, we may grind our teeth and violently mobilize our will against them. But this rarely works all of itself. And Jesus knows this. That’s why he commands us in no uncertain terms: “Come to me all you who labor …”

Therefore, we need to talk to God about our concerns, cares, anxieties, worries, plans, and prospects. The scripture says: “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” (I Pet. 5:7). Upon his shoulders lie the great and entire responsibilities of the world. And the government shall be upon his shoulders, that is, the government of our life and affairs. If the Lord God can so much bear the responsibilities of the entire universe upon himself, how much more our individual ones. The Lord has not promised to take away our responsibilities from us but to lighten them so that they are easy to bear and so that we may have peace of mind. In this, therefore, one should not expect to be freed from all obligations. But, on the contrary, one should hope that the means and resources to better meet them will be provided.

Furthermore, the one who expects divine help must also be prepared to make personal sacrifices. If a person, for example, wishes the Lord to help him or her take care of one’s family responsibilities or tuition, the person must also be prepared to work. We cannot consciously ask God for divine assistance and, at the same time, shrink from our work. We must perform our duties no matter how insignificant the task may be. God will not do for us what we can do for ourselves. He will give us all the help we need but he will not do our work for us. Many people pray for divine intervention but they do not realize that such prayers must be accompanied by conscientious work on their part.

The Divine Hand of God will bring the materials to us and create the conditions for the things we must do to lighten our burdens, and we, on our part, must make use of the materials, opportunities, and help he has been provided us with due diligence and wisdom. God will provide the food but he will not cook the dinner. The Lord Jesus has also assured us that when we come to him, he will give us “rest,” that is, peace-of-mind. This is the peace-of-mind that comes from knowing the Lord will provide, that is, after having played our part.