Fourth Sunday After Pentecost: July 6, 2014, Proper 9

Gospel Reading: Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Jesus said, to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,

We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

We wailed, and you did not mourn.

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.

At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Reflections: In his sermon, Fr. William Wilson, our supply priest this Sunday, pointed out that Jesus addresses this last saying to those exhausted the strict demands of religious leaders. To wear the “yoke” was a common Hebrew metaphor for living according the Law of God (which was in itself a grace from God to his people). But under certain heavy handed leadership, that law was a burden.

Jesus contrasts own teaching as a yoke to a way of life that is “easy.” He isn’t saying that life won’t bring problems, but that his teachings are “good to bear”–they “fit.” In Christ, God’s teaching is made for us. Christ’s yoke, Fr. Wilson said, helps us “fulfill our own deepest humanity” which is, after all, “the greatest journey of human existence.”