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At that time Jesus answered and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
- Matthew 11:25-30
In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued His response to those who scornfully look upon John the Baptist (who is now imprisoned) for his ascetic and rough life, and who have also criticized Him for eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners: "But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying: 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; We mourned to you, and you did not lament.' 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 winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' But wisdom is justified by her children." Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you."
"At that time Jesus answered and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for it seemed good in Your sight." The wise and prudent are those who criticize Christ and John the Baptist for their different ways of bearing the Kingdom into the world, their holiness that is not in conformity with the wisdom of the world, but strange and different -- each for different reasons. In yesterday's reading, Jesus criticizes particularly religious leaders and compares them to playing children, who are dismayed equally that John is too ascetic and rough, and Jesus has sat at table, eating and drinking with tax collectors and other sinners. So the wisdom and holiness of the Kingdom that is present goes unrecognized by the "wise and prudent." Instead it has been revealed to babes. My study bible quotes Theophylact as noting that God has hidden the mysteries from the wise of the world, not out of malice, but because of their own unworthiness. They are the ones who trust their own wisdom and judgment rather than God. God withholds this understanding from those who'd scorn it so they don't receive a greater condemnation: to understand and refuse is to encounter a deeper judgment. Jesus praises the wisdom of the Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for the surprising ways in which Jesus' ministry is unfolding. He is emphatically pronouncing it good. Other commentators such as Origen tell us that the "babes" are the Gentiles, unwise in the ways of the God of Israel.
"All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." This is a profound theological statement, an understanding of Logos, the Son. Whatever His mission, Christ has had it fully placed into His hands by the Father, and it is He alone who reveals the Father. It is, in fact, Christ alone who decides to whom the Father will be revealed.
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Who are those to whom this great mission will be revealed, by whom it will be received? Jesus invites those burdened with toil and struggle, and those who suffer. What He emphasizes here is His own humility, an offering to the "babes" who are perhaps buffeted by the world. My study bible says that Jesus' yoke is submission to the Kingdom of God. A yoke, it says, could be seen as a sign of hardship, burdens, and responsibilities. But Christ's yoke is different, it's easy because it conveys the power of God at work in each person. And the reward is much greater than one's personal effort. Cyril of Alexandria has commented that this offer is to everyone: to the Jews who struggle in bearing the demands of the Law, and to the pagan Gentiles, who struggle with idolatry and the kinds of worldly power and sin it brings. A yoke and burden also characterize language of kings in terms of the tax and tribute they levy on their subjects.
The harsh criticism and harsher reception that both John the Baptist and Jesus will receive is addressed in Jesus' speech here. He speaks of being gentle and lowly of heart. This sort of gentle is the type of "meekness" that doesn't engage in aggression for its own sake -- the ideal of strength under control and grace. Christ's authority is complete, as He's also stated, but it's the authority of grace, of the Kingdom of God, of love. To take on this yoke is very different from the worldly sort of power that demands adherence to its expectations. Both John and Jesus will be murdered at the hands of the state, but both offend in particular the religious authorities and leaders of the temple who jealously guard their places. I think there's a very canny and deep wisdom in Jesus' statement that He's gentle and lowly of heart, and that He calls to those who labor and are heavy laden. This is not a call to the power brokers, the ones who call the shots. It's a call from One who is gentle and lowly of heart to the others out there who are the humble of the world. What He offers isn't something that appeals to those enamored with a kind of worldly power and status that will always have contempt for what is humble. Jesus brings a Kingdom into the world that stands the values of worldly kingdoms on their head -- that offers a kind of love and grace that is inherently at odds with the "ruler of this world." He will teach His disciples that to lord it over others is the opposite of His hierarchical structure. Jesus' power is to heal, it's for community. It draws in the excluded and seeks to repair. It calls those by faith and by adoption who don't belong because of worldly status. It's a voluntary kingdom, and does not coerce. This is an entirely different sort of power to manipulative power. It's the power of love. It's not the power of shoulds and musts and political sloganing, and it's not the power of the crowds or mobs. It's the power that comes through "gentleness" and humility, the wisdom that manifests through "outsiders" like Jesus and John the Baptist, and it calls to those who can see past the false promises of power that binds and manipulates and burdens for the self-glorification of others, and misses the glory of God who is love and truth. It's in the contempt for the humble that worldly power is exposed, and Christ's life -- and death -- will surely play this out. Have we got the heart to receive Him?
