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

 

 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 so 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 

 

On Friday, we read that the disciples of John the Baptist came to Christ, asking Him if He is the Coming One (the Christ), or if they should look for another, as John the Baptist is now imprisoned by King Herod. Jesus responded by speaking to the people in defense of John the Baptist, and speaking up to those who criticize both He and John (see Saturday's reading).  Yesterday we read that Jesus continued, "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 all 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 so 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."  For modern urban readers unfamiliar with this term, a yoke is a wooden crosspiece, attached to a pair of animals and the plow or cart they would pull.  My study Bible comments here that Jesus' yoke is submission to the Kingdom of God.  A yoke could be seen as a sign of hardship, burdens, and responsibilities (1 Kings 12:1-11, Jeremiah 27:1-11, Sirach 40:1).  But in Christ, the yoke is easy, as the power of God works in each person.  Moreover, the reward is infinitely greater than any effort a human being puts forth.  The word Jesus for gentle is literally "meek," as in Matthew 5:5.

My study Bible reminds us, in connection with today's passage and Christ's declaration that He is "gentle and lowly in heart," of Matthew 5:5 (from the Sermon on the Mount).  To remind us, that verse reads, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."  My study Bible says that meekness is an attitude of being content with both honor and dishonor.  It is an imitation of Christ, as He indicates here when He says, "Learn from Me, for I am gentle [meek] and lowly in heart."  The meek, my study Bible continues, are God-controlled and have mastery over their passions, especially anger.  It notes that meekness is not passive weakness, but strength directed and under control.  The earth that the meek will inherit is not power or possession in this world, but the new earth, which is everlasting (Revelation 21:1).  In such a case, Christ's "meekness" or gentleness would seem to indicate an acceptance of the realities of this world.  That is, we do not see Him challenging the powers of this world with military might or force, nor with manipulation or coercion, but instead with truth and through living in obedience to God.  Christ teaches us to take up His Cross in this sense, that His yoke is the spiritual life He would teach us, the life of the Kingdom even as we live in this world.  Christ's burden, then, for us, is not a worldly sense of obedience or slavery to an overlord, but rather one that teaches us what it is to do spiritual battle, such as St. Paul speaks of in Ephesians 6:12.  When we take on the yoke of Christ, then, we're given a different kind of life to lead, in which the challenge is learning not to hide from truth, but to embrace it, and to meet the evil things we observe in the world through obedience to Him, which means the weapons of virtue and the choice to follow Him and be like Him.  St. Paul calls this "the whole armor of God" (Ephesians 6:11-20).  In His own gentleness and meekness, Christ meets us where we are, teaching us with love and care and grace, that gentleness touching our own hearts so that we know Him in this way.  We, too, learn the kind of courage He has, through His meekness and gentleness with us, and to meet the world with faith in something more than what we see only with our physical eyes, but also with hope in something greater and transcendent, and nonetheless real and at work within us and among us.  John the Baptist is in prison, and Jesus goes toward the Cross, already facing rejection although He has just sent out the Twelve on their first apostolic mission.  In this "meekness" we also learn persistence and endurance in following His word, being true to something much greater than the "worldly" can offer us.  We learn love and courage, and reliance upon God, and we learn the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who does not flinch from what the world does, but meets it instead with the power of God and God's enduring truth for us.  

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

 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 so 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 said, "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 flue 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, "0. 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."  My study bible cites blessed Theophylact, who comments that God has hidden the mysteries from the wise of the world, not out of malice toward His creatures but because of their own unworthiness -- it was they who chose to trust their own fallen wisdom and judgment rather than God.  Moreover, out of love God withholds this revelation from those who would scorn it so that they do not receive an even greater condemnation.

"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."  My study bible says that Jesus' yoke is submission to the Kingdom of God.  A yoke could be seen as a sign of hardship, burdens, and responsibilities (1 Kings 12:1-11; Jeremiah 27:1-11; Sirach 40:1).  In Christ, however, the yoke is easy, for the power of God works in each person.  Moreover, the reward is infinitely greater, it says, than any effort man puts forth.  Gentle is literally "meek" in the original Greek of the text.  It's the same word Jesus uses when He preaches, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (5:5).

Obedience to God is obedience to love.  This is submission to the Kingdom of God, in the words of my study bible.  Christ explains this yoke as easy, and the burden we take on as light, for He is not an abusive authoritarian ruler of violence; He is instead the God of love who Himself is gentle and lowly in heart.  Synonyms for this include "meek" as indicated above, and also "humble."  Let us consider what it means that we worship a God who describes Himself as having the personal characteristics of gentleness, meekness, humility.  It stands the reality of worldly power on its head.  It gives us a sense that what we worship, and what we seek to learn from, is all love -- a different way of being, a different kind of enterprise to learn about when Christ speaks of those who are meek who shall inherit the earth!  He stands what we "know" on its head, and in that light justifiedly tells us that it is a blessed thing, something to be thankful for, that God the Father, Lord of heaven and earth, has "hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes."  So much so, that Jesus adds, "Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight."  In our worldly ways, we tend to confuse the language of obedience, submission, discipline, and sacrifice with that of the power of violence demanding submission.  But when we speak of God -- and in particular God the Father whose attributes are all shared with the Persons of the Trinity -- we are speaking of love.  The Lord of the universe is one who describes Himself as meek, gentle, humble, lowly of heart, and it is to these attributes of leadership in His sight that we submit in order to learn from Him.  For the graciousness of God is so overwhelming that all of our reaction should be as St. Peter's was when Jesus declared that He must wash the feet of the disciples:  "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!" (John 13:1-17).  The Lord of the universe is a Lord of love, who washes us in His love and prepares us to serve in that same spirit and, maybe most importantly of all, to learn that love and to practice it.  This we are not capable of doing for ourselves.  It is the "wise and prudent" who trust themselves to know what only God can reveal to us.  In service and submission, we find the healing and correction we need to become "like" God; it is in this Kingdom that we seek to participate and learn and grow in that love and to share it with one another.  Let us consider which yoke and burden we prefer, as we look around ourselves and find the abuse of power hidden among so many, regardless of the compassionate masks they seek to wear.  It is in God's truth and authority that we can trust instead.

For My yoke is easy and My burden is light

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 so 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 to upbraid the people -- especially the leadership -- for their rejection and criticism of both Himself and John the Baptist. He compared them to children sitting in the marketplace, playing an ancient game, in which one group of children would play or sing for dance or lamentation, and the other group would have to respond properly. Their criticism of John, the ascetic, and their criticism of Jesus, who ate and drank and dined with sinners, was equal for both, disparaging first one way and then the other -- as if the crowds called the tune. But Wisdom is justified by her children, her works. The fruit of both John and Jesus' ministries is good. Next, Jesus condemned the cities of Galilee in which His mighty works, preaching and healing, have been rejected. In Gentile cities of Tyre and Sidon, He said, they would be sitting in repentance in response. He compared Capernaum, His ministry headquarters, unfavorably even to Sodom, because Sodom did not have such revelation within itself to look to.

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 so it seemed good in Your sight." John the Baptist is in prison, the tide is turning also against Jesus with opposition from the leadership, and the crowds are fickle -- even those in the Galilean cities of His ministry fail to turn to Him. But here, Jesus turns to the Father with thanks for those who have responded, and the thanks goes even deeper than a simple gratitude for His followers. It is gratitude for the way in which the Father has revealed Him to hearts who can hear and see. They are the hearts of "babes," and not the "wise and prudent." There are all sorts of eloquent speakers, those skilled in rhetoric, in the schools of famous rabbis, but Jesus' followers are not these. My study bible points out: "In Jesus' prayer of thanksgiving, the Father alone is the source of knowledge, and He alone opens the hearts of men to receive it. He communicates in a hidden way to responsive hearts. The paradox: the veiled reality of the Kingdom which Jesus reveals is seen by babes, simple fishermen, and sinners, not the wise and prudent, the Pharisees, Sadducees and scribes."

"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." Everything, clearly, works through the Father. At some point, all is down to the deepest and highest Source of all things. The Father is at work in our very hearts, even of the "babes." But the revelation, the deliverance of "all things," and all knowledge is in the hand of the Father, and the Son to whom the Father has delivered all things. Thus, anyone who knows the Father is "the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." It is a clear statement of relationship of Father, Son and human beings who can receive. My study bible says this is another clear statement about the deity of Christ, the Son of the Father, who knows the Father and reveals Him. It says, "The Son reveals only as much as we have the capacity to receive."

"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." I'm reading the first part of Genesis for a class, and it strikes me here that the power of the Seventh Day of rest is at work in Christ, and in His words. Rest is not merely a freedom from labor; it is rather a kind of couch of love, at work within us, feeding us, giving us the spiritual nourishment we need for both body and soul, for all things in our lives. Thus, we can take -- in His rest -- Christ's yoke and learn, and "find rest for our souls." My study bible points out Jesus' yoke is submission to the Kingdom of God. . . . "In Him the soul is refreshed and sees that the Lord is gracious." It adds, "A sign of Jesus' lordship is His meekness -- He is gentle and lowly. King David emphasized that the Lord would teach His ways to the meek. Meekness is the mother of love, the foundation of discernment and the forerunner of all humility. Jesus finds rest in the hearts of the meek, while the turbulent spirit is home to the devil." But, in a sense, what Jesus points out here is the capacity to learn that is in His followers, as well as His own meekness. This is a Lordship that is not abusive and oppressive: rather it is in the spirit of humility and service and love that the Lord comes to us, and from which His yoke is derived and placed upon those who will take it on. In Greek, the word for "light" is perhaps better translated "worthy" or "good." It is all worthwhile to take on, a gift. And this is what we are to learn from His words.

Jesus' yoke, then, is His loving shepherding of those who are His sheep. In the Greek, the words for "gentle and lowly in heart" teach us about a kind of humility, not those who, in words He will use elsewhere, "Lord it over them." Jesus' teaching is with kindness, infinite understanding, humility, and love. To be "lowly in heart" is somewhat similar to what it is to be "poor in spirit." Ultimately, we learn of His great empathy, His compassion. No matter what it is that our cross to bear brings us in the world and in our lives, His yoke is that of a loving brother, a confidant, a mother. He embodies the love that teaches one to love others as oneself. Let us consider, then, the things that can keep us from an experience of that yoke, that love, that teaching that He has for those who respond. An arrogant heart, one puffed up with itself, one who cannot learn, a heart into which He cannot enter. The "wise and prudent" may keep Him out, while the meek allow Him in. Indeed, all those things we think we know, that make us important with material power, just might be the burdens we need to drop in order to find His rest, and the refreshment in it. Another facet of the meaning for "evil" in the Greek is toil, and the burdensome pain associated with it. What do you hang onto that keeps Him from your heart? That keeps you from hearing His knock? From taking on His yoke of guidance, and the valuable burden He gives? Even so, we thank the Father for all the ways in which He is revealed to us, in which His love works in us, in which we can rest in Him.