Gospel Notes by Michael Whelan SM
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” (Matthew 11:25-30).
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Introductory notes
General
Luke has a similar account of Jesus’ cry of gratitude in 10:21-22. In Luke it follows immediately after the announcement of woes to the unrepentant cities in Luke 10:13-16 – see also Matthew 11:20-24 – and the return of the seventy in 10:17-20.
“In the midst of a section (Matthew 11–13) largely devoted to the rejection of Jesus and his message, Matthew presents a group of sayings that highlight the revelation that Jesus brings and the kinds of people who accept it. The revelation concerns Jesus and his Father, and those who accept it are the ‘infants’ (nēpioi) rather than the professionally wise” (Daniel J Harrington, The Gospel of Matthew, Liturgical Press, 2007, 168).
The second part of our text – “Come to me etc.” – is unique to Matthew. Scholars conclude that the first part of the text comes from Q, the second from the tradition that Matthew alone draws on just as Luke has his own tradition apart from Q.
Specific
I thank you Father: Scholars have noted that there is a Hebrew equivalent to this phrase of acclamation in the Qumran Thanksgiving Psalms (Hodayot). “The prayer is a public proclamation of praise and thanks for what God has done. Father, lord of heaven and earth: The address combines a title that implies Jesus’ special intimacy with God (“Father”) with the acknowledgment of this God as lord of both heaven and earth. It also prepares for the saying in which the special relationship between Father and Son is expressed” (Daniel J Harrington, op cit, 166-167).
the wise and the intelligent: Is this an ironic turn of phrase? Throughout all the Gospels there is much evidence of conflict between Jesus and the teachers of Israel. But, given the earlier reference to the lake-side towns, maybe the confrontation is broader than that. It does call to mind St Paul’s reference in his First Letter to the Corinthians: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart” (1:19).
Infants: Probably a reference to his disciples – people of little or no learning and no social standing. Unlike the religious leaders.
no one knows the Son except the Father: This is more than metaphor. “‘Father’ and ‘Son’ are used absolutely here: ‘the Father’ and ‘the Son’ (see Matt 24:35; 28:19). It is not simply a parable about mutual knowledge between a father and a son (though such an analogy is at the root of the saying). The absolute use of Father and Son and the theme of mutual knowledge between them have affinities with the Johannine tradition, though there is no need to posit a direct literary relation between the two traditions here.” (Daniel J Harrington, op cit, 167.)
Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens: The contrast between the learned/wise on the one hand with those who are unlearned/unwise – like the disciples but here including others listening – is maintained. Later Matthew is to speak of the scribes and the Pharisees who “bind heavy burdens” for people – see 23:4. Jesus offers a different way. A similar message – both Hebrew Scriptures and Christian Scriptures – is found in the metaphor of the shepherds, where the good shepherd is contrasted with the bad shepherd. See for example Matthew 9:35–10:6 and 15:24.
Freedom in intimacy
In today’s Gospel – Matthew 11:25-30 – we have a paradox: “‘Take my yoke upon you … you will find rest for your souls. … my yoke is easy, and my burden is light’”. At first sight, “yoke” and “burden” do not go together with “rest,” “easy” and “light.” We must listen and hear this paradox, like everything else in Matthew’s gospel, in the context set by the promise of Sinai (Exodus 3:1-15) that bookends the Gospel – see 1:23 and 28:20. Jesus is the enfleshing and fulfilment of that promise. We come to know the mind and heart of God through our encounter with Jesus. He is the Anointed One.
The paradox can be further understood by considering the human reality of love.
What is it that motivates husbands and wives to make sacrifices – sometimes very great sacrifices – for each other and for their children? The typical response you get when you ask this question is: “It’s just what you do when you are married!” In other words, it belongs to the very nature of that loving relationship. It’s just what you do! Notwithstanding the challenges of these sacrifices and avoiding idealizations, the loving commitment engenders patterns of behaviour that are more a matter of being drawn by delight than being driven by duty. It’s just the way love is!
The intimacy of love – genuine love – brings with it a certain freedom. When we human beings can let go of our fears and allow ourselves to love and be loved, we are drawn into a way of being that is natural to us, a way of being for which we are made. The sacrifices which might otherwise be too hard, too demanding, become “easy” and “light.” That’s a beautiful and hopeful part of the human story!
Jesus envisages discipleship as a relationship of loving intimacy. Discipleship brings our best human possibilities to the fore. To be a Christian, is to be in love – literally!
Matthew tells us of a particularly poignant – and beautiful – moment that highlights the liberation to be found in Jesus who is the Anointed One. John the Baptist sends one of his disciples to ask Jesus: “‘Are you the one who is to come or have we got to wait for someone else?’” Jesus responds by referring to the freedom brought in his healing and teaching ministry: “‘The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them” (11:4-6). This is a clear reference to the messianic prophecy in Isaiah 29:18-19. Jesus embodies, in his life, teaching and activities, God’s intent for us all. He offers, not an ethical project or an ideology, but a new way of being.
That new way of being is given in and through intimacy with him. The freedom born of that intimacy enables each of us to realize our best possibilities as human beings.