JULY92017

My old seminary professor used to call the passage Matthew 11:25-30 “a Johannine lightning bolt in a Matthean sky.” He meant the the words of Jesus quoted by St. Matthew would seem to fit better in John’s Gospel than in the first. Jesus in St. Matthew usually talks about things like the lilies of the field and birds of the air — concrete observations from experience. This theological language about the Father and the Son is more typical of the fourth gospel. That St. Matthew quotes these words of Jesus should make us sit up and take notice. What I find fascinating is the proposed swap that Jesus wants to make. Give me your yoke, take mine and  you will find “rest for yourselves.” Notice that Jesus does NOT say that when we come to him we will be yoke-free, without any troubles. Followers of Jesus find themselves burdened by all of the stuff that goes into human existence — health concerns, money worries, family difficulties, an unjust world. The word of the Lord is that this all becomes “easy and light” when we give up the single yoke of trying to carry it all ourselves and instead take on the double yoke of letting Jesus carry it with us. By ourselves life can become an overwhelming burden. With Jesus all will be well, all manner of things will be well.