14th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Romans 8:9, 11-13
Matthew 11:25-30
"Learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart
and you will find rest. My yoke is easy…”
In the Johanine logion, the evangelist John identifies Christ with wisdom and develops this theme so well and at length. In the synoptic counterpart, it is Matthew who takes this point in the finest and most sentimental way, and certainly, in a way so appealing to God’s merest children. This we find in today's gospel. So, if we observe, for several Sundays, already, we had been meditating on the meaning of discipleship and on the different aspects of a follower's life. At the end of this long catechesis, one simply finds that the disciple - and every Christian for that matter - has one source of strength and consolation: Christ. That is why Christ urges every restless soul to come and learn from him. He is wisdom and true learning. In him, there is peace, there is rest. Let us meditate on these points.
1. Ordinarily, wisdom is leveled with leaning and knowledge. Thus, we usually call him wise he – who is learned and knowledgeable. Surprisingly, however, Jesus seems to breakaway from this traditional understanding. In fact, he is even thankful that true knowledge is revealed not to the learned the clever to simple people and mere children. Jesus is surely happy about it since this too is the Father's pleasure. To God, the things about which only the simple people know and learn are what constitute true wisdom. These are the "secrets of the kingdom.”
2. Actually, there is only one "secret" one has to know. But this secret is the key to all "secrets of the kingdom." This secret is nothing else but the person of Christ. Christ has everything, and is everything. So, he who knows him knows the kingdom. "Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” This sacred knowledge is, therefore, first and foremost a gift freely given. This can never be merited by justice. It can only be begged by mercy and given by love to those whom the Son chooses to reveal. Perhaps, this explains why after hundreds of years of evangelization and other works of mission, there are still a lot of people who hunger for the truth. Actually, after such considerable time, this has already become an “open secret.” The call to work out for the building of God’s kingdom has been a call to all. But providence seems to keep this “secret” unto himself simply because there has been a failure of response on the part of those being called. Indeed, they have eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear.
3. But what is more rewarding here is the inevitable consequence of knowing the person of Christ. It is that revelation wherein one discovers true wisdom. This wisdom stands diametrically opposed to that of the learned and the clever who mastered the Law and the Prophets: No doubt, these people were the authority of almost everything. Jewish religious and political life are two aspects of one inseparable reality Thus, the law and the prophets stand as the all in all, and he who knows them is expected to know practically anything under the sun. He is just that wise, learned and clever!
The wisdom the simple people have and are continually
given to those who seek it with a humble and contrite heart comes not from the
law or the prophets but from Christ himself. It is not that sophisticated but
most rewarding because it has the
following paradoxical characteristics.
a. It is simple yet profound. It is simple because it does not require a photographic memory to recall the many prescriptions of the law. It is wisdom spelled in a four-letter word: L-O-V-E. It can easily be remembered because it has only two basic dimensions, namely: the vertical dimension which teaches us to love God above all; and the horizontal dimension which us of the love of neighbor. Yet, behind its simplicity lies its unparalleled profundity. It summarizes the whole law and the Prophets. And more than that, it is all-encompassing. It addresses itself to all those who are weary and find life burdensome. In other words, it is that wisdom which overflows from the loving heart of Jesus who invites everyone who is tired in the daily struggles of life: masters and servants alike, managers and workers, employers and employees, lords and tenants, teachers and students, educated and illiterate, rich and poor, parents and children, men and women, young and old.
b. It is imposing yet liberating. The wisdom that teaches us to love is indeed imposing. For the truth is that anyone who hears the words of God and puts it into practice is likened to that wise man who builds his house on the rock (cf Mt 7:24-25). In this sense, therefore, it imposes as a commandment and molds and forms Christian conscience according to the ideals of love. But while it imposes, it at the same liberates. For staying and living in love is the true meaning of freedom. This is the basic difference it has from the Old Law. Surely, the Law imposes too. It is the Law, after all. But the imposition of the Law does not liberate man. It has rather enslaved him. That is why instead of leading man to savoring the taste of freedom, it has turned out to be most oppressive. The yoke of the Law overburdens. It makes an already difficult life more difficult and terribly squeezing. So, Christ comes. And he comes to liberate. He is the Savior, after all.
c. It is a burden yet it promises rest. Every commandment is a burden. No matter how one coats it with the sweet language rhetoric, as long as it is imposed it is always a burden to carry. But being the author of life, Christ just perfectly knows what life is and has been doing to man.
In this world, life and burden seems co-terminus. That
is why man is born with tears in his eyes. And as he leaves from this world, he
also leaves some tears behind. This is no secret to Christ. Thus, he reveals the
"secret" of the kingdom precisely to give hope to this sad reality
and bring consolation to the weary. And perhaps, the wisdom of this message is
understood not by the learned and the clever but only the simple and meek
because it goes with the latter’s simple aspirations in life. The simple and
the meek are mostly the poor and the powerless.
These are the people who do not need to be taught about life's misery. They
have already been living in it. From sunrise to sunset, they struggle more than
enough just to make both ends meet, "When will this struggle end?” This
seems to be the endless question he asks at the close of the day. And his
night's rest becomes simply a short break for he knows that tomorrow is another
heavy day of toil. In these desperate moments, Jesus comes with a consolation
and a promise. With his heart full of love and compassion, he whispers his warm
invitation: "Come to me, all of you who work hard and who carry heavy
burdens and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. I am
gentle and humble of heart. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”