Sharing the Load
Dec 7: Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent
Man, you should see the number of tabs I have open as I write this. Today’s Gospel is only a few verses, but I just couldn’t make heads or tales of them. Not on my own, anyway; I eventually had to put everything down and step away, so I could listen to God’s voice in my own heart before I began writing.
Reading 1
Is 40:25-31
To whom can you liken me as an equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things: He leads out their army and numbers them, calling them all by name. By his great might and the strength of his power not one of them is missing! Why, O Jacob, do you say, and declare, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Do you not know or have you not heard? The LORD is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint nor grow weary, and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny. He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak he makes vigor abound. Though young men faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall, They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles’ wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.
No matter who you are, life is sometimes hard. You can’t go on, it’s too much, you just want to give up.
That’s why you need God. Focusing on him and all the great things he’s done for you will renew your strength. Going it alone is impossible; living with God makes everything possible.
Responsorial Psalm
103:1-2, 3-4, 8 and 10
R. O bless the Lord, my soul!
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul!
He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul!
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul!
As we’ll see in the Gospel, Jesus isn’t coming to put demands on us. He’s coming to help us. We can’t redeem ourselves from our own sins, but He can.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Behold, the Lord comes to save his people;
blessed are those prepared to meet him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Isn’t it nice to have a Lord who wants to save you, not enslave you?
Gospel
Mt 11:28-30
Jesus said to the crowds: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
I have to admit, this reading puzzled me. Why would a yoke be easy? Wouldn’t it be even easier to just not take up the yoke?
Fun fact: this is one of the few passages that is entirely unique to Matthew. Often, you can find a deeper meaning in a particular story or saying of Jesus by comparing the different contexts in which its used in Matthew, Mark, and/or Luke.1
But there’s no such help in this idiosyncratic case. The footnotes refer to Jesus saying later on that Pharisees “tie up heavy burdens* and lay them on people’s shoulders,” but that’s literally a dozen chapters from here,2 so that seems like a reach.
After poking around different commentaries, I accidentally stumbled across a farming blog. If you look at plowing from the ox’s perspective, a yoke is easier, because the farmer’s gonna make you plow the field one way or another. The yoke provides leverage for the plow, and also can hitch two oxen together to work even more efficiently.
Life is hard; it’s the nature of the fallen world we live in. You could try and get through it all on your own, but it’ll be messy and extremely difficult. Or you could work with Jesus, tied together and laboring in tandem.
Jesus isn’t saying “Add my yoke to whatever else is going on in your life.” He’s saying, “Work with me, and we can get through this together.
John is off doing his own thing.