Gentle & Humble
Readings: Matthew 11. 16-30
What is Jesus like? At the very core of his being what is he like? That question matters doesn’t it. It matters because he’s the Lord of Heaven and earth, everything is going at his command and so his character matters. It matters because he’s the one we come to as Saviour, as Lord, and as Friend and who we have as our Saviour and Lord and Friend matters. And it matters because it reveals how we should approach him, what we’re to do, what we can and can’t do, how he might respond to us.
As our Gospel reading begins Jesus is reflecting not on how he responds to people, but on how people are responding to him.
Have you ever met someone where it just seemed they were determined to not like you. However you acted, whatever you did it just seemed like you couldn’t win, that their mind was already made up. And eventually of course when that is the case sooner or later we need to come to terms with the fact that we are never going to win them over, and that it’s not necessarily our fault.
A similar thing seems to be happening to Jesus. The generation around him, be it some of the crowds or the leaders etc, seem to be unwinnable. John the Baptist comes with his austere way of life, a way of life very alien to those around him, he doesn’t exactly blend in with his camels hair coat, diet of locusts and wild honey, and living in the wilds of the Judean desert. It’s a life that witnesses to the seriousness of his message, that God is coming, and people need to be ready. A life that witnesses to his role as the last of the Old Testament prophets. And how do people respond? He has a demon, he’s possessed, there must be something wrong with him. The general feeling is that this is someone to be avoided rather than listened to.
And then Jesus comes with a life which looks much more normal, he comes feasting, drinking, enjoying life and sharing it with those around him. And what’s the verdict? That he’s gluttonous, that he’s a drunk, that he keeps terrible company. Once again the general feeling is that, once again, this is someone to be avoided rather than listened to.
And Jesus compares these contemporaries of his to children playing in the market place, dance with us, mourn with us. It’s almost as though it’s not really about how these two men come, it’s that they forge their own paths rather than joining in with what everyone else wants to do, don’t play by everyone else’s rules. These two men aren’t following the crowds, they’re following God, but the crowds would rather do their own thing. They’re more interested in their games than coming to God. In their outright rejection of two contemporary messengers from God (one of whom of course is God) who are polar opposites we start to get the feeling that it’s God they’re trying to avoid, purposely rejecting those calling them back to the true way.
And it’s certainly the same in our day, the games may have changed, the rules may have changed but the outcome is similar, on the whole people are far more interested in doing things their way, their own code of ethics, their own custom belief systems, their own way of life, than of hearing the call of God to come and follow him. And the issue we and everyone else will run into time and time again is that anyone who doesn’t fall in line with the way they’ve set the rules, those who don’t join in are strange, oddities, figures of ridicule, even hatred. If we don’t keep up, if we don’t keep track of these constantly moving goal posts, if we don’t conform as the game changes around us, the reaction will be far from positive.
As Jesus diagnoses the problem with those around him, he turns to the Father in prayer, praising him for how he has chosen to reveal himself and the Kingdom. And it’s here we start to see how much in contrast Jesus’ response to us is to the world around him and around us.
I’m sure you’re familiar with the trope that kids are far better with technology than those of riper years. Stuck with you phone? Hand it to a teenager, even a child, and they’ll have it sorted in mere moments. Technology seems to come far more naturally to them, despite their lack of age and experience, than it does to those with more. In his prayer Jesus is saying that the same is true of the Gospel. It’s so simple even children can understand it, that those the world would deem as intellectually unimpressive can grasp it. And yet those who deem themselves wise, who take pride in their intelligence, ingenuity and brilliance can overlook and miss it easily.
That tells us something really important about Jesus and how he might respond to us doesn’t it. Jesus, and therefore God, isn’t waiting far off at the top of some intellectual ladder for us to eventually reach through our own brilliance, intelligence and logic. He’s not there waiting for some intellectual and social elite to finally reach his level. He’s right there, so simple, so close, that a newborn child can reach out and grasp him.
There’s something wonderfully reassuring about that isn’t there. The Gospel, God’s saving works, aren’t about us grasping some high intellectual concept, they’re about coming to the one who saves us and letting go to him. Something which comes very natural to children, and very unnaturally to the rest of us. Letting go and trusting him. Perhaps that’s why Jesus points out that the wise and brilliant will often miss it, so caught up in their own brilliance, so able to help themselves, they see no need of the one who meets our deepest needs.
And that’s the second thing this passage reveals about Jesus’ character and the response he might give should we approach. The fact that he meets those deepest needs that that his invitation to have him do so goes out to all. ‘Come to me’, he says, ‘all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens’. For all those exhausted by life, all those tired from striving, all those who’ve been left burnt by society, Jesus’ call goes out, come to me and find a better way. When Jesus draws us to himself, when we submit to him, for that is what the yoke represents, submission, we find the end of all striving and searching.
If we submit to the ever changing rules and narratives which society throws at us we’ll find ourselves fearful and exhausted, yet in Jesus we find a stable foundation. Whilst previously we may have submitted to some sort of law to make us righteous, to reach perfection, whether in the eyes of society or of God, finding ourselves endlessly falling short, in Jesus we find the one who has kept every jot and title of the law, paid the price for our inability to do so and lays upon us his perfection like a cloak. In other words; rest. Now we’re free to live as God calls not to make us worthy of him but in gratitude of him making us worthy. Whilst we may once have submitted to anxiousness, whether fear for the future or regret for the past, leading us in ever tightening circles of indecision, in Jesus we find the one who has made good our mistakes and holds our futures in his hands. In the face of frustration and a sense of futility we find the one who is guiding all things to its fulfilment, when all is made new, when creation is restored and all is well at last.
To all who come to him, Jesus promises rest for our souls. That’s not to say we get to sit back and do nothing, that the Christian life doesn’t bring challenges, that discipleship isn’t necessary. Bearing the yoke does imply work, effort, Jesus in this very quote tells us to learn from him, but what it does mean is refreshment, like finding an oasis in a desert which goes about with us. This rest for our souls is the knowledge, the assurance, deep down in the core of our being that Jesus holds all things, that he is leading us home, and therefore we have nothing truly to fear.
In this passage Jesus reveals his heart, the very core of his being. If he were a stick of rock and we broke it in two what would we find running right through the centre. Gentle and humble. That’s who this Jesus is. He’s gentle with us, caring, compassionate. He’s humble before us, not domineering or controlling, but seeking our good.
Whilst the world looks for strong leaders, powerful, undefeatable. Whilst it looks for leaders who laud their achievements, their abilities and record, they pass this gentle and humble God by. And yet it is he we need above all.
Whilst the world plays games, whilst the intellectual and brilliant laud it over those they see themselves as above, whilst strength and pride seem to have the last say, come to Jesus, the one who calls out to all who would lay their lives at his feet, come to the one who will never turn you away, to the one who is gentle and humble, and find in this God refreshment for your souls.
Amen.