INTRODUCTION
The message of today’s readings is God’s endless desire to set his people free from bondage. In the first reading, the prophet Zechariah calls for an outbreak of joy among the burdened and wearied people of Israel in exile because the king-messiah comes to end their long term suffering and to spread his dominion over their oppressors and over the nations of the earth. St. Paul in the second reading acknowledges another form of slavery- the slavery of the flesh. He sees the life in the flesh as a threat to the salvation of a believer. But then he announces to his audience that the Spirit has been given as an antidote to the life in the flesh. It is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead that sets the believers free from being debtors to the flesh. Finally, in the gospel, Jesus reveals himself as that promised messiah who has come to offer to his people a relief from their labour and burden; a relief for those who are tied to the yoke of the law. And he makes this offer in a humble tonality (take my yoke, shoulder my burden; for I am meet and humble of heart) because he feels the suffering of his people.
FIRST READING: Zachariah 9:9-10
This particular passage of the prophesy of Zachariah puts us within the context of the post babylonian exile, in the early years of the Persian period. Although the prophesy is dated around the (520-518 B.C) as recorded in Zachariah 1-8, but the historical background is the babylonian exile which took place around 587 B.C. with the invasions of Jerusalem and deportation of the Jews into Babylon.This period of captivity which spanned for several years ended in 539 B.C., when Cyrus the Persian king conquered Babylon and issued an edict (538 B.C) that allowed the captives to return home. Thus, it was in the context of longing for total freedom and restoration of Jerusalem that the ministry of Zechariah was born (a period that saw the rebuilding of the second Temple of Jerusalem).The prophet announces the message in a solemn tone of jubilation:
“ REJOICE GREATLY, O DAUGHTER OF ZION! SHOUT ALOUD, O DAUGHTER OF JERUSALEM.”
Here Zion and Jerusalem simply mean the same thing because Zion is the mount on which Jerusalem was built.The reason for the jubilee of joy is because the king comes. The horrible nature of exile experience and dependency on foreign rulership is not just the suffering the people are meant to endure but it always deny them total or partial control of the three fundamental religious and cultural factors of their unity as a people: Their land, their Temple, and their king.
“YOUR KING”: Although the identity of the king which the prophet speaks about is not clear, but he is certainly a messianic king who comes to restore the freedom of the people and the holy city of Jerusalem. In the New Testament, the evangelists Matthew (21:5) and John (12:15) will reference Zechariah 9:9 to describe Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem as the messianic king.
“RIDING ON A DONKEY”: The king will come to his people riding a donkey. He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem. This is a language of liberation; an end to violence and restoration of peace. In those days, horses were used by kings and warriors only during the time of war, and donkeys while on a peaceful journey.The king Messiah will command peace all over nations so that his people may be freed from threats of wars.
“HIS DOMINION WILL BE FROM SEA TO SEA, AND FROM THE RIVER TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH“: This is a choice of word that expresses the boundless sovereign power of the messiah-king who reigns over all the world.
There were basically three prominent and significant rivers in the life and history of the Jewish people—the Nile (Egypt), the Jordan (Israel), and the Euphrates (Babylon). The Nile is the most important river in Egypt, and it reminds the Israelites of the plagues against Pharaoh and the Egyptians; how God turned the Nile river into blood (Ex. 7:15-21). The river Jordan is not just the major river in Israel but it is equally the most significant because it is the river that the people had to cross before their entry into the promised land (Joshua chapters 3-5). The river Euphrates on the other hand whose valley formed the heartlands of the empires of Babylonia and Assyria is also very symbolic in the history of the Israelites. Thus, if the prophesy of Zechariah today speaks of the king who will rule from “the river” to the ends of the earth, he most certainly refers to the river Euphrates which reminds the people of their captivity, their servitude and even of their shame. Therefore the prophesy is of great joy since the sovereign power of their king will begin from the territories where they were recently subjected to the rulership of pegan kings.
SECOND READING: Romans: 8:9, 11-13
The second reading is St. Paul’s theology of the disharmony between life in the “flesh” and life in the “Spirit.” He affirmed that before the advent of Christ, we were debtors to the flesh and subjected the rule of sin which left us at the jaw of the power of death. But the coming of Christ has offered us the glorious opportunity of being set free from the power of sin and life in the flesh.Thus it is only those who are conformed to the life of Christ that can have dominion over the flesh because left on our own we can do nothing (Rom. 7:24-25). Thus we are called to be linked to the Spirit, so as allow the Spirit dwell in us and keep us safe from lure of the flesh which leads to death (eternal death).
GOSPEL: 11:25-30
In the first part of our gospel reading today, Jesus thanks the Father for hidding the great mysteries of his reign from the wise and understanding and revealing them to ‘the infants.’ In order to understand the context of the infants and the wise, we must take a step back to the chapter 10 of the gospel of Matthew we read last sunday whereby Jesus called, instructed and sent the 12 Apostles on a mission. These listened, obeyed and went. But the chapter 11 gospel opens a different page, and in the preceding verses to the pericope we read today, Jesus regrets the incredulity and obstinacy of another set of persons; the wise, the understanding, those who have had the possibility of knowing more about the mysteries of God. He condemned the towns where the gospel was most preached, and regretted their preference to other pagan towns that would have benefitted from it: ‘Woe to you Chorazin and Bethsaida. Woe to you to you Capernaum’ (Mt 11:21-24). He contrasts Chorazin and Bethsaida (two Galilean towns) and Capernaum with Tyre and Sidon, and Sodom known as cities of inequities and wickedness.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus shifts his focus from the supposed wise and the cities of ‘missed opportunities’ and praised the wisdom of the Father for choosing the lowly and the unlearned in his new project of building a new city. The apostles will become the foundation on which the new city of believers will be constructed.
In the second part of the gospel, Jesus affirms that such wisdom of the Father and the revelation made to the lowly was mediated by him, the only one who knows the Father. Jesus makes an entirely new affirmation of himself in respect to God. Before him, no one had ever called God, ABBA, Father. Infact such terminology was not obtainable in the Jewish setting of his time. In it, Jesus expresses his consubstantial connection with God which goes beyond just an interpersonal relationship. It was a kind of connection that makes him the only true face of the Father and through whom people can access the Father.
Finally in the last part of the gospel, Jesus reveals the true nature of his mission; the promised Messiah who has come to set his people free from every form of bondage. Contextually he refers to the burden of multiplied laws levelled upon the people by the hypocritical pharisees: “Come to me all you who labour and are heavy laden…take my yoke upon you…” (v. 28-29).
A yoke is a wooden bar or frame fixed across the necks of two oxen to make them work together. It not only increase the work force but it is equally meant to impose a measure of control on the animals such that non of the animals could go on a separate direction. In other words they are under the total control of the owners.
“Take my yoke upon you is simply Jesus’ invitation to to his disciples to connect themselves to him, and to allow him to take the lead so as to help them through difficult places, without been weighed down by difficulties.
LIFE MESSAGE
WHAT IS YOUR YOKE?
The gospel today tells us that Jesus is aware of our daily labours and struggles. He knows about our busy lives, our sweat, our restlessness, our battles. He knows how far these can go to break down the precious life God has given to us to nurture. He also knows that there are struggles we go through in the spiritual realm: our addictions and insatiable quest for sins, our friendship with the world and different covenants many of us have sealed in the spiritual world knowingly and unknowingly. Sometimes we labour ourselves to the point of death, putting up every effort and professionalism, yet we have nothing to show for it. We are aware that our lives cannot hold values without knowing that it is often not our fault because the enemy has punctured it, and made it to continue leaking away every good thing that come our way. The fact is that we cannot help ourselves.That’s why today Jesus pleads that we should come to him.The question we should ask ourselves today is: “to what and with whom are we yoked?” Jesus is interested in lifting off our backs the burdens that drain us and suck the life out of us, so that he can place around our necks his own yoke, his burden, that brings to us and to others through us, new life, new energy, new joy.This is possible if we can renew our disposition to his Word and the Sacraments as well as our manner of prayers; prayers that should move from a mechanistic and ritualistic absent minded recitations to a feeling of heart-to-heart contact with him in the secret place of prayer; a prayer led by the Spirit. When the Spirit leads the prayer, the soul enjoys the serenity of his presence and the effect is felt in the physical realm.
PRAYER
For all who feel that their burdens are too much for them to bear, may Jesus who knows our struggles be your source of comfort and relief today. Amen.
PAX VOBIS!
