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The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Have you ever been caught up in circumstances where you feel like you just can’t win? That no matter what you do, it won’t be right, that someone will be let down, or hurt, or angry? That people just don’t get it? The gospel we hear today seems to catch Jesus in just such a moment. Sometimes we are dismayed to see Jesus acting so—well, so human. But in this passage, Jesus not only reveals his humanness, he also reveals his God-ness, calling us with words of comfort and showing us yet again who this humble teacher really is, and what that means for our lives. As our reading begins, Jesus is talking with the crowds again, those who seemed to flock around him wherever he goes. He has just finished talking to the disciples of John the Baptist, disciples sent by John from his prison cell to ask Jesus, “Are you the one? Are you really the one we’ve been waiting for?” John the Baptist of all people expressing doubts must have been frustrating to Jesus, and he sent those disciples back to John not with a straight yes or no answer, but with this message, “Tell him what you’ve seen—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised, and good news is brought to the poor.” And then our story picks up as Jesus begins to talk with the crowds about John and the prophetic role he played, likening him to the prophet Elijah whom many believed would come again. It is in this context we hear Jesus say, seemingly with some very human frustration, “John came neither eating nor drinking and people said he had a demon. The Son of Man came eating and drinking and he was called a glutton and a drunkard, someone who consorted with sinners.” What’s a guy to do? A prophet can’t win around here, he seems to be saying. But then he makes a remarkable leap; “Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” Wisdom is vindicated by her deeds. What could he mean? When we hear the word “wisdom” we think of accumulated knowledge or insights gleaned through experience, but Jesus is referring to something more; Jesus is associating himself, identifying himself with the personified figure of Wisdom (with an uppercase W), the figure found in Proverbs and in the apocryphal books, the Wisdom of Solomon and Sirach. In the Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom is described as “a spotless mirror of the working of God (7:26b) and “an initiate in the knowledge of God” (8:4), and in Proverbs, Wisdom cries out to the people, “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Lay aside immaturity and live, and walk in the way of insight” (Proverbs 9:5-6). In post-biblical times, Wisdom—Sophia in the Greek—has also become associated with the Holy Spirit. In saying that “Wisdom is vindicated by her deeds,” it’s possible that Jesus simply means that the works he has done are proof enough for who he is, but it is also likely that Jesus is revealing a bit more about his divinity by making this association between himself and Wisdom, especially in light of what he goes on to say. "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Although for many of us, on first hearing (and maybe 2nd and 3rd as well!) this can be a difficult passage, and we have to ask, what could he mean? When we dig a little deeper we find something extraordinary—so extraordinary that commentators have called this passage “some of the most remarkable Christological teaching of the gospel.” In this passage Jesus clearly and unmistakably identifies himself with his Father in heaven, the Lord of heaven and earth. He acknowledges the heritage he shares with that Father, and affirms his role as one who can bring others to that Father. He does this by making allusions to Moses, who was often portrayed as meek, who prayed to know the God who knew him and through whom the laws often been referred to as a yoke were given. And he does so by making another connection to the figure of Wisdom, who is portrayed in both the Old Testament and later Jewish literature as “God’s firstborn, and as God’s ‘associate’ in creation (a theme present in the prologue to John’s gospel as well), and as the one who alone mediates God’s truth and God’s instructions for living. In this linking of God, Jesus, and Wisdom we have not only a statement about who Jesus really is, about his divinity, we also have the beginnings of the notion of the trinity—Father, Son, Holy Spirit—God, Jesus, Sophia. At first glance, this might seem unrelated to the passage that follows, but it is very much setting the stage for what most of us see as the heart of this passage: "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Jesus calls us to him, and in doing so he is calling us into the full glory of God. Moreover he is assuring us that we need not fear taking on his yoke, because his yoke is light. It’s helpful here to remember that the imagery of the yoke is used many times in scripture, and often the connotation is negative – the oppressive rule of one country over another, the bonds of slavery, even the overzealous application of the law. But Jesus is offering us something different—rather than a yoke that binds us, Jesus is offering a yoke that will help us to lighten the load, to balance the weight of the burden, to make our roles easier. And who among us has not felt weary? Who among us has not felt at times that the burdens we are asked to carry are just more than we can bear? Jesus calls to us, saying “learn from me and you will find rest for your souls”. Learn from me—we often miss that part of this passage, but it’s important. When Jesus says, "learn from me," he is calling us not just to some abstract discussion of the gospel or the mulling over of theological ideas but to incarnate for ourselves the virtues demanded by his teaching and exhibited in his actions. One learns of Jesus by doing, by adopting his spirit and living his imperatives. The truth of our Christological faith is in the living. Jesus doesn’t offer to lessen the demands of discipleship, he doesn’t promise that our burdens will be removed, but he does promise that when we come to him we will find rest and we will find help with whatever burdens we are carrying. When we fully begin to live into that kingdom Jesus calls us to, with all it entails, we’ll find ourselves taking on a yoke that makes whatever we carry easier to bear. When we feel worn down by the aggravations of everyday life, or by the state of the world, by sadness and grief or by helplessness and fear, by the demands placed on us by others, or the demands we place on ourselves, taking up Jesus’ yoke helps us to balance the load, to ease the burdens, to find rest where we need it. Because when we take on Jesus’ yoke we are beginning to live into the Kingdom that God has promised us, a kingdom where all things are possible through Christ Jesus. That is a promise we can rely on. AMEN
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