Reflection
Rest for your Soul
We live in the world of Covid-19.
We live in the world of digital pandemic.
We live in the world of economic crisis.
We live in the world of environmental degradation.
We live in the world of dishonest political power.
We live in the world of religious fundamentalism.
We live in the world of taxes.
We live in the world of natural calamities.
We live in the world of water crisis.
We live in the world of food shortages.
We live in the world of homelessness.
We live in the world of broken relationships.
We live in the world of individuality.
We live in the world of personal gain.
We live in the world of pleasure.
We live in the world of depression.
We live in the world of loneliness.
We live in the world of selfies.
We live in the world of fear.
We live in the world of difficulties.
We live in the world of joblessness.
We live in the world of discriminations.
We live in the world of inequalities.
We live in the world of pains.
We live in the world of sorrows.
We live in the world of sicknesses.
We live in the world of suffering.
We live in the world of fake news.
We live in the world of virtual relationships.
We live in the world of social media rather than in society.
We live in the world of meaningless traditions.
Overall, we can say that we are laden with many yokes throughout the day and night and throughout our life with one or the other, again and again.
In this time, Jesus exclaimed (Matthew 11:25):
“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the little ones.”
Why did Jesus praise the Father, God in this time?
There should be a reason.
A reason is that God is the One, who created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1).
I learn that God created all these heaven and earth in His order, image, likeness, and for His purpose when I say that God is the creator of heaven and earth.
We may argue that God did not create the heaven and earth.
It is the creation of religion and religious people.
I would like to ask a few questions to those who tell us that God did not create the heaven and earth:
Who has arranged the heaven and earth in order?
Who has designed all these plants, leaves, flowers, fruits, and so on so beautifully?
Why are all these planets, plants, birds, animals, and humans on this world?
What is the purpose?
Wise men and learned may not agree with the questions that I have asked.
As a believer of God, the Almighty, All Powerful, I can understand that God reveals this to the little ones, as to why God created the heaven and earth.
God is not revealing,
Because I am a wise man,
Because I am a learnt, and
Because I have a reason.
But,
Because, I have trust, belief, faith in God, the Creator.
It is not, because I trust.
It is not, because I believe.
It is not, because I have faith.
It is revealed to me,
The Gospel of Matthew says, “Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will” (Matthew 11:26).
Yes....
God is so gracious.
He showers me with His grace.
He showers me with His blessing.
It is not because I am wise, and learned but because God is gracious that He reveals to me this mystery in and through Jesus Christ as again we read in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 11:27):
“All things have been handed over to me by my Father.”
How does God reveal?
God humbly reveals His order, image, likeness, and purpose as we read from the Book of the Prophet Zechariah (Zechariah 9:9-10):
“Thus, says the LORD:
Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion,
shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king shall come to you;
a just saviour is he,
meek, and riding on an ass,
on a colt, the foal of an ass.
He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim,
and the horse from Jerusalem;
the warrior’s bow shall be banished,
and he shall proclaim peace to the nations.
His dominion shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.”
He comes on an ass not on a horse.
He reveals Himself from tiny creatures to mammoth animals.
He reveals Himself from small flies to huge birds.
He reveals Himself from tiny seed to the tallest trees.
We can go on and on in His dominion over the earth.
But everything is gracefully revealed in a simple and humble way.
That is why, Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 11:28):
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.”
We say that we are worried and burdened with our life without understanding the revelation that God is revealing through His creation.
We know when Jesus says that all you labour and are burdened, Jesus indirectly says that there are also people who do not labour and are not burdened.
Jesus calls all those who labour and are burdened, who do not understand the mystery of God or the revelation of God in creation.
So, to understand the mystery or the revelation or the salvation of God, we have to take up our labour and our burdens to Jesus as He calls us to take His yoke upon us:
“Take my ‘yoke’ upon you” (Matthew 11:29).
According to the dictionary, a yoke is a wooden beam normally used between a pair of oxen or other animals to enable them to pull together on a heavy load when working in pairs, as oxen usually do.
A yoke needs two persons to pull together a heavy labour and burden.
As Jesus shoulders our labour and burden on one side of a yoke, we need to take our labour and burdens together along with Jesus on the other side.
Then, Jesus further says that ‘learn’ from me:
“and learn from me” (Matthew 11:29).
What do we learn from Jesus?
We learn from Jesus that He is ‘gentle’ and ‘humble’ in heart.
1. Gentle:
a. Gentle means treating people in a careful way so that they are not hurt.
I have never heard or read in my life that Jesus has hurt anyone.
He treated everyone who came to Him in a careful way without hurting them and showing them God’s forgiveness and mercy.
For example,
He said, “Peace be with you.”
He never hurt Peter for denial.
He never hurt the disciple for running away.
He never hurt Thomas for his doubt.
b. Gentle means ‘being kind’.
Jesus was kind.
He was kind even to thief on the Cross.
He was kind to the persecutors.
Father, they do not know what they are doing.
c. Gentle means ‘being humane’.
Jesus showed compassion (Matthew 14:14, 9:36, 20:34).
His acts were humane.
He showed us how to be humane.
d. Gentle means ‘being sensitive’.
Jesus was very sensitive.
He wept hearing the death of Lazarus (John 11:33).
He was sensitive when he said to John at the foot of the Cross, “Here is your Mother” (John 19:27).
We learn to be gentle from the life of Jesus.
2. Humble:
God humbled Himself and took the form of human in Jesus Christ as St. Paul would say (Philippians 2:5-8):
“Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
He set an example in the Gospel of John (John 13:12-15):
So, when he had washed their feet [and] put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you?
You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am.
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.
I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.
Being gentle and humble in heart, Jesus not only teaches us how to take His yoke upon us but also gives us rest for our souls.
How do we rest in Jesus?
St. Paul writes (Romans 8:9, 11):
“Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
the one who raised Christ from the dead
will give life to your mortal bodies also,
through his Spirit that dwells in you.
By having the Spirit of Christ Jesus, we learn from Him at the same time we find rest for our soul.
Then, Jesus says (Matthew 11:30):
“For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
Yes, dear sisters and brothers,
Our labour and burden become easy and light with the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
“For if you live according to the flesh, you will die,
but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body,
you will live” (Romans 8:13).
Living by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, we die to our flesh and acknowledge that (Matthew 11:27):
“No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”
Jesus is very clear that He knows the Father.
And in and through Jesus alone, the final revelation of God, with the help of the Spirit, we experience and rest our soul in the Salvation of God, the Father.
Let us all sing: I will praise your name for ever, my King and my God (Psalms 145:1).
May the Heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all. Amen...
