7-5-26 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
One of the words in the gospel this weekend that really spoke to me was these words about yoking. “In its most common literal sense, a yoke refers to a wooden bar or frame used to join two draft animals (such as oxen, horses, mules, or water buffalo) at their heads or necks so they can work together pulling a plow, cart, or other load” 1 Yoking means coupling or joining with, in order to complete a task or objective. In the gospel, Jesus invites us to take his yoke upon our shoulders. A yoke always requires a relationship between two (i.e., persons, animals, or objects) So, Jesus is inviting us to join him in his work of salvation for the world. Many years ago, a Sunday school teacher asked her class what God’s yoke might be. No one raised their hand except for one little girl. She slowly and haltingly said “I think it is when God puts his arm around our neck and walk with us.” Rather than giving a lesson in farming she in her child like way understood more clearly than adults that God’s yoke around us was meant to help us not burden us.2 "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,” and what is it that Jesus wants us to learn from him do you think? Jesus through his birth, shares our humanity, and invites us to share in his life through the sacrament of baptism and eucharist. In sharing our humanity, Jesus has taken upon himself, as oxen do upon themselves when the yolk is placed on them. Jesus through joining himself to our humanity has united himself to us in our burdens, our woes, our hopes, and our dreams. In accepting the burdens of our humanity, Jesus links us to himself, as a yolk links two oxen together. And like those oxen, he shares the burdens that we carry, and we are invited to share the truth that he came to give witness to. When Jesus came before Pilate, at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, Pilate asked him whether or not Jesus was a king. Jesus exclaimed, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants [would] be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” To which Pilate responded – “Then you are a king?” Jesus answering him said, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Frustrated with Jesus’ response and probably with a sneer of his face, Pilate says to Jesus, “What is truth?” (John 18: 36-38). Wrong question, Pilate! Perhaps if Pilate really wanted to know who Jesus was, he would have further asked- “What is the truth you have come to bring?” Jesus then might have explained that the purpose of his birth and coming into humanity was to bear witness to the truth. This truth is the realization that Jesus, in all humility, has accepted our humanity so that we might know God’s concern for us, and accept His willingness to help us now, and one day to join Him in eternal happiness in heaven. The truth of this humbleness of which Jesus speaks can be seen in the first reading this Sunday from the prophet of Zechariah- “See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he, meek, and riding on an ass, / on a colt, the foal of an ass.” Zechariah proclaims that the true one comes not riding on a horse like a warrior or leader, like a king, but riding on the humbleness of a donkey, a beast of burden. In the ancient world of Jesus’s time, the Jews would often have to travel from place to place on foot. If they needed to bring any supplies (i.e., food, tents for shelter) with them, those would be piled on a donkey whom they would be led by a halter and lead rope. Certainly, this is a very humble scene. On Palm Sunday, we read in the gospel that Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem, riding on a donkey. In a way he is the “eternal food supply, the eternal shelter for us" we will need to empower us our way to eternal life. The crowds of people in Jerusalem, recognize not only who he is, Jesus of Nazareth, but also what he represents. They, the common folk, see the connection he represents by riding on a donkey, with the fulfillment of the prophet Zechariah’s prophecy made long before Jesus’ birth. He enters the city amid the cries “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” (Luke 19:38) The leaders of Jews tried to quiet the shouts of the crowd, but they would not be quieted for they knew the truth, although not fully, of who Jesus was and their joy, from that awareness, could not be silenced. So affirming was this crowd that the leaders told Jesus to stop them from their shouting, but Jesus said to them – “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!” (*Luke 19:40) Yes, the very lowly stones of the ground will cry out Hosana! to the Son of David. Jesus shows by bearing the yoke of our humanity, his willingness to bear our sins, our woes, and our fears. For in a few days, following that entry into the city of Jerusalem, Jesus will give all of his strength, all of his energy, all of his life, to save us and bring us home to God. All of this Pilate would have learned if he had simply asked “What is the truth, Jesus, that you come to bring?” He would have learned that truth that is reiterated in the Responsorial psalm for this weekend- “The Lord is faithful in all his words and holy in all his works. The Lord lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.” The readings, particularly the gospel invites us to ponder in our own lives- What are the burdens that we carry and that we need help with managing? Can we too accept that Jesus wants to share the yolk of our burdens with us and will enable us to carry the load that we feel is impossible to bear? He will help us carry those burdens until we too can bring to fruition the tasks that we have been given in this life, and which together with him can lead us to eternal glory.
1. https://www.bing.com/search=Yoke
2. 2. SundaySermons.com
