Entering into Christ’s Rest
“Come to me… I will give you rest… My yoke is easy, and my burden is light”. A lot of spiritual commentaries have been written on these biblical verses.
What type of rest is Jesus talking about? Isn’t it extremely hard in this present day culture to live as true Christians without compromising our biblical values? Are we not in a war between too extremes like secular and religious, profane and holy, radical liberalism and orthodoxy? With a good deal of corruption and abuses taking place within faith communities, don’t we feel vulnerable for all sorts of ridicule when affiliating ourselves with any of these groups? Then where is the promised rest?
Let us try to understand today’s Scripture within Jesus’ time context. Jesus is inviting His listeners to learn from Him for He is gentle and humble in heart. At that time, the only learned people in Israel were the scribes and rabbis. They knew thoroughly and well every detail of their scripture; therefore they believed that they knew God well. Hence, they had burdened the people by complicating their religion which the scribes and rabbis presented with elaborate regulations and umpteen restrictions. Religion, in fact, had become a burden to most of the common people.
In His prayer at the beginning of today’s Gospel, Jesus makes it clear that only the Son knows the Father very well. When Jesus uses the words “to Know”, He implies more than just acquaintance. He suggests intimate communion – a deep relationship with the Father. So, in a way, Jesus tells his listeners that the scribes and the leaders have no real knowledge of God. It is only He who truly knows God. Now, He can give that understanding of God to anybody who wants to experience God.
Therefore, the way that Jesus teaches us is light. The only rule He keeps before His people is Love. This rule stems from His very nature – ‘for He is humble and gentle of heart’. It is also an invitation to imitate Him. “Learn from me” is an open invitation to follow only Jesus and imitate Him alone. There is always a possibility that we can be misled by false prophets who would promise an easier life. The only one who can unburden us is Jesus.
Jesus clearly instructs us to ‘take His yoke upon us’. Not any yoke, but only His yoke. By now, we may already understand what He meant by His yoke. True religion that Jesus teaches us is not one of domination or suppression but sacrificing oneself for the well-being of one another. It is the essence of the Cross – rule of Christian faith. It is all about unconditionally loving our fellow human beings with the same love that God has loved us – unconditionally in Jesus.
The Cross of Christ – the yoke – the perfect symbol of love helps us to enter ‘God’s Rest’ (Ps 95:11).
-Fr. Ranjan D’Sa