Scripture Readings: Zechariah 9.9-10; Romans 8.9, 11-13; Matthew 11.25-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11.28
The Wisdom books of the Hebrew Bible personify our human capacity of knowing as Lady Wisdom, who is with God from the beginning and in whom God delights as a partner artist and artisan. Wisdom begins in awe, a sense of the holy in the diversity and beauty of creation, the experience of amazement at the observable order in days and nights, seasons, the growth of seeds, the cycles of rain. All creation is Wisdom’s home and school for revealing who God is.
Sunday’s gospel echoes the teacher Sirach, who describes the blessings of Wisdom, “Come to her with your soul, and keep her ways with all your might. Search out and seek, and she will become known to you; and when you get hold of her, do not let her go” (Sirach 6.26-27).
Jesus speaks as wisdom’s prophet and teacher. Like Wisdom Jesus seeks to reveal God and the goodness of creation to all. He invites us all to Wisdom’s table, the simple and the wise, the weary, the burdened, the lowly and least. Jesus refers to his teachings, his new law, as a yoke that is easy and a burden that is light. His teachings lighten, refresh, and restore our spirits; they give life. The rest Jesus promises is stopping to let indescribable beauty soak in. Rest is existing in right relationship with all that is, acknowledging ourselves and all that is as God’s gift, welcoming and blessing even the least among us.
Where do you find rest? What and who revives you? What is easy and unburdening about Jesus’ teachings?
Keeping Faith Today 