Scripture Reflection for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
Zeccariah 9:9-10
Psalm 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14
Romans 8:9, 11-13
Matthew 11:25-30
In an age when it seems everyone wants to
have more, be more, say more, achieve more, we’re introduced this week to
another idea that some might consider radical.
It’s about the virtue of less. This Gospel celebrates humility and “the little
ones.”
Looked at another way: We’re reminded that there is greatness in smallness. Sometimes, less is more.
The reading from Zechariah introduces the idea, referencing the savior we saw on Palm Sunday: “Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy. See your king shall come to you, a just savior is he, meek and riding on an ass.”
And then in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus himself praises his Father, for revealing great things to “the little ones,” who accept a kind of wisdom and learning that “the wise and the learned” – the scholars and Pharisees – just don’t get. Understanding the message of Jesus doesn’t require a fancy education or exalted title. The “little ones” may be the wisest of all.
So just who are these “little ones”?
Flipping back through the earlier chapters of Matthew’s Gospel, we get an idea. Just two chapters earlier, Christ healed a desperate woman who touched the hem of his garment; he gave sight to two blind men crying out for pity; he healed a mute man possessed by a demon; and he brought back to life the young daughter of a local official.
These are people who were neglected, overlooked, victimized, pushed aside – the weak, the desperate, the small. These were the ones whose lives were miraculously transformed by an encounter with Christ.
There is comfort here, and inspiration. Christ sees the ones that others don’t. And he wants them to know something they may have forgotten.
They matter. Not only that, he wants them to know he did not enter their world to make their lives harder.
“Come to me,” he says, “all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart… my yoke is easy and my burden light.”
This man from Nazareth who works miracles and changes lives declares to anyone who will listen that he can bring them what they need. He doesn’t boast. He doesn’t thump his chest or offer a magical tonic to cure what ails them.
He offers, simply, rest. Peace. Hope.
He makes it plain and lets them know it’s not as hard as they might think. “My yoke is easy,” he says, “and my burden light.” One commentator has speculated that Christ’s reference to a yoke may harken back to his days in Nazareth’s carpenter shop. Did Jesus once make yokes for livestock? We can’t know. But he clearly understood his audience. He knew they would get it. His own roots were disarmingly humble and his message relatable, beautiful and clear.
Preachers, take note! This is a shining example of how Jesus so often used the ordinary objects of everyday life – a coin, a grain of sand, some hardware for a beast of burden to make a powerful point.
In our own day, when burdens are weighing on us all – everything from paying the rent to worrying about war on the other side of the world – Jesus offers this reassuring message: let it go. Let me help. You need rest? Take my yoke. Let me show you another way, a way of trust and fidelity and mercy. A way of healing and dignity for those who are wounded, suffering or ignored.
Christ reminds a brutalized, overburdened world that there really is greatness in smallness. The little ones have a place at the table. And he is extending his hand in welcome.
Deacon Greg Kandra is an award-winning author and journalist, and creator of the blog “The Deacon’s Bench.”
