“Jesus would not be astonished that his teaching is not recognized. He has no illusion about the way in which his message will be received. To the glory that comes from God, invisible in this world, the majority prefer the glory that comes from humankind, a glory that multiplies scandal as it makes its way. It consists in gaining victory in mimetic rivalries often organized by the powers of this world, rivalries that are political, economic, athletic, sexual, artistic, intellectual . . . and even religious.” So wrote René Girard in his brilliant book I See Satan Fall Like Lightning.
Here, I ought to disclose to you that René Girard has had a massive influence on my thoughts and ideas. At some point, I would like to have a book study that deals with either I See Satan Fall Like Lightning or The Scapegoat. But that is for another day. Let us move on to the passage we heard.
Chapter 11 of Matthew’s Gospel is a watershed chapter. The Synoptic Gospels all preface Jesus’ ministry with the ministry of John the Baptizer. He is the one who first authenticates Jesus’ ministry.
But at the start of chapter 11, Matthew tells us that John, who had been imprisoned, sent word to Jesus asking him if he was the long awaited one or if they should expect someone else. Think about this. The person who had first endorsed Jesus was now so disappointed with him that he openly sent his disciples with a question about Jesus’ credentials. In response to the question about credentials, Jesus gave a listing of his street creds. But we have to ask ourselves, “Would John have been satisfied with the response from Jesus?”
Why, in other words, was John disappointed with Jesus? What had he hoped from Jesus that Jesus had not lived up to? Well, John was in prison. And he had been imprisoned by Herod Antipas, a son of Herod the Great. And Jesus had openly shown hostility and even derision toward the Herods. Yet, despite all of this, John was still in prison. Later, when Jesus is captured and standing before Pilate, he tells Pilate, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom was from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.” I have cited this verse in earlier sermons. What Jesus does is tell us one trait that separated his kingdom from the kingdoms of the world - his followers would not attempt to use violence to rescue even him.
Quite obviously, there was no possibility that Jesus or his followers would use violence to liberate John. John expected that the Messiah would deliver those who had been imprisoned by the powers that be. But that would have involved the use of violence, which is something Jesus refused to do, resulting in the disappointment of John.
Jesus’ words to John conclude with the cryptic sentence, “Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.” Better still, “Blessed is the one who is not scandalized by me.” But the Greek verb skandalizó and the noun skandalon link best with the ideas of being trapped. Let me explain.
Suppose there is a slight bump on a sidewalk, say, about an inch or two in height. This will be enough to trip you. And once you trip and recognize the bump, you will always be focused on the bump when you get closer to it while walking because you do not wish to fall down. Hence, the stumbling block paradoxically is simultaneously what you want to avoid but cannot help focusing on.
In real life this shows up as the pastor who preaches against greed, but is found to have embezzled from the church or the pastor who always condemns gay people only to be revealed as having solicited the services of a prostitute of the same sex. The very thing that they are most vociferously against is what they are most involved with. So what Jesus was telling John is, “Blessed is the one who does not see me as a cause for entrapment.”
But you may be wondering what this entrapment is about. If Jesus does mean what I’m saying he means, what kind of entrapment does he have in mind? When John’s disciples leave with Jesus’ message, Jesus gives his disciples an example of entrapment. He says, “John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’” Jesus reveals that the people had a problem with both John and him even though both of them had diametrically opposite ways of engaging in their work.
However, none of the accusations were about the specifics of their ministries. No objection was leveled about the messages John and Jesus proclaimed. Rather, the accusations were nothing more than name-calling. When you are so entrapped by another person or scandalized by that person, all you can do is resort to name-calling rather than really refute their position. The other person has become a stumbling block for you because you no longer attack the positions the person defends or the views the person promotes. Rather, you attack the person with vitriolic words and slurs of all kinds. This is the sign of a skandalon or stumbling block.
Jesus then proceeded to lambast some cities because they did not repent. Now, the idea of repentance is an important one. We may think that repentance involves confessing some sin and deciding not to engage in that sin. However, the Hebrew word shuv just means ‘return’, while the Greek word metanoia means ‘change of mind’. But return from what? Change your mind about what? What did these cities need to change their minds about? On what path leading to destruction did they have to make a return trip?
This brings us to the passage we heard. Jesus begins by thanking God for revealing some ideas to his disciples rather than to those who are wise and intelligent. In case you have not realized it, there is a problem with written documents like those in the bible. For example, when Naomi asks Ruth to go with Orpah, Ruth says, “Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!” What does she mean by, “May the Lord do thus to me”? ‘Thus’ is an adverb that means ‘in this way.’ But what does that mean?
Ruth’s words can only be understood if we assume they were accompanied by some kind of action. For example, “May the Lord do thus [indicate slashing of neck] to me” or “May the Lord do thus [indicate stabbing of chest] to me.” What I am trying to say is that the biblical text is so economical that, in its frugality, it hardly ever tells us what gestures might accompany the words or with what tone the words were spoken. For example, “Thank you, Father, for you have hidden these from the wise and intelligent” is different from, “Thank you, Father, for you have hidden these from the ‘wise’ and ‘intelligent’,” and from, “Thank you, Father, for you have hidden these from the wise and intelligent.”
Because we do not have these non-verbal cues in the bible, we supply them. We have to supply them or the words can have no meaning. Given the insistence of the scriptures that God’s ways are higher than ours or that God’s wisdom appears like foolishness to humans, I think Jesus used the first century equivalents of air quotes when he referred to the ‘wise’ and ‘intelligent’. The contrast he draws is with his disciples, whom he labels as infants. Note that he did not call them ‘unwise’ and ‘unintelligent’. This is because he is not talking about the IQ of people.
You see, it is pointless to talk about the IQ of infants. Hence, the contrast cannot be about IQ. So what is it that could distinguish infants from those who are ‘wise’ and ‘intelligent’, both words being viewed in negative ways? An infant is a sponge for new knowledge while a pseudo-intellectual or sophist is a know it all. An infant thrives on new learning experiences while ‘wise’ or ‘intelligent’ persons think they have reached the limits of knowledge. But how does an infant learn? What methods does a child use to gain knowledge?
A Japanese child will use a set of chopsticks with hardly any effort while I still struggle to use them. However, an Indian child will be able to eat rice and lentils with their hands while a Japanese adult will find it frustrating. What sets the two children apart and gives them their skills is not something innate to humans. Rather, they learn these skills by observing and especially by observing adults make it seem like it is an easy task. When your parents and older siblings show you that a skill is a piece of cake, you observe them do it, practice it, and gain the skill while doing it. Of course, your parents may show you how to do something in a less effortful or more efficient way. But even when they show you, it is through observation and imitation that you will learn the skill.
What Jesus is saying is that his followers are people who are willing to learn a new way of living. They are not like the people who are sure that God will act in ways similar to the ways of humans, people who only say that God’s ways are higher than ours but whose actions indicate his ways align quite well with those that reactive humans desire.
In other words, Jesus’ followers are properly compared to infants because they cannot but learn. Just as an infant cannot survive long without learning by imitating the adults around, so also adults survive by imitating those whom they consider to be role models. This is the entire basis of advertising. Unfortunately, what advertisers have discovered and what they base their entire enterprise on is something that Christians have resolutely refused to accept.
For example, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “Only the man who follows the command of Jesus single-mindedly, and unresistingly lets his yoke rest upon him, finds his burden easy, and under its gentle pressure receives the power to persevere in the right way. The command of Jesus is hard, unutterably hard, for those who try to resist it. But for those who willingly submit, the yoke is easy, and the burden is light.”
Similarly, Rachel Held Evans wrote, “The yoke is hard because the teachings of Jesus are radical: enemy love, unconditional forgiveness, extreme generosity. The yoke is easy because it is accessible to all — the studied and the ignorant, the rich and the poor, the religious and the nonreligious. Whether we like it or not, love is available to all people everywhere to be interpreted differently, applied differently, screwed up differently, and manifested differently.”
I respect both Bonhoeffer and Evans. Both are examples of Christians who endeavored to embody their convictions in their lives. And I would recommend their writings to you anyday.
However, note what is missing in their words. Their words have assertions about Jesus’ yoke being light and easy. And they give ‘reasons’ for this. But these reasons do not actually explain why Jesus’ yoke turns out to be easy. And this is because both Bonhoeffer and Evans, in a classic Christian way, have forgotten how crucial imitation is for the development of mature humans.
Last week, I spoke about the logistics of the priestly blessing. Today I ask you to imagine the logistics of this yoke bearing. What do you imagine is happening when Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you”? Both Bonhoeffer and Evans indicate that this is an instance of Jesus placing a yoke upon us, much like a farmer might place a yoke upon a bull. It is Jesus’ yoke because it is he who places the yoke upon us.
But if this is what is happening, how do we understand Jesus’ words, “And learn from me”? Does the bull learn from the farmer? Absolutely not! You see, the farmer may be able to train the bull to obey certain commands. But the bull does not learn anything because the bull has no comprehension of human language. Those are merely sounds that are associated with certain behaviors.
That is not learning. Learning involves a teacher and a student with the teacher showing the student the ropes till the student is capable of doing what the teacher did without assistance and understanding why it was done that way. If Jesus is like a farmer placing the yoke on us, then he could expect us to respond to this or that command. But comprehension would be out of the question.
However, if the yoke Jesus invites us to bear is the yoke he himself bears, then he functions as the older ox who helps the younger ox to function appropriately under the yoke. In other words, his invitation is not to allow him to place a burden on us but to join him as he shows us how to bear the burden. The reason his yoke is easy and his burden is light is because we bear it with him and his expertise helps us understand how best to bear this burden. We observe him and in so doing we learn what the best way to be human is.
And Jesus assures us also that he is gentle and humble in heart. These are essential qualities for a teacher. A teacher quite likely will know more than the student. That is precisely why the student is with the teacher.
In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Snape asks Harry three questions in the very first class. Since Harry had grown up around muggles, there was no way he could have answered any of the questions. Hence, despite all the fan theories explaining why he asked Harry these questions, a teacher showing off in front of students is just not an example of humility. Snape is also harsh on some students. He speaks to them dismissively and condescendingly. He also ridicules them when they answer incorrectly. It is no wonder that the students learn hardly anything from Snape. He was neither gentle nor humble.
But Jesus gives his gentleness and humility as the reasons for which his followers should learn from him. And he assures them with the words, “You will find rest for your souls.” Now, the idea of rest is a mistaken one in the bible. And this is because we do not tie things together. So let us do that.
The first instance of rest we encounter is in the second chapter of Genesis, where we read, “On the sixth day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done.”
Now, let us see if this makes sense. Does God get tired? After a long work week, was he just so exhausted that he had to sit back and catch his breath? Do we not read the Psalmist declare, “He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” But if six days of work led to the exhaustion of God, then how is he able to stay awake for years on end protecting Israel?
We, of course, know that what the psalm claims is true. God never sleeps. Though he governs the whole universe, he does not get tired. Now Sherlock Holmes often told Watson, “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” Since we have eliminated the possibility of God becoming tired, Genesis 2 cannot be telling us that God needed a siesta after six days of creation. So what could it be telling us?
The first thing we recognize is that the Hebrew preposition min is extremely versatile. It is used more than 1200 times in the Old Testament and is translated in more than a hundred different ways in English from the common preposition ‘from’ to other prepositions like ‘within’, ‘through’, ‘outside’, ‘beneath’, ‘before’, and ‘among’. Hence, the context must dictate how we translate it. And since God does not get tired, min cannot mean ‘from’ in Genesis 2.2. It must mean something else. But whatever could it mean? Hold that question in your mind.
In Psalm 132.13-14 we read, “The Lord has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his habitation: ‘This is my resting place forever; here I will reside, for I have desired it.’” However, the place where the king resided was the palace. And the palace was also where the throneroom was. Hence, the NIV translates v. 14 as “This is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it.” Indeed, in Ancient West Asia, in the regions of Mesopotamia and the Levant, the final act of consecrating a temple was placing the image of the deity in the temple so that the deity could begin to rule from his or her resting place.
In other words, ‘rest’ in specific contexts in the bible has little to do with taking a break. Rather, it signifies the establishment of a realm of peace - a rest from a state of conflict and opposition - so that the person can begin his or her rightful rule.
You see, the first command given to humans was, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” We were created to exercise rule in the way God exercises rule. However, through our rebellion, we abdicated our responsibility, thereby losing our ability to rule. And our final destiny, as stated in Revelation 22, is, “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him... and they will reign forever and ever.” In other words, God is in the business of restoring our ability to exercise authority in the same way he does.
So, what Genesis 2.2 is saying is, “On the sixth day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day among all the work that he had done.” He sat enthroned in the midst of his creation. It indicates the initial start of God’s rule.
What Jesus is telling us is that, when we place ourselves as his apprentices, he will show us how to exercise authority in the way we were designed to exercise authority. And because we will then have our actions aligned with the purpose for which we have been created, we will find the yoke that he shares with us is easy and light. We share the yoke with him because we are creatures who learn by imitation. And he is the best model that we can find, because he perfectly imitates the Father’s way of speaking and acting.
But as Girard said, this is something that we find difficult to accept. As we saw last week, the only genuine way of blessing another person is by serving that person and lifting that person up, doing whatever is most beneficial for that person. And Jesus said that the one who wants to be first in his kingdom, should be the slave of all. But what we learn today is that this way of service is actually the way to exercise authority. It is the way in which we reclaim our vocation to rule.
But this way of ruling is not glorious in the way humans normally define glory. It does not announce itself with bells and whistles. Rather, it is muted. It exists to work for the benefit of others. We have only one model who consistently embodied this definition of rule. We have only one model whom we can imitate in a way that perfectly aligns with the purpose for which God has created us. Will we then accept his call, “Come to me?” Will we accept the call to have our ability to rule restored? And will we agree to learn from him by being yoked to the king?