Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 Commentary

Over the next number of weeks the lectionary will be giving us pairs of verses that skip over sections. Although some of us will feel relieved to not have to address things like the “woes” that are in verses 20-24 of chapter 11, some of us might feel like an interpretative angle has been forced upon us and the text.

The truth of the matter is—at least in the case of this week—the omitted verses are an elaboration on the scene that precedes it. Jesus’s words of warning for the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum are examples of the issue that Jesus describes in verses 16-19. There, unrepentance is described in terms of stubbornness, obstinance, rejection, judgmentalism, and hypocrisy.

At first exposure, the imagery of schoolchildren calling one another to play seems gentler than crying out “woe to you!” But the longer you sit with the scene Jesus paints, the sadder and more realistic to our own times it becomes.

Jesus describes the people as refusing to engage with others. They refuse to play and dance just as they refuse to weep and mourn: this is a picture of being cut off from one’s own inner world and therefore unable to show up in the world in appropriate and healthy ways. This is a picture of trauma that has not been worked through; this is a picture of hurt people who hurt people.

But sometimes it’s not trauma that’s led to this catastrophe to personal well-being. Judgementalism also hardens us and is a chronic harm to our souls. As we are cut off from our own inner self by judging others, we don’t even realize that being judgy is our default anymore. We are never happy when hate and greed take up residence in our hearts. Jesus’s example nails the poison well when it comes to hypocrisy: John’s too ascetic and Jesus is too indulgent. John’s too holy; Jesus isn’t holy enough. No one’s good enough but there’s no consideration of one’s own behaviour.

Discernment requires good judgment, but we must not get that confused with judgementalism. Jesus says that “wisdom is vindicated by her deeds” so we can look to the fruit of discerning with good judgement versus the fruit of our judgementalism to help us know which one we’ve become accustomed to living by.

In our cultural moment, judgementalism is being sold to us as good judgment. Hypocrisy and polarization seem to me to be two sides of the same coin. Though it applies to any area of life, the realm of Canadian and American politics (especially American) serves as a good illustration. We seem to have moved away from a “both sides-ism” defense of our viewpoints and actions—which at least acknowledges that things are not the way they are supposed to be—to straight up denying that we’re playing a tit-for-tat game. As we become so entrenched against one another, like the children who refuse to play or the people unsatisfied with John’s holiness and Jesus’s indulgence, we become more and more judgemental without actual information. I wonder how many of us are aware of how wearying it is to carry such a way of being in the world. Jesus’s way of compassion and curiosity may seem hard to follow, but it turns out to be much lighter of a load.

Instead, we turn to Jesus Christ who says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” We’ve prayed these words so much, applied them outside of their original context to our weary souls for any number of maladies, but it’s time that we sat with them in the way Jesus first uttered them.

Jesus calls us to rest from the ways of “wisdom and intelligence” in this world (i.e., the way of gaining and keeping power and money) and to learn how to be, think, and feel with and from him. Jesus, who goes to dinner parties with anyone who welcomes him. Jesus, who makes sure that little kids can have front row seats. Jesus, who does cry with others. Jesus, who saved the best wine for last at the wedding party. Jesus, who lets people rest with him, letting down their guards, experimenting with being someone new, learning to be yoked to his ways and walking alongside God in trust that the way he is guiding them is good, and beautiful, and true.

Textual Point

Most of us are aware of the Old Testament precedent for the humbleness of the promised Messiah, but his gentleness is also part of that prophesy in Zechariah 9. It’s also how Paul describes Jesus in 2 Cor 10.1 as Paul appeals to the church to consider their waywardness and how they will fight their battles—with the world’s weapons or with God’s power. Echoes of Jesus’s words in Matthew 11 resound!

Illustration Idea
Jesus says that his ways are hidden from those considered “wise and intelligent” and is instead revealed to infants (those willing to and live by receiving). I’m reminded of the increasingly frequent and blatant attacks and negations on the Jesus way occurring in modern politics and feeding our polarization. An example is from one famous politician’s son at a political rally few years ago, where he said this line: “We’ve turned the other cheek and I understand sort of the biblical reference, I understand the mentality. But it’s gotten us nothing. OK? It’s gotten us nothing while we’ve ceded ground in every major institution.” Clearly, the power of Jesus’s way is hidden to this man because he does not want to accept its humility and gentleness.