Matthew 11, 25-30
When I was preparing this homily, I recalled an advertising slogan that I heard when I was still running around in short pants six decades ago. It was the catchphrase 'The Pause that Refreshes,' the 13th advertising slogan for Coca-Cola since it started advertising forty-three years earlier, in 1886.[1] It was introduced in 1929 but was still in use thirty-one years later, in 1960, to sell Coke. (I guess Coca-Cola Corporation does not want to fix what is not broken. Some agencies should look at the experience of Coke and not be too eager to create new slogans.)
Today's Gospel reading is a 'pause that refreshes.' It follows the section where our Lord reproaches the towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum for not listening to His preaching and ignoring His miracles. It is followed by the incident where our Lord argued with the Pharisees regarding eating during the Sabbath. The latter accused the disciples of violating the Sabbath because they picked heads of grain to eat them.
In this pause that refreshes, Christ speaks with the voice of Wisdom personified. The words are a prayer of thanksgiving,
I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, you have revealed them to the childlike.
Matthew 11, 25
The wise and the learned are the scribes and Pharisees.; the childlike are the disciples, those who believe in Christ. There is a reversal. The wise and the learned are supposed to be favored but are sidelined. It is the childlike, the vulnerable, the ignored, those who are at the fringes, 'sa laylayan' to whom the knowledge of God is shared!
The knowledge is not esoteric but the revelation of a relationship. Our Lord describes His closeness to His Father and the Father's closeness to Him.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.
Matthew 11, 27
The revealed knowledge is that this closeness is offered to anyone who believes in Christ, pays attention to, and follows His words. This revealed knowledge is given to the person who sees the power and love of God in Christ.
This is the person who hears our Lord's invitation,
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11, 28
For such a person, Christ now holds a central place; it is no longer the Torah, the Law at the center. Hence 'the wise and the learned' who have hesitated to set the latter aside in favor of Christ cannot hear God's knowledge.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart . . .
Matthew 11, 29a
The Jews understood the Torah, the Law, as the yoke. The invitation for the believer is to make Christ his yoke. Thus, instead of learning from the yoke of the Law, learn meekness and humility of heart from the yoke of Christ.
. . . and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.
Matthew 11, 29b-30
The image is that of Christ accompanying us; we are not alone. We are never alone. Christ shares all our burdens. He is the 'pause that refreshes,' always amid our chaotic world.
[1] Slogans for Coca-Cola From 1886 - 2021 https://www.coca-colacompany.com/about-us/history/history-of-coca-cola-advertising-slogans
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