An Invitation to Rest
Homily for the Wednesday in the Second Week of Advent
December 11, 2024
Homily for the Wednesday in the Second Week of Advent
December 11, 2024
Homily for Wednesday,December 11, 2024
Wednesday in the Second Week of Advent
Matthew 11:28-30
Three things about this brief but beautiful passage from Matthew we just heard:
1) Jesus knows we need rest
2) Jesus knows that we tend to resist rest
3) Jesus delights to give us rest
First, Jesus knows that we need rest. Jesus, the Son, himself became human, and he knows what it’s like to live in a human body. Jesus knows, for example, what it’s like to be hungry – Jesus was “famished,” Matthew writes, after fasting for forty days in the wilderness (Matt4:2). Jesus knows what it’s like to be sad – recall how Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus, (John 11:35). Jesus knows what it’s like to be tired–remember how, in the story of the woman at the well, John writes that Jesus, “tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well” (John 4:2). Jesus knows that we need to rest.
Second, Jesus knows that we tend to resist rest. Jesus grew up in a society whose weekly rhythm included the Sabbath, a mandated day of rest about which there were many rules to ensure that people did indeed rest. Jesus would have known Psalm 127, which speaks to our proclivity to work and at all times: “It is in vain that you rise so early and go to bed so late; vain, too, to eat the bread of toil, for God gives to his beloved sleep.” And, Jesus knew, too,how many teachers there were in first-century Palestine, popular teachers whose yoke would be difficult and whose burden upon their disciples would be heavy. And so Jesus said in contrast,“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest… For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Jesus knows that we tend to resist rest.
And, lastly, Jesus delights to give us rest. You may recall the time in Mark when Jesus invited his disciples to, “’Come away to a deserted place… and rest awhile.’ For many were coming and going,and they had no leisure even to eat” (Mark 6:31). Or recall how in his teaching Jesus eased the burden of the Pharisees’ teaching, such as “The Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath” (Mk 2:7), and how Jesus – over the Pharisees’ objections – still healed a woman on the Sabbath (Luke 13:10-17). My favorite image of Jesus delighting to offer rest comes from John’s Gospel, in which we find the Beloved Disciple reclining close to Jesus’ heart (John 13:23). Medieval artists would sometimes portray the Beloved Disciple reclining next to Jesus not merely with eyes closed but snoozing peacefully on Jesus’ lap! (E.g., https://collection.barnesfoundation.org/objects/5739/Last-Supper/)
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” said Jesus. Jesus 1) knows we need rest, he knows 2) how we tend to resist rest, and he 3) delights to give us rest. I wonder, might we hear Jesus’ invitation in tonight’s Gospel lesson and, in the days remaining to us this Advent, come to him to rest? Set aside some time for rest, set aside temptations to resist rest (such as maybe our phone or email), and ask Jesus to please give you rest, maybe praying something like, “Lord, I am weary and carrying burdens. Can you please help me accept your invitation and come to you? Can you please help me take your yoke upon me and learn from you, you who are gentle and lowly of heart, so that I might find rest for my soul? And might you please grant to me a felt knowledge of how much you delight to give me rest.”
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