Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
6 Pent, Proper 9
9 Jul 2023
Will the real Messiah please stand up? There were two game shows about guessing one’s profession back in the days of black and white TV that was broadcast live. One was called What’s My Line and the other To Tell the Truth. Both featured celebrity panelists who were tasked with asking questions of three contestants to determine the occupation of the main contestant in one show or to determine which contestant had the occupation described by the host in the other show. In To Tell the Truth, the person who had the occupation described could only answer truthfully; the others could say anything they wanted.
I wondered what it might be like if Jesus was on either show, but particularly To Tell the Truth. To start the show, all three contestants would say, “My name is Jesus” and the host, who at one time was Alex Trebek of Jeopardy fame, would describe what Jesus did.
“Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God. He goes around the countryside of Palestine and eats and drinks with sinners. He consorts with all sorts of people and heals anything that might be making them ill, from physical infirmities to mental illness. He says that he can make their lives better. He says,“Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. 29 Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves. 30 My yoke is easy to bear, and my burden is light.”
The panelists start to question the three Jesus’. Johnny Carson (yes he was on the show) says that he understood that Jesus told people that they had to believe one way in order to get to heaven when they die. Is that true?
#1 contestant answers, most definitely. If one does not confess that I am Lord and Savior, one’s life after death will be, frankly, hell. #3 contestant says it is less about belief than about deeds. It is about changing from doing business as usual to an entirely different way of being.
Betty White then asks what on earth is meant by wearing a yoke; it sounds like a hug burden no matter what.
#1 contestant says that everyone has to be in servitude, or obedience, to authorities, for that is what wearing a yoke means, and that his, i.e. Jesus’ followers will have an easier time because they are special and favored.
#2 contestant says yes it is lighter because it is made of plastic and not wood.
#3 contestant says it is a metaphor. Religion can become a burden, a huge burden, whereby it all becomes artificial. One is devoted to saying the right words and lighting the candles in the right order and making just the right sacrifice on just the right day. He offers deliverance from that burden and an entry into Sabbath rest as was meant by God at the time of creation.
The questions go on. The panelists may have pre-conceived notions of what and who Jesus should be; that would be human nature. In the end they may well be divided on who the “real” Jesus Christ is when Alex asks him to stand up.
So if you asked the “real” Jesus to stand up, which one would it be? Matthew, writing to Jewish Christians, portrays him as the greatest prophet and new king. Mark, written for non-Jewish Christians who were experiencing persecution, portrays him as a suffering servant. Luke, writing for gentile, or Greek, Christians, saw him as a merciful and compassionate person with a special concern for the marginalized. John, writing for a wider audience, saw him as divine and powerful and in control. Everything, including his death, was his to decide. So we have a king, a servant, the son of man, and the son of God. Which one is the “real” Jesus?
Perhaps that is the wrong question entirely. If one Jesus were the “right” one, the other three gospels would have been abandoned long ago. Jesus is all that is portrayed. The truth of Jesus is not in the facts of his life, for we know very little about Jesus the man.
Jesus has been configured and marketed to countless different audiences over the millennia. His life and purpose have often been twisted to serve the needs of humans, particularly those who want to use him to claim their own power.
We need to let Jesus have the last word. The reading from Matthew hints of the doubts that many had about Jesus. Remember it was written after Jesus died and for people who were struggling. Jesus taught nonviolence and for the hearers of this Gospel, there was reason to doubt why that might be the best way. Our actions in this time and place, with endless violence and conflict, testify to those doubts. Christian nationalists look to a Jesus who will return on a fiery steed and put things to right with a sword to save a nation.
The final verses of today’s reading, a reading that speaks of doubt and an unwillingness to follow either the way of Jesus or John, offer another way for our time, as it did for the original hearers of Matthew.
The Message puts it this way:
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Don’t get bound up in ritual and excessive dependence on rules and beliefs. Christianity is a faith that is meant to be lived out in the world. Sure we have core beliefs, but Jesus was not interested in beliefs. He wants us to live a life of grace, and life of gratitude to God and in love of one another. Is that hard? Yes, but laying the yoke of a religious zealot on your shoulders is worse.
Practice the Sabbath; practice grace.
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