Day 16
Monday, December 12
Lori Chang
Are you weary? Are you heavy laden? These words are so familiar to us, and we can quote the remedy by rote: Come to me. Take my yoke upon you. I will give you rest (Matt 2:28–30). The very familiarity of the passage, however, carries the danger of turning the words into a Christian platitude, divorced from the context in which Jesus said them.
The crowds to whom he spoke had flocked to hear John preach in the wilderness, and now they were following Jesus, eager to see mighty works performed. But neither the preaching nor the works were meant to be mere spectacles. They were intended to provoke repentance.
Instead of repenting, however, the people watched the works as though they were entertainment. The comparison Jesus drew with fickle children griping because those who passed by did not perform as they demanded is not a flattering one.
As I reflect on the crowd in this passage, I recognize my own thirst for novelty and my tendency toward passive consumption of content and entertainment, even in my spiritual life. Yet the kingdom of heaven is meant for participants, not spectators. Jesus calls us to come to him in repentance. To leave behind our passive consumption of life and instead take up the yoke of service. He promises that in that easy yoke, he will give the true rest we crave––the rest that comes from knowing him.
Lori lives in Watertown and enjoys singing, writing, and reading.