At the outset of Jesus' public teaching, people probably thought that it was a bit unusual. But then, people come along from time to time who present the unusual to us. We recognize it and take it in stride. Jesus' teaching was unusual, but it very quickly hit a different level. Changing water to wine was a benevolent thing to do as a first miracle. But Jesus' response to John the Baptist in the early part of Matthew 11 shows a broader scope. Jesus had made the lame walk, the deaf hear, the lepers whole, and the blind see. Those who had had the life seep out of them, had had that life returned to them. That was far more than a bit unusual. It was over the top, extreme, unimaginable, and inimitable. And his teachings were every bit the same way. They were distinct, easy to implement, sensible, and irreplicable.
From the beginning of the time Jesus had appeared in public, he had referred to his father. As the Jews listened, they knew he wasn't speaking of Joseph. In fact, he claimed not just to be a child of God like everyone else, he claimed to be the personal child of God whose origin was in a different realm. In the closing part of Matthew 11, the clarity of his words about God cannot be missed.
Verse 25
Ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ καιρῷ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν· ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι, πάτερ, κύριε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅτι ἔκρυψας ταῦτα ἀπὸ σοφῶν καὶ συνετῶν καὶ ἀπεκάλυψας αὐτὰ νηπίοις
(At that time Jesus began speaking, "I agree with you, Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth to have hidden these things from the clever and educated and disclosed them to those with childlike understanding.)
Verse 26
ναὶ ὁ πατήρ, ὅτι οὕτως εὐδοκία ἐγένετο ἔμπροσθέν σου
(Yes, Father, it was pleasing in your eyes for it to happen this way.)
Verse 27
Πάντα μοι παρεδόθη ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός μου, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐπιγινώσκει τὸν υἱὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ πατήρ, οὐδὲ τὸν πατέρα τις ἐπιγινώσκει εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱὸς καὶ ᾧ ἐὰν βούληται ὁ υἱὸς ἀποκαλύψαι
(Everything has been given to me by my father. No one understands everything about a son except a father, nor about a father by anyone except a son and others the son wishes to disclose him to.)
This, of course, set the stage for his teachings. After giving teachings about having God's favor and shouting sounds of pain (Luke 6.20-26), slightly earlier in his public teaching, Jesus wanted to further distance God's way from the teachings so prevalent in the current instruction of the Talmud. Topics in the Talmud were tedious, long, easy to forget, and applied to selective areas of life. Although there were many topics in the Talmud, the sabbath topic was a long-standing one, and one surely Jesus heard often as a child. It serves as an example to illustrate the laborious nature of an expounded topic. Below is a sampling of this teaching from the Babylonian Talmud.
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Mishna II - The principal acts of labor (prohibited on the Sabbath) are forty less one: sowing, plowing, reaping, binding into sheaves, threshing, winnowing, fruit-cleaning, grinding, sifting, kneading, baking, wool-shearing, bleaching, combing, dyeing, spinning, warping, making two-spindle-trees, weaving two threads, separating two threads (in the warp), tying a knot, untying a knot, sewing on with two stitches, tearing in order to sew together with two stitches, hunting deer, slaughtering the same, skinning them, salting them, preparing the hide, scraping the hair off, cutting it, writing two single letter characters, erasing in order to write two letters, building, demolishing (in order to rebuild), kindling, extinguishing (fire), hammering, transferring from one place to another. These are the principal acts of labor - forty less one.
Gemara - For what purpose is the number (so distinctly) given? (They are enumerated.) Said R. Johanan: if one labored through total ignorance of the (laws governing the) Sabbath, he must bring a sin-offering for every act of labor performed...
... Said R. Aha in the name of R. Hyya b. Ashi quoting R. Ami "One who prunes is guilty of planting, and one who plants, transplants, or grafts, is guilty of sowing." Of sowing and not of planting? I mean to say of planting also...
... "Binding into sheaves." Rabha said: One who gathers salt from salt works is guilty of the act of binding into sheaves. Abayi, however, said that binding into sheaves applies only to produce of the soil.
[For the complete Chapter VII on Acts of Labor on the Sabbath containing the complete Mishnah II and four other Mishnahs concerning the Sabbath, click or press here.]
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One of the groups the gospels refer to as trying to trap Jesus in his words is the "scribes" as they have been called for many years. The word is γραμματεῖς (scholars of the law). These were the people who studied the Law and Talmud and could cite them by heart. They were scholars and treated Jesus as an upstart who didn't know the depth of God's law as they did. Thus, it became important to Jesus that he show his connection to God as his son in order to demonstrate that he was every bit as knowledgeable as the γραμματεῖς, and more so.
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| Guardian Angel by Danny Hahlbohm |
Jesus set his words against such teachings as those above. His sayings were original. They may at times have contained echoes of others' teachings to reference his breadth of knowledge, but they would have an original twist. Matthew 11 illustrates this well. Jesus echoes The Wisdom of Sirach. In Sirach 6.21, 23, the author spoke of those to whom Wisdom revealed herself as being the unwise, the unlearned. Likewise, Jesus thanks God in Matthew 11.25-27 for showing his teaching to the unwise and unlearned as well as God revealing himself to the son and those whom the son reveals himself. In Sirach 6.24-30, readers were encouraged to put themselves under Wisdom's yoke and in her fetters, and they would find rest and joy. Sirach 51.26 suggests putting the yoke of Wisdom on one's neck and receiving her instruction. Changing it from from a personification about wisdom to a metaphor about himself, Jesus takes the idea of finding rest and putting on his yoke and makes it original about following his teachings. In addition, Jesus hints that he is Wisdom, thus, his hearers should accept his instruction. But, even though Jesus refers to his teachings as a yoke, showing a knowledge of Sirach, one has to think that Jesus' main purpose was to take full aim at teachings like the sabbath topic above (and representative of all the others found in the Talmud) which turned the ways of God into something laborious and odious. The Talmud's yoke was tedious, heavy-handed, and hard. In contrast, Jesus said his yoke was light and easy.
Verses 28
Δεῦτε πρός με πάντες οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι, κἀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς
(Everyone who is tired and carrying a heavy load - come to me. I will allow you to rest.)
Verse 29
ἄρατε τὸν ζυγόν μου ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς καὶ μάθετε ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ, ὅτι πραΰς εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ
(Put on my yoke and learn from me because I am gentle and unpretentious.)
Verse 30
ὁ γὰρ ζυγός μου χρηστὸς καὶ τὸ φορτίον μου ἐλαφρόν ἐστιν
(My yoke fits you exactly and my load is light. )
A couple of the subtle seasonings used in these last two verses are the puns that Jesus uses. Since people translate this verse one way, that is, using the yoke and the heavy load, the value of the pun is lost in the translation. By using the other meanings of the double entendre, the yoke becomes a symbol for shouldering a load together and light burden becomes a contrasting idea to the extensive rules of the Talmud about certain topics. The following translation can be made.
Put on the bar that joins us together and acquire my habits because I am easy to work with and don't mind joining you. The bar that joins us benefits you, my load isn't tedious, long, and odious.
The word ζυγός (yoke) can at times refer to a balance beam or just a balance. So, really, yoke is a triple entendre. The scholars of the law would not have missed this intended meaning. It meant,
Take on my teachings because they are balanced. My teachings are not rigid and don't make you high and mighty. The balance makes you good and keeps you steady.
That's my goal - to put on Jesus' yoke and learn from him. It's a beneficial way of life. It's a fluid way of life because his teachings apply to every situation, at least that I have ever encountered. It's a steady way of life that people learn to count on you for. It's a joint way of life.
[The beginning and ending songs are different versions of Prince of Peace by Hillsong United]
[Artwork is Guardian Angel by Danny Hohlbohm retrieved from
http://www.fulcrumgallery.com/Danny-Hahlbohm/Guardian-Angel_69658.htm]
[For a suggested text of the Wisdom of Sirach click here.]
[For a suggested text for the Babylonian Talmud of the Mishnah used above click here.]
[The Greek text used is the Nestle 28th edition]
[Translations from Greek are my own.]
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