FIRST READING: Zechariah 9:9–12

⁹Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. ¹⁰He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war-horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. ¹¹As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. ¹²Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.

 

The is the second major prophecy from God to the prophet, Zechariah, in this book.  The prophecy begins with a description of the ideal king, a concept very important to both Jews, and those Jews who came to follow Jesus and recognized him as fitting this description.   All four gospel writers cite this passage as they relay the events of Palm Sunday.  It is this passage that the gospel writer of Matthew misquotes, saying that the king will come “humble and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey,” which leads him to describe Jesus as straddling both mother and colt simultaneously for the Palm Sunday procession.

 

In Hebrew, both Mt. Zion and Jerusalem are feminine names.  To capture that aspect of the language, English translations add “daughter” to these verses and throughout the Old Testament.

 

The references to the king cutting off the chariots and war horses from Ephraim and Jerusalem are an indication of the king riding out against enemies to the north of Israel and Judah.  The “waterless pit” was a place to keep prisoners of war during and after battle.  God remembers his covenant with Israel and Judah and will restore Israel to its position of greatness before being conquered by all of the armies of Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt, and Philistia.

 

Psalm 145:8–14

⁸The LORD is gracious and full ^| of compassion,

slow to anger and abounding in ^| steadfast love.

⁹LORD, you are ^| good to all,

and your compassion is over ^| all your works. R

¹⁰All your works shall praise ^| you, O LORD,

and your faithful ^| ones shall bless you.

¹¹They shall tell of the glory ^| of your kingdom

and speak ^| of your power,

¹²that all people may know ^| of your power

and the glorious splendor ^| of your kingdom.

¹³Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;

your dominion endures through- ^| out all ages.

You, LORD, are faithful in all your words,

and loving in ^| all your works.

¹⁴The Lord upholds all ^| those who fall

and lifts up those who ^| are bowed down. R

 

In the Hebrew understanding of God, God is bound to the Israelites, not out of affection but under a legal contract, a covenant.  The covenant is described in a variety of ways in the Hebrew scriptures, one of allies, one of king to subjects, one of husband to wife, etc.  This psalm sings God’s praises due to God’s faithfulness to this covenant, and the ways in which God fulfills the obligations.  God is compassionate, patient, and thorough.  The things which God brings about for Israel and all humanity are so beautiful and well done, that they stand as testimony to what kind of being God is.  And, no one escapes God’s attention, even the poor and heavy burdened.

 

SECOND READING: Romans 7:15–25a

¹⁵I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. ¹⁹For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. ²¹So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. ²²For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, ²³but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

 

This is the apostle, Paul’s, eloquent description of the human condition.  We know how things should be.  We may even have some ideas of how to get things to where they should be, but when we, humans, touch them, our selfishness and pride get in our way.  “We are a fallen humanity.”

 

GOSPEL: Matthew 11:16–19, 25–30

[Jesus spoke to the crowd saying:] ¹⁶“But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ¹⁷‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ ¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; ¹⁹the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” ²⁵At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; ²⁶yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. ²⁷All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ²⁸Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

 

Jesus is comparing the crowds to 2 year olds.  I am sure you have seen two year olds act like this.  “What would you like on your sandwich, meat or cheese?”  “Cheese.”  “Okay, here is your sandwich with cheese.”  But the two year old whines, “I want meat!”

 

God sends to Israel prophets about whom they whine.  Then Jesus comes, as the bridegroom, the son of man, dining and celebrating with people, healing and serving,  and the Israelite leaders whine about him too.  Jesus thanks God that while the leaders of Israel completely miss the pint of his coming, the common folk, those in desperate need of mercy, grace, food, purpose, and hope, are responding favorably to Jesus’ ministry.

 

“Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden…my burden is light.”  This is one of the most beloved quotes of Jesus.  Jesus speaks such words of compassion and hope.  Yet, it is paradoxical, at least in our application of what Jesus says.  As I knelt before Bishop Gary Wollersheim, with former Bishop Gregory Villalon behind me, for ordination, their hands were laid on me and this passage was quoted.  It is part of the ELCA rite of ordination.  I suppose it was quoted as comfort to me for this calling before which I knelt.  It was also quoted as an example of what I was to do for others; embody Jesus’ easy yoke and light burden for others.  I have always understood that to mean that my burden was going to be heavy and my yoke hard.

 

No, that is not what Jesus is saying to me or any of us, but the yoke of his teaching is a call to selflessness, to shouldering one’s own cross, to empowering others with the mercy and love of God.  Is that a light burden?  To what are we comparing it?