Jesus is teaching some hard truths here. He begins with a commentary on the role of John the Baptist who is at present being held in prison. Jesus pays tribute to John: John is extremely tough, a fearless prophet who speaks out regardless of the danger to himself, a harsh critic of political rulers and religious leaders. More than that, John is the forerunner and the foil to Jesus himself. John’s preaching is on the law. Jesus says that with John the kingdom of heaven comes violently, just as the prophet Elijah in his day preached condemnation to all who fail to keep the law. John commands complete obedience and threatens with condemnation all who fail to live up to its demands.
And then Jesus tells a little parable. Here’s an interpretation of the parable. There are two children playing in the marketplace; one is John, the other is Jesus. They call out to their friends to come and dance with them. The suggestion is that this is a wedding - an image for love and joy and new beginnings. There is music, but no one will join the festivities. Likewise, when the two children express sorrow, as in the event of a funeral at the time of a death - no one will join them either. John and Jesus express the joy and the sorrow in the heart of God for his people, but the people refuse to respond. People give excuses: they don’t like John’s message because it is too grim and demanding; they object to Jesus’ message because it’s too free and open. Jesus ends the parable with the statement: “Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds” - meaning the proof of both men is in the results of their actions. Both John and Jesus prove to be accurate and trustworthy. Those who refuse to listen to them are fools.
Jesus continues with the image of the wisdom of children. I don’t think he is referring specifically to little children here; rather, I think he means those whose hearts, like children, are open and obedient. According to Jesus, all of us must be like children in the simplicity of our hearts and our willingness to learn.
Jesus is drawing a comparison between his message and that of John the Baptist. John represents the traditional Jewish way: strict obedience to the Law. Jesus represents the new way of the kingdom of God: fulfillment of the Law through the sacrifice of God’s Son. To put it bluntly: God finds that human beings cannot live up to the requirements of the Law so God provides another way of salvation. Human beings have failed, but God chooses to save us. What is an appropriate response on our part to this offer from God? Something like the response of a child, I guess - a child knows it is not able to be fully obedient to its parents, so it must depend on the parents’ love to continue to live peaceably in their home. And what effect does that have on the child? The experience of forgiveness and acceptance for the sake of love creates humility and gratitude.
The coming of Jesus marks the coming of a new age and a new relationship with God. Unlike John, Jesus does not come thundering threats of hellfire and damnation. He’s not saying “Get ready or God will get you!”; he’s saying “Allow yourself to trust me and rest.” Jesus offers ministry and support to those who despair of living up to the Law. The image he uses in the last section of the Gospel passage today is that of the yoke, which is a traditional Jewish image for the Law. The Law is laid on the shoulders of the faithful Jew - it’s meant to guide and to control, but it also becomes a heavy burden to the one who labours under it. Jesus describes the “yoke” he imposes as “easy” and “light”. The implication is that Jesus shares the weight of the yoke and helps us carry it.
Two thousand years later, the church still struggles with these two responses to God. Do we focus on keeping the Law or do we trust in God’s offer of salvation through Jesus Christ? Well, of course, we say, we trust in God’s offer of salvation. We know we can’t keep the Law. But we keep trying. And we must keep trying, because God’s offer of salvation was not meant to be misused by kicking up our heels and doing whatever we like, good or bad. Neither was God’s offer of salvation meant to be misused by beating ourselves over the head constantly because we can’t measure up without God’s help. Nor was it meant to beat others over the head constantly because they can’t measure up. So we have this children’s game going on throughout the church, where some refuse to rejoice in God’s lovingkindness and some refuse to share in God’s sorrow at the state of the world. Some won’t grieve with John the Baptist and some won’t dance with Jesus the Saviour.
In this Synod we just got through the Synod Convention which happens every two years. And in the alternate years, there is a National Convention. What is one sign that these conventions are about to happen? The flurry of messages on the Synod list-server. The most fervent members of our church - many of them pastors - use a lot of energy arguing about which way is right. Do we require certain kinds of behaviour of ourselves and our people, or do we reassure them that in spite of their failures, they are safe with Jesus? Or is it a combination of the two - just enough Law to avoid hell and just enough salvation to boost us into heaven?
Here’s a story I read online in the last couple of weeks:
There were two friends, and both were accused of a crime before the king. Since the king loved them, he wanted to show them mercy. He could not acquit them because even the king’s word cannot prevail over a law. So he gave them his verdict:
A rope was to be stretched across a deep chasm, and the two accused were to walk it, one after the other. Whosoever reached the other side was to be granted his life.
It was done as the king ordered, and the first of the friends got safely across.
The other, still standing in the same spot, cried to him, “Tell me, my friend, how did you manage to cross this terrible chasm on that thin and swaying rope?”
The first of the two prisoners called back: “I don’t know anything but this: whenever I felt myself toppling over to one side, I leaned to the other.”
Well, we could say that the moral of this story is aim for a happy medium, that moderation is everything. Or we could say that the story teaches trust in the one who cannot set aside the law for us, but who guarantees our safety when we walk across the chasm. The person who told this story used it as an illustration of the spirituality of balance. She talks about the “value of imperfection”. She recognizes that as human beings we have a tendency to insist on our ability to make it on our own and to do it all. In other words, we believe that the king insists on the tightrope and offers no assistance or support. We must walk the tightrope alone and we must walk it perfectly. Loosely, that’s the approach of John the Baptist. But an understanding of the value of imperfection says that it‘s not this way. Jesus puts it in his way: “take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart“; in other words, “I will share the challenges and dangers of life with you by walking beside you, carrying the burden.” Which is another way of saying cultivate a child’s heart: the awareness that we will always stumble and fall, but that there is someone who loves us enough to watch out for us and help us to keep walking. And we need not fear the chasm below, because with Jesus at our side, we will not fall.
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