Jesus found out that, no matter what you do, you just can’t please some people. His beautiful teaching is rejected by the religious and political elite. They bypass the beauty of His Word because they prefer to sit in cafes and bars making dark judgements. They are learned and clever about the 613 dictates of the Law. They tithe herbs to God but ignore the justice God longs for. They like being in charge. They like to be seen and seen as movers and shakers. They like telling other people what they ought to be doing. But they are only interested in the outside of the cup. They are masters of the detail, obsessing over surface rather than depth.
If anyone should come to them with a new idea, it is rejected if it doesn’t fit in with how they see things. And surely how they see things is the only way to see things. Experts at categorising others for exclusion, they are clever enough to maintain their own position of privilege. They argue endlessly about God, Morality and Theology, not because they want to Grow in Wisdom, but to keep God at a distance. They never ever come to Jesus seeking the truth. They come to compete and to try to trap Jesus in a maze of their own making.
But Jesus teaching is being accepted by those who are not ‘learned’ or ‘clever’. Jesus praises His Father for working in this way and decides that, if the Father hides and reveals in this way, this is how the Mission of the Son should unfold.
The mind of a child is eager and open. It is not cluttered or defensive. The mind of a child is always changing and growing and adapting to novelty. But most importantly, the mind of a child is relational. This openness gives the Father huge pleasure, so He pours life and love into the hearts of those with a child mind. If they find pleasure in God, they will effortlessly walk the pathways of Justice and Peace.
Jesus exemplifies this child mind. He stretches out His hands to those who struggle to be good by conforming to the endless petty laws that defeat, rather than nurture, the human spirit. He calls all who have lost their taste for life to the banquet. He has a special place in His heart for those who are suffering, especially those whose suffering have caused them to lose heart. He offers them the rest which unfolds from a profound intimate relationship with His Father.
I do believe that Jesus still speaks to the many who are weary and exhausted today. Those who have to work too many hours. Those who are so anxious that they cannot rest. Those who believe they have to always be in control, and who can’t trust enough to let go. He teaches that we can rest by disengaging from our mighty egos and becoming like children who are pleased to be carried. Many poets have played with this experience of inner rest. Rainer Maria Rilke, in his ‘Selected Poems’ reflects on the experience of inner rest. He describes the awkward labouring steps of the swan walking on land. Who then,
…. let’s herself down into the water, which receives her gaily and which flows joyfully under, and after her, wave after wave, while the swan, unmoved and marvellously calm, is pleased to be carried, each moment more fully grown. (p.141)
And DH Lawrence in his ‘Pax’, speaks of –
… a cat asleep on a chair, at peace, at peace … Sleeping on the hearth of the living world, yawning at home before the fire of life, feeling the presence of the living God, like a great reassurance a deep calm in the heart. (p.700)
