Come to me all you who labor and are tired and I will give you rest. The three verses that form our Gospel reading today conclude the eleventh chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew. Immediately preceding these three verses we see Jesus blessing God for revealing the Good News to the simple while keeping it veiled to the learned. Who were these so called ‘simple’ and why would God keep the good news veiled to the learned?
The simple were the men and women whose lives prepared them to be receptive to the good news that was the content of Jesus’ proclamation. They were they men and women who led their normal everyday lives without the sophistication that we find with the special groups that existed at the time (such as the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Essenes). They were the farmers, carpenters, housewives, shepherds, and vendors who plied their trade within the temple precincts. The simple were those who tried their best to lead lives that were acceptable in the eyes of God without any exaggeration. When they heard the words of the prophets read to them in the Temple or in the Synagogues, they believed every single word. They never cared much whether a verse in the Scripture should be understood either literally or spiritually. They took the Lord at his words. The majority of those who thronged to hear Jesus speak belonged to this group. Most of the times, they would come to Jesus as they were: those from the farm would have no time to freshen up; those from the field would stop by in their working, unkempt attire. They must have caught the attention of Jesus on this particular day. And it is to them that Jesus addressed the words that form the conclusion of chapter eleven. In Jesus, the desires of their hearts were going to be met. He was not going to take away their labors (they would still need to work to earn their living), but in Jesus Christ, their laboring would take on a new dimension. Their labors would not be in vain for their hopes would be fulfilled in Jesus Christ and in the kingdom he was ushering.