Daily Reflection
of Creighton University's Online Ministries
-----
July 15th, 2010
by

Dennis Hamm, S.J.

Theology Department
Click here for a photo of and information on this writer.
The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is a hope that dawned slowly and late in the Jewish tradition before Christ. Among Jesus’ peers, Sadducees, who held as revealed only what they could find in the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, did not believe in life after death in any form. Pharisees, on the other hand, did teach the resurrection of the death and final judgment—as did Jesus (see Mark 12:18-27).

The final verse of today’s reading from Isaiah is an early hint of Israel’s faith in life beyond death:
            But your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise: awake and sing, you who lie in the dust. (Isaiah 26:19)
The focus here is on the restoration of Israel, under the figure of resurrection, which it presumes. See Ezekiel 37 for a similar use of resurrection as an image for restoration after exile.

While Jesus affirmed resurrection, most of his teaching focused on the way to fullness of life before death. And today’s reading shows him teaching that the way to the fullness of life called “rest” is, paradoxically, to shoulder his yoke and to carry his burden. Jesus is not saying, “Work hard and you’ll get the rest you deserve.” He is speaking paradoxically about the life of discipleship here and now, by asserting that his yoke is easy and his burden light.

Jesus borrows an image from his Jewish tradition when he uses the yoke image. Scribes spoke of the yoke of the Torah, implying that studying the sacred Law of Moses was a discipline, a task worth embracing. When Jesus says that his yoke is easy, he means that despite appearances (narrow gate, rough road) his way is exactly what we seek, precisely what our hearts hunger for. Saint Augustine, who tried every other avenue first, paraphrased Jesus famously when he observed in his Confessions, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee.” In the end, we learn this way of Jesus, not by book learning (though that can be part of it) but by studying Jesus—as reflected in the Book, and as embodied in people of faith around us. If Jesus himself seems daunting, you can catch a powerful glimpse by meeting him in a saint—Bonaventure, say, or Augustine, or Dorothy Day or Mother Teresa, or maybe some as-yet-un-canonized person you know, who maybe even lives in your house.

Click on the link below to send an e-mail response
to the writer of this reflection.
dhamm@creighton.edu
Let Your Friends Know About This Reflection By Sending Them An E-mail

Online Ministries Home Page | Daily Reflection Home

Collaborative Ministry Office Guestbook