Collect and Readings for Fifth Sunday after Trinity – Genesis 24.34-38, 42-49. 58-end, Zechariah 9.9-12, Psalm 45.10- end, Psalm 145.8-15, Song of Solomon 2.8-13, Romans 7.15-25a, Matthew 11.16-19. 25-end
The Prayer for today Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified: hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people, that in their vocation and ministry they may serve you in holiness and truth to the glory of your name; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The reading this week from Zechariah, gives us a clear image of peace and humility, as we hear of a king entering in triumph, but on a donkey. It is an image which Jesus made his own, and it speaks of a king totally in touch with the ordinary people and their needs, an unpretentious king who is unimpressed by the worldly idea of wealth and power and is not in the business of domination and threat, but openness and integrity.
The psalmist pours out a whole list of God’s wonderfully supportive and gracious qualities, in the knowledge that this God-king’s kingdom is not like the earthly temporary and fickle ones, but everlasting in its goodness.
So when we meet with Jesus in this week’s Gospel, what we find is completely in keeping with the discernment of those Old Testament writers who had waited on God and trusted him. Jesus’ heart goes out to all who are weighed down in their lives, and his welcoming offer is not to do with domination, or strict rules which terrify with their potential failure. Instead, Jesus shows himself open and unarmed, offering relief and rest for our souls, through becoming joined, or yoked, with his life in the living God.
It is all so simple in contrast with the complexities we struggle to handle when we are not at peace with God. And this very simplicity, while welcomed with joy by anyone ready to hear it, conscious of their failure to achieve it on their own, is also what brings out the childishness in those who petulantly reject God’s help, manufacturing one reason after another to justify their rejection. Sadly, it is often those who pride themselves on their learning or mature, independent thinking, who continue to see Jesus’ offer of rescue as a threat and an insult to their maturity and success.
With sorrow Jesus sees the religious leaders of his own people behaving like a bunch of quarrelsome children: they complain, but there is no pleasing them! While they are behaving in this childish way, unable to take advantage of what God is doing in their lifetime, it is largely the ordinary, uneducated crowds who are responding with childlike openness and spiritual maturity.
The same is true of every generation, including ours. While we are never meant to leave our brains at the church door, it is also true that sophisticated cynicism or intellectual smugness can blind us to the true value of our great, saving God coming to us meekly on a donkey.
Some things to think about:
1. When Jesus chose to enter Jerusalem on a donkey, what was he consciously trying to show the people of Israel?
2. What is the difference between childish and childlike behaviour, and why does being childlike make it possible for us to respond to God’s wisdom?
God bless
Rev’d Fiona Robinson