My Dear People,

When He says, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father,” Jesus is claiming to be the heir of the universal kingdom of David and the universal kingdom of God. The two are ultimately one and the same. Just as David handed all things over to Solomon, who then rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to claim the throne, God, too, has handed all things over to Jesus (Eph 1:22), who is also the Son of David.

The humble mule of David, which Solomon rode. was a public statement of the close relationship between the father and the son. So here, Jesus emphasizes the intimacy with the Father: “No one knows the Father except the Son!” Jesus, of all religious teachers (ever lived), understands and experiences God as His Father, and He can teach us how to have that relationship. Moses, Plato, Buddha, Confucius, and Mohammed never claimed to have that intimacy much less tried to teach others how to have it.

Now Jesus speaks words of consolation, in favorite verses that Christians memorize:

“Come to me, all who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest!”

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart: and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy and by burden light.”

The connection is commonly missed, but in this whole passage, Jesus is alluding to 1 Kings 12, the account of the transition from Solomon to Rehoboam, his heir, and the subsequent tragic splitting of the kingdom of David into north and south.

After Solomon’s death, the people of Israel came to Rehoboam because they were burdened from forced labor and wanted rest from heavy taxation. They pleaded with Rehoboam, the crown prince, to lighten their yoke of taxation and forced labor. But Rehoboam, arrogant and swaggering, promised them a “heavy yoke” (1 Kings 12:11) and an increase in their burdens. As a result, the northern tribes divorced the Son of David and returned to their own homes. They chose a different king, Jeroboam, and the disintegration of the once-great kingdom of David began.

In verses of Matthew, Jesus, the Son of David, contrasts Himself with some of the corrupt and abusive sons of David who preceded him, and whose selfishness led to the breaking apart of God’s people. Jesus comes as the healer and consoler, the one to reunite “Ephraim” (the north) and “Jerusalem” (the south), as we see in the First Reading.

Jesus did reunite and restore the true Israel around twelve new patriarchs, the Apostles. The Church (founded) is the restored kingdom of David, ruled visibly on earth by David’s royal steward, whom we have come to call “the Pope.” In the Eucharist this Sunday, Jesus approaches us as bridegroom-king at a wedding. His nature to ours is a metaphysical marriage of divine and human nature—the two become one flesh. 

Are we burdened and heavy laden? Jesus receives into His kingdom all who are repentant, all who suffer from the weight of their own sins and those of others. In the Eucharist, we have a foretaste of the sweet union we will enjoy with God in just a little while, and this foretaste gives us strength and joy for another week. 

[Source, Reflections on the Sunday readings for Year A by Dr. John Bergsma]

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Vincent Clemente