Yoked to Jesus

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“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” †  Mathew 11: 28-30  What is the labour and burden that Jesus is asking me to deal with? Perhaps I have to let go of the compulsive burden (or is it a sort of entitlement?) that my spouse and children should choose a spiritual path that I know to be right. Jesus accompanied Judas Iscariot to the very end but never deprived him of his freedom to choose his own destiny. Jesus on the other hand, uninterrupted by Judas's choice to reject him, continues to accomplish his mission. He does become a victim of Judas's betrayal but he seldom takes on the victim's identity. In divine wisdom, Jesus chooses to die in our place (and that of Judas) in a redeeming act of love. Rather than being compelled to fix those whom God has entrusted to my headship by m

The treasure hidden!

Jesus said in the gospel of Matthew that the “The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off in his joy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.  [13:44]

Why did this man have to sell all his belongings and buy the field while could have easily opted to carry the chest home when no one was around. We can make few assumptions here:
  1. The man understood this treasure to be more valuable than all that he already has.
  2. This man who is already rich is found tilling a field which was not his.
  3. This treasure is not anything physical [material] that he could have carried off home stealthily 
  4. In order to own this treasure the only option available to this man is to own the field, which means the field and the treasure are inseparable.
  5. This man finds joy that does not fade off.
  6. From the various  gestures we know that this man is noble, honest, generous yet very sharp [wisdom].

This man's "character" is what makes him able to possess the treasure in a way he does. His working in a field which was not his, despite owning wealth already, points to his generosity and unselfishness. He may be compared to a good man of today who offers himself to a god he thinks to be true, and frees himself from his own comforts, reaches out to the needy. The treasure he finds while doing good to others is the Truth about the true God and His son Jesus, who was sent to let his children know the true nature of God and the awareness that he [the man] is a child of God and that he too is invited to be a part of the kingdom, God is building, holding hands with his children. Also the everlasting, imperishable fruits God is able to produce in him and in the kingdom to be. The fruits of the kingdom cannot be experienced with out the church just as the treasure and the field are inseparable.

In order to own the treasure, one has to "let go" all he gathered in the absence of the true knowledge of God the Father and His will for his children. The result is everlasting joy, in other words eternal life, which begins the day we buy the field to eternity. The fruits of this field is imperishable and everlasting. It does not fade off like the wealth of the world.

We can see this parable unfolding in the life of Saul, who would later become St. Paul, an apostle of Christ. He loved God passionately and did all that he did in order to please God. What Jesus did in his life was to show him the treasure. St. Paul pays the price forsaking his profound knowledge and stature, in order to embrace what is foolish in the eyes of people. He writes in his letter to the Philippians, "as for religious fervour, I was a persecutor of the Church; as for the uprightness embodied in the Law, I was faultless. But what were once my assets I now through Christ Jesus count as losses. Yes, I will go further: because of the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, I count everything else as loss. For him I have accepted the loss of all other things, and look on them all as filth if only I can gain Christ" [3:6-8]

Jesus said,No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. [Mathew 6:24]

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