Christ's prayer to the Father and invitation to the weary

St Matthew Chapter XI : Verses 25-30

Contents

• Matt. xi. 25-30 Douay-Rheims text & Latin text (Vulgate).
• Notes on the text

Matt. xi. 25-30

The Good Shepherd. J-J Tissot.
Brooklyn Museum.

25 At that time Jesus answered and said: I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to the little ones.

In illo tempore respondens Jesus dixit : Confiteor tibi, Pater, Domine cæli et terræ, quia abscondisti hæc a sapientibus, et prudentibus, et revelasti ea parvulis.

26 Yea, Father; for so hath it seemed good in thy sight.

Ita Pater : quoniam sic fuit placitum ante te.

27 All things are delivered to me by my Father. And no one knoweth the Son, but the Father: neither doth any one know the Father, but the Son, and he to whom it shall please the Son to reveal him.

Omnia mihi tradita sunt a Patre meo. Et nemo novit Filium, nisi Pater : neque Patrem quis novit, nisi Filius, et cui voluerit Filius revelare.

28 Come to me, all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you.

Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis, et onerati estis, et ego reficiam vos.

29 Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls.

Tollite jugum meum super vos, et discite a me, quia mitis sum, et humilis corde : et invenietis requiem animabus vestris.

30 For my yoke is sweet and my burden light.

Jugum enim meum suave est, et onus meum leve.

Notes

    25. At that time. Lit. “ At that season’’ (Ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ καιρῷ). St Luke has in that same hour, and he places this prayer of thanksgiving after the return of the Seventy-two disciples.

    answered. This is often equivalent in Scriptural language to “began to speak,” but our Lord may have uttered this prayer by way of reply to some comment on what He had previously said. The word may also refer to our Lord’s thoughts concerning the obstinacy of the Capharnaites, and the mercy of God to the humble. St Luke notes our Lord’s interior disposition : He rejoiced in the Holy Ghost.

    I confess to thee. I praise and extol Thee.

    For other occasions when Jesus publicly invoked the Father, see St Luke xxii, 42 ; St John v. 17, xvii. 1.

    these things. The truth concerning the kingdom of God. Jesus rejoiced because the poor and the humble knew these truths, and not because they were hidden from the proud.

    wise and prudent. In their own and the world’s estimation.

    little ones. Lit. “infants” (νηπίοις).

    26. Yea, Father, (ναί) Jesus here renews His thanksgiving.

    27. All things are delivered, etc. Several times we find this truth laid down by our Lord.

    Cf. The glory which thou hast given me, I have given to them, that they may be one as we also are one (St John xvii. 22). As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he may give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him (St John xvii. 2).

    no one knoweth, etc. Cf. Just Father, the world hath not known thee : but I have known thee : and these have known that thou hast sent me (St John xvii. 25).

    it shall please the Son to reveal. This revelation goes on throughout all ages, through the teaching of the Catholic Church, to whom the eternal truths have been revealed.

    28. Come to me. We find a similar invitation in St John ; If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink (vii. 37). Our Saviour ever has a welcome to those whom He has redeemed.

    all you that labour, and are burdened. He calls those labouring under heavy burdens (οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι).

    This passage has been interpreted as referring to —

    (a) Those who were afflicted by trials,

    (b) Those who were subject to the heavy yoke of the Law and the traditional precepts of the Pharisees.

    (c) Those who were weighed down by sin.

    I will refresh you. Christ does not exempt His disciples from trial, but He promises His support under them. In the Church we find this refreshment, since there we are taught the true Faith, and strengthened by the sacraments.

    29. Take up my yoke. The “yoke” implies toil, that the Christian must labour for His Master. He must subject his intellect to the Faith, and his will to the yoke of obedience to the commandments.

    learn of me. We are to learn both from the teaching and the example of our blessed Lord. We learn to know Christ by bearing His yoke.

    meek and humble. This is shewn by the choice Christ made of a life of poverty and humiliation, and a death of shame. St Paul speaks thus of Christ’s voluntary humiliation ; Taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross (Phil. ii. 7, 8).

    you shall find rest, etc. If we accept our Lord’s invitation and bear His yoke, then we shall experience comfort in our life here below, and eternal happiness hereafter.

    30. my yoke is sweet. The precepts of the Gospel are not galling or irritating like the Mosaic Law, burdened with its human traditions, which the Jews found intolerable.

    my burden light. So St John the Evangelist testifies : His commandments are not heavy (1 St John v. 3),

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

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