Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
14th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Cycle A)
Readings:
Zechariah 9:9-10
Psalm 145:1-2, 8-11, 13-14
Romans 8:9, 11-13
Matthew 11:25-30
All Scripture passages are from the New American Bible Revised Edition unless designated NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name, YHWH (Yahweh).
The two Testaments reveal God's divine plan for humanity, which is why we read and relive the events of salvation history contained in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
The Theme of the Readings: The Kingdom of the Promised Davidic
Messiah
God's holy prophets promised the fulfillment of the eternal
covenant Yahweh made with the House of David in the promised coming of a
Davidic Messiah, whose rule was to extend over all nations. In the First
Reading, the sixth century BC prophet Zechariah described a vision of the future
Messiah's entry into the holy city of Jerusalem. He would not come, Zechariah
wrote, as a conquering king. Instead, the promised kingly heir of David would come
to His people as a just Savior, meek and humble and riding on the foal of an ass.
In the Responsorial Psalm, attributed to King David of Israel, he acknowledges an authority higher than himself. Almighty God is the greater King, and David is His humble servant. David was, like all human beings, an imperfect man. However, he loved God with all his heart and was always ready to confess his sins and accept God's punishments to restore his relationship with his Lord. For this reason, Yahweh chose to make an eternal covenant with David, promising that his throne would endure forever in a Davidic Messiah who would rule with God's authority over all the earth.
In the Second Reading, St. Paul wrote that Jesus's "Law of love" promises a new spiritual life. Unlike life in the flesh, "life in the spirit" promises an eternal "rest" in fellowship with God and a guarantee of spiritual life that has a present and future reality. By living in the Spirit of Christ, Christians can look forward to being alive in the future in a way that makes the present reality a pale counterfeit kind of living.
In the Gospel reading, Jesus offered a prayer of praise to God the Father and an invitation to humanity to take up His gentle yoke to find "rest" in Him. Jesus fulfilled Zechariah's vision of the Davidic Messianic King when He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The crowds recognized the Messianic significance of Jesus of Nazareth riding into the holy city just as the prophet Zechariah described and called out to Him, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel" (Jn 12:13; also Lk 19:38). Jesus was meek and humble, like Moses who brought the Law of God to the covenant people of Israel (Num 12:3; Mt 11:29). Jesus is the new Lawgiver, bringing a new Kingdom and a new Law of love and an easier burden for the people to bear than the rigid commands the Israelites carried under the yoke of the old Mosaic Law. But Jesus is not only the new Moses but also the new David, the promised anointed king of an eternal covenant. In the sacrifice of the Mass, like the crowd on Palm Sunday, we also call out "Hosanna/Save us, to God in the highest," as we acknowledge Jesus as our Redeemer and eternal King.
The First Reading Zechariah 9:9-10
Thus says the LORD: Exult greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout
for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you, a just
savior is he, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10
He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; the
warrior's bow will be banished, and he will proclaim peace to the nations. His
dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Zechariah answered his prophetic call in 520 BC during the Babylonian exile. In 538 BC, the Babylonian exile ended, and God's covenant people began returning to Judah under the protection of Cyrus, king of Persia. The first half of the Book of Zechariah (chapters 1-8) contains eight symbolic visions which related to the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple and were intended to encourage the return of the exiles under the leadership of the High Priest Yehoshua/Joshua (Jesus) and governor Zerubbabel. The second part of the book divides into two parts. The first part (chapters 9-11) offers the Messianic vision of the coming of the Prince of Peace. The second part (chapter 12) opens with an oracle proclaiming the victory of God's covenant people over unbelievers. It closes with a prophecy describing, in apocalyptic imagery, the final assault on Jerusalem, the return of the Messianic King, and His victory over Israel's enemies.
In our reading, Zechariah gave an oracle prophesying the future triumphant appearance of the humble Messianic king as He entered Jerusalem. He would not come as a conquering warrior riding in a chariot or on a warhorse. Instead, he would come in peace, meekly riding on the colt of an ass. Each Gospel writer took up this prophetic description of the Messiah entering Jerusalem and proclaimed its fulfillment in Jesus's triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. They either directly quoted the Zechariah passage or related how Jesus rode into the city as described in the prophecy (Mt 21:1-5; Mk 11:1-10; Lk 19:29-38; Jn 12:15). Jesus is the humble Davidic Messiah prophesied by Zechariah. He is the blessed One promised by the psalmist who comes in the "name of the Lord" (Ps 118:26) to establish peace (Zec 9:10a) and whose dominion will be over all nations and peoples of the earth (Zec 9:10b; also see Dan 7:14).
Responsorial Psalm 145:1-2, 8-11, 13b-14
The response is: "I will praise your name forever, my king
and my God." Or "Alleluia."
1 I shall extol you, O my God and King; I will bless your
name forever and ever. 2 Every day will I bless you; I will praise your name
forever and ever.
Response:
8 The LORD is gracious and
merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. 9 The LORD is good to all,
compassionate toward all your works.
Response:
10 All your works give you thanks, LORD and your faithful
bless you. 11 They speak of the glory of your reign and tell of your mighty
works.
Response:
13b The LORD is trustworthy in all his words, and loving
in all his works. 14 The LORD supports all who are falling and raises up all
who are bowed down.
Response:
The title of this psalm is: "Praise. Of David," attributing it to King David of Israel. David was the anointed king of Israel, but he acknowledged a higher authority, God the Greater King. In verses 1-2, the psalmist wants to praise Yahweh "every day" and "forever." His devotion and gratitude know no bounds. St. John Chrysostom wrote: "Devotion to praise is a mark of the truly filial heart. He who praises the Lord every day will praise him for the eternal Day" (Expositio in Psalmos, 144.2).
8 The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding
in mercy. 9 The LORD is good to all, compassionate toward all your works.
In verses 8-9, the psalmist turns his focus to the goodness
of God, quoting from Exodus 34:6-7. He proclaims that God's goodness is not
limited to Israel but He extends His compassion and mercy to everyone.
10 All your works give you thanks, LORD and your faithful
bless you. 11 They speak of the glory of your reign and tell of your mighty
works.
The psalmist declares that Lord deserves praise for all His
works from all those who are faithful to Him. Through God's words and deeds, He
reveals His glory.
14 The LORD supports all who are falling and raises up
all who are bowed down.
This verse speaks of the universal reach of God's love and
compassion and expresses the theme of Psalm 145. Yahweh's kingdom is a universal
kingdom of justice because He responds with goodness and salvation to all who
invoke His name and love Him, especially the weak and oppressed. The meek and
humble Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, fulfilled the description of the merciful
great King who ushers in a Gospel of love and compassion, calling all men and
women who love Him to enter into His Kingdom of the Church and to live by His
example.
The Second Reading Romans 8:9, 11-13 ~ Life in the Spirit
9 But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are
in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the
Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. [...] 11 If the Spirit of the One who
raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the One who raised Christ from the
dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells
in you. 12 Consequently, brothers, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according
to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if
by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
In Romans 7:24, St. Paul asked the rhetorical question, "Who will rescue me from this body doomed to death?" His simple answer in 7:25 is that Jesus Christ is our rescuer, but in chapter 8, St. Paul provides a more in-depth response. Verse 9 introduces the theme of the chapter: But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. The Christian has been set free from the condemnation of sin and death by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Life is what the Holy Spirit guarantees!
After the fall of Adam and Eve that resulted in the disgraced (absence of grace) condition of all their descendants, original sin became humanity's inheritance and set two directions or two choices before those of us who were born into this state:
In essence, this is the choice between supernatural life through the Holy Spirit or the animal life of the flesh.
St. Paul assured us that the Holy Spirit has set the Christian free from bondage to sin. In Romans 8:2, St. Paul wrote For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and death. It comes to us from the new law of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, founded on love, grace, and freedom. These three aspects that are present in the new law were absent in the old:
This freedom is a direct result of the saving work of God the Son (also see Rom 6:18, 20, 22; 2 Cor 3:17; Gal 5:1, 13; and CCC# 1972).
The source of this life of freedom lived "according to the Spirit" is sanctifying grace. It is the gift Christians receive in the Sacrament of Baptism when they become infused with the life of the Most Holy Trinity through the power of the Holy Spirit to heal [sin] and to sanctify our souls. It is a grace that permanently adheres to the soul of the Christian. However, the sanctifying grace that liberates us from the domination of the flesh and places us under the Law of the Spirit does not prevent sin from continuing to threaten our freedom. St. John Chrysostom warned Christians: "We need to submit to the Spirit, to wholeheartedly commit ourselves and strive to keep the flesh in its place. By so doing, our flesh will become spiritual again. Otherwise, if we give in to the easy life, this will lower our soul to the level of the flesh and make it carnal again" (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans, #13; also see CCC# 1266 & 1999).
In verse 11, Paul assures us: If the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the One who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you. By "the One," Paul was referring to God the Father. The reality is that every day we are alive in our physical bodies is another step toward physical death. No matter what we "invest" in our earthly bodies, it is a short-term investment. Because of sin's effects, the body is doomed to physical death and is an instrument of spiritual death. Through the regenerative waters of our baptism, we are alive in the Spirit of Christ. He has justified (made righteous in the sight of God) the believer, and we look forward to a final resurrection at the end of time when we will receive new bodies and imperishable bodies. Living in the Spirit of Christ, Christians look forward to being alive in a way that makes the present reality of life in the flesh a pale counterfeit kind of living. Investing in "life in the Spirit" is a long-term investment that will reap enormous benefits because God stands behind that investment.
In verses 12-13, Paul summed up what he had written in this chapter: A fallen human nature no longer dominates the baptized Christian. If the Christian chooses to put the "flesh" to death by continuing to live in the Spirit, he will genuinely have a life as God intended: life in eternal communion with the Most Holy Trinity.
The Gospel of Matthew 11:25-30 ~ Jesus's Prayer of
Thanksgiving and His Invitation
25 At that time Jesus said in reply, "I give praise to
you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. 26 Yes,
Father, such has been your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over
to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows
the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. 28 Come
to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take
my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you
will find rest for yourselves. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is
light."
In 11:25-27, Jesus offered a prayer to God the Father. In verse 25, He gave thanks for those Christians who possessed childlike faith. They are the ones who accepted St. John's baptism of repentance and have, by the grace of God the Holy Spirit, experienced the conversion of heart necessary to open their minds and hearts to welcome Jesus, the promised Messiah who is God the Son. The Catechism teaches that what moves us toward belief is not just being convinced of revealed truths that are intelligible in the light of our natural reason. We believe "because the authority of God himself who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived." Moved by the Holy Spirit, our faith is more certain than our human intellect because it is founded on the Word of God, who does not lie and is Himself "Truth" (see CCC 154-157).
In His prayer, Jesus revealed an astonishing theological truth not previously known. He announced that He is the revelation of the Father; He and the Father are One (see CCC 73, 221, 238-42, 2798). Notice that Jesus offered the Father vocal prayer. We often focus on meditation and silent prayer and forget the necessity of vocal prayer. Vocal prayer was an essential element of liturgical life in the Synagogue and the Temple liturgy for the Old Covenant people of God. It is also essential in New Covenant Christian life, especially in the sacrifice of the Mass (CCC 2701). This was not the first time Jesus prayed aloud to the Father. He taught His disciples the great vocal prayer that unites us as children in the family of God, the Lord's Prayer (see Mt 6:9-13). Jesus also offered a vocal prayer to the Father at the Last Supper, usually called Jesus's "High Priestly Prayer" (Jn 14-17; CCC 2604). He also prayed aloud in the Garden of Gethsemane in His agony when His soul cried out to the Father.
Matthew 11:28-30 ~ Jesus's Invitation to Come to Him
28 "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I
will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek
and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. 30 For my yoke is
easy, and my burden is light."
Only one other prophet in the Old Testament was called "meek,"
and that was Moses (Num 12:3). Jesus is not only the new Moses but also the one
greater than Moses. Moses was God's friend (Ex 34:12, 17), but Jesus is the Son
of God (Mt 3:17). Jesus's invitation to bear His "yoke" recalls one of the
reoccurring images of the Old Testament prophets for the people in covenant
union with God: the image of domesticated animals. Domesticated animals like
oxen either respond obediently or resist the "yoke" of their master, just as
the covenant people either responded in obedience to the commands of Yahweh or
stubbornly resisted (see the complete chart "Symbolic Images of the Old
Testament Prophets" in the chart section of the website).
| Image |
Part I Covenant relationship |
Part II Rebellion |
Part III Redemptive Judgment |
Part IV Restoration Fulfilled |
| Animals | Domesticated animals obedient to the Master's yoke | Resist the yoke; run away and become wild | Ravaged by wild beasts/birds of prey |
Rescued by their Master |
| Examples in Scripture |
Mic 4:13; Is 40:10-11; 65:25; Ez 34:15-16 |
Ex 32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9; Dt 9:6, 13; Is 50:6; 53:6; Jer 5:5d-6; 8:6b-7; 23:1-2; Ez 19:1-9 |
Is 50:7; Jer 8:15-17; 50:6-7; Ho 8:1-14; 13:6-8 |
Mt 11:28-30; Jn 1:29, 36; 10:1-18; Heb 3:20; Rev 5:6, 13; 7:9-17; 14:1-10; 19:2-9; 21:9-23; 22:1-3 |
In the Old Testament, God spoke through His prophets, often accusing the rebellious Israelites of being "stiff-necked."Stiff-necked" refers to animals like oxen that strain against their yoke. These animals stubbornly resist being guided by their master, like the Israelites who refused to be obedient to the Law of God, their divine Master (see Ex 32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9; Dt 9:6, 13; 10:16; 2 Chr 30:8; Acts 7:51).
In His invitation to "Come" and to take up His "yoke of obedience," He promised that His yoke would not cause us distress, and we would find "rest" in Him. Jesus's promise of "rest" recalls two events:
The day God rested on the seventh day of Creation and the Sinai Covenant obligation of the Sabbath rest are significant links to Jesus's invitation and promise in Matthew 11:28-30. On the seventh day, God "rested" because He completed His work of Creation. The Sabbath observance became an obligation of the Sinai Covenant as a day of "rest." The purpose of the Sabbath obligation was for members of God's covenant family to enter into His "rest" and to have fellowship/communion with Him just as Adam and Eve had fellowship with God on the seventh day of Creation.
Jesus's promise of "rest" in verse 29 is an allusion to the New Covenant Sabbath. The Hebrew word for the seventh day of the week is the noun sabbat from the Hebrew root sbt [sabat], the verb which means "to rest" or "to cease." The combination sabbat sabbaton, "Sabbath of complete rest," is used for the seventh day in Exodus 32:5 and Leviticus 23:3, for the feast of Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement] in Leviticus 16:312; 23:32, for the feast of Trumpets in Leviticus 23:24, and the Sabbath year in Leviticus 25:4 (The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 5, "Sabbath," page 849). For Christians, it is an invitation that has a present and a future reality:
"Life in the Spirit" makes the Christian believer's present and future "rest" possible. Jesus's invitation to "come" to Him leads to His promise that those who come and obediently "wear His yoke" (follow the teachings of Jesus "the Master") will have "rest"/fellowship/communion with God the Son. Jesus's "yoke" is easy (verse 30) because it is His law of love and "life in the Spirit" through which we enter into the "rest" of His Kingdom (Jn 13:34-35; 15:9-12). You cannot profess belief without demonstrating your faith in obedience to the gentle "yoke" of the Savior.
At the Last Supper, Jesus told His first-century disciples and us: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." St. John repeated this truth when he wrote: The way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments. Whoever says, "I know him," but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him. This is the way we may know that we are in union with him: whoever claims to abide in him ought to live as he lived (1 Jn 2:3-6).
Catechism References (* indicated Scripture quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
Psalm 145:9 (CCC 295, 342*)
Romans 8:9 (CCC 693); 8:11 (CCC 632, 658*, 693, 695*, 989, 990)
Matthew 11:25-27 (CCC 2603*, 2779); 11:25-26 (CCC 2701*); 11:25 (CCC 153*, 544*, 2785); 11:27 (CCC 151*, 240, 443*, 473*); 11:28 ( CCC 1658); 11:29-30 (CCC 1615*); 11:29 (CCC 459)
Knowledge of the mysteries of Christ; communion in His mysteries (CCC 514*, 515*, 516*, 517*, 518, 519*, 520*, 521)
The Father is revealed by the Son (CCC 238*, 239*, 240*, 241*, 242)
The resurrection of the body (CCC 989*, 990*)
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2017; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.