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Playing Games with God

Matthew 11:16-19 (NRSVA)

One of the fascinating things about this passage is that it gives us an intriguing glimpse into Jesus’ own childhood. This isn’t St Luke’s version - where a saintly and erudite Jesus sits listening intently to the scribes debating in the Temple. This is a recollection from Jesus’ own lips. Like any preacher or teacher he’s reaching into his own memory bank for illustrations.

We need to put out of mind any ideas we might have about teenagers hanging around together in the marketplace drinking cheap cider. Before the Twentieth Century there was no concept of being in between childhood and adulthood. At the time of Jesus you were either a child or a grown-up, in his case apprenticed to his father. Adolescent girls weren’t allowed to mix with boys and were soon married off, and teenagers of both sexes were probably too busy to do much socialising anyway.

So this is a childhood memory. At a loose end after doing their chores or attending scripture classes, the children hung around together in the marketplace playing weddings and funerals. But someone was always a spoilsport and wouldn’t join in. Maybe they just weren’t in the mood for fun and games. Or maybe they wanted to play mums and dads when everyone else wanted to indulge in a more tragic game. I must admit I have some sympathy with anyone who didn’t want to play the funeral game!

Jesus draws a comparison with contrasting attitudes towards spirituality and religion. Some people believe true religion must be deadly serious all of the time, others believe it can also be intriguing, exciting, inspirational, even enjoyable. Some people believe it means withdrawing from the world, setting ourselves apart, being holy and ascetic even; while others believe it means getting involved in the world, throwing ourselves into it, being wholeheartedly committed.

The lectionary links this saying to another one, about the connection between God and Jesus. Sometimes people argue that John’s Gospel invented a totally new understanding of their relationship, which would have been alien to the humble travelling rabbi in Galilee. But this saying confirms that John’s understanding of the intensity of Jesus’ relationship with his heavenly Father derives from some of the teachings of Jesus himself. John may have developed this strand of teaching, but it can be traced back directly to what Jesus actually thought and said.

More convincingly,the lectionary links the simile about religious attitudes to the saying about Jesus’ yoke. Religion often places a heavy burden of obligation and guilt on its followers. But Jesus will have none of this. His version of religion lifts burdens from our shoulders instead of imposing them. It’s like playing a happy fulfilling game, not a sad and regretful one.

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