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.

Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. 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.

“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 meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

There’s new interest today in the founders of my country: Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin. New biographies and media presentations, present their struggles to bring our country to birth in trying circumstances. Yes, they had clay feet, like all of us. They could be vain, deceitful, wrong-headed and trapped in the limited vision of their time. So are we. But they were also brave, idealistic, courageous, patient, willing to sacrifice for the unknown. We hope to imitate them. 

They tell the story that General Washington after the war met with a number of his disgruntled troops, who hadn’t been paid or rewarded by the Continental Congress for their long years of hard service. The ex-soldiers were angry, on the brink of another revolution. 

Washington took out a paper to address the troops, but he couldn’t read it. His eyesight was failing him. So he put on a pair of spectacles. “Excuse me, gentlemen,” he said, “ but I have lost my sight in the service of my country. “

No one remembered what Washington said that day, but the mood of the men changed. They remembered what this man had gone through. 

It’s important to honor our heroes, to keep them in mind.  We’re living in an unfinished world, an unfinished church and an unfinished country. They lived that way too. We must learn from them how to do what we are given to do.

In the gospel today, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest…Learn from me.”  

He is the Great Hero. Remember his story: his poor birth, his love for those with little, his assurances of God’s care, his cruel death and then his resurrection. With our labors and burdens, we come to rest in him, to learn from him, to share his life and be refreshed. 

He is the Bread of the Strong, so that in our time we can be strong.