The readings for the sixth Sunday after Pentecost are taken from Zechariah 9:9-12, Romans 7:14-25a, and Matthew 11:25-30. They all address humility and knowledge—what you can and can’t know depending on your ego. Pride takes a lot of effort and makes us competitive, and that is exhausting. It takes a greater kind of strength to be honest, thus humble. This is a power that endures for the good of our relationships with God, others, and ourself.
Zechariah foretold that Israel’s king would come in humility, not just on a donkey instead of a horse, but on a donkey’s colt. The only true God is not high above and far away from us, but low and in the midst of people who come to Him seeking rest in honesty about dependence.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul laments the corruption of Adam in his own person. Paul does understand what he is doing, but expresses a deep lament. Paul first wrote about the antagonism between our corrupt human nature and our regenerate soul in Galatians Gal 5:17ff.
Matthew records Jesus thanking the Father for His economy. God’s kingdom and economy is hidden from the powerful people in the world of human invention. No one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son wills to reveal Him (see Psalm 19 and Matthew 18—19 on children and the kingdom of heaven). Here is one of many places where rest in honesty about dependence is plainly expressed as the meaning of faith, belief, and trust.