In Matthew 11:28-30 I read, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (RSV)
The answer to the burden I’m carrying, the things that weigh me down and trouble I’m having, comes from Jesus.
Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30 RSV).
Taking His yoke upon me is not adding an additional burden or problem. A yoke is a board with two arches, and it’s placed over two cattle so they can pull a cart.
The value of a yoke is that it cuts the load in half. Without a yoke, one cow has to pull the entire load by itself. But if I yoke up the cow with another cow, then the two animals pull the load together, making it half as heavy.
So, when Jesus tells me to take on his yoke, he’s not saying he’s going to give me his problems. Jesus doesn’t have any problems! He’s saying he’s going to share my problems. He’s going to share my load. He’s going to take my stress on himself and bear it with me.
Jesus uses three notable verbs in this Scripture: come, learn, and take. It’s like Jesus said, “Come team up with me so I can learn how I do it. Take on a lighter load that will reduce my stress and make my problems easier to navigate.”
When I’m yoked with Christ, I move together with him. I move in the same direction and at the same speed. I move in the right direction and at the right speed. And I move with a lighter burden.
In summary, Jesus tells me to come to him with my labors and heavy loads. He will give me rest. I am to take his yoke and learn from him, for he is gentle and lowly in heart. When I do, then I will find rest for my soul, for Jesus yoke is easy and my burden will be lighter. So the answer to the burden I’m carrying, the things that weigh me down and trouble I’m having, comes from Jesus. Taking His yoke upon me is not adding an additional burden or problem. A yoke is a board that is a device placed over two cattle so they can pull a cart. The value of a yoke is that it cuts the load in half. Without a yoke, one cow has to pull the entire load by itself. But if I yoke up one cow with another, then the two pull the load together, making it half as heavy. When Jesus tells me to take on his yoke, he’s not saying he’s going to give me his or more problems. He’s saying he’s going to share my problems and my load. He’s going to take my stress on himself and bear it with me. Jesus uses three notable verbs in this Scripture: come, learn, and take. “Come team up with me so I can learn how I do it. Take on a lighter load that will reduce my stress and make my problems easier to navigate.” When I’m yoked with Christ, I move together with him in the same direction and at the same speed and in the right direction and at the right speed. And I move with a lighter burden.
A yoke helps reduce the load, as the load is shared. Jesus frees all from these burdens. The rest that Jesus promises is love, healing, and peace with God, not the actual end of all labor. A relationship with God changes meaningless, wearisome toil into spiritual productivity and purpose. Jesus doesn't offer a life of luxurious ease. The yoke is still a tool for working hard. But it's a shared yoke, with weight falling on bigger shoulders than mine. Someone with more pulling power is up front helping. Suddenly I am participating in life's responsibilities with a great Partner.
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