“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. ”
-Matthew 11:28-30
I don’t know about you, but if you’re anything at all like me then hearing this verse at church or while reading it has possibly caused some confusion. In fact, back when I was younger I thought the word in the verse was yolk, like from an egg, instead of the word yoke which as I’ve come to find out means something entirely different. Once I learned what this passage was really saying, it was like God graciously flipped on another light switch for me. Isn’t it wonderful when He does that?
As I read over this passage in my read-the-Bible-in-one-year plan that I recently started, the true beauty of the passage began to shine through a little more. By the way on a side note, if you haven’t read the Bible cover to cover yet and its a goal of yours, I highly recommend this plan. You can search for it on the Bible App and is called “Discipleship Journal Reading Plan”. Its been a very gripping plan and has kept my attention easily since it has you read small portions of scripture from 4 different books each day. Anyways, back to the yoke vs. yolk subject we’re looking at. Most of the passage is self explanatory, but there are a few questions that are important for us to ask to really taste the sweetness this teaching of Jesus has to offer.
The first question is who are the heavy burdened He’s talking about, and is this talking about physical exhaustion?
I get this kind of image in my mind when I hear the words “labor and heavy burdened”. Or possibly a person finishing a hard days work at their job and being totally worn out and ready for some rest. Either way, the words are describing someone who is tired. The questions that follow are who are these people and why are they so tired? Well the first one is easy to answer. He’s talking about you. He’s talking about me. He’s talking about anyone and everyone who has been created in the image of God and born into this fallen world. The gracious invitation to “come” is an expression of Christ’s perfect love for those who will trust in Him as Lord. But why do we get so weary and burdened in the first place? Undoubtedly the trials and tribulations of life that weigh on our emotions and spirit definitely add to the burden, but this burden is a much heavier one. This burden is the burden of having to work obediently to follow every one of Gods commands perfectly so that we will be able to stand before Him on judgement day blameless and acceptable in His sight. This burden is the heaviest burden ever to fall upon the spiritual shoulders of mankind simply because it’s weight is the most crushing. No wonder this inescapable burden is one that brings us to our knees. But don’t lose heart because that’s exactly where God wants you.
The second question is what in the world is Jesus talking about when He says “take my yoke upon you”?
As you know, or have recently found out, this yoke is not the orange thing in the middle of an egg. So what is it? Well a yoke is actually a wooden crosspiece that is sometimes fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plow or cart they pull, but also used by people to balance heavy loads that they are carrying. Here is a picture of one.
As you can see, the wooden beam would be placed on the back of the neck and shoulders while working. It truly was a perfect illustration for Jesus to use, seeing as that His audience knew exactly what He was talking about. Jesus knew the people were weary from trying to keep all of Gods laws and coming up short time and time again. Jesus knew that the burden of their sin was crushing their souls and separating them from having a saving relationship with God because of the fact that God is perfect and holy and does not allow for sin to be in His presence. Jesus also knew that His words would speak eternal truth and apply to those of us today as well. This spiritual exhaustion and hopelessness could only be turned around one way. Someone would have to carry the burden for us. And after preaching this to the people Jesus went on to do exactly that. In fact His sole purpose for stepping off His throne and becoming a human was to become the law fulfilling, wrath consuming, sin bearing sacrifice that we all would need in order to be reconciled to God. You want to hear something really amazing? Jesus not only held our yoke on His shoulders, but carried it to Calvary and was nailed to it. Look at the resemblance the cross has to the yoke and how it appears that Jesus is holding it!!!
Isaiah 53:5 says, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our wickedness; The punishment for our well-being fell on Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”
That prophetic passage was penned over 700 years before Jesus was born, describing what He would come to do. Him bearing our burden was planned, intentional, and foretold by the prophets. How amazing is that? As the verse says, “we are healed by His stripes”. You want another way to word this? By His stripes we will “find rest for our souls“. That moves us to our 3rd and final question.
What exactly is this “rest for your souls” Jesus is offering in Matthew 11:28-30?
Simply put, this “rest” is trusting in Christs finished work on the cross. Lets unpack that a little. The Israelite’s were not able to rest because they were having to rely on their own obedience to Gods law for salvation from their sin. But by meeting the righteous requirement of the law and taking the punishment that their sin deserved on Himself, that all changed. Jesus made a way for them to be saved by something else; faith. Hebrews 10:19-22 says, “Therefore, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” This is incredible! Whats especially incredible is that by making the New Covenant, salvation through Christ is offered to all people. Jesus made a way for us into the presence of God, now and forever, through His blood. And the passage says that we should draw near with full assurance of faith. We draw near and are saved by faith alone, in Christ alone, by Grace alone, all for the glory of God alone. This alone is the most outrageous transaction that has ever taken place. His righteousness is exchanged for our sin, all for the price of faith. Romans 5:1 says, Therefore, having been justified by FAITH, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Do you see the riches glimmering from this passage? We are justified legally before God by our faith in Christ, and as a result we have peace with God. We are no longer enemies and rebels deserving of wrath and punishment, because Jesus has consumed Gods wrath towards us Himself. How gracious and loving is this God?
The rest that Jesus first spoke of 2000 years ago is the same rest He offers today. He is risen, and is reaching out His nail pierced hands to offer the rest our souls cry out for. If you haven’t yet experienced this rest that ONLY Christ can give, then this s
should come as a loving warning. I urge you to repent and place your faith in Him as your personal savior, because He’s coming back soon to judge the world and you will have to stand before Him. The only question that remains is will you stand holding your own yoke of slavery to sin on that day, or the yoke of freedom in Him? I hope this has shined some light!
Shine the Light and Write 