The Road to Easter: My Yoke is Easy
(NIV) Matt 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
How many of us first learned this verse in Vacation Bible School? Yokes were used for oxen or other beasts of burden. When two animals were paired together it made the load easier, and they were easier to control.
Yokes also signified instruments of servitude. So, you can see why people would not willingly submit to wearing a yoke.
In Jesus’ example, He is offering to share our load, thus making our work easier. He offers to teach us, and, if we put our trust in him, we will find rest.
The Pharisees burdened the people with unfair laws, but Jesus came to set the captives free. Isn’t that wonderful?
For one who has lived on this earth as long as I, the prospect of rest is like offering water to one who is so parched he cannot swallow. When we become Christ followers we willingly agree to take on the yoke of Jesus, knowing we can trust Him completely and He will never fail us.
As Louisa W. R. Stead wrote in 1882, “Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”
May we experience the rest found only in Jesus as we continue on our journey toward the Cross.
In the name of the Father, and if the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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