THE SHARED LOAD IS COMFORTABLE
Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
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."
Here we have one of the most well know passages of scripture, which is near the top of the favourite list. These are the recorded words of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, spoken out of His great concern for those to whom He came to bring salvation.
We have many places in the gospels where we are told of Jesus compassion for people. And here we see that compassion evidenced in this wonderful, comforting, cheering and challenging statement.
Notice first that it is an invitation that is given – this is not a command, but a call that comes out of a heart that feels for lost and hurting mankind. See verse 28
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
A. THE INVITATION GIVEN
What is impresses me in these words is that an action is needed on our behalf.
1) THE ACTION REQUESTED
“Come to me,
It is of no use to simply sit where we are and complain about our situation, the Lord says ‘come’! You will remember the account of the Lord calling His disciples to follow Him. They needed to change their priorities, and to leave what they were involved in, and follow Him. It is clear that if we are invited to come to anyone, we first have to stop what we are doing, leave where we are, and ‘come’. I think of the blind beggar, Bartimaeus, whose life was changed completely when he responded to the call, left his begging and came to Jesus. Please take special note that the invitation in our scripture is given by Jesus to come to Him. It is Jesus we are to come to – not to other people; not to church; not to religion, but to Jesus.
It seems to me that before we can take that action, we will need to be willing to admit that we have a need!
There is a problem that is found in both sinner and saint! It is a reluctance to admit that we have a need. We need to leave where we are and come to Jesus, there is an Action Requested.
Now take note of the words, all you who are weary and burdened,
There is also
2) THE ADMISSION REQUIRED
all you who are weary and burdened,
Do you feel there is a burden on your shoulders? Are you feeling the burden on your back? If you do, then you are in the place to respond to the invitation to ‘come’. If you are not willing to admit to the need then, it may be that you don’t qualify!
I am sure that you will recognise that you have a need, so if you are feeling the pressure of life, and you are willing to come to Jesus, there is a certain result. It is possible to be totally committed to the Lord’s work and still feel weary and burdened. It may be that we feel like that because we are trying to do the Lord’s work on our own! Be assured that coming to Jesus will bring rest. He has promised it! We have His assurance.
3) THE ASSURED RESULT
I will give you rest.
Be careful that you do not relegate these wonderful words to those who do not know the Lord as Saviour. Of course they apply to them, and when a sinner admits to his or her need and comes to Jesus they will certainly find rest.
Before we, as Christians, can claim these words for ourselves we have to come! Come, not for salvation, but in submission. All kinds of things can cause a distance to come between us and the Lord. It may be the demands of household or secular work. It could be the influence of others. It can even be our hectic involvement with church activities. Yes, even these can cause a gap to emerge between us and the Lord when we put the load before the Lord!.
Let me assure you that love the Lord, He invites you to come to Him with your need. You don’t have to carry your load alone – you need to share it, but not just with anyone – with Jesus who makes the invitation, and gives the assured promise.
How do we do this? There is an involvement needed.
B. THE INVOLVEMENT NEEDED
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart,
4) THE EMBRACED RELATIONSHIP
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
This is a wonderful scripture, for there is no imposition, simply an invitation. We can take the yoke, or we can leave the yoke. The choice is ours.
The word ‘yoke’ has some interesting thoughts for us! Strong’s Greek Dictionary gives the following.
zugov zugos dzoo-gos’; to join, especially by a "yoke"; a coupling, i.e. (figuratively) servitude (a law or obligation); also (literally) the beam of the balance (as connecting the scales):— pair of balances, yoke.
You will see that there are two ideas here, one is of being linked together in service, and the other is in ‘the beam of balance’. If we want to know true ‘balance’ in our lives we will only find it when linked with Jesus in His yoke.
Adam Clarke, in his commentary says,
Strange paradox! That a man already weary and overloaded must take a new weight upon him, in order to be eased and find rest! But this advice is similar to that saying, Psalms 55:22. Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he will sustain thee; i.e. trust thy soul and concerns to him, and he will carry both thyself and thy load.
We have a comment by David Guzik, which can be really helpful,
When training a new animal (such as an ox) to plough, farmers would often yoke it to an older, stronger, more experienced animal who would bear the burden and guide the young animal through his learning. [David Guzik]
I feel that the Lord Jesus is saying, ‘get linked up with me. I will share your burden, and teach you how to live right, plough a straight furrow, and be part of a team’.
It is as we allow the Lord Jesus to teach us, that we will be close to Him (in the same yoke) and consequently will learn what the true characteristics of a ‘Child of God’ are. We can only do this as we learn by example – the example of the Master! ‘I did it my way’ must change to ‘I did it His way’. Follow His example.
What is His example? Here in our scripture we have it clearly shown.
5) THE EXAMPLE REVEALED
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
What an example for us to follow!
I have copied the following from the Online Bible Greek/English Lexicon
Gentleness or meekness is the opposite to self-assertiveness and self-interest. It stems from trust in God’s goodness and control over the situation. The gentle person is not occupied with self at all.
I want you to observe that it is not only ‘gentle’ but humble in heart also.
You will realise that this is speaking of a gentleness and humility that comes from within, and is in no way a pretence or show. This reminds me of the Fruit of the Spirit mentioned by Paul in his letter to the Galatians.
It is impossible for us to live to such a high standard in our own strength, or by our own actions, which is why it is so wonderful to be ‘born again’, and have the new nature within us – the nature of Christ. This is the only way we can live a true Christian life, by allowing the life of Christ to live through us.
Take a special note of what the result be;
6) THE END RESULT
and you will find rest for your souls.
This does not mean doing nothing. Some of us have found, doing nothing can be very tiring! I found a good comment in the Eclectic Notes on the Online Bible;
Rest from labour develops into rest in labour or it is not the full rest which Christ gives. Rest for the conscience is attained when we have known that the work of Christ is what God accepts, and has accepted, as justifying us before Him. Therefore He gives rest. Does He stop there? No: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
This true rest comes as a result of sharing the yoke of Christ, and learning from Him. Following His example and His exhortation will always result in our being blessed.
C. THE INTIMATE RESULTS
30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
7) THE STRESS-FREE LINK
For my yoke is easy
How can wearing a yoke be easy? Matthew Poole, in his commentary says,
It is easy, considering that we do it not in our own strength, but by assistance from God
The word “Easy” is chrestos - chrestos. It is from a verb which means “useful, manageable, and serviceable, that which fills a need and is well fitting.” In other words, it is designed to fit our needs; it is tailor-made.
I worked in ‘Men’s Tailoring’ at one time, and knew that each person had their own shape! It wasn’t simply taking a few measurements, but crafting the garment to fit an individual. What pleasure I had when a customer said he felt comfortable in the new suit! It was made especially for him. Wearing the yoke that the Lord provides will enhance our lives, because we will be comfortable; it will be a good fit!
The yoke the Lord offers us is made to measure; it is our size.
8) THE SHARED LOAD
and my burden is light."
The word “Light” is elaphros - elaphros, “light in weight, agile, not burdensome, or overbearing.”
David Guzik says,
If your yoke is hard and your burden is heavy, then it isn’t His yoke or burden.
I think we have to come back to a correct understanding of the Word of God. If we really believe the Bible to be the Word of God, then we must apply it to our lives. It is not just some book that can inspire us, but the Word of God to be applied to our daily lives. If it says that the Lord’s yoke is easy and His burden is light, then that is true, so when we feel the load too heavy to bear, then it could be that we are trying to carry it on our own, and not in yoke with the Lord.
In doing research for this message, I came across this comment from ‘Word for Today’;
The plan of God for you will be a comfortable fit. You won’t chafe under it and you won’t burn out. If you do, it’s a good indication that you’re labouring under the weight of somebody else’s expectations – not God’s! Where God guides, He provides. [Word for today (2005)]
I want to read an illustration by J. Hampton Keathley to you; it is about two oxen, one huge and one small.
There was an old farmer ploughing with a team of oxen. As I saw this team I was somewhat amazed, for one was a huge ox and the other a very small bullock. That ox towered over the little bullock that was sharing the work with him. I was amazed and perplexed to see a farmer trying to plough with two such unequal animals in the yoke and commented on the inequality to the man with whom I was riding. He stopped his car and said, ‘I want you to notice something. See the way those traces are hooked to the yoke? You will observe that the large ox is pulling all the weight. That little bullock is being broken into the yoke but he is not actually pulling any weight.’ My mind instinctively came to this passage of Scripture where our Lord said, “Take my yoke upon you, learn of me; for I am …” In the normal yoking the load is equally distributed between the two that are yoked together, but when we are yoked with Jesus Christ, He bears the load and we who are yoked to Him share in the joy and the accomplishment of the labour but without the burden of the yoke.
He is calling us to serve, but we work and serve in the strength which He gives. He is always there beside us pulling the weight for us, if we will only yield our lives to Him. The only time the load becomes overbearing is when we try to take over and do the pulling, or handle the load ourselves. J. Hampton Keathley.
Jesus’ yoke is not lighter because he demands less, but because he bears more of the load with us.
Let me close by reading the verses again, but this time from the Amplified Version.
28 Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls. 30 For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good - not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.
