“The Yoke’s On You”
Matthew 11:28-30
INTRODUCTION: Do you ever find it difficult to follow Christ? Why is it so hard to follow Jesus sometimes? Do you ever get tired? Do you ever find yourself in need of rest? How can I find rest while following Jesus? [READ Matt. 11:28-30]
Notice what Jesus doesn’t say. He doesn’t say, “Come to me, for I have no burden! Come to me, for I don’t make any demands!” Wouldn’t that have been more appealing?
How can we find rest?
I. We find rest once we learn the yoke’s on us (29a)
A. A yoke involves subjection to a master.
1. The more than 50 references to "yoke" in the Bible speak of the wooden bar or frame used to join animals to enable them to pull a load. It is an image of subjection, service or bondage, just as a yoked donkey or ox is subject to its owner.
2. A yoke is usually a negative thing—something a person would do virtually anything to avoid. Sin is described as a yoke around a person’s neck.
3. But when Jesus talks of his yoke, the imagery has a positive meaning of good subjection to him.
B. ILLUSTRATION: I’m tempted to envision the kingdom of God to be something like the government of Great Britain. Oh sure, Jesus is the king with all the pomp and circumstance and worship that entails. But I am prime minister, with all the real authority to make policy and decisions. Jesus is the figurehead king who ratifies my decisions and rescues me from difficulties. But I call the shots and have charge of my staff, my time and my money.
C. APPLICATION: For those of us in the individualistic and permissive West, talk of surrender, submission, and radical obedience may grate on our tastes. We tend to want to have our cake and eat it too. But when Scripture pays honor again and again to Jesus as “Lord,” it is clear that this term refers to a master who owns and controls slaves.
1. Paul understood himself to be Christ’s slave (doulos), who is compelled and controlled by his master to do his master’s bidding and to serve his purposes.
2. English translations of the Greek NT tend to use the more socially acceptable term “servant” instead of “slave” in translating some 190 words that refer to slavery (because of our collective shame over the history of slavery in the West). But one of Paul’s most common self-designations is “slave of Christ.”
3. Paul makes it clear that using the image of slavery to understand one’s relationship with Christ has to do with obedience. For Paul, the issue is clear: everybody obeys something, and whatever or whomever you obey, you are enslaved to. The yoke’s on you.
>>But is it on you alone?
II. We find rest when we discover that the yoke’s also on him (29b)
A. Jesus’ generous invitation is to the broken and the burdened. It is grounded in his own gentleness and humility. He was not simply a powerful lord who ruthlessly crushed all opposition, but one who sought the good of others and promised rest for their souls. And one who even, according to Paul, “made himself nothing, taking on the form of a slave.”
B. ILLUSTRATION: A famous study was done on two horses. The first one could pull 10,000 lbs on a sled. The second could pull 14,000 lbs. What would you think they could pull when yoked together in the same direction? Most people would guess something like 24,000 lbs, but the answer is 49,000 lbs! The sum is greater than a combination of the parts.
C. Like many of the "crazy" things Jesus said, this truth is paradoxical. We lay down our burdens, our agendas, and take on God’s yoke, “easy” and “light.” Even though his is a burden, it is easy compared with ours because we are joining Jesus in his work. On the other side of the yoke pulling with us is the powerful and almighty resurrected One, carrying the weight of the world. It feels easier and lighter because of who is helping carry the load.
1. ILLUSTRATION: Rowing vs. sailing: a rower gets to a destination by personal strain, struggle, and effort. A sailor arrives under the wind’s power. Rowing is a good way to keep in shape but a lousy way to travel. Sailing taps the power of the wind and allows us to go much farther, much faster, with far less human effort than rowing.
2. The scary thing is, I often try minister like rowing a boat—out of my strength, in my wisdom, by my power. When I do that, my ministry lacks power. God may still use me, graciously, but sailing is a far better way to go.
D. Jesus makes it clear that following him is a slave to master relationship, which involves submission and obedience. The yoke’s on us. But that means the power comes from the One who directs our lives. Christ offers a liberating enslavement. The yoke’s really on him.
1. QUOTE: Charles Haddon Spurgeon: “The heaviest end of the cross lies ever on His shoulders. If He bids us carry a burden, He carries it also.”
2. ILLUSTRATION: Dr. George McCauslin was one of the greatest YMCA directors this world has ever seen. But some years ago, he was serving a YMCA out in western Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. And in that western Pennsylvania YMCA that was losing membership, that had financial difficulties and terrible staff problems, George McCauslin found himself working 85 hours a week. He found himself getting little sleep at night. He took little time off. And when he was off, he was worrying and fretting about the problems of this YMCA.
He went to a therapist who told him he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He had to learn somehow to let go and somehow to let God into his problems. He didn’t know quite how to do that.
So George McCauslin took an afternoon off, took a pad and paper, and took a walk in the western Pennsylvania woods. As he walked through the cool woods, he could just feel his tight body and his tight neck start to relax. He sat down under a tree and sighed. For the first time in months he relaxed.
He got out his pad and paper, and he decided that he would let them go, the burdens of his life. He wrote God a letter. He said, "Dear God, today I hereby resign as general manager of the universe. Love, George."
Then with a twinkle in his eye George McCauslin said, "And wonder of wonders, God accepted my resignation."
>>The yoke’s on us, but the yoke’s really on him. But what about that rest we’re looking for?
III. We find rest when we realize that no one gets tired of a really good yoke (30)
A. New Living Translation: “For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.”
1. ILLUSTRATION: If I put a flat, uncarved piece of wood on an ox’s neck and use it to pull a cart, very quickly pressure sores will break out on that animal’s neck, and he will be useless. A good yoke must be formed to the shape of an ox’s neck. It should cover a large area of skin to distribute the stresses widely. It should also be smooth, rounded, and polished with no sharp edges, so that no one point will endure unduly high stress. If I succeed in my workshop, the yoke I make will fit snugly around the ox’s neck and cause him no discomfort. He can haul heavy loads every day for years, and his skin will remain perfectly healthy, with no pressure sores.
2. Jesus offers each of us a well-fitted yoke, of custom design.
a. He does not call us to the kind of rest that means inactivity or laziness--that would lead to spiritual atrophy. Instead, he promises a burden designed to fit my frame, my individual needs, strengths, and capabilities.
b. I come to him weary and heavy-laden. He removes those crushing burdens that would destroy any human being, and replaces them with a yoke of appropriate stress designed specifically for me. "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me," he says, "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."
B. APPLICATION: Praying for a burden rather than concocting a vision
1. What burden has God given you? For whom do you have a soul ache? Once you have it, you ill have no problem identifying what God is up to so you can join Him in it. A burden gives you an internal compass, so you always know what to do next to please your Master.
2. When we have God’s burden, we see people with eyes of compassion, and difficult people as our family and friends who have fallen into a ditch and need help getting out. When we have a burden, we gain God’s heart for the people we meet and the people we know. We no longer see them through the eyes of what is wrong with them. We see them with God’s eyes of mercy and concern. When we have a burden, people are never a bother.
CONCLUSION: The yoke’s on you, but the yoke’s also on him, and no one gets tired of a really good yoke.
There’s a story that Abraham Lincoln went to a slave market one time, and was moved with compassion to place a bid on a young black girl. He won the bid and walked away with his “property.” There was a sullen, angry expression on the girl’s face, because she knew that here was another white man who had bought her and would abuse her. As they walked away from the slave block, however, Lincoln told the girl, “You are free.”
“What does that mean?” she demanded.
“It means, you are free.”
“Does that mean that I can be what I want to be?” “Yes--you can be whatever you want to be.”
“Does that mean that I can say what I want to say?” “Yes--you can say whatever you want to say.”
“Does that mean that I can go where I want to go?” “Yes--you can go wherever you want to go.”
“Then ...” said the girl, “ ... I’ll go with you.”
