Take My Yoke Upon You – Matthew 11:28-30 – But How Will That Yoke Fit Me? Series

TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU – MATTHEW 11:28-30 – BUT HOW WILL THAT YOKE FIT ME?

THE THREE COMMANDS THAT ARE REALLY INVITATIONS

{{Matthew 11:28 “COME to Me all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest. Matt 11:29 TAKE My yoke upon you, and LEARN from Me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you shall find rest for your souls, Matt 11:30 for My yoke is easy and My load is light.”}}

There are three commands here but “commands” is too strong a word. They are invitations and they are compassionate invitations. Human beings can be kind; some remnants remain after the fall. It is what Shakespeare calls “the milk of human kindness” when Lady Macbeth chastised her husband. No matter though how kind human beings might be, it just can not measure up to the kindness and compassion of Christ. People are kind from a sinful nature, while the Lord is kind from a spotless, divine nature.

Looking at those loving invitations they are:-

1. Come to Me.

2. Take My yoke.

3. Learn from Me.

One is a command of acceptance. One is a command of commitment and service. One is a command of growing enjoyment.

I looked up “yoke” in a dictionary and got this:-

YOKE

(a). A crossbar with two U-shaped pieces that encircle the necks of a pair of oxen or other draught animals working together.

(b). Yoke or yokes - A pair of draught animals, such as oxen, joined by a yoke.

(c). A bar used with a double harness to connect the collar of each horse to the pole of a wagon or coach.

(d). A frame designed to be carried across a person's shoulders with equal loads suspended from each end.

AND in another explanation:-

yoke - yokes or yoke

(1). (Agriculture) a wooden frame, usually consisting of a bar with an oxbow or similar collar-like piece at either end, for attaching to the necks of a pair of draught animals, esp oxen, so that they can be worked as a team.

(2). (Tools) something resembling a yoke in form or function, such as a frame fitting over a person's shoulders for carrying buckets suspended at either end.

We may ask, “How did the Lord mean the word to apply in Matthew 11:29?” We will look at examples in the bible of the word “yoke” and then come back to answer that question.

(A). THE STUDY OF YOKES IN SCRIPTURE BRINGS OUT THE FOLLOWING MEANINGS –

[A]. A YOKE CAN BE A PRISON OF RESENTMENT – {{Genesis 27:39 “Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, “Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, and away from the dew of heaven from above. Gen 27:40 and by your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother, but it shall come about when you become restless, that you shall break his YOKE from your neck,” Gen 27:41 so Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near. Then I will kill my brother Jacob.”}}

Resentment is a horrible thing as ill-feeling festers away in a person’s being. It causes hate and revenge, destruction of one’s soul, and many other personality disorders. It is a terrible sin. In the case here, Esau was promised a hard life, and it was his sin that wrought that for him. He would be under his brother Jacob’s dominance but in time would break that yoke and continue in his self-separation from God. Christian, always be very certain that you are not harbouring resentment in your life of a root of bitterness that will lead to resentment. You must be free from all that. Keep short accounts of yourself.

That incident with Isaac and Esau was the basis for this verse – {{Hebrews 12:15-16 “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled, that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.”}}

[B]. A YOKE CAN BE THE SHACKLES OF BONDAGE – {{Leviticus 26:13 I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you should not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your YOKE and made you walk erect.”}}

Before we look at an application from this verse here is a quote taken from Bishop Ellicott that clarifies the meaning of the verse – [[“To remind them of the abject state from which they were rescued, the illustration is taken from the way in which oxen are still harnessed in the East. The bands or the rods are straight pieces of wood, which are inserted in the yoke, or laid across the necks of the animals, to fasten together their heads and keep them level with each other. These bands, which are then attached to the pole of the wagon, are not only oppressive, but exhibit the beasts as perfectly helpless to resist the cruel treatment of the driver.”]]