The Yoke Of Christ

Matthew 11: 28 The Yoke of Christ

1. Jesus was constantly working, busy ministering to all sorts of issues.

• He healed day by day, He brought joy to the hopeless, the blind and the lepers.

• He brought hope to all who knew or heard of him like the woman with the issue of blood she said “ if I could-but touch the hem of his garment”.

2. Jesus was a busy man and He needed rest

• Scripture speaks of a time when He and His disciples got into a boat to sail to a secluded place in order to rest for a few days,

• Before they arrived, the people had run along the shores of the sea and were waiting for them.

• Day and night He healed the sick, drove out demons, fed multitudes and taught them things about the kingdom of God.

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3. Despite his busyness we read today he speaks, “Come unto me”

• Why did he help people? Come unto me”. Scripture says that He was often ‘moved with compassion.’

• That phrase literally means that He was stirred in His inner most being.

• Today we read of a time when, rather than taking a rest, Jesus offered rest. “Come unto me and I will give you rest.”

• To whom was Jesus making this offer of rest to? It was the poor and needy

• It was the diseased the demon possessed They were the down and outs. They were the hopeless.

• One commentator said, “Many of them were the worst of the worst and living during a time when the standard of what it took to get into heaven was set so high that none of them could attain it.”

4. Rest was offered to many people

• It was the ones who struggled They were those who were struggling because they were poor and needy.

• When Jesus taught them to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread”, that was a very real concern for many.

• Among those who gathered around Him were also those who were suffering.

• It was people who were constantly bringing their sick to Jesus for healing.

• There were those who were weighed down with their sin.

• We find in scripture that often publicans, prostitutes and sinful people were drawn to Jesus. Have you ever wondered why? It had to be because their lifestyles were weighing them down.

• The guilt of sin can become a terrible burden and those of Jesus’ day came to Him for some kind of relief. To them Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

5. Jesus says come unto me and he says I will give you rest, but then he says take my yoke upon you.

• What is a yoke? A yoke is a piece of wood that will fit over the neck of an animal, to carry a heavy load. In Bible times, the concept of a yoke was often associated with some form of slavery or bondage. Pharisees yoked people with heavy burdens of spiritual Bondage

• People are in bondage some who are in bondage to the past.

• Some are in bondage to some form of pleasure.

• Some are in bondage to prestige or power and others in bondage to possessions.

6. Jesus say I will take your yoke Pharisees say you bear it

• The yoke of the Pharisees was a yoke that said, “Bear it yourself. Carry all the weight yourself.” Every day we hear of someone collapsing under the crushing weight of life.

• The yoke of Christ says I will carry your burdens

• The yoke of Christ says, “Come unto me with your issues, struggles, problems, questions, concerns

• The yoke of Christ says, “I will give you rest” in storms, in poverty, in rejections, in lack

• The yoke of Christ says, “ take my yoke “ Learn of me, I am meek, I am lowly, I am your rest

• Don’t bear your burdens alone Jesus say’s “Come to me I will help you”. Amen