An Easy Load

 An Easy Load

 

Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.

MATTHEW 11.28-30

Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.

1 JOHN 5.3

 

Have you ever worn a pair of shoes that were too tight? Ugh! You feel the squeeze and can’t wait to get them off! Or have you had to carry a backpack or suitcase that is too heavy for you? You can’t wait to set it down.

When God gave his people the law, it was a high standard, but it wasn’t unreasonable. Then, over the years, Jewish religious leaders added to the law God had given them, heaping up ridiculous rules no one could keep. People began to see God’s law as confining and uncomfortable, like shoes that are too tight, and burdensome, like a load that’s too heavy to carry.

This is what Jesus had in mind when he said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. . . . For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” A yoke isn’t something we hear much about today, but the people listening to Jesus would have known exactly what he was talking about. A yoke is a bar of wood that attaches to farm animals so they can carry their load. Perhaps Jesus was thinking of his days as a carpenter and how a carpenter adjusted every yoke he made to the build of the ox. In Jesus’ day a farmer brought his ox to a carpenter, who measured its shoulders and then made a yoke to fit. Jesus was saying that his expectations fit just right.

Jesus invites everyone who is suffering under the burden of meaningless religion, ridiculous rules, and defeating guilt to come to him. He promises that he will not place a heavy set of unreasonable rules on us, and that what he asks of us will lead us into rest, not misery.