What Size Yoke Do You Wear?
[Jesus says,] “Come to me, all you are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light(Matthew 11.28-30).
Have you ever tried to purchase shoes online? I have. While I often found a good financial deal, there remained one – but very significant – problem: I could not try on the shoes. This led to problems. My shoes fit poorly, and then, I was forced to keep uncomfortable shoes or go through the ordeal of returning an online purchase. Neither option delivered a smidge of joy. I eventually realized: appearance and price point told me nothing of the shoe’s fit. Before purchasing a pair of shoes, I needed to try them on. Before owning a pair of shoes, I needed to put them on my feet.
Jesus wants us to put on something – a yoke. No, not one from an egg. Rather, Jesus wants us to affix ourselves to him: Take my yoke upon you. With this imagery, Jesus metaphors the yoke worn by oxen, which served as a way to guide the strong beast. Without the yoke, the ox is a strong but relatively useless farm animal, but with the wooden harness, the ox is yoked to another animal and becomes invaluable in agricultural efforts. When Jesus says, “Take my yoke,”, he directs us to harness ourselves to him – just like the ox is linked to another ox.
Jesus states the purpose for this new linked relationship: learn from me. Have you ever participated in a three-legged race? Those first steps are awkward as your teammate and you coordinate to one another. Likewise, linking ourselves to Jesus feels awkward, but … Jesus invites us to learn from him (and in the metaphor of the three-legged race) and match our step to his. Jesus wants his gait to become ours.
Will Jesus be a good teacher? Some teachers are harsh; they use degradation as motivation. Everything we learn is infected with a bitterness toward our instructor. With Jesus, however, we know our instruction is gentle and humble in heart. Learning from Jesus might not be easy, but we know the lessons flows from Jesus’ unwavering affection for us.
The benefit from Jesus’ yoke is evident: you will find rest for your souls. Really? My soul finds rest through a yoke?!? That’s like a prisoner finding freedom behind bars! But, as we consider the rest that Jesus provides, we must remember our impetus for coming to him. In Matthew 11.29 Jesus states, Come to me, all you are weary and burdened. We seek Jesus in our weakness. We seek Jesus when we have tried to do life by ourselves, and inevitably discovered, doing life alone leaves us weary. It leaves us burdened. The weight of self-sufficiency presses upon our lungs, slowing pushing out our life’s breath. And then, once we submit ourselves to Jesus’ yoke, we find the removal of our burden releases the pressure upon our lungs. Vital breath once again enters our body. We discover that the yoke of Jesus, which we once envisioned as oppressive, offers the breath of life. Then, and only then, do we realize the truth of Jesus’ statement: my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Where in your life do you need rest? Where in your life are you relying upon self-sufficiency? We all have those places. “I’ve got it,” we say. All the while, we clearly do not. “I’ll try harder,” we say. Yet, nothing changes. “I’ll be better,” we say. While we spill forward, better never comes. Maybe, just maybe, we need to fit ourselves for Jesus’ yoke and find the freedom that comes from bondage.
