His Yoke

 

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, 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 NASB).

 

When I awoke this morning I thought, “Today is Monday and Jesus loves me.”

 

Every morning Jesus calls us to Himself; to see Him, to hear Him, to touch Him and be touched by Him. To know Him as our friend and brother and our dear dear Lord.

 

I’m reminded of the words in the song As The Deer, “you’re my friend and you are my brother, even though you are a king.”

 

Jesus invites us to come to Him, He wants us to come to Him, He wants us to be close to Him. How close? “Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me…for My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

 

The yoke, of course, is a double yoke; when we take His yoke upon us we find that Jesus is next to us…and Jesus is doing the pulling, the leading; so indeed His yoke “is easy” and the burden that He has for us is “light.” Might this remind us of, “I am the Vine, you are the branches…abide in Me and I in you” (John 15:1ff)? One of the beauties of learning to rest in Jesus, to abide in the Vine, is that Jesus becomes our everlasting Sabbath: “For the one who has entered His rest has himself rested from his works, as God did from His” (Hebrews 4:10 NASB).

 

When we read that Jesus is “gentle and humble in heart” let us not make the mistake of picturing Jesus as taking the easy way, nor of being someone without character, courage, fortitude, and righteousness – for consider the context of our passage.

 

Preceding our passage, in Matthew 11:20 – 24, Jesus speaks judgment to the cities of Bethsaida and Capernaum. Following our passage, in Matthew 12:1 – 45, Jesus is in conflict with the religious establishment and rebukes the Pharisees and scribes. Jesus’ call to us to come to Him and learn from Him, to find rest in Him, is given in the context of conflict to those who are not self-righteous, but rather to those who are weary and heavy – laden, who are bowed down with cares, fears, and anxiety. Jesus is saying, in part, “Come to Me and stop pulling life’s loaded wagon alone, take My yoke upon you, let me take this weight from you, learn from Me, trust in Me, walk with Me.”

 

“At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight’” (Matthew 11:25 – 26; see also 1 Cor. 1:17 – 31).

 

We hear Jesus calling to us, we see Jesus imploring us, because the Father in the depths of His love has made us hear, made us see; not because of who we are, but because of who Jesus is.  

 

A simple faith in Jesus Christ is not an uninformed faith, it is not a blind faith, it is not a simplistic faith – it is rather a faith that recognizes that Jesus Christ is everything, our Alpha and Omega, our Author and Finisher (Hebrews 12:2); that He is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30); it is a faith that glories in the Lord and the Lord alone. Our faith in Jesus is simple, but it is not simplistic.

 

We come to know Him as “gentle and humble in heart.” O my, that we would portray His gentleness and humbleness to our brothers and sisters, and to the world. Paul desires that our gentleness be known to all men (Phil. 4:5) and that we be peaceable and gentle, showing consideration for men (Titus 3:2); and that we demonstrate gentleness to those who are opposed to the Gospel and our testimony (2 Tim. 2:25).

 

Are we learning the gentleness and humbleness of Jesus Christ as we bear His yoke?

 

Now then, since Jesus sends us as the Father sent Him (John 17:18; 20:21), what will we do when Jesus says:

 

“Dear brother, dear sister; you have walked with Me in my yoke and have learned from Me. Now it is time for you to invite another one to walk beside you, yoked with you, and for you to be the incarnation of My gentleness and My humility; it is time for you to bear the burdens of others even as I have borne your burden. As I have taught you, now it is time for you to teach others by your life, for them to share a yoke with you as you both live in Me. Fear not, I will always be with you – abide in Me.”

 

What will we do?