Come to me, all you who 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 ‭

I was talking to a Jewish person recently who was sharing how tired he was of the commands that he had been taught. For example, he was told he can't rip up a tissue on the Sabbath day or it violates the Torah. 

This is what the group of men and women were feeling when Jesus spoke these words.

A yoke referred to a contraption that sort of harnessed two oxen together, often a younger immature ox to an older one so that he can learn.

But by Jesus‘s day it also referred to a rabbi’s interpretation of the law of Moses. Was their interpretation hard to obey or easy? How heavy was there yoke? Did they add on extra things like “you can’t rip up a tissue on the Sabbath?”

So Jesus was inviting them to attach themselves to a better rabbi. To a rabbi whose yoke was easy.

Of course, on one hand, his interpretation of the law of Moses seemed harder to obey “don’t just love your friends, but also love your enemies.”

And yet on the other hand, it was so much easier because Jesus would obey perfectly in our place, break the power of sin, give us new hearts, fill us with his Spirit, and empower us to live like him.

In a sense, our job is not to try harder to obey, but simply come and be yoked to him like a baby ox.

Most of us did not grow up under the heavy yoke of a stern rabbi.

But we did grow up with another yoke. Maybe the heavy yoke of a demanding parent who was hard to please, or the heavy yoke of a certain church culture that made it very hard to admit any struggles with sin.

I think all of us have a temptation to put a heavy yoke on ourselves - to meet certain goals, fit into certain groups, perform in a certain discipline  -- in order to justify our existence.

I tend to wake up every day feeling some kind of pressure. Pressure to have this conversation or address that issue; to be a better husband, father, pastor, friend; to persuade someone of something, or have a wise answer about someone’s situation.

It’s almost a constant temptation to feel like I’m failing in some way.

I take time with the Lord every single day not because I’m super disciplined, but because I feel so desperate. Desperate to be reminded of who I am in Christ. Desperate for my soul to delight in the Lord rather than to go out and accomplish, fix, control, impress, confront.

This is why we're fasting on Thursdays for Lent. Not to perform for God out of religous duty. But as a way of coming to Jesus for rest. As a way of reminding our souls, "My yoke is hard and burdensome and I constantly feel pressure to perform....but Jesus' yoke is easy and light."

As we near Resurrection Sunday, I pray you will find deeper rest in your soul. Rest from striving, rest from performing, rest from fixing, rest from keeping up with the Jones’, rest from maintaining a certain reputation.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭28‬