Matthew 11 - Following Jesus Is Not Burdensome!
Verses for the Day
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Oftentimes the verses I will pick this year will be verses I have memorized over the years. This is certainly one of them. This verse has so much meaning in it, it will be hard to summarize it in a few paragraphs. But these verses show us the heart of who Jesus is. It shows us his caring nature, and His desire for us to turn to him when we are weary and burdened by life.
There are a couple of things I would like to highlight. First, Jesus says, "Come to me". He doesn't say go to Moses. Or, go to your pastor, or best friend, although those are perfectly fine places to go for support. Jesus tells the us to come to Him. If Jesus were not the Son of God, it would be a strange request. If a religious leader were to say this to you it should be troubling.
This invitation is unthinkable in the mouth of anyone else but God, and woe to the men who call people to themselves instead of to Jesus! - Guzik
This is what makes Christianity so different than other religions. In Jesus, God not only humbles Himself to come to earth, but he tells us to come to us anytime we want. Jesus doesn't keep office hours, he is always available.
Next, Jesus promises rest to those who are weary and heavy laden. This could be a burden a person is carrying, or carrying a burden of someone else. We are called to carry each other's burdens as believers Galatians 6:4. But first we should bring them to Jesus. Why?
Because Jesus doesn't want us to be burdened. Many view the Christian life as one, big burden. If you are feeling burdened all the time, there is a good chance you are not giving your burdens to Jesus. In 1 John, the apostle says, "His commands are not burdensome." - 1 John 5:13
The rest Jesus is talking about is not physical rest, though he is not opposed to it. The rest is rest from guilt and shame due to our sinful nature. Jesus; rest brings us peace. Not worldly peace, but peace from God. Jesus doesn't want us to be stressed and burdened, especially by our sin. That's why he went to the cross so we could be free of it.
In terms of carrying other's burdens, there is a difference between compassion and empathy and taking responsibility of someone else's burden. We can help to a point, but ultimately they are going to get their ultimate needs met by Jesus. In fact, if someone becomes too reliant us, it can keep them from going to God.
Jesus also reveals that He is gentle and humble in heart. Jesus isn't a slave driver. One of the great paintings is the picture of Jesus holding a little lamb close to his chest. He is smiling and the lamb is at peace. Though Jesus definitely has a fiery side to him as well, he is a "gentle-man" in the best sense of the word.
Jesus closes with the words, "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
We need unpack what the word "yoke" meant in Jesus' agricultural culture. The yoke was worn by the oxen to pull the plow through the fields. My Jesus says, "My yoke is easy", another way of translating it would be, "My yoke is well fitting."
“The word easy is in Greek chrestos, which can mean well-fitting. In Palestine ox-yokes were made of wood…The yoke was carefully adjusted, so that it would fit well, and not gall the neck of the patient beast. The yoke was tailor-made to fit the ox.” (Barclay)
Of course there challenges of letting go of your life to follow Jesus. We all resist surrendering our life to anyone including God. Our basic human nature is to want to be in control and do what we want, when we went. But as we surrender to Jesus', we can take his yoke on. It is a decision to allow him to run our lives.
When we do surrender to Jesus and take up his easy yoke, we begin to do the things Jesus called us to do. We are unburdened by the slavery of our sinful desires. We start living an "unburdened life". Of course, there will be challenges, but we don't go through them alone. This is the sense in which Paul says in Philippians 4:13,
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
We realize that the truly burdened life is the one lived without Jesus.
Application for Life
Are you weary and burdened? Is it well with your soul? Are you at peace with God? Please hear Jesus' invitation to come to him if you are heavy laden. Don't try to do it on your own. Jesus cares and wants you to come to him for TRUE rest.
Maybe you are burdened by your sin? Jesus took this burden to the cross. Don't carry your sin and guiilt, or try to atone for it by doing a bunch of religious stuff. Come to Jesus and receive His forgiveness and walk in his easy yoke.
Jesus' WAY of life is the only WAY to live. Don't miss out!
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