The Opportunity of a Lifetime*
Jesus invites us to join his family business in the invisible landscape.
I love the passage about Jesus offering us his yoke. These words are shrouded in mystery for modern readers. Many of Jesus’ teachings are couched in the agricultural language and images that were stamped into the minds of his listeners because they lived it every day. But in order for us to understand him, we need to get a grasp on the image he is projecting here.
Here is Jesus’ invitation:
Matthew 11:28–30 (ESV): 28 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
What in the world is a yoke? Here is the Oxford definition: “a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plow or cart that they are to pull.”
Great. Now that I know what a yoke is, what is Jesus really offering me here?
1. The yoke took the whole load off of one animal and allowed two to share the burden.
Notice who Jesus addresses: “all who labor and are heavy laden.” A lot of people are constantly working, but never feel like they get anywhere. Like running on a treadmill. Many in the crowd were working hard to earn God’s approval, but the religious leaders set the bar so high, they had little hope of reaching the goal. “Heavy laden” means carrying a substantial burden. People, then and now, are carrying heavy burdens: marriage problems, health problems, wayward children, grinding economic hardship. But heavier than those burdens is the weight of a guilty conscience.
Jesus says, “You guys are spinning your wheels and going nowhere. All of you are carrying more than you can bear alone, join me in my work and let me share your load.”
Jesus continues, “Join Me in my kingdom work. Walk with me in my kingdom as my disciple. Become an apprentice. Live with me and do my work with me and learn to be like me. As you and I work together in the invisible landscape, your work will not wear you out. As I share your burdens, they will not be so heavy.”
Jesus doesn’t make our problems all go away, but he gives us grace and strength to carry them, and he shares the load with us as we work with him in his family business!
2. I can run ahead in the yoke and pull the whole load by myself, or I can learn to slow down and walk in step with Him to have the load lightened.
If we take Jesus up on his offer, we have to learn to walk side-by-side with him so the yoke will work properly. Sometimes we run ahead of him and realize we’re pulling the whole load on our own. Sometimes we lag behind and the cart rolls up on our heels! Ouch! That hurts. After a while, we learn to walk with Jesus at his pace, and the load is shared.
Mules or oxen accomplished much, much more working together in a yoke than they did working apart, because working together they didn’t get as tired. That is the picture Jesus is painting for us.
3. We have to decide to take Jesus’ yoke. It’s a great opportunity, with an awesome future! But it is up to us.
In a previous post we saw how Jesus was offering us a chance to step with him into his kingdom(link). And he tells us how to do it. (link). A wise man named Dallas Willard once said that God’s address is at the end of your rope. I think Jesus is saying: “everyone who is at the end of their rope, trying to be good enough, or at the end of their rope carrying a load too heavy for them, I am here. Are you at the end of your rope yet? If you are, Jesus is waiting for you to accept his loving care right now.
4. How humble is the Creator of the universe that he would offer to share his work with me and offer to share my burdens in the process!
Look again at vs. v. 29 Jesus said, “I am gentle and lowly in heart.” Jesus created the universe: Colossians 1:15–16 (ESV): 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
You wouldn’t expect the creator of the universe to care about you individually. You would expect someone with that kind of resume to be too important to mess with you. But Jesus isn’t like that. He says, I’m gentle and lowly of heart.” Gentle with our broken hearts and humble to even ask us to join him in his work!
It is fitting that he is calling us into his kingdom. After all, we were created in his image. We bear the image of God. We are carrying around his DNA in us, so to speak. Basically he is calling us, as his image bearers, back into our original calling before the fall. Check out Gen. 1:26-28. He created humans to be stewards over creation with him and to reflect his glory. Genesis 1:28 (NLT): 28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. “Govern it!” Amazing! God created us in his image to govern the earth in cooperation with him!! It was the opportunity of a lifetime, but we said, “No thanks.” We decided to not trust him, and to do our own thing and to go our way without him. You can read about it in Genesis 3.
Now Jesus is giving us another chance to trust him and fulfill the destiny we were created for.
5. Twice in the passage Jesus promises us rest. He says “you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” When a person finds the very thing they were created to do, it’s more like rest than it is work. Resting is not ceasing from activity. Rest for our souls is fulfilling the purpose God had for us in the first place. And we get there by walking with Jesus, learning to be like him.
Augustine has the last word about resting in Jesus:
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” Augustine.
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Romans 10:9–11 (NLT): 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”