Matthew 11:28-30

Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus said:

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am meek and humble of heart;

and you will find rest for yourselves.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I want to shoulder the yoke today with your Son at my side. I need to learn from him and be transformed in the depths of my heart. Do not let my pride and vanity rear their ugly head. I want to be gentle and meek of heart. I want true humility and to enjoy the peaceful rest of eternal life.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Take My Yoke Upon You: After addressing his Father in a prayer of praise and thanksgiving, Jesus turns his attention to his disciples and invites them to share in divine rest. The invitation is not to a life of ease and comfort. We will find rest by taking upon ourselves the yoke of Christ. A yoke was a frame, usually made of wood, that connected two animals and allowed them to pull a plow. We do not plow the field alone. Christ is with us and at our side as our brother. We mysteriously and paradoxically find rest by shouldering a yoke. In the beginning, Adam and Eve were called to work in the garden, to tend it and protect it. Only after they sinned did their work become characterized as toil. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees and scribes had tied up heavy burdens for the people to carry (Matthew 23:4). Jesus came to free us from the yoke of the Old Law and the human traditions of the scribes and Pharisees. Once again, the freedom Christ brings does not mean a carefree life of ease or comfort. It is rather a life in the Spirit, a life of total dedication, loving sacrifice, and self-offering.

2. The Yoke of Slavery to Sin: In his prayer to his Father, Jesus is alluding to the history of the Kingdom of David and especially the transition from King Solomon to his son, Rehoboam. When the people came to Rehoboam and asked him to lighten their burden, their taxes, and their forced labor, Rehoboam refused and only increased their burden. This led to the northern tribes separating from the two southern tribes. “In these verses of Matthew, Jesus the Son of David contrasts himself with some of the corrupt and abusive sons of David who preceded him, whose selfishness led to the breaking apart of God’s people. Jesus comes as the healer and consoler, the one to reunite ‘Ephraim’ the north and ‘Jerusalem’ the south” (Bergsma, The Word of the Lord: Year A, 309). Jesus is unlike Solomon or Rehoboam. He is a merciful and just royal Son of David. When we shoulder the yoke of Christ, it means that we have been freed from the yoke of sin. The yoke of Christ is the yoke of the freedom of the children of God. It guides us along the straight path that leads through the fields of life to the eternal Kingdom of God.

3. Freedom: Freedom is not the ability to arbitrarily choose between good and evil. True freedom has a direction, and it is pointed toward our ultimate good. We exercise our free choice when we choose between good and evil. When we choose evil, it is an abuse of our freedom. When we choose the good, the true, and the beautiful, it is an exercise of our freedom that leads to a deeper freedom. As Jesus says, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). From the beginning, the devil lied about our freedom. He tempted Adam and Eve and suggested that true freedom, divine freedom, was found in determining for ourselves what is good and evil. But that was a lie from “the father of lies.” True freedom is found not in doing whatever we want, but in heeding the voice of our Father who calls us to sanctity, eternal life, and true freedom. It is the freedom that only he can give through his Son and in his Spirit.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I contemplate you each day and see that you truly are meek and humble of heart. Meekness is not weakness. Humility is not false self-deprecation. Meekness is the gentleness of one who loves. Humility is about living the truth of who we are – creatures who have been redeemed and are sanctified, servants who lay down their lives for others. May I truly be meek and humble of heart as you are.

Living the Word of God: Do I know how I can grow in meekness and humility? What is God the Father asking me to do to transform my heart into the heart of his Son?