2007-09-12 - The Yoke
Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find
rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is
light.
As I said last week, it was tempting to talk about the yoke in this passage.
The first thing most people's mind runs to with this passage is a yoke like
the one which oxen carry but Jesus' audience understood it to mean much more.
A rabbi's set of teachings was his yoke.
The Jewish yoke was do this, don't' do that, sacrifice when you don't do
what you should have or do the things you shouldn't have done. This yoke
of laws consisted of the Mosaic Law contained in the Torah as well as years
and years of additions piled upon it by the Jewish leaders. Jesus referred
to all of this as "heavy burdens" that were "grievous to be borne".
(Matthew
23:4)
Jesus offered a yoke of his own instead. He explained his yoke to Nicodemus
saying, "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have eternal life." (John 3:15) The yoke of the Pharisees, Sadducees
and other Jewish leaders was a heavy burden of work. Christ offered grace
and mercy in exchange for belief.
Everyone has a yoke on us. We all have a load to carry. Which yoke do you
want - the yoke of the Law or the yoke of Faith?
IHFHBOH
Adam
acdum@hotmail.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org
All scripture references from KJV unless otherwise noted |