This reading from Matthew’s gospel is quite a contrast to what Jesus has been saying in the earlier verses.
He has previously been talking about the cost of discipleship – the certainty of persecution, conflict, suffering and painful division for those who choose to follow him. Things like “Leave it all behind, pick up your cross and give up your life for my sake.” Now his tone changes. Jesus is sounding all sweetness and light – rest and comfort, light burdens and easy yokes.“ This is more like it”, we’re thinking. Gentle masters are much more to our liking – if we must have masters at all. However, as we’ve come to understand, the words of Jesus are usually a little more complex than they first seem. By saying “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens,” or an older translation, “who labour and are heavy laden,” Jesus doesn’t primarily mean people with ordinary problems – such as too many bills to pay, or being unemployed, or sick, or having ungrateful kids, etc. Jesus has lots to say about things like that, but it’s not what he’s talking about in this passage. Here, Jesus is talking quite specifically to, and about, those who are on a religious quest – those who are seeking God, wanting a relationship with him. He’s calling the spiritually-exhausted to come to him – those who’ve tried all of the usual ways of finding some peace with the divine and have achieved only frustration. The real clue to this is the fact that a yoke was not only a device for harnessing beasts of burden, but in early Jewish times, was also the common symbol for the Laws of Abraham and Moses. It was used especially for the details of the law and the minute, ever-expanding demands of the legalism of the Pharisees. In fact, there were about 613 of these laws! We also need to remember that Matthew is presenting an exaggerated picture of the Pharisees – most of them were not nearly this strict - many were not bad at all. But there were enough of them who were, to justify this caricature. This is why Jesus says that the wise and intelligent – i.e. the religious leaders – have missed the point. He then adds that only the Son (himself) – not those leaders, and not you, or me, or anyone else, but only the Son – knows the Father - and that we can only come to the Father through him. The yoke of the Pharisees, their demands that we have to do this and this and this; exactly in the right order, to matter to God; in order to be a decent person; in order to be loved or counted significant. That yoke Jesus rejects, even though it was the yoke of the “wise and intelligent”. That yoke, the yoke of seeking God by keeping the rules; by doing what somebody, or anybody, or everybody else says is the thing to do; by trying to get it right all the time and so living constantly in fear of getting it wrong; that yoke leads those who wear it to “labour and be heavy laden.” It leads to a religion and a life of fearful obedience to a multitude of petty dictates where the spirit is deadened, and where some measure of success is more likely to lead you into self-righteousness than into the heart of God. To say to your child, a friend, your spouse, or anyone else, “I’ll only love you if you do everything right,” is to ensure a sick and twisted relationship that hurts everybody involved. To teach that this is what God says, is not only terrible theology, but it can also be devastating when we try to live it out in our lives. Yet the yoke of the Law, at its worst, did just that. Those who, like Paul, struggled under such a yoke, discovered that; it didn’t fit; it didn’t bring them closer to God; it didn’t enrich their lives. Yokes like that never do. To go scurrying about with the notion that if we could only figure out the right thing to do – the right way to act, the right words to say, the right way to do the rituals, is to skate on the edge of magic, as if we could conjure up God’s acceptance. In the end, it’ll only ensure frustration and exhaustion. God’s presence with us and God’s love for us are never the results of our actions. He’s in charge; we’re not. Even the Apostle Paul, when writing to the Jews in Rome, struggled with this. If he tried to keep to the Jewish laws, he felt that he was sinning, because he was only doing them because he felt he had to. Instead, Paul remembered the call of Jesus, who says, “Come to me.” Not to a new law, not to a new teaching, not to a secret interpretation, or a hidden loophole, not to a book, not to a list; but “to me.” Come to Jesus himself. In essence, Jesus is saying, “If you seek God; if you seek his love; if you seek a life that makes some sense; if you want a way of understanding the world that allows you to deal honestly with what happens and not be destroyed; if you want to be who you are created to be – if you want this, then come to me.” It’s a call to relationship – to relationship with Jesus and to relationship with the community that continues Jesus’ life and ministry – that is, the church. The alternatives, then and now, will fail, but Jesus will not. We’re reminded that God has taught us that all the commandments can be summed up by loving God and our loving our neighbour. Such is the yoke of Christ. In many translations, Jesus calls his yoke “easy”, but that’s an unfortunate translation into English, as it makes it sound like everything’s a doddle and that very little effort or energy is required to do it. As anyone who’s tried to live the life of Jesus knows, that’s just not true. A better translation is, “My yoke is good to bear.” The point is not that this yoke, the Lord’s call to relationship, makes no difference, or asks nothing of us – quite the contrary. The point is that it fits - it’s the right size, so it works – it leads us to God, and it brings with it wholeness and a peace that can’t be found anywhere else. To come to him is to discover that, what can seem a frantic and desperate task – life with God – is, in fact, not an earned reward, but a free gift. To come to him is to discover, as Paul discovered, that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” To come to him is to discover that the task of getting it all correct is replaced by the absolute gift of God’s grace, and our grateful response to that gift. All the strong stuff from earlier verses regarding the cost of discipleship, is still very much there. But the yoke is good to bear. It leads to life. To put it on is to be embraced by God’s mercy – to carry it is to fulfil both God’s will and our own humanity. We’re called to this new yoke, not to a law, a set of rules, but to a person and a community built around that person. And in this, the religious quest – the greatest journey of human existence – can find its richest fulfilment, and its deepest satisfaction. Jesus said, “Come to me if you seek God, if you seek life, I will give you rest.” The following poem by Margaret Powers, called “Footprints in the Sand”, beautifully conveys the message to us: “One night I dreamed a dream. I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and one to my Lord. When the last scene of my life shot before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. There was only one set of footprints. I realised that this was at the lowest and saddest times of my life. This always bothered me and I questioned the Lord about my dilemma. “Lord, you told me when I decided to follow you, you would walk and talk with me all the way. But I’m aware that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints. I just don’t understand why, when I need you most, you leave me.” He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you, never, ever. During your trials and testings, when you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.” Pastor Rick
1 Comment
5/7/2020 10:33:49 am
Hi Rick! Thank you for the great balance you provide here. The ‘easy’ yoke as you say doesn’t line up well with Jesus’ other teaching, if lacking the context you have given. I appreciate this honest approach that doesn’t try to sugar coat the Christian life.
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