Our Yoke-Mate is Jesus!

Matthew 11:25-30

Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’

Food for thought!

Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.

Looks like we have a problem here! Is Jesus calling on those who are carrying heavy loads to come and add a yoke to their burden? Doesn’t that sound like adding affliction to the afflicted? What is this yoke of Christ? 

So, let's try to understand the yoke of Christ. Among the Jews the yoke was put on the necks of two cattle so that together they could pull the plough as one. A yoke is for two cattle in bearing one burden or drawing one load. In other words, it always takes a pair to work a yoke. When Jesus asks you to take the yoke, you might as well ask him who is your yoke-mate. Your yoke-mate is none other than Jesus himself. That is why he says: "Shoulder my yoke." 

What Jesus is saying is inviting you and me to join him, to team up with him. The yoke of Christ is not just a yoke from Christ but also a yoke with him. To take the yoke of Christ is to associate and identify ourselves with him: associate our suffering with his suffering. In our moments of overwhelming circumstances, when burdens of life and living seem far too much for us to bear, Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will help you to carry the burdens." 

Let's know that we are not pulling the yoke alone and by our power but together with Christ and by the strength that comes from him. It is to know that Jesus is not just a teacher who gives you homework but also a friend who helps you do it. Remember: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens [carries] me (Philippians 4:13). Yes, we can do ALL things through Christ. ALL things. Nothing is excluded from all. Nothing is left out of that equation, that promise; there’s no end to it, nothing outside of it. All is all. 

Jesus calls us to greater purposes, suffering for the sake of others, allowing our pain to be someone else’s gain. He invites us to help others who are overburdened by their life and living. Let's be others yoke-mates, helping them to carry their burdens, as Jesus does help us to carry ours.

There is a story of a man who had a dream. In the dream he was walking along a sandy beach with Jesus and they were replaying all the important moments of his life. The man noticed that for each scene there were two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to him and the other to Jesus. But he also noticed that when they came to the most difficult and trying moments of his life there were only one set of footprints to be seen. The man could not understand this, so he asked Jesus: “Lord, you said that once I decide to follow you, you’d walk with me all the way. Why is it then that during the most difficult periods of my life, when I needed you the most, you would leave me?” Jesus replied. “My child, I love you and I would never leave you. During the most difficult moments of your life, when you see only one set of footprints, those were the times I carried you.”

We should never forget that we are yoked with Christ. To this end, it helps to start each day with a prayer like this: “Lord, help me to remember that there is no problem I am going to face today that you and I together cannot handle.” This is how the yoke becomes easy and the burden light.

We should likewise note that Jesus is inviting the weary and the heavy-laden. He isn’t just talking about those who are tired. Not doing anything can make us tired; we don’t need to exert ourselves to be tired. Weariness comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes, so when Jesus speaks of weariness, He’s including every unsatisfied soul. No matter what it is that is making you weary, come to Him. Whoever you are, whatever you’re going through, come to Jesus.

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:29-31)