“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NLT
This is a highly quoted verse yet maybe one of the most misunderstood verses in the bible.
The Context of this verse is given in a chapter where Jesus first talks about the differences between Him and John the Baptist and that the Pharisees complained about John for fasting and then turned and complained about Jesus eating and drinking with sinners. Jesus was trying to point out that he religious leaders or today the legalistic religious right is never happy. That is because nobody is living correctly in the eyes of the church leaders.
The next part of the chapter, Jesus is comparing cities that repented upon seeing miracles and those cities that saw the miracles and never changed their ways. Yes, Jesus is using cities as an example, but He is talking to the Pharisees and people that see the miracles, yet their hearts are hardened and they do not repent from their ways. Salvation is right before them, but it did not come in the way they wanted it to come so they reject the message and the Savior.
Jesus then turns to the people and speaks the above verses.
Jesus directs His invitation to anyone who is “weary and burdened”—referring to people worn down by life’s hardships, emotional weight of the heavy, legalistic religious rules of the Pharisees. The burden the people are carrying is a burden brought upon them from the church and religion.
Jesus is offering a resting place for your soul. It is an inner peace and reconciliation with God His Father that replaces the burden of never being perfect enough in the eyes of the church.
Yoke means to walk together with Him. You are to join in His walk, not the burdensome walk of trying to be perfect in the law. The reason His yoke is light and easy is that there is no condemnation for those that believe in Him and walk with Him.
There are no crushing demands of human performance or legalism. Jesus’s yoke is shaped with Grace, Humility, Gentleness and LOVE. His burden is light because He carried the penalty for sin. He put on His shoulders the ultimate spiritual weight and paid the price.
You are not burdened by the guilt of sin. The price has been paid. Release the burden of guilt and come and walk with Jesus. Enjoy the freedom of no condemnation and Live in the presence of His Father.
All religions like to point out where you are short of keeping the perfect law. You don’t keep the Sabbath correctly, you eat and drink the wrong things, you dress wrong, you live a life of sinful relationships and habits. There is always righteous condemnation in the eyes of the religious leaders.
Jesus came to show a different way of living. A way of Love not condemnation. Then that Love you experienced is to open your heart to being Transformed by the Holy Spirit. Then you will turn increasingly more to Him and walk in the daily freedom that can only come by taking Jesus’s yoke upon yourself.
You change and live a new life of obedience because Jesus loves you. You do not live a life of obedience so that Jesus will notice you and your good behavior. To those people Jesus says, “I never knew you”.
Walk away from the burdensome rules of Religion and walk into the freedom of Jesus’s open arms. He is knocking, open the door to your heart.
Remember it is not a religion it is a relationship.
Prayers and Love for all.
Larry
