These three short verses attributed to Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30) seem to involve all sorts of contradictions.
Jesus says to come to him if you’re “weary and carrying heavy burdens” and he will “give you rest”. So far, so good. It clearly sounds like those burdens will be taken off; it clearly sounds like we’ll get to be refreshed from being weary. It wouldn’t be possible to rest and recover from being tired if we’re still carrying whatever the burdens are. Being refreshed has to mean putting those burdens down and stopping whatever it is that has meant carrying them.
We get how this works. The sitting down and putting your feet up at the end of a long day of work—of whatever type—is so needed. And resting isn’t just the physical piece; it’s the mental piece also—shutting off your mind and “leaving the office at the office”—or whatever the workplace is. Pressure and responsibility and worry and stress are “lifted off” and we just stop for a while and rest.
And then it starts again, it seems—although maybe in a different way—maybe with different responsibilities, perhaps? Jesus says “Take my yoke upon you . . .” A yoke is something that a team of two oxen wear when they are pulling a heavy load. The yoke fits across both of their shoulders, and it probably weighs 70 pounds. I don’t know about you, but that sounds to me like a lot more than I usually am taking on in a regular day. Willingly putting on “half” of a 70-pound beam on my shoulders? All of that stress reduction goes straight out the window right away. And what happened to the heavy burdens being taken off—this sounds like even heavier burdens being put on!
And then Jesus has the audacity to say “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light”. Really? What sounds easy about that? It sounds harder than what got taken off! How does this make things better, this task that Jesus has come up with for us?
One important thing to consider here. The yoke that is made for the oxen is custom made. It’s not a standard, “one size fits all” yoke—it is especially made to specifically fit the specific ox. Each side of the two-ox yoke is individually fit for the individual ox. And if the ox loses weight, or gains weight, or a young ox grows some more, then the yoke is re-fitted. And it is designed for the most efficient use by the team of oxen, with the least stress put on them. And the oxen bearing the 70-pound yoke probably weigh 1200-2000 pounds each, so sharing 70 pounds between the two of them is not that big a deal. They are still pulling a heavy load—but that is what they were made to do.
So when Jesus says “take my yoke upon you” Jesus is talking about taking on what you are individually equipped to do, with a “yoke” that is made especially for you. So yes, there is work to do, and probably “hard” work--but it is “easy” because it is the work you were made to do, and you are doing it with the gift Jesus gives you to do it that is custom made for you.
When you love what you do—when you are doing what you were made to do—what you were “called” to do—than it IS “easy”. It may be challenging, difficult, demanding work—but you love it, and in that respect it is “easy”.
I have a friend who says “If you love what you do, then you never work a day in your life”. That’s what it means to take the yoke upon you that Jesus gives you.
Matthew 11:28-30
28 ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’