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LIGHTLY YOKED Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matt. 11:28-30).
The theocentric principle here is that Jesus Christ is the one who can give rest to men. The promise of rest is sabbatical. Christ is Lord of the sabbath (Matt. 12:8).
Yoke: An Inescapable Concept The yoke is an aspect of work -- specifically, for beasts of burden. The Lord of the sabbath is also Lord of work. The implication here is that Christ is Lord of the week. The lightness of His yoke is manifested by the sabbath. He who honors the weekly day of rest testifies to the lightness of the yoke in his life.
Men must work. They grow weary. They seek rest. Christ offers rest to weary men. He then calls them to bear a yoke. Christ's yoke is a means of lightening their load, of giving them rest.
How can more be less? How can adding a burden lighten a man's load? The implication here is that men are already burdened down. Specifically, they are burdened with sin. Sin exacts a heavy toll. It interferes with man's dominion. So do the results of original sin: weeds and thorns (Gen. 3:17-19). Men labor under a curse.
This passage says that Christ's yoke is light. This is comparative. It is lighter than something else. What might that be? Another, heavier yoke. The implication is that it is not a question of yoke vs. no yoke. It is a question of whose yoke. Men cannot escape some yoke.
Masters place yokes on their work animals. Men labor under one of two masters: God or mammon (Matt. 6:24).(1) Whose yoke is preferable? Christ's. With His yoke, men can get rest. With mammon's yoke, there is no permanent rest. The traditional phrase, "there is no rest for the wicked," reflects this biblical truth.
A yoke has several purposes. First, it trains the animal to be subservient. It reminds the anumal that it is under authority. Second, it directs the animal's steps. It causes it to go where the master wants it to go. Third, it is attached to a plow or other tool. It is designed for pulling. All of these purposes are the master's.
The yoke restrains the animal. The animal finds it difficult to escape its environment. This is a benefit or a liability, depending on the treatment it receives from the master and the safety it is afforded in its environment. Whether this feature is a blessing or a curse depends on the master. The yoke makes the animal more productive. If the master does not share this increase with the animal, the animal is a loser: too much pulling, not enough food. The Mosaic law required the owner to share the wealth with his work animal. "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn" (Deut. 25:4).
Christ said that His yoke is light. It is less of a burden than any rival yoke. This implies that His treatment of those under his yoke will be good. They will share in their own productivity. There is an element of restraint in wearing His yoke, but this is part of an overall process in which he benefits.
The implication is that the rival yoke -- mammon's -- will not provide equal benefits. The master is self-serving. He extracts more from those under his authority than Christ demands from those under His authority. Mammon is man's greed. Its yoke is burdensome.
Some may think they are autonomous. If so, they will see Christ's yoke as an extra burden, one which they can avoid. But their assumption of autonomy is incorrect. They are under authority. They wear a yoke. They may be used to its weight. They may not perceive that it is extracting a heavy toll on them. They are operating under an illusion. They are not autonomous. Adam placed all mankind under another yoke. It can be removed only by the substitution of a lighter yoke.
A wise man recognizes the weight of his yoke. But if he has nothing to compare it with, he must make a decision based on faith. Not all men believe Christ's words, which must be taken on faith. His yoke is light. He was saying that a man's present yoke is heavy. A man can exchange a heavy yoke for a light one. But to see the advantage, he must feel the weight of his existing yoke.
Christ announced this regarding Himself: "I am meek and lowly in heart." His incarnation is proof of this statement. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. 2:5-8). "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich" (II Cor. 8:9). The psychological basis of Jesus Christ's victory was His humility. He subordinated Himself to God the Father and then to evil men. In doing this, He established the judicial basis of the victory of His people. As a perfect man, He achieved total victory. "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth" (Phil. 2:9-10). We achieve an analogous moral victory in history, both definitively(2) and progressively, and then finally at the resurrection.
Rest vs. Autonomy The weary man feels the burden. He seeks rest. Christ offers rest. He tells the laborer that there is rest available on request. He tells the emotionally weary person that there is rest for the soul (v. 29). But to obtain this rest, a man must admit to himself that he really is weary. He must acknowledge that he is having trouble bearing his existing work load. For the person who is still confident that he can bear his own load, this offer has little appeal. The self-proclaimed autonomous man does not want to admit that his tasks are getting beyond his ability to deal with them. To admit this would be to admit that he is not autonomous. He is dependent. But the idea of dependence alienates some men. Even if they are willing to admit that they need some help, they are unwilling to admit that they cannot complete their work without surrendering to someone who offers rest -- a complete cessation of work. Christ says, in effect, "I'll take over from here." But that means surrendering to someone who denies all autonomy to others.
Christ promises rest. But this had also been promised to Israel. This is one of the themes in the Epistle to the Hebrews. "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world" (Heb. 4:1-3). "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief" (vv. 9-11).
This idea is crucial: "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his." The man who has ceased from his own works has surrendered any claim to autonomy. A man at rest is subordinate either to God or the creation. He becomes an extension of God's covenant or the creation. When he surrenders to his environment, he becomes passive. He goes into retirement. He is now at the mercy of others like himself, or else he is trapped by the impersonal forces of nature or society.
He who achieves rest in history has had to subordinate himself to another: God or nature. Either he has acknowledged God as the source of his rest and his success, or else he has acknowledged nature as the source of his rest and therefore his victor. Men who surrender to God can extend His dominion over the creation. Men who surrender to the creation -- their environment -- must end any hope of making society or nature conform to their ends. They become an extension of the creation. To this extent, they become depersonalized.
Dominion Through Rest Rest in the biblical sense is not passivity. In the same epistle in which we read of rest, we also read, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. 12:1-2). It is the ascended Christ who offers rest to His people. Subordinate to the author of rest, they can work without the heavy burden of fear of failure. This takes considerable faith -- the same faith that announces that Christ's yoke is light. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. He can make both promises: rest and a light yoke.
Rest is an attitude based on a confession of faith: "I am empowered by a sovereign God to do my work. I can count on Him to bring it to fruition." Put another way, "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase" (I Cor. 3:6-7). It is the great sin of autonomy to deny the validity of this confession. "Religion is a crutch," we are told. But a crutch is a wonderful tool for a one-legged man. He who refuses to admit his condition as a man with one leg must do without a crutch. In a world of two-legged men, he appears foolish. In a world of one-legged men who hop hither and yon, he appears normal. Sinners are one-legged people.
The mental attitude of rest takes faith and self-discipline. One of the marks of the person with this attitude of rest is sabbath-keeping. A man who believes in Christ's promise of rest knows he can afford to rest one day in seven. God is fully in control. God has told man to rest one day in seven, so man can safely do this. He will not lose anything of value by resting. A sovereign God who is the source of every blessing(3) will not let His followers suffer a loss because they exercise their prerogative and rest. They testify to their faith in the ultimate rest beyond history by resting one day in seven.
This cessation of Christians' diminion efforts one day in seven does not set back the kingdom of God. On the contrary, sabbatical rest extends it. Men are strengthened by resting. So are domesticated work animals. They can achieve more.
Conclusion The top priority here is to accept Christ's victory in history as our own. This is our starting point for dominion, both personal and corporate. His victory in history is behind us: the resurrection. So is His victory over history: the ascension. His ascension has empowered His church. He told the apostles just before His ascension: "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).
We can have confidence in our work because Christ's victory was definitive: complete and finished. We can extend His kingdom in history because He achieved victory in the past. We can rest emotionally because He is sovereign over history. We can safely rest one day in seven because He has commanded it. This sabbatical rest is a mark of the lightness of Christ's yoke. We are to acknowledge the lightness of this yoke by turning over to God our cares about the outcome of our labors. Sabbath rest is visible evidence of this confidence.
Footnotes:
1. Chapter 14, above.
2. God imputes Christ's moral perfection to His people. See Gary North, Unconditional Surrender: God's Program for Victory (3rd ed.; Tyler, Texas: Institute for Christian Economics, 1988), pp. 70-71.
3. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17).
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