Yoked!


“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

We tend to be a very weary people. There is, of course, the weariness that comes from the burden of sin, but there is also the fatigue that comes from trying to lead a righteous life on our own will power. It exhausts us. This is why Jesus says the words we heard in the reading today: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” But then he says something that seems strange: “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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30).

Isn’t taking on a yoke going to increase the burden? However, when you think of it, it isn’t. Have you ever seen oxen yoked together? Imagine being yoked to Jesus like two oxen are yoked to each other. The burden is shared! Our burden is shared by Jesus, and given that his shoulders are stronger than ours—much stronger—the burden we carry becomes negligible. Right? And one burden — the burden of sin — is taken away completely by his forgiveness. 

But there is another aspect to being yoked to Jesus. We can’t go wandering off as and when we please to wherever we may want to go. We have to walk together, we journey in unison. This ensures that we are safe and protected at all times. It ensures that we do not have to worry or be anxious about anything because he is right by our side to make sure that everything is ok. So we don’t have to constantly keep trying to be holy; holiness comes almost “automatically” when we are yoked to Christ.

And finally there is another rest he gives us: eternal rest. Speaking of the age after this one, Scripture declares: “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4). God will dwell in the midst of his people in the new earth and there won’t be any of the pain and suffering there is in this one. 

So how about we accept Jesus’ invitation to come to him. We will find rest for our souls.

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here: https://youtu.be/IP47CUO26xY



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