I want to point out something about this passage that God
brought to my attention the other day.
Quite often, I find myself whining to God about various things. The other day, during one of my marathon
whining sessions, I told God, "You said Your yoke would be easy and the
burden would be light." I knew
better than to say such a thing, which is why I was quickly reminded of the original
context of His statement, which was intended as a reproach upon the system of
works that the Pharisees laid upon the backs of those who sought God. That is what Jesus is speaking about when He
says later on in Matthew, "They tie
up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they
themselves are not willing to move them with their finger." (Matthew
23:4).
Jesus' life and ministry was at the crossroads of the Old
and New Covenant. Two thousand years of Old
Covenant Israel was about to collide head-on with two thousand years of New
Covenant Christendom. Therefore, when He
said that His yoke would be easy and burden light, there were dual implications
to what He was saying. He spoke not only
to those under the Old Covenant of Mosaic Law, but also to those who would be
under the New Covenant of His Lordship and grace.
The thing that God brought to my attention, was that
although Jesus promised "I will give
you rest", He never said that He would remove our yoke and take away
our burdens. Jesus was bringing about a
new paradigm for men to relate to God, He was abolishing the Old Covenant and
replacing it with a New. Therefore He
could have easily said "Come to Me, all those toiling and being burdened,
and I will give you rest. I will remove
your yoke and your burdens and you will find rest for your souls." But He didn't say that, He said that we were
to stay under a yoke and continue to carry a burden. However, He replaced the old yoke with a new
one.
When Jesus said, "I
will give you rest", He was speaking one thing to Israel and another
thing to the Gentile nations who would be part of the New Covenant. For Israel, He was giving them rest from
Mosaic Law. But the Gentile nations were
not under Mosaic Law, so what would He be giving them rest from? He would be giving them rest from their sin (Jeremiah
31:34; Rom 6:2,6,7,14). For those under
the Old Covenant, their yoke was the Law.
For those under the New Covenant, their yoke would be faith (Gal 5:6; John
6:28,29; Rom 4:5; 1 John 3:23). For
those under both Covenants, the burden was, is, and has always been, obedience.
We are "yoked" to Christ in faith and the "burden" (or responsibility) of that faith, is obedience (Matt 10:38; John 10:27; John
12:26; John 14:15,21,23; John 15:10; Heb 5:8,9; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 5:2,3; Rev
12:17; Rev 14:12, 13). Jesus said, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me." (Matt 16:24)
"...come after me" = yoke of faith
"...deny himself and take up his cross" = burden of obedience
What many in the church today fail to realize, is that
our faith means nothing if it is not paired with obedience. By Jesus' own instructions, our faith in Him
must be validated by our obedience.
James tells us, "So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless...O foolish man, do you want evidence that
faith without deeds is worthless? Was not our father Abraham justified by what
he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith was
working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by what he did." (James 2:17-22). A faith that is not evidenced by obedience,
is not faith. It is simply a belief
based on affirmation, rather than a belief of trustful surrender. Obedience to Christ in a
person's life, is evidence of their faithful surrender to Him as Lord. Our faith in Christ must be a faith in Who He
is, and Christ can only and ever be Lord.
To believe in Jesus and be saved (John 3:36; John 5:24; John 6:47), we
must believe that He is Lord (Rom 10:8,9), and in so doing, the only proper
reaction to such a belief is surrender.
We are not saved
by good deeds, we are saved by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ (Eph
2:8). However, genuine faith and genuine salvation are
evidenced by our actions of obedience. Jesus tells us, "If anyone would come after Me..." How do we come after, or pursue
Christ? By faith. But then what does Christ tell us to do with that
faith? "...deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me." That's an
action of obedience.
The reason Jesus
didn't remove our yoke and take away our burdens, is because it is the yoke of
faith that saves us. And as long as we
are on this side of heaven, our faith will at many times seem like a burden. Jesus
said that in this world we would have trouble, "I have told you
these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have
tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!" (John 16:33).
Paul and Barnabas told those in the early church, "We must endure
many hardships to enter the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22), as they strengthened
the souls of those early believers by encouraging them to continue in the faith
(Acts 14:21). Our salvation in Christ
truly gives us "rest for your souls",
but that doesn't mean that we will be completely without burden. Today, should you feel the weight and burden
of your yoke of faith, spend some time sitting at the feet of Christ, Who
gently reminds us, "Do not let your
hearts be troubled; do not be afraid." (John 14:27).
"My sheep listen to My voice; I
know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never
perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to
Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and
the Father are one." (John 10:27-30)
"And the LORD will continually
guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to
your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water
whose waters do not fail." (Isaiah
58:11)
"Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy, He has given
us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and
unfading, reserved in heaven for you, who through faith are protected by God's
power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this
you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer
various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than
gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise
and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter
1:3-7)
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