The yoke and burden of Jesus

“Come to Me all you who are weary and heavy-laden, 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.”

-          Matthew 11:28-30

To really grasp the import of Jesus’ invitation to come to Him, we need to read the three preceding verses. They read like this, At that time Jesus said, “I praise You Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matt 11:25-27).

These verses clearly explain that all authority has been given to Jesus from the Father; particularly in the area of salvation. That is why Jesus said, “Come to Me (italics mine) all you who are weary and heavy laden…”

Although this is a loving invitation to embrace the Son, it is also a command from the Lord. For only in Christ will we have lasting rest. Besides Him there is no savior (Isa 43:11). The word rest in the Greek is anapausis. This is a compound word. Ana means up, and pauō means to make to cease. The rest Jesus offers is not a rest from all work. Rather, it is an invitation to salvation. He is offering us to co-labor with Him in His kingdom as opposed to carrying the heavy burden and yoke of the sin of legalism (i.e. trying earn one’s way into the kingdom of God). By comparison, Jesus yoke is definitely easy, and His burden light.

These verses coincide with the first beatitude which says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:3).

What this means is those who are impoverished and bankrupt in spirit are blessed. How and why? To be blessed means to speak well of, to cause to prosper, to make happy, to bestow blessings on. The original Greek term is where we get our English word eulogy: eu means well. Logos means word – to speak a well or good word on someone.

Jesus declared the poor in spirit are blessed people because they will inherit the kingdom. They understand their deficiency spiritually so they like the tax collector in Luke 18 will beat their breast in humility and shame declaring, “God be merciful to me, the sinner” (Luke 18:13). The poor in spirit will throw their lives at the mercy of God’s throne and will beg and plead for the Lord to remember them when He comes into His kingdom like the thief on the cross (Luke 23:42).

Notice the virtues Jesus describes of Himself; He declares He is gentle and humble in heart. That is the same attitude we are to exhibit when we come to God; we must be of a gentle and humble spirit, confessing our sins in genuine repentance. Only then are our hearts pliable to receive the word of God that is able to save our souls.

In summation, Jesus is inviting all to come to Him so that we can inherit an eternal respite for our souls. Jesus’ rest is equivalent to salvation for that is why He came to earth; to seek and save those who are lost (Luke 19:10). This is His loving offer of grace. God sovereignly saves who He wills; and at the same time He graciously invites all to come to Him to find rest.