Burden Bearers

Everyone carries burdens. The things we go through shape the way we view the world—and ourselves. But we weren’t meant to carry our burdens alone.  

In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says to the people following Him:

"Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you… For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light." (NLT)

A yoke is a heavy wooden beam that lies across a pair of oxen, evenly distributing the weight of the loads they carry. But the term was also used by Jewish Rabbis. “The yoke of the law” symbolized complete submission to God’s law, and Rabbis taught that becoming yoked to it would free the Jews from enslavement to the world.

Jesus is using a phrase that His Jewish followers would have easily understood, but then He flips the illustration. He tells the crowd that they must yoke themselves to Him—because He is the fulfillment of their law. 

When they do this, the burdens they carry won’t...