My nephew got married to a really neat Christian girl last Saturday in Waco, TX. One of my small tasks before the wedding was to pick up his sister's bridesmaid dress from a tailor shop where it was getting altered. My niece was unable to try it on until the day of the rehearsal and when I went to pick it up, the tailor was surprised that I didn't bring my niece back for final adjustments. Thankfully it fit!
That prompted me to think about the only thing Jesus has asked me to wear. In Matthew 11:29-30 Jesus said "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. {30} For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." That made me think about what it means to be yoked with Jesus in His mission.
Now a yoke doesn't look like an easy thing to me, but that is how the Greek word chrestos is translated. Exploring a bit further I discovered that chrestos can mean "well fitting" or "tailor made" In the Holy Land of Jesus' day, the ox was brought into a carpenter's shop and measurements were made. The carpenter roughed out the yoke and the ox was brought back to have the yoke tried on. The carpenter made careful adjustments to the yoke so the ox could pull without irritating the neck of that ox.
As one who passionately desires to be about the mission of Jesus, it is great to know that the yoke I have been asked to wear was "tailor made" just for me. While living a life of Gospel witness is not easy, I am yoked to Jesus. Because of that, the burden feels light!
That's a great reminder for me because so often I delude myself into thinking that I have to live a life of witness out of my own strength. But that is just not true. I find two vital pieces of good news in these verses.
- Knowing that I have a "tailor made" yoke from the one who knows all my strengths, weaknesses, sins and idiosyncrasies is great Gospel news to me! God fits that yoke to my uniqueness in a way which makes the yoke one of a kind. It is designed for me to have maximum pulling power with minimum irritation wherever God sends me.
- The One I am yoked to is Jesus...I don't do this Christian walk of witness and mission by myself. Because the one I am yoked to is the Lord of the universe and the Savior of all means that my witness and engagement in His mission will accomplish exactly what He desires.
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2 comments:
Paul,
That is very appropriate. Most think of our yoke as something akin to punishment, an extra burden or a way to humiliate us; certainly something that we would rather be without. I often heard my father talk about the yoke from the point of view of the ox carts in India where he spent 25 years as a missionary. He compared the ox's yoke to the yoke we get from Jesus. He said that for the ox that to be attached to the load by any other means would be unbearable - but the yoke is the perfect way to attach an ox to the load and makes the task bearable. We have a task to do and Jesus gives us the best means of accomplishing that task.
Thanks for bringing that excellent metaphor to the attention of many people.
Paul, this is GREAT!!! I'd always wondered about the exact meaning and translation of that passage, and now I know...and as with most things in the Bible, it makes perfect sense, especially in the context of my own faith journey!
Thanks!!
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