Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.

What does Jesus mean that His yoke is easy? The yoke used during Jesus’ time was used mostly for Oxen. Two Oxen were placed side by side, and the yoke was placed over both of their haunches. The plow or other tool was then attached to the yoke and when the oxen both pulled on the same yoke they were a very powerful and effective team. Now if they did not pull equally, all of the weight of the plow would be on the shoulders of the ox pulling the hardest, and that would make the yoke easy and light for the other oxen. Many farmers would often place a young oxen with an older one specifiaclly for this purpose, so that if the yonger one tried to do all the work by themselves that they would quickly tire and eventually learn to work together as team, and thus be more effective.

So what Jesus is saying here is that if you yoke to Him, he will carry most of the load and you will have a much easier time, but if you try to do it all yourself, then you will tire and not be able to continue. If instead, you work together with Jesus, and try to split the load with Him you both will be much much more effective. But most importantly, I think the message of this passage is that to walk the way of Christ will be a burden, and not easy. You will have to labor and work alongside jesus to achieve the good fruits you desire, because Jesus cannot do it for us, and we also cannot do it without him. But if you are yoked to Jesus, you will be a very powerful team.

There is also a different, but very interesting connection in this reading to 1st Kings, Chapter 12. This book tells of the time when Solomon has died and his sons are vying for control of the kingdom. This is an incredibly important moment in the history of the chosen people. Solomon had many sons, but his designated heir was Rehoboam. Another son Jeroboam also wanted to take over the kingdom. In 1st kings, Rehoboam is now king. The people of isreal came to him and asked for him to lighten the burden and labor that Solomon had placed on them. Rehoboam told them to return in 3 days, and in the interim, he sought counsel. First, he consulted the elders of the kingdom, and they advised that if he lessened the burden then all of isreal will be his servants forever. Next he consulted his sicophant (bootlicker) entourage, and they advised the opposite. Rehoboam did not follow the wisdom of the elders, and told isreal that he would not lessen, but instead increase their burdens and labor.

The people of isreal revolted, they assigned Jeroboam as their new king, and ten of the tribes fled to the north with their new king. Two tribes (Judah and Benjamin) stayed with Rehoboam, in the south. This is really important to understand because the north became pagan, mixing their jewish faith with the pagan culture of the surrounding areas, and this people became known as the samaritans, hated among the jewish people in the south. The two tribes in the south maintained the temple ritual, they kept the true jewish faith, even though they fell short of gods call in many ways. Nevertheless, this is important because the line of David comes from the tribe of Judah, and since Jesus is the great king from line of David, it is crucial that Judah was one of the tribes that kept the faith.  This is ultimately why Jesus is called the lion of judah.

So why is this relevant to todays reading, and our discussion of yokes. Well if Rehoboam had listened to his elders, then he might have accomplished what Jesus ultimately comes here to do. He would have made their yoke easy and they would have been his servants forever. But alas Rehoboam did not do that, and so Jesus comes to do what the greedy boy could not. Jesus comes to accomplish the work of reuniting the kingdom, by lightening the load and the burdens we all carry. Jesus is making a bold statement here. He is saying that he is the true king of Isreal, the lion of judah, and in clear words, he is claiming the title of God. The yoke represents the fulfillment of the historical prophesy, while at the same time, showing us how He can help us in the here and now, with our day-to-day struggles. Will you yoke yourself to Him?

Oh Lord help me today to carry my portion of the weight. amen.