Take My Yoke
The “yoke” in the Gospel reading is not the center of an egg. It is a tool used by Farmers to tether two things together. The purpose of the yoke is to teach. Generally, a seasoned animal is yoked to one that is just learning so that the seasoned animal will show the younger one what is expected of them. This has been an effective way to get horses, donkeys and oxen to help with tasks on a farm. Now the process takes more than just an hour or a day; the animals are tied together for quite a while in order for the younger one to become successful on it’s own.
Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart and you will find rest for yourselves.” He is telling us to tether ourselves to him and he will teach us what he knows. Jesus offers us the key to the kingdom. He’s telling the whole world that the path to eternal life is through him and when we connect ourselves to him, he will walk each step with us along the way.
Now does this in anyway promise we won’t have to suffer? No! It’s saying, when you are yoked with Jesus, it will still hurt but you will have hope, you will trust the light will shine on your path to the other side. The scripture is saying that Jesus isn’t going to ask you to do anything that he hasn’t already done and because he has experience, he’ll help us navigate through the hard times. He’s also promising we will never face an obstacle that we can’t overcome because we have God in our corner!
It sounds like being yoked to Jesus is a lot of work! Actually, it’s more work to go it alone! Without Jesus, we don’t have the experienced Boy Scout leading us down the trail he has prepared for us; it’s easy because he already did it! Never ever should following Jesus be a burden on you or in your life; it’s the opposite! Following Jesus allows you to lay down your burdens at the cross!
Like the farm animal, we have a mission to accomplish. We each have a goal in front of us for which we do not know but we are confident in our training by being yoked with someone more experience so no matter what lies ahead, we will be ready!
