Yoke – Matthew 11:29

Matthew 11:29 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.

A yoke (not yolk) is something other than the yellow part of an egg. This may sound obvious, but so many people don’t know what a yoke is. Since we don’t live in an agrarian society, yokes are not part of our everyday life. In fact, I learned the other week that most people in America have never seen a cow in person.

Subsistence farming was a way of life throughout most of history. You grew what you ate. Everyone had a garden plot, and know how to preserve food. Those who had a trade or profession could earn money to purchase their food, so they didn’t farm.

This point was brought back to my mind while we spend over four months in Bavaria, Germany. This is a beautiful part of Europe, filled with small farms on rich farm land. We were there during grain harvest and would frequently travel behind a tractor pulling a load of grain, or manure. The cycle of faming was every day, every season, constant.

Jesus invited those who heard Him to take on a yoke, the wooden bar that connected a horse or other work animal to the cart or wagon or plow. It served as the connection between animal and productivity. Without the yoke, people would pull the cart, carry the grain by hand, or hand plow. Yokes were indispensable for productive farming.

We often hear that Jesus has called us to freedom, and it is often interpreted as freedom from. But the freedom Jesus talks about is freedom to, not freedom from. We are free to please God, to obey Him, to become reflections of His glory in this world. We are free to overcome sin because of His power at work in our lives.

So when Jesus says that He wants us to take a yoke, something that symbolizes work, we often rebel. We like the freedom. We are not so inclined to like work. But being yoked to Jesus means so much more than work. Let me explain.

Yokes didn’t just attach an animal to the working implement, it could also attach the animal to another animal, splitting the labor involved in farm work. Owners would often pair a seasoned animal with a less seasoned animal as a way to train the less seasoned one. By pairing them together, not only did the work get done faster, but the future of a well-trained animal was ensured. The less seasoned animal, got experience and training, both good things.

I don’t know about you, but every once in a while I get tired. I want to sit down and do nothing. I want to find rest. Being yoked to Jesus means that our gentle and humble teacher shows us what gentleness and humility looks like. Because He is close by, right at our side, we can observe firsthand the kind of life He expects us to live.

So, today, put on the LORD’s yoke. Yield to His direction and control. Be willing to go in the direction He leads, without questioning. Follow. And in doing this we will find rest for our souls. And we certainly need rest for our souls in these current times, don’t we!