My yoke is easy

[TonyChanYT]

Jesus spoke paradoxically in Matthew 11:

28 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

A yoke is a wooden frame joining a pair of oxen to pull heavy loads.

In what sense is Jesus' yoke easy and his burden light?

The key to understanding this paradox is the contrast between Jesus and me. Before I knew him, I was doing things with my strength by myself. There was no partner. After I believed, Jesus dwells in me. By doing his things, yoking with him, he is doing things with me. Things could still be difficult and burdensome. That's the paradox. However, now it is not just me who is doing them. Jesus is doing it with me.

But Jesus' burden is for the lost? That is heavy?

Sure, but he may not ask you particularly to share this particular burden with him. If he does, you are not carrying this burden alone.

 

[Prycejosh1987]

In what sense is Jesus' yoke easy and his burden light?

I believe it means that Jesus supports in spirit, he does not do things with us. But gives us the tools to do things we couldnt do before. The tools and mentality of Jesus is there for us to use and develop within. The yoke you described is lowering the pressure of the workload. It doesnt function on its own, to my knowledge. What are your thoughts?

 

[Bob Estey]

Jesus spoke paradoxically in Matthew 11:


A yoke is a wooden frame joining a pair of oxen to pull heavy loads.

In what sense is Jesus' yoke easy and his burden light?

The key to understanding this paradox is the contrast between Jesus and me. Before I knew him, I was doing things with my strength by myself. There was no partner. After I believed, Jesus dwells in me. By doing his things, yoking with him, he is doing things with me. Things could still be difficult and burdensome. That's the paradox. However, now it is not just me who is doing them. Jesus is doing it with me.

But Jesus' burden is for the lost? That is heavy?

Sure, but he may not ask you particularly to share this particular burden with him. If he does, you are not carrying this burden alone.

Interesting that in one place, the Lord's way is the difficult way (Matthew 7:13-14), but here, it is the easy way. What does one make of that?

Well, we do need to obey the Lord's commandments, but there are just a few of those - no need to make life more difficult than it already is.