Matt 10 — Jesus Sends Out, Warns, and Encourages the Twelve
Matt 11:1-19 — Messengers from John the Baptist
Matt 11:20-30 — Come to Me, I Will Give You Rest
Thoughts about serving others
This link includes a list of posts about Serving the Least, the Lost, and the Lonely.
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Let the Word evoke words. May your life encourage lives.
These are incredible words of Jesus to his disciples…volumes have been written on each verse in these chapters, so I’ll simply look at one concept: “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Recently, I was watching a movie that had a key phrase, “It’s simple, but it’s hard.” The yoke of the Pharisees in Jesus’ time was anything but easy. Researchers have counted hundreds of laws and rules developed by the Pharisees over the course of time. These laws, this yoke, made it difficult to be obedient (if not impossible).
To some extent, I sympathize with the Pharisees. I think they took a good look at their history, hundreds of years where their forefathers kept screwing up, worshiping idols, falling away from God, even to the point of being exiled. They didn’t want this to happen again, so they started creating rules to help people stay within the law. I believe it all started out with good intentions. Look back at the end of Nehemiah when he returned after only being away for a short period and the people were already falling away. Unfortunately, these guidelines for obeying God became laws, then laws for the laws, etc., led by men with great pride resulted in a system that was far too regulated for any good. People became focused on the law and lost all perspective on the intent and on truly worshiping the Lord. The yoke of the Pharisees was heavy.
Jesus puts an end to this concept. John reminds us, “And his commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). In some respect it’s harder because we have to be involved in the decision process. If the speed limit is 30, we know when we’re within the law. If the speed limit was “be careful,” how fast would be drive? “Love the Lord your God with all your heart” and “love your neighbor” is certainly simple. Actually doing this requires the help of the Holy Spirit. We have that gift given to us thanks to Christ’s sacrifice. Lord help me to take your yoke and follow your ways.