Working at Resting

Come to me...and you will rest

One of my favorite scriptures (I have many favorites) is in Matthew 11:28-30:  

"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (NRSV).

Who of us doesn't love hearing that we can find rest in Jesus? Knowing that he can provide rest for our weariness is like a breath of fresh air. Yet if you are like me, resting is not so easy to do. Especially when we realize that we have to do something, like "take my yoke" and "learn from me." That doesn't sound like resting.

The Yoke

The concept of a "yoke" is not, as has been assumed, referring to the type of yoke with which you would connect two animals and a plow. The word "yoke" is in reference to a Rabbi's interpretation of the Law of Moses, and each Rabbi followed a school of thought regarding the Law. Their teaching reflected their "yoke" or understanding of the Old Testament Law, therefore, to take a Rabbi's yoke meant to follow that Rabbi and become his disciple.

So what does it mean to take "Jesus' yoke"?

Jesus, in declaring that we are to take his yoke, was providing a safe haven for those who had been under the "yoke" of the Pharisaical legalism of the law. Jesus was providing a different way of following God. The current way of following God at that time involved following an impossible list of additional laws, not created by God, but created by some of the religious leaders of that day.

Today, we may think we know what it means to follow God as Jesus was teaching it, but I wonder if we really do. We may not struggle with legalism as they understood it back then, but I think we struggle with an entirely new concept, a "Culture of Christianity" that does not reflect what it means to be Christ-like. It is a culture, much like an ethnic culture, that simply defines a person but does not necessarily shape his or her character to be like Christ.

Dallas Willard in his book The Spirit of the Disciplines says it best by saying, "Our mistake is to think that following Jesus consists in loving our enemies, going the "second mile," turning the other cheek, suffering patiently and hopefully-while living the rest of our lives just as everyone around us does [italics added]" (p.5).

What does it mean today to be a disciple of Jesus?

To understand how to shake off the "Yoke of the Christian Culture," it must tie back to Jesus' statement in verse 29 of Matthew 11, "learn from me." In order to find rest for our souls we have to take up Jesus' radical yoke, and in order to take up the yoke, we have to learn from Jesus. 

Not learn a set of rules, do's and don't's, or simply acting like a Christian, but learning from Jesus, following Jesus, and embracing his lifestyle as our own. It involves being aware that a disciple is an active learner, who works at understanding how to follow his or her master. Not working to earn salvation, but working to learn to follow, and thus working to rest.

References:

Willard, D. (1988). The Spirit of the Disciplines. New York: Harper.One.