“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30
Yoke. I always thought it was a funny word. It reminds of that weird yellow center of an egg, it rhymes with “joke”, and it’s just a funny sounding word. So when Jesus said to “take my yoke upon you,” I never really tried to meditate on it, but I always knew that the yoke was the harness that bulls wore around their necks when they were doing farm work. I never bothered to look up the word “yoke” in the dictionary until today (see attached image). I was surprised to see that “yoke” was usually a harness made for a pair of bulls or oxen. Jesus said, “take my yoke upon you... for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jesus is already attached to the yoke and he has an open spot for you right beside him. And I imagine Jesus is doing all the heavy lifting.
