The Yoke of Rest

Matthew 11:28–30 “28 Come to Me, all you 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. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.””

The Burden

Matthew 11:28–30 “28 Come to Me, all you 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. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.””

The nation of Israel was burdened by the oppressed grasp of Egypt. They were slaves and powerless to overcome the heavy loads on their back. For years they

Exodus 3:4–7 (NKJV)

4 So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

5 Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” 6 Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

7 And the LORD said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.

They worked tirelessly without ever seeing the end of the tunnel. There seems to be a picture here of us. We are so burdened by our own life, car payments, job, school, keeping up with the jones’ . The difference between us an Egypt is that we choose to live this way.

The burden in your life may be drink. maybe drugs. Maybe lust. it weighs on you. after you commit certain acts you feel the weight, your conscience is faithful, it will tell you.

Grief, and guilt, unforgiveness. The dark place your mind goes and does not seem to let go of you.

The Yoke

Matthew 11:28–30 “28 Come to Me, all you 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. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.””

Exodus 3:16–17 (NKJV)

16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt; 17 and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’

The yoke was literally a wooden device fastened over the necks of oxen to make them work together1, but Jesus employs it as an allegory with multiple layers of meaning.

The most significant context involves Jewish teaching practices. First-century rabbis used the phrase “take the yoke of” to mean “become the pupil of” a particular teacher. However, these rabbis had become notoriously harsh and hypocritical, and the yoke they placed on people was one of unwarranted legalism. Jesus was contrasting the hope of his grace with the hurtfulness of legalistic religion, evoking the “yoke of the Torah” that emphasized work and duty applied with exacting harshness by Israel’s religious leaders.

The yoke Jesus offers operates on two levels. First, taking on his yoke means following his teaching and wisdom of transforming grace that gives respite from the ruthlessness of legalism. Second, it means becoming God’s “yoke-mate,” one who works right beside Jesus and depends on Christ’s strength and example to accomplish the work of holiness. Rather than burden, Jesus invokes the imagery of servitude in an ironic twist—slavery to Christ is the greatest freedom a person can experience.

Did you ever do a group project in school where you were yoked with a partner with 2 left feet?

Like one of the sock hop races and you both are supposed to step together,

The yoke speaks of Cooperation. Sometimes we want Solooperation.

The Rest

Matthew 11:28–30 “28 Come to Me, all you 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. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.””

You were never meant to carry this load by yourself. All the Burden of life, all the hardship, all the times when it was tough. God always was right there.

In the old testiment God Promises the Nation of Israel.

Secondly, Rest for the soul in our text is a condition

Exodus 33:12–14 (NKJV)

12 Then Moses said to the LORD, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ 13 Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.”

14 And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Rest for the soul is directly tied to God’s Prescence. no ammount of money,

fame, popularity, or status can bring this. you can sleep 20 hours a day and not have rest for your soul. You can sear your conscience and go on telling yourself that everything will be ok, and you will not have rest for your soul.

You can read every spiritual self help book and memorize them, Rest for your soul will never be found there.

This only comes when you allow God’s presence to “Go with you”.

Jesus now brings this into shoe leather. THe offer to take his Yoke, and Plow with him. THis is discipleship Friend. This is what it means to be a disciple, one who lays down his own prerogatives on how he should plow, and now ties himself directly with His lord and Savior in the Work of God.

What is the fruit of labor? Rest for your soul.