Based on a series of sermons preached in PCC Prayer Meetings in 2023-2024
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light
Matthew 11:28-30
We are in the third year of the Lord Jesus’ public ministry. He is ministering in Capernaum. Herod Agrippa has imprisoned John the Baptist for criticising him. It has been a long year with little news from outside, so John sends a couple of his disciples to confirm with the Lord Jesus whether He was indeed the Messiah who was to come.
We don’t know why he does that. It may be that he is discouraged. Or it may be that he simply wants his disciples to meet the Lord. The Lord Jesus sends the disciples back with an assuring word. Then, He admonishes the people for their attitude towards John’s and His own ministries.
Then, amazed by the apathy of the people, He begins to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done because they repented not. They have the special privilege of hearing God’s word and seeing great miracles that authenticate what is preached. And yet they remain in unbelief.
It is in this context that our Lord looks up to heaven and thanks the Father that He has hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes.
Then, looking down to the multitude with deep kindness and compassion in His heart, He says the words of our text:
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
These words have pierced many a sensitive heart and brought tears to many who have struggled for relief in their souls. But what does our Lord mean?
1. Who Is He Inviting to Come Unto Him?
Christ is not inviting everyone and anyone to come to Him. He is calling all who labour and are heavy laden due to their sin and the consequence of sin to come unto him.
But lest anyone misunderstand, He is not saying that every sinner may come. He is not saying, “Come to me, all you who are living in sin and immorality,” or “Come to me, all you drunkards and gamblers,” or “Come to me, all you who are hypocrites and all you who are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Instead, He says, “Come if you find yourself weary and heavy laden because of your sin!”
Matthew Henry puts it well when he observes:
All those, and those only, are invited to rest in Christ, that are sensible of sin as a burden, and groan under it…
These are those who are not only convinced of the evil of their own sin, but are filled with sorrow for them. They are sick of their sin. They are sad that they keep giving in to temptation. They are, as Calvin explains, “overwhelmed by their sins, [and] filled with alarm at the wrath of God.” It does not matter how wicked they are, or what sin they are guilty of. All who are burdened by their sin or the consequence of their sin may come. And they may come as they are.
So, for the unconverted, the Lord’s call is for those who feel the weight of their sin under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. But make no mistake: Our Lord’s invitation is not restricted only to the unconverted! He says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden.” Do we not sometimes find ourselves overwhelmed, weary and burdened in our struggle against sin? Thank God that our Lord says, “Come!”
Are you burdened? How many of us are filled with guilt and joylessness in our Christian walk? Listen! The Lord Jesus is calling you: Come! “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden.”
2. What Does It Mean to Take His Yoke?
What is a yoke? It is not just something heavy. A yoke is a wooden beam fitted on an ox, or more usually, a pair of oxen to enable them to pull a load together.
The Lord is speaking metaphorically. The yoke represents not just a burden but a principle of servitude and motivation of service. When the Lord says, “Take my yoke upon you,” He is not saying, “Carry my burdens.” He is saying, “Serve me! Or “Serve under my leadership rather than under another; let me direct your life.” To “Learn of me” is essentially to do the same thing, namely to be guided by Him.
Those who are weary and heavy-laden are burdened because they are under the yoke of another. They are under the yoke of bondage to the law, to guilt due to sin, or to a sense of failure to meet expectations.
He whom Christ invites to come to Him is burdened because he has allowed himself to be under the yoke of something other than Christ. He may still be an unbeliever, or He may even be a believer who has forgotten that He needs no longer bear his own burdens. He may be backslidden. He may not even realise that he is backslidden. He is doing things out of fear of man, to be seen of man. He has lost his joy of salvation. He finds the Christian walk burdensome. He has become entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
You do not need to remain under these yokes (cf. Gal 5:1). Christ invites you to take His yoke upon you. He is inviting you to break free from your old yoke and to take His yoke upon yourself.
What is it to take Christ’s yoke upon you? We must be careful not to interpret Him as saying that we should stop doing what we used to and start doing Christian things. He is not saying, “You were under the yoke of Old Testament law; cast that away, and take the lighter yoke of gospel duties.”
Is the yoke of the gospel really lighter? If the yoke of the gospel is so light, why do so many find it a great burden to live the Christian life?
No, no; the yoke of Christ is not merely another set of duties and responsibilities. Taking on the yoke of Christ is not merely about stopping to observe the ceremonial laws, to observe Christian laws. That was the error of some of the Puritans, such as Richard Baxter, who tended to be Neonomians.
Instead, to take the yoke of Christ is to live by faith in Christ rather than by sight and sense.
In other words, to take His yoke is to live as one who is conscious of being forgiven, of being covered by the righteousness of Christ, and of being made righteous by the Holy Spirit working within Him.
To put it theologically, to take His yoke is to live in conscious union with Christ and to enjoy communion with Him in justification, adoption and sanctification.
3. Why Is His Yoke Easy, and His Burden Light?
Simply stated, His burden is light because He bears it for us and gives us the power to bear it with Him. Think of it this way: most yokes are placed on two oxen. When you take the yoke of Christ upon yourself, the other ox is, as it were, Christ himself! And not only so, but He sees to it that He bears most of the weight so that what you have to bear is negligible!
Were it not for the fact that we are covered by the righteousness of Christ and know that we are accepted by God despite our failures, our Christian duties would not be much lighter than the duties that unbelievers or Jews may have.
But if you take the yoke of Christ upon yourself, you will begin to live a life of freedom and power.
Freedom because you are forgiven in the Lord Jesus Christ; freedom because God accepts you on account of the righteousness of Christ imputed to you and covering you; freedom because you know that you are no longer condemned for your sin; freedom because you know that God no longer judges you according to the cleanness of your hands and the purity of your heart; freedom because you know God has received you as His child and will never cast you away despite your failures.
And power! Power because the Holy Spirit is given unto you and the righteousness of Christ is imparted to you so that you begin to love God and His ways; power because you are enabled to live acceptably before God; power because you have been given eternal life, which is the life of knowing and enjoy God in Christ; power because you have victory over sin and the world.
Conclusion
The yoke of Christ was purchased with a price, even the blood of the lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world.
Are you weary and heavy laden because of your sin? Come to the Lord and take His yoke upon yourself. Learn of Him, and you will find rest for your soul, for His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. Amen.
—JJ Lim