Every event in my life has made me more aware of the yoke and its power over me to transform the way I have dealt with responsibilities and authority.

By Bailey McBride

February 1, 2006

After years of ranting about the importance of meditation, I have resolved that several times this year I am going to share meditations on familiar biblical texts. I want to begin with Matthew’s report of Jesus’ appeal, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.”

I realize how unfamiliar we are with the image of a yoke. Even agricultural communities are so mechanized that yokes are unused. A yoke is a means of governing an animal and linking two or more animals for greater strength. We have to go to Third World countries to see a real yoke. And when I have seen the real thing, I cannot imagine willingly taking on a yoke. The idea is totally counter to my love of personal freedom. I want to do it all my way. I resist bondage, and to consider going under a yoke is a stretch that challenges me.

“Take my yoke upon you.” The yoke has many implications. The first thing that learning from Jesus means is bringing under control our passions and desires for the immoral and ungodly practices of the world. The nature of our culture makes the desires of the flesh so accessible that immorality is rampant and almost totally acceptable.

The yoke that draws to holy living often seems oppressive to the young and spiritually immature, but Jesus says the yoke is easy. In perspective the yoke is easy because it brings none of the guilt and suffering that comes with fleshly, immoral actions.

Further consideration of the yoke reminds me that it forces us to address our “stubborn hearts.” That phrase is used to describe the people Jesus addressed in Mark 3. Jesus had called attention to the withered hand of a man in the synagogue, but the people were ready to condemn Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. Most of us have stubborn hearts that sometimes resist the power of God. We are often confined by our traditions or our private interpretations of Scripture. Wearing the yoke of Jesus, we can manage our stubborn hearts so that we are open to see God at work in our lives and in our world. It helps us cast aside whatever keeps us from knowing God.

For many a yoke suggests work. Yet the yoke is more the instrument of discipline than of work. The yoke of Jesus becomes a powerful guide for our thoughts and actions. In a sense the yoke allows us to see things through the eyes of Jesus. That vision makes us concerned for a lost, sinful world, but it also puts a burden on us to care for the needs of other human beings.

We act to relieve the suffering from natural disasters like Katrina and personal storms like addictions. That yoke intensifies concerns for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are struggling.

The yoke of Jesus is all about heart and mind. It helps shape us in the image of Jesus so that we become meek and gentle in all our dealings. It equips us to deal with egos that drive us to all kinds of excesses. It helps us bring every thought and every action under the control of Jesus. It helps us love spiritual things more than we love the world. When we first put on the yoke, it is strangely uncomfortable and disturbing. But as time passes it begins to feel natural until it eventually seems to be a part of us that we could not function without.

The yoke of Jesus is never forced on us. We must make the decision to put on that yoke. That decision is the first step to surrendering our will, our control to a higher power. We make the decision, but the process of assuming the full weight of the yoke often takes a long time. I made the decision when I was 12 years old to make Jesus the lord of my life, but the full significance of that decision is still registering with me. It became a more important decision as I became an adult, a husband, a father, the parent of grown children, an elder, a grandfather, a professional educator. Every event in my life has made me more aware of the yoke and its power over me to transform the way I have dealt with responsibilities and authority.

The yoke of Jesus makes us increasingly aware of God’s perspective on what is important and what is insignificant. It equips us to resist temptations and to extend our lives to others. It gives us eyes to see more clearly all the aspects of life and the world. It gives us hearts to embrace the weak and the sinful. It extends our understanding of God and his eternal purposes for our lives and for his church.

“Take my yoke and learn of me.” The appeal of Jesus to us mirrors his own role in our salvation. He willingly took the yoke of redeemer and Savior when he became flesh and dwelt among men. Paul emphasizes that yoke Jesus bore. In Philippians 2 he includes what is often considered an early hymn of the church: “your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on the cross!”

Jesus appeals “Take my yoke and learn from me.”