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 – Matthew 11:29
There are three main points in this scripture:
- We must take Jesus’ burden upon us,
- From him, we must learn to be gentle and lowly like him,
- And the reward will be peace and quiet for our souls.
I want to focus on item two – to learn from him. Here is the creator of the universe willing to teach us not how to be great, rich and powerful, but how to be gentle, lowly, and humble.
Jesus, the son of man and the son of God, could at the click of his fingers summon 10,000 angels. He spoke the word because he is the Word; then the worlds were framed.
He has incredible power undiminished by his human form – seen when he stilled the storm and healed the sick and lame. He doesn’t exhort us to learn how to do all those amazing things, but he implores us to learn how to be gentle and lowly in heart.
Jesus came not to be served but to serve, and his desire for us is that we also serve.
When we serve others, our eyes are taken off our own needs and problems and are redirected toward the needs and problems of others. In this way, we find rest for our souls because we are no longer worrying about ourselves.
Jesus uses the term ‘my yoke’ to highlight that this is not our problem alone for it is his yoke too; and he can bear it. Therefore, if we want to carry our own burdens, we will feel the weight of them but if we carry his yoke, he takes the weight.
Friends and colleagues, let us learn from the master. The servant is no greater than the master and we as his servants must learn from him.