What’s the deal with the yoke?
We all know that a yoke is a piece of wood shaped to fit over the necks of two animals, generally oxen, joining them together for the purpose of doubling your pulling power. When Jesus asks us to take His yoke, He is asking us to join Him in His mission. He isn’t saying “I’ll watch while you do the pulling” but rather, “come and join me in the work”. This passage begins to explain how Jesus sees us. We are co-laborers with Christ, not peons, not slaves, not beings created simply to do his bidding. We are created to be partners with Christ in the work of making disciples. The reason Jesus came to earth was two fold: He came to offer himself as a sacrifice for our sins, and He came to train disciples who would make other disciples. He then commissioned the disciples he made to go and make more disciples, thereby including them in the work He was doing. The yoke is a celebration of identity for the Christian. It is a sign of partnership, not obligation or dumb labor. It says that we are part of the family of God, created in His image, filled with His presence and commissioned to do His work, through His power and wisdom, both of which we have access to because we are made in the image of God. I have grown fond of saying recently “we are of the God-kind” meaning that we were created by an all powerful being and we carry His attributes in our design. Not only that, we are filled with His eternal, all powerful presence and made aware of His very thoughts. Incredible!
These things are what make us qualified for the invitation to join the Lord in His work.
Willingly,
PR