 |  |
and it is then, at that time, and in these circumstances, that we read: "At that time Jesus
answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast
hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so,
Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight" (verses 25, 26). It is in this setting and
context that the words of comfort follow: "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For My yoke is easy,
and My burden is light" (verses 28-30).
The following sentences taken
from
With Christ in Palestine,
by
A. T. Schofield, M.D., are suggestive:--
"I was looking at a very good commentary as to what `yoke' is supposed to mean
here, and I found it means `fellowship, restraint, and subjection'. No doubt these are
three minor uses of a yoke . . . . . but the chief great primary use of a `yoke' is seldom
grasped by Christian people; most are so occupied with the secondary uses I have named
that its great purpose is entirely missed. A yoke first of all is a contrivance to enable
oxen to pull a load along the road or across the field; `yoke' is simply another word for
`harness'. Harness is not put upon an animal primarily for subjection or restraint or
fellowship; it is put on to enable it to draw a load.
Speaking now for a moment as a physician, who sees a great many nervous and
broken-down people of all sorts, I find that the greater number are not only sick in their
bodies, but also sick in their minds, and what they mostly suffer from is a complaint
which I call `sore neck'.
What, then, had made the neck sore? It is that the collar either does not fit, or it has
not been properly padded . . . . . Christ has come to us and says, It is not enough for you
to come to Me as weary and heavy laden and find rest for your conscience in Myself:
you want some means of shielding your heart from all the petty worries and troubles
. . . . . and all the contrariety and meaningless vexations of this world of sorrow . . . . .
When the yoke is easy then the burden is light.
What, then, is this yoke padded with? The two materials mentioned are meekness and
lowliness of heart . . . . . I take it, meekness is our attitude towards man, and lowliness is
the attitude towards God."
It is something of this that we find in Exod. 33: 15: "And he said unto Him, If
Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence." Now it is in connection with the
very fact that the Lord had spoken to Moses face to face, that we meet the statement:
"Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the
earth" (Numb. 12: 3). It is evident that this meekness is displayed on many occasions
when lesser souls would have given way to impatience. But alas for human nature! the
meekest man on earth spoke unadvisedly with his lips and failed; One only could ever be
the "perfecter of faith". Moses reasoned that the presence of the Lord was the great
evidence of His favour:--
"For wherein shall it be known here that I and Thy people have found grace in Thy
sight? Is it not in that Thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and Thy people,
from all the people that are upon the face of the earth" (Exod. 33: 16).