Why Jesus said his yoke is light?

Daniel9v9

Christian Forums Staff
Chaplain
Site Supporter
Jun 5, 2016
1,946
1,724
38
London
Visit site
✟400,585.00
Country
United Kingdom
Faith
Lutheran
Marital Status
Married
Matthew
11:29 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.
11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Does it mean Jesus will make our lives easier?

It does not mean a comfortable life on earth, as some may dream (Philippians 1:29, John 15:18, 1 Peter 3:8-22, 1 Peter 5:10, Acts 5:41, Matthew 10:22) - just look at the lives of the Apostles and Job, for example, who suffered a lot in the body - not to mention Christ himself (1 Peter 2:21). It means something much greater: That we are not under the Law (Romans 6:14); that salvation is an entirely free gift from God, and that because of this - the Gospel - we can do good works without a heavy yoke. That is, thanks to God, we are free to do good works out of love, as opposed to fear of death.

The above should be understood in light of the fruits of the Holy Spirit that follows a new birth in Christ as found in Galatians 5:22-23, and also what Christ says regarding love over fear in 1 John 4:18

I think the best summary the Bible makes about all of this is Ephesians 2:8-10:
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

God bless :)
 
Upvote 0

com7fy8

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2013
13,700
6,130
Massachusetts
✟585,752.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Jesus means that in us we will be living in God's own peace which keeps our hearts and our minds so we do not suffer in confusion and anxiety and nasty angry reacting and arguing and complaining and unforgiveness and other anti-love things. We have rest in us, because God's grace is almighty to keep Satanic things from messing with us. And we have the personal guiding of God's peace ruling in us >

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful." (Colossians 3:15)

God satisfies and guides us, in this peace. And this makes us "content with such things as you have" (Hebrews 13:5), so we do not give in to Satan's dominating and dictatorial drives for pleasures; enough is enough > Philippians 4:11-13.

And "Love suffers long and is kind," our Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:4. God's love in us is kind to our souls while making us also kind to others, so we can be pleasantly patient inside ourselves, spiritually and emotionally.

2 Corinthians 12:7-11 < because of how God's grace almighty took care of Paul inside himself, Paul took "pleasure" in his troubles which were for Jesus.

But we can get our own selves into things which are hard for us, if we do not keep on being prayerful and submitting to how our Heavenly Father personally guides us in His own peace. Therefore, if negative and nasty and naughty stuff gets started in us, we need to stop right away and seek God to correct and restore us into sweet and pleasant and sensitive intimacy with Him and submit to how He rules us in His peace, and discover what He really has us doing with Him :)

One problem is we can make sacrifices which God is not leading us to do. And then we can get tied up in things and things can get us under their power (1 Corinthians 6:12). And then can come stress and worry and hurry and getting hurt and wasted and burnt out. So, keep learning how to walk with Jesus in His love's "rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:28-30)

And enjoy loving. Do not suppose that we can have rest by staying away from our Jesus family people. Yes, other children of God can be wrong, somehow, and we can get hurt, even, and get in scuffs. But our Father has us so we need one another, to minister God's own word and His grace to each other > 1 Peter 4:17 < so we can not have true peace and rest by isolating ourselves and judging other Christians as an excuse to stay away from one another, but >

"with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love," (Ephesians 4:2)

We need to have "longsuffering" ready, then, all the time, even with ones who really are Christians and who are mature. Because any of us can be wrong, at times; and our Father knows this; so He commands us all to be ready with "longsuffering", so we are ready to help to restore one another (Galatians 6:1, James 5:16) > Jesus never gave up on any of His disciples. So, while we are ready to be longsuffering and to forgive each other, we are strong in His rest so we can not be taken down and out about how any of us can at times be wrong.

In case another Christian or a church leader is wrong, we can have rest by depending on God to do what is right. With God, we always can do the thing which is right, which God has us doing > because of his obedience, Abraham has gotten "all the nations of the earth" "blessed" > see Genesis chapter 22. God uses prayer, correction, and example > 1 Peter 5:3.

"Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." (Ephesians 4:31-32)

This comes with actively seeking our Father for His correction > Hebrews 12:4-11 > while growing in Jesus who shares His own pleasant rest with us.
 
Upvote 0

Shempster

ImJustMe
Site Supporter
Dec 28, 2014
1,560
786
✟258,881.00
Country
United States
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
Married
Its seems like an oxymoron. A burden is not going to be light, but heavy and difficult. I think he was referring to this "burden" as a responsibility and an obligation. The world system piles these things on us to where we feel stressed out by the pressure of keeping up with them. We must constantly manage our egos and protect our reputation. Jesus didn't roll that way.

So this burden HE offers is easy and light. The responsibility and obligation is to love each other. Forcing ourselves to love others is a heavy burden. But he said his burden was light. The difference is that when we truly love and respect others from our hearts, it is easy.
We don't have to worry about rejection, gossip, backbiting, and the like because we can shrug it off.
Once our hearts are clean we have nothing to worry about.
 
Upvote 0

LittleLambofJesus

Hebrews 2:14.... Pesky Devil, git!
Site Supporter
May 19, 2015
125,492
28,587
73
GOD's country of Texas
Visit site
✟1,237,240.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Politics
US-Libertarian
Matthew
11:29 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.
11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Does it mean Jesus will make our lives easier?
He said my "burden" is light,
what he meant for burden?
Good thread.
Let's first check out the Greek words used in that verse and how they are used in other places.

11:30 For my yoke/zugoV<2218>
is easy/crhstoV<5543>, and my burden/fortion<5413> is light/elafron<1645>
.

Here is the meaning and usage of "yoke""

2218
zygós – properly, a yoke; a wooden bar placed over the neck of a pair of animals so they can pull together; (figuratively) what unites (joins) two people to move (work) together as one.
a coupling, i.e. (figuratively) servitude (a law or obligation); also (literally) the beam of the balance (as connecting the scales):--pair of balances, yoke.......
b. metaphorically, used of any burden or bondage:....................

Genesis 1:1 (YLT)
"yoke" occurs 56 times in 48 verses

1st time used:

Gen 27:40
and by thy sword dost thou live, and thy brother dost thou serve; and it hath come to pass when thou rulest, that thou hast broken his yoke from off thy neck.'

Paul describes the yoke as coming back under the law of Moses/flesh instead of Christ/spirit:

Acts 15:10 “Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the Disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?"

Last time used:

Reve 6:5
And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, 'Come and behold!' and I saw, and lo, a black horse, and he who is sitting upon it is having a yoke/zygós<2218> in his hand,

Here is the Greek word #5543

is easy/kind/suitable/gracious/crhstoV<5543>

Strong's Greek: 5543. χρηστός (chréstos) -- serviceable, good

Cognate: 5543 xrēstós (an adjective, derived from 5530 /xráomai, "to furnish what is suitable, useful") – properly, useful (serviceable, productive); well-fitted (well-resourced); useful (beneficial, benevolent). See 5544 (xrēstotēs).
On the spiritual plane, 5543 /xrēstós ("suitable, usefully kind") describes what God defines is kind – and therefore also eternally useful! "We have no adjective in English that conveys this blend of being kind and good at the same time" (M. Vincent).

A few verses it is used in:

Luke 6:35 Adj-NMS

GRK: ὅτι αὐτὸς χρηστός ἐστιν ἐπὶ
NAS: for He Himself is kind to ungrateful
KJV: he is kind unto the unthankful
INT: for he kind is to

Romans 2:4 Adj-NNS

GRK: ὅτι τὸ χρηστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ
NAS: not knowing that the kindness of God
KJV: that the goodness of God
INT: that the kindness of God

......and my burden/fortion<5413>............

Strong's Greek: 5413. φορτίον (phortion) -- a burden

STRONGS NT 5413: φορτίον

φορτίον, φορτίου, τό (diminutive of φόρτος, but diminutive only in form not in significance; cf. Alexander Buttmann (1873) Ausf. Spr. ii; p. 440; (Winers Grammar, § 2, 1 d. at the end)), from Hesiod down, the Sept. for מַשָׂא, a burden, load:

Last time used:

Galatians 6:5
for each one his own burden shall bear.

............is light/elafron<1645>

#1645 only occurs in 2 verses.

STRONGS NT 1645: ἐλαφρός

ἐλαφρός, ἐλαφρα, ἐλαφρόν, light in weight, quick, agile; a light φορτίον is used figuratively concerning the commandments of Jesus, easy to be kept,

One occurs 2 times:

2 Occurrences
2 Occ.

Used in conjunction with "affliction?

2 Corinthians 4:17
For our light and temporary affliction is producing for us an eternal glory that far outweighs our troubles
.

Matthew 11:30 Commentaries: "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

It becomes children to be grateful. When we come to God as a Father, we must remember that he is Lord of heaven and earth, which obliges us to come to him with reverence as to the sovereign Lord of all; yet with confidence, as one able to defend us from evil, and to supply us with all good. Our blessed Lord added a remarkable declaration, that the Father had delivered into his hands all power, authority, and judgment. We are indebted to Christ for all the revelation we have of God the Father's will and love, ever since Adam sinned.
Our Saviour has invited all that labour and are heavy-laden, to come unto him. In some senses all men are so. Worldly men burden themselves with fruitless cares for wealth and honours; the gay and the sensual labour in pursuit of pleasures; the slave of Satan and his own lusts, is the merest drudge on earth. Those who labour to establish their own righteousness also labour in vain...........
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: LLoJ and W2L
Upvote 0

Shempster

ImJustMe
Site Supporter
Dec 28, 2014
1,560
786
✟258,881.00
Country
United States
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
Married
What it means is that his requirements are that we love God and love others. It's really not hard once you get over yourself.
I went to a church for a while where they said Jesus yoke was their church rules. It was nearly impossible to keep up with all of the rules they had. It was anything but light.
 
Upvote 0

Kevin Snow

Well-Known Member
May 14, 2018
1,078
801
33
Wesley Chapel
✟24,373.00
Country
United States
Faith
Presbyterian
Marital Status
Single
It refers also to the progress of our faith. As it says here,

therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’ ~Isaiah 28:16

These scriptures are in line with each other. We need not be in haste to become more than we are in Christ. Christ will bring to us our food at the proper time. Even though there are so many things which he could tell us, he will not overburden us with them. You can see this very thing happening here:

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ~John 16:12

So then we know also that those of us who are brought near to the Lord will commit the same steps and walk in the same way in which he walked, giving the sheep their food at the proper time:

Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? ~Matthew 24:45

This is the meaning of his yoke being easy and his burden being light. Our progress by faith in obedience will be sure but it will not be more than we can bear. We must progress however in obedience through faith or we are not his children, as it says here,

whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. ~1 John 2:6
 
Upvote 0
This site stays free and accessible to all because of donations from people like you.
Consider making a one-time or monthly donation. We appreciate your support!
- Dan Doughty and Team Christian Forums

Mark51

Newbie
Site Supporter
Nov 11, 2014
495
97
72
✟89,056.00
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
No, I do not suspect that this will lessen our everyday anxieties of life-only our spiritual ones.

By learning from Jesus‘ examples, we become his followers. Liken this to someone we admire, respect such as an entertainers, athletes, politicians and so forth. Do not some of us try to emulate them in such matters as dress, hair styles, philosophies, speech, possessions…etcetera.

The load that Jesus carries is doing God’s will. (John 4:34; 15:8) Yes, imitating Jesus requires courage, determination, endurance, and strength of which most of us lack and therefore we could not last. However, with God’s spirit, such a load will not be too heavy to bear.-2 Corinthians 4:7; 1 John 5:3.
 
Upvote 0

bcbsr

Newbie
Mar 17, 2003
4,085
2,318
Visit site
✟201,456.00
Faith
Christian
Matthew
11:29 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.
11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Does it mean Jesus will make our lives easier?
It's because of the nature of regeneration.

"For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world." 1John 5:3

"No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God." 1John 3:9
 
Upvote 0