Would you say life is easy or hard? I dare say, most would agree that life is hard. Okay, when you became a Christian, did that make your life easier? Speaking for myself, no. Not at all. Again, I believe most would agree. So, what exactly did Jesus mean when He said:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
Whenever I find myself uncertain about Scripture, the first thing I do is to step out of my world and step into the shoes of the original audience. The entire Bible was written for us, but none of it was written to us. In Matthew’s account, Jesus had just reprimanded some unrepentant cities in the region where He grew up. This specific call of, “Come to me”, was most likely to them.
An unrepentant Jew in Jesus’ day would have rejected Jesus as Messiah and continued to follow the Mosaic Law. The apostle Paul wrote, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1). Paul saw the Mosaic Law as a yoke of slavery and the gospel as freedom from the Law. This freedom was discussed amongst the elders:
The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (Luke 15:6-11)
The Law that enslaved the Jews was a heavy burden. Jesus’ message was that He came to free them from that burden. Yes, there would still be the yoke of His precepts. But His law, compared to the Mosaic Law, is easy. His burden, love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself, is light.