Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

This is one of the most loved of all Gospel passages.

A yoke is a curved piece of timber that links two draft animals, one to the other. The Jewish people used the yoke image for the Mosaic Law. Linked to the Law, one traveled right paths.

Jesus takes that image and applies it to himself: “Come to me…Tame my yoke upon you…”

Then he says, “My yoke is easy, and my burden light.” And he really means it.

I may have a general impression that to commit myself to be a disciple of the Lord is a fine thing indeed, but it is a long, difficult, burdensome road I have to walk.

But the Lord says something quite different: “You will find rest for yourselves…my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

It’s my yoke that is heavy, not the Lord’s. We all have our own burdens. It may be my job, family struggles, my terrible self-image, the mess I’m in, the weight of past sins. When I am tied to these burdens, life is a difficult road.

But Jesus knows all about me, and he says, “Come to me…learn from me…I will give you rest.”

And he will.