Christ's yoke is "easy" and "light"?

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IwishIknew

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The lives of the saints are littered with stressful and painful trials, tribulations and selfless sacrifice. So how is it that Jesus can say "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11?

Does it have something to do with this? “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” - John 14
 
IwishIknew said:
The lives of the saints are littered with stressful and painful trials, tribulations and selfless sacrifice. So how is it that Jesus can say "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11?

Does it have something to do with this? “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” - John 14
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Yes, the peace of Christ, even in the midst of a storm, is still superior to anything the world has to offer. It’s a matter of grace, and the nearer we draw to Him the more of it we have.
 
IwishIknew said:
The lives of the saints are littered with stressful and painful trials, tribulations and selfless sacrifice. So how is it that Jesus can say "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11?

Does it have something to do with this? “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” - John 14
Click to expand...
I have often wondered this myself. I came to the conclusion that Jesus had a perfect trust in God his Father, and therefore did not worry about anything, because he knew God was in control.

When we can completely trust God and believe that he holds every aspect of our lives in his hands, then we, too, will not worry about anything and our burdens will be light indeed. (easier said than done, but not impossible as we grow and mature in Christ.)
 
When I see what unreasonable demands the world puts on women, to be skinny, to have clear skin, to have nice clothes, nails just so and on and on, it’s very freeing to know that God loves you whether you need to lose weight or not, if you have blemishes, etc. To be a son or daughter of God, to be plugged into his grace and walking daily with him is a great privilege. To see people who are under the slavery and darkness of addictions, it’s easier to see God’s freedom and light burden when you come out from that. When you are carrying bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness in your heart, then you go to confession and let God heal you, his burden is indeed light. The world would have you carry that always, but God says you don’t have to.
 
IwishIknew said:
The lives of the saints are littered with stressful and painful trials, tribulations and selfless sacrifice. So how is it that Jesus can say "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11?

Does it have something to do with this? “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” - John 14
Click to expand...
The lives of the saints are littered with hardships because they choose the way of Christ which is fundamentally at odds with the way of the world.

When Jesus says His burden is light, it is because He is with you helping you out with carrying it via the Graces obtained in part from partaking of the sacraments.
 
This passage must be taken in contrast to the legalistic religious “yoke” that had been imposed on the Jews by their hierarchy, about which Jesus said, “Woe to you lawyers also! for you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.” (Luke 11:46, RSV)
 
DaveBj said:
This passage must be taken in contrast to the legalistic religious “yoke” that had been imposed on the Jews by their hierarchy, about which Jesus said, “Woe to you lawyers also! for you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.” (Luke 11:46, RSV)
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Yes. And I might add…that Jesus us loves us THAT MUCH. To carry our burdens, and those of the entire world. Willingly and with great love.
God bless you.
 
Imagine a yoke stretched over one persons back so that person is carrying the full weight of a load. Now imagine a yoke being stretched upon the shoulders of two persons one being Jesus the other being one of us… (as if two oxen would pull the load with a yoke connecting them instead of one carrying the full load),The load then is much lighter to bear with Jesus sharing our load…🙂
 
Simca said:
I have often wondered this myself. I came to the conclusion that Jesus had a perfect trust in God his Father, and therefore did not worry about anything, because he knew God was in control.

When we can completely trust God and believe that he holds every aspect of our lives in his hands, then we, too, will not worry about anything and our burdens will be light indeed. (easier said than done, but not impossible as we grow and mature in Christ.)
Click to expand...
👍:clapping:
 
IwishIknew said:
The lives of the saints are littered with stressful and painful trials, tribulations and selfless sacrifice. So how is it that Jesus can say "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11?

Does it have something to do with this? “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” - John 14
Click to expand...
I’ve heard it said that this could be better translated as “my yoke fits” (which also makes me wonder that as Christ was a carpenter, if He took special care when He made yokes for animals to ensure they “fit” and were as light as possible).

This could be interpreted as saying that the yoke or burden He will put upon us will “fit” our gifts, talents and personalities. He won’t expect us to do the impossible or try to force us into a certain mould as the world does.
 
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