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It was one of those "ah ha!" moments. Such moments are, for me, all too rare but they are certainly special when they do occur. It unfolded something like this:
I have been blessed in more recent times by the invitation of Jesus found in Matthew 11.
Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light."(Matt 11:28-30 NLT)
I have already written an article on this website that I called 'The Yoke Is On Me' and I have had the opportunity with others to unpack the richness of this invitation. Just when I thought I had just about exhausted the richness of these beautiful verses……that's when the "ah ha!" moment dawned.
The dawning went something like this; "Who are the people to whom this invitation is offered?" The answer is pretty clear from the text, "….all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens…." But what are these 'heavy burdens'? (NLT). I looked up the same text in the NIV; it simply uses the word 'burdened'. Since much of my spiritual formation took place during that time in my life when I used the KJV, I turned to it and found that it used the term, 'heavy laden'. Still the question as to the identity or nature of these 'heavy burdens' persisted.
I became aware that I had heard or read somewhere in Scripture a phrase that sounded very similar to what I was reading in this invitation. Then the vagueness yielded to clarity. I turned to Matthew 23 and read the following words of Jesus:
The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.(Matt 23:2-4 KJV)
I then turned to see how the NIV translated these words:
"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. (Matt 23:2-4 NIV)
Finally, I turned again to the NLT.
"The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the Scriptures.So practice and obey whatever they say to you, but don't follow their example. For they don't practice what they teach. They crush you with impossible religious demands and never lift a finger to help ease the burden.(Matt 23:2-4 NLT)
That's it!! What Jesus was referring to were the heavy burdens of religious legalism - the rules and regulations that religious systems demand of all those who would follow that particular system of belief.
Jesus was offering an alternative life and lifestyle to that which the religious leaders were demanding of their followers!
More of this in my next log entry.
