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In my last log entry I was reflecting on the invitation of Jesus in Matthew 11/28……. Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." And, in seeking to identify the nature of "heavy burdens", I linked it with what Jesus said further on in Matthews gospel:
"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)
What Jesus was referring to in both passages 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 and its leaders. Jesus was offering an alternative life and lifestyle to that which the religious leaders were demanding of their followers!
Once again the key imagery that helps us understand the vast difference between that which religion offers as compared with the life that Jesus offers is the imagery of the yoke. Listen to the way Jesus describes how the leaders of religious systems treat their followers:
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 23:4 NIV)
This is the imagery of the yoke. Religion always makes demands that require people to do more, try harder, jump higher etc. These demands are the heavy loads put on "men's shoulders" - which is where the yoke always goes! By contrast, Jesus invites us to take His yoke upon us because, when compared with the heavy burdens of religious laws and legalism, Jesus says, "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matt 11:30 NIV) or, as in the NLT, "For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light"
Why would anyone choose the crushing demands of religion where they are virtually left to their own devices with no one willing to help, or lift a finger to support them? Whereas Jesus is offering them a yoke in which He takes the weight of responsibility and gives us rest for our souls?
More about these comparisons in my next log entry.
