Jesus Makes Life Easy And Light

𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐘 𝟏𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐄𝐱𝐨 𝟑:𝟏𝟑-𝟐𝟎

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟎𝟓:𝟏, 𝟓, 𝟖-𝟗, 𝟐𝟒-𝟐𝟕 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟏𝟏:𝟐𝟖-𝟑𝟎

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕.” (𝒗.30) 

           Some people are fond of saying “𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺, 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵.” This simply means we need to take some time off or just live our life and it will take care of itself. Is this right? It depends. For some who don’t have a goal in life perhaps this is how they’ll go through life. But for others, life is too short to waste it on needless things which is why there are those who have set not only goals to reach in their lifetime but also the standards with which life is to be lived.

          And for many of us who have gone through different stages in life, I am sure you will agree with me that life can be both easy and hard depending on how you approach life. In today’s Gospel, we read about Jesus offering us the kind of respite that can only come from yielding our lives to Him (𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥 𝟒:𝟔-𝟗). Indeed, to be yoked to Christ is the greatest blessing possible.

         Has it ever occurred to you that Jesus in this Gospel passage had equated his yoke in reference to himself as easy and described his burden as light because he actually made the best yokes in Galilee?

         In fact, there was a legend saying that Jesus being a carpenter made the best yokes in all of Galilee and that men from all over the region came to him to buy the best yokes that one could find. It was even pointed out that there was a sign at the door of Joseph’s carpentry shop in Nazareth that says: “𝘔𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭.”

         As with the other narratives in Matthew’s Gospel, the evangelist quotes Jesus using parables when teaching to the Jews and, in this passage he spoke of his yoke that he described as easy and the burdens coming from his teachings as light. As we are not present when he gave this teaching, we need to dig into our historical briefs so that we can get a clearer picture of what he meant with this passage.

         Firstly, the burden that Jesus was referring to in this passage pertains to the rules and regulations that the Scribes and the Pharisees have imposed on the Jews in those days that were not only hard to bear but which keep the people from worshiping and having a relationship with God.

         The religious leaders have expanded the Ten Commandments so that if you look at these Decalogue principles in the modern technological sense it would look like a computer file folder that you can collapse that would open or lead you to different other files.

         Jesus took sides with the people who have been burdened by the seemingly endless demands of the Law made by the religious leaders of his time. Take for example the laws that govern the observance of the Sabbath that forbade Jews from even tying their animals or even in the preparation of food or the intricate ritual in the washing of the hands before every meal.

         And Jesus invites those listening to him to take his yoke which he termed as easy and his burden light. Again, we need to understand what a yoke is and why Jesus used this as a reference. It was because the Jews are familiar with what the yoke was and how it works.

         During the time of Jesus, yokes are made of wood and are fitted to neck of the ox and no two yokes are the same. This means that the oxen are brought to a carpenter who then measures the yoke to be made. The oxen are then brought back to fit the yoke, making the necessary adjustments so that it would fit well and not make it difficult for the ox to carry. In other words, the yoke was tailor fit to the ox.

         As we leave this Biblical scene and fast-forward into our present-day realities, we will find that there are many around us who find themselves in a similar situation in which they carry so much burden that prevent them from entering into a relationship with God. Thus, it becomes necessary that we need to know what could be the yoke that is causing so much burden in our lives.

         This burden could either be our ignorance of who God is or simply our refusal to place ourselves under an unseen force preferring to rely on our instincts moved by our exercise of free will that God himself gave us.

         Or it could be our anxiety, depression, fear and doubt, lack of inner peace and perhaps we are overwhelmed by our sins and transgressions that separate us from God (𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝟓𝟗:𝟏-𝟐).

         At some point in time when all our chips are down, we will come to realize that we need divine assistance to reverse whatever situation we are in and by God’s own design he will seek us and when he finds us he will also invite us to come to him, take his yoke and learn from him.

         When Jesus said his “yoke is easy” it simply meant that he already has measured the size of our neck and shoulders so that his yoke will fit well. This means that whatever tasks that God gives us are measured in accordance with our abilities which is why he gave us the Gifts of the Holy Spirit to equip and empower us in our journey to his Kingdom.

         Jesus also said, “my burden is light.” It doesn’t mean he will make our burdens light, but he will make it light on account of the love that goes with it. When we do others a favor. When we go to the mission field. When we bring the Good News to others. When we minister to those who are hurting and sick. When we shepherd others. When we give alms. All these will become light when these are done in love.

         Do you still remember the song “𝘏𝘦 𝘈𝘪𝘯’𝘵 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺, 𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘔𝘺 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳” 𝘣𝘺 𝘕𝘦𝘪𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘭𝘦𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭? It tells of a story about a boy who was carrying on his shoulders a smaller boy and a man they met on the road remarked “𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺.” 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 “𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯, 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.” Any burden carried in love will always be light.

         Jesus used the yoke as an illustration to show us how we can be relieved from the burden of sin, despair and disobedience and replace these with the yoke that will lead us to deliverance from bondages and into a glorious life and eternal joy.

         “𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒆” (𝒗.29), he said, because it is only through him that we will learn how to live in grace, power, freedom and to live in love, peace and joy by the power of his Word on which we can stand firm (𝐋𝐤 𝟔:𝟒𝟔-𝟒𝟗).  In his mercy and compassion, Christ himself will provide us the strength (𝐏𝐡𝐢 𝟒:𝟏𝟑)  so that his yoke will be easy and his burden light.

         In this the Ordinary Time in the Liturgical Calendar, God invites us to use this period to put into practice the readings and the teachings of Jesus during the liturgical seasons and we can do this by putting all our trust in him because it is only in doing so that we can receive the blessings of his kingdom and those “𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒐𝒂𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕” (𝑰𝒔𝒂 40:31).  (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘺 17, 2025)