The Yoke of Christ.

"Come unto Me all you who labor and are heavy laden—and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). As we have previously intimated, this was not a general invitation, addressed indefinitely to the careless and giddy masses—but rather is it a gracious call unto those seriously seeking peace of heart and yet are still bowed down with a conscious load of guilt. It is addressed to those who long for rest of soul—but who know not how it is to be obtained, nor where it is to be found. Unto such Christ says, "Come unto Me—and I will give you rest." But He does not leave it at that: He goes on to explain Himself. In a previous article it was pointed out that in Matthew 11:28 our Lord makes the bold affirmation, that He Himself is the Giver of rest; and in what follows He specifies the terms upon which He dispenses it—conditions which must be met by us if we are to obtain the promised rest. Though the rest is freely "given," yet it is given only to those who comply with the revealed requirements of its Bestower.

"Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart—and you shall find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:29). In those words, Christ made known the conditions which we must meet—if we are to obtain the rest of soul which He graciously bestows.

First, we are required to take His yoke upon us. Now the "yoke" is a figure of subjection. The force of this figure may be easily perceived if we contrast in our mind, oxen running loose and wild in the field, and then harnessed to a plow where their owner directs their energies and employs them in his service. Hence we read that, "It is good for a man—that he bears the yoke in his youth" (Lam. 3:27), which means that unless youths are disciplined, brought under subjection and taught to obey their superiors, they are likely to develop into sons of Belial—intractable rebels against God and man. When the Lord took Ephraim in hand and chastised him, he bemoaned himself that he was like "a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke" (Jer. 31:18), which was a sad confession for him to have to make.

The natural man is born "like a wild donkey's colt" (Job 11:12)—completely unmanageable, self-willed, determined to have his own way at all costs. Having lost his anchorage by the Fall—man is like a ship which is entirely at the mercy of the winds and waves. His heart is unmoored—and he runs here and there to his own destruction. Hence his imperative need for the yoke of Christ—if he is to obtain rest for his soul.

In its larger sense, the yoke of Christ signifies complete dependence, unqualified obedience, unreserved submission unto Him. The believer owes this to Christ—both as his rightful Lord, and as his gracious Redeemer. Christ has a double claim upon him. First, he is the creature of His hands: He gave him being, with all his capacities and facilities. But more—He has redeemed him, and thereby acquired an additional claim upon him. The saints are the purchased property of Another, and therefore does the Holy Spirit say to them, "You are not your own, for you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your bodies and in your spirits, which are God's" (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20).

"Take My yoke upon you," by which Christ connoted: surrender yourself to My Lordship, submit to My rule, let My will become yours. As Matthew Henry rightly pointed out, "We are here invited to Christ as Prophet, Priest and King—to be saved, and in order to this, to be ruled and taught by Him." As the oxen are yoked in order to submit to their owner's will and to work under his control, so those who would receive rest of soul from Christ are here called upon to yield to Him as their King. He died for His people—that they should not henceforth live unto themselves, "but unto Him who died for them and rose again" (2 Corinthians 5:15). Our holy Lord requires absolute submission and obedience in all things—both in the inward life and the outward, even to "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). Alas that this is so little insisted upon in a day when the high claims of the Savior are whittled down in an attempt to render His Gospel more acceptable to the unregenerate.

Far different was it in the past, when those who occupied the pulpit kept back nothing which was profitable for their hearers, and when God honored such faithful preaching, by granting the unction of His Spirit, so that the Word was applied in effectual power. Take the following as a sample: "No heart can truly open to Christ, which is not made willing, upon due deliberation to receive Him with His cross of sufferings and His yoke of obedience: 'If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me...Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me' (Matthew 16:24; 11:29). Any exception against either of these is an effectual barrier to union with Christ. He looks upon that soul as not worthy of Him that puts in such an exception: 'he who does not take up his cross, and follow after Me—is not worthy of Me' (Matthew 10:38). If you judge not Christ to be worthy of all sufferings, all losses, all reproaches—He judges you unworthy to bear the name of His disciple. So, for the duties of obedience—called His 'yoke'—he who will not receive Christ's yoke—can neither receive His pardon, nor any benefit by His blood" (John Flavel, 1689).

"Take My yoke upon you." It is to be carefully noted that this yoke is not laid upon us by another—but one which we are to place upon ourselves. It is a definite act on the part of one who is seeking rest from Christ and without which, His rest cannot be obtained. It is a specific act of mind—an act of conscious surrender to His authority—henceforth to be ruled only by Him. Saul of Tarsus took this yoke upon him when, convicted of his rebellion (kicking against the goads) and conquered by a sense of the Savior's compassion, he said, "Lord, what would You have me to do?"

To take Christ's yoke upon us signifies the setting aside of my own will and completely submitting to His sovereignty, the acknowledging of His Lordship in a practical way. Christ demands something more than lip service from His followers, even a loving obedience to all His commands, for He has declared, "Not everyone who says unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of My Father which is in Heaven." And again, "Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them—I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock" (Matthew 7:21, 24).

"Take My yoke upon you." As our "coming" to Christ necessarily implies the turning of our backs upon all that is opposed to Him, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him" (Isaiah 55:7) —so the taking of His "yoke" upon us, presupposes our throwing off the yoke we had worn formerly, namely, the yoke of sin and Satan, the yoke of self-will and self-pleasing. "O Lord, our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us"; confessed Israel of old: then they added, "but we worship you alone" (Isaiah 26:13). Thus the taking of Christ's yoke upon us denotes a change of Masters, a conscious and cheerful change on our part: "Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?" (Romans 6:13, 16).

"Take My yoke upon you." It may sound very much like a paradox, to bid those who labor and are heavy laden and who come to Christ for "rest" to bid them take a "yoke" upon them. Yet in reality it is far from being the case. Instead of the yoke of Christ bringing its wearer into bondage—it introduces him into a real liberty, the only genuine liberty there is. Said the Lord Jesus to those who believed in Him, "If you continue in My Word, then are you My disciples indeed—and you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free" (John 8:31, 32). That is His unchanging order. First, there must be a "continuing in His Word"—that is, an actual and constant walking in the same. As we do this, He makes good His promise, "and you shall know the Truth". That is, know it in an experimental way, know its power, its blessedness. The consequence is, "and the Truth shall make you free"—free from prejudice, from ignorance, from folly, from self-will, from the grievous bondage of Satan, from the power of sin. Then it is that the obedient disciple discovers that the Divine Commandments are "the perfect law of liberty" (James 1:25). Said David, "I will walk at liberty—for I seek Your precepts" (Psalm 119:45).

By means of the yoke, two oxen were united together to plow. The "yoke," then, is a figure of practical union. This is clear from, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14). Here the Lord's people are forbidden to enter into any intimate relations or associations with unbelievers. We are prohibited from marrying, forming business partnerships—or having any religious union with them. As 2 Corinthians 6:14 intimates, the "yoke" speaks of a union which issues in a close communion. And this is also what is in view in the text we are now considering. Christ invites those who come to Him for rest, to enter into a practical union with Him so that they may enjoy holy fellowship together. Thus it was with one of old concerning whom we read, "and Enoch walked with God" (Gen. 5:24). But "can two walk together except they be agreed" (Amos 3:3)? No, they cannot: they must be joined together in sameness of aim and unity of purpose—that of glorifying God.

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