Summer 1998

PREFACE

By: Michael Tao

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)

In the above verses, Jesus Christ invites those that have difficulties in their life situation to come to Him. He is the one that will give them "rest in their souls". The word "soul" in the Bible can mean the spiritual part of us, which is most important, and never perishes. Our soul, which is our spirit, also called ghost; will either go to Heaven or hell, depends on whether we have accepted Christ as our Saviour or not. The word "soul" can also mean the emotional portion of ourselves.

I personally believe it means both in this particular place of the Bible. When one has established true rest in our spirits by belief in Christ, then the true peace and rest in our emotion follows. With this peace in God, and rest in Christ, Christians are strengthened and able to handle difficult circumstances. There will not be any true rest before one settles his eternity.

This promise in Matthew 11:28-30 has been a great comfort to Christians over all these centuries.

The Jewish people at the time of Christ were under the Mosaic Law which is tedious and practically impossible to observe completely. Through the failure to observe the law, sinful men can have a glimpse of God's standard of Holiness, and their works come short of the glory of God. Another purpose of the law is pointing to the coming of the Messiah.

Jesus came. He was crucified, buried and resurrected, then the dispensation of Grace began. Now mankind is saved by the Grace of God. Grace is a free gift, so salvation is not by works. In the above verses, Christ invites those Jews who are much labored under the law to come to him, to replace their burden with his yoke of Grace. His yoke is easy, and they can find true rest in Christ.

The yoke that Christ referred to was actually a wooden crossbar, harnessed on the necks of two animals, for example, a pair of oxen; so that they can labor together. If we can share the yoke with Christ, who is strong and never fails, our burden can be much lightened. However no ox can carry more than one load, so to share yoke with Him, we have to unload our own burden first.

Jews that were and that are under the law, would have to put aside their burden of self-righteousness, thus able to take on the yoke of Grace.

These verses can also be applied to the lost gentiles, they also need to unload their burden of sin and come to Christ. They need to learn from Him, to identify with His death, burial and resurrection; so that they can enter into the Kingdom of God and can have true rest.

For the saints who are entangled by the care of life and deceitfulness of richness, Christ also encourages them to come and learn from His humility and His meekness. Strives, greediness, failure, frustration originate from prideful and unrepentant heart. To learn from Him, so that we separate from the world, we value things eternal, we focus on our spiritual growth, we become responsible at home, in the church and in the community. Christ is constantly calling His rebellious children to return and unload, and share His yoke through self-control (meekness) and humility (lowliness in heart). Without these two, repentance is impossible.

It is His yoke, the Great Commission, we need to give up our will to follow. To make the burden light, we must work with Him and not against Him, then the true peaceful rest that this world cannot promise, becomes a reality.