Matthew 12:1-14
The Daily Office
Jesus’s invitation to take on his easy yoke takes on a very specific meaning today. The Pharisees would prefer that soldiers starve and that a man with a crippled hand continue in his disability, rather than break the Mosaic injunction to do no work on the Sabbath. It is the Pharisees who lay heavy burdens on the people in the form of legal demands, on top of the daily burdens of hunger and disease.
To be clear, of course, Jesus didn’t say, throw all your burdens off and skip off into the sunset. He said to take his yoke instead. And what is that yoke? “It is mercy I require, and not sacrifice.” It is not worshiping in the right way, singing the right kind of hymns in church, or kneeling at the right time that God requires, but that we take up each other’s burdens. In doing so, all our burdens will be made easier to bear, and we will see Jesus right beside us.
What unnecessary burdens have you placed on your shoulders? Look for the easy yoke.
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