Mennonite Weekly Review

Although it seems hard to believe now, there was a time when most people did not have access to luggage with wheels. That luxury was only for people in the airline industry. I remember being in airports and seeing the pilots and flight attendants coming off the plane wheeling their flight bags and thinking, “A suitcase on wheels — what a nifty idea!” No, the rest of us had to carry our suitcases, no matter how heavy, through airports and in train stations. On a trip to Europe, I remember lugging my suitcase several blocks between train station and hotel and feeling tired and weighed down when I got to my destination, especially if I had to run to catch a train.

Dueckman

Then not so many years ago, someone came up with the brilliant idea of putting wheels on luggage for the ordinary tourist. Bravo! Now travelers could quickly cover long distances, such as between airport concourses, just by pulling their luggage behind them. When was the last time you were in an airport and saw many people still carrying an ordinary suitcase? And why would you want to carry a heavy bag when wheels on the bottom will bear and move the weight with little effort on your part?

This is what I think of when I read today’s passage about Jesus’ words on burdens, rest and yokes. Maybe this is the kind of illustration he’d give if walking among us today. I’ve never seen oxen yoked together, though this image would have been common to Jesus’ listeners. Yoked animals halve the burden they are to bear because of sharing the weight.

Revelation to the ordinary

In this passage Jesus is addressing the system of oppressive rules that can weigh people down. Those Jews who were striving to follow the letter of the law carried that oppressive weight. They could never be good enough. Thus in verse 25 Jesus addresses the Father directly with a prayer of thanks and praise that God has chosen to reveal truths not to the proud and haughty, such as the Pharisees and scribes who thought of themselves as wise, but to ordinary, humble folk.

These are the very ones who failed to see Jesus as the Messiah he was. Those who choose not to see are as blind as the physically sightless men Jesus healed in last week’s lesson. In verse 27 Jesus reiterates his position of sonship that we saw revealed at his baptism (3:17). Here Jesus claims to be the only one to truly know God and God’s will. It is an indication of Jesus’ intimate relationship with his Father.

The yoke of sin lifted

Jesus’ teaching is not oppressive. It leads to inner peace and satisfaction. Just read these words again from verses 28-30 and see if you don’t feel a sense of calm. They are wonderful, restful words.

“I am gentle and humble of heart” says Jesus in verse 29, further confirming his identity as Messiah. In the Old Testament, it was predicted that the Messiah would be gentle: “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey” (Zech. 9:9).

Just as a pair of oxen pull together, we are never called upon to bear life’s burdens alone. Christ is always with us. He offers to have us trade the unbearable burden of the yoke of sin for the shared yoke of freedom from sin. It is in Jesus that we find our true rest.

Amy Dueckman, a former staff writer for Mennonite Weekly Review, works for Canadian Mennonite and Mennonite Central Committee British Columbia and is a member of Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Abbotsford, B.C.