“Shoulder my yoke and learn from me”

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The two readings for today, from Exodus 3:13-20 and Matthew 11:28-30, speak of how encounter with God can result in opposite effects. In the text from Exodus, Moses is given a very heavy responsibility, to go and tell the king of Egypt that he must set the Israelite people free. The short passage from Matthew is one where Jesus invites those who are overburdened to come to him and find rest for their souls. Whichever text you take, they are about trusting in God or Jesus to help you with whatever task you have been burdened with. It is to believe you are not alone when you set about carrying out the will of God. Even though it is clear that the king of Egypt is not going to simply let the Israelite people go free, Moses is assured that God will show God’s power and will strike Egypt with all the wonders that God is going to work there. In a similar vein, Jesus says, “Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” The “yoke” is what a beast of burden bears when carrying out a task. It seems to suggest a cruel and meaningless task. But Jesus says, “learn from me”. What do we learn? It is not to react violently to this demand. It is to overcome the violence of cruel taskmasters by the humble willingness to carry out the task for the sake of others who are forced to bear similar burdens and together you can force the taskmasters to remove the yoke and to allow for more humane ways of achieving whatever needs to be done for the good of all. As Jesus says, “my yoke is easy and my burden light”. He is not encouraging us to become mindless slaves. Far from it! Moses was challenged to free his people from slavery and mindless toil in a foreign land. Jesus challenges his followers to change the conditions of work as free workers so that all share the burden and all benefit from the fruit of their labours.