“Take My Yoke upon You, and Learn of Me”
Lesson
10 – Matthew 11:28-30; 12:1-13; Luke 7:36-50; 13:10-17
Introduction
If you were called forward today in class and we
progressively filled your arms with a larger and larger stack of books until
your carrying capacity was reached, how far could you carry that burden before
stopping to rest? What arrangements would you have to make to carry the burden
a great distance? There are many kinds
of loads, or burdens. Some are physical, while others are spiritual or
emotional and therefore, they are not as easily seen. Many unseen burdens can
exceed our strength to bear them alone, and we become weary.
This lesson discusses how the Lord can lighten our
burdens and bring us rest. We are promised that as we take the Savior’s yoke
upon us and do his will, we will find the peace and joy that he has promised.
Jesus invited us to take
his yoke upon us and learn of him.
Matt.
11:28 The
Savior invites those who
“labour and are heavy laden” to come unto Him.
This applies to those who bear physical, emotional, or spiritual
burdens. The Lord can “give [us] rest” from these burdens by giving us comfort,
guidance, forgiveness, and inspiration as we let him direct our lives.
A
yoke is a frame or bar that can be placed on one or two people or animals
pulling or carrying a heavy load. The yoke balances the burden and makes it
easier to manage. In addition to its literal meaning, the concept of a yoke
also appears in many scriptures as a metaphor for bondage or servitude (see
Jeremiah 28:2; Alma 44:2). To take Christ’s yoke upon us means that we will
humbly do his will and allow him to guide and direct our lives.
Matt.
11:30 The
Lord states, “My yoke is
easy, and my burden is light”. The Savior’s yoke is easy in the sense that it is shared
with the Lord and he can compensate for our lack of capacity and
inability. Some people think that the
Lord’s teachings are too restrictive and that that is in itself a burden, but
when we realize that obeying and serving the Lord makes our burdens light by
avoiding the consequences of sin and the associated guilt, the yoke is truly
easy.
Jesus declared that he is
Lord of the Sabbath.
Matt.
12:1-2 The
Pharisees condemned their actions when they saw Jesus’ disciples pick corn on
the Sabbath. The Pharisees’ interpretation of the Mosaic law ignored the true
spirit and purpose of the Sabbath and instead focused on traditions that
greatly restricted Sabbath activities.
Matt.
12:3-8 The
Lord taught from a different perspective as he responded to their accusations.
Matt.
12:7 What
Jesus meant when he said, “I
will have mercy, and not sacrifice” was that He wanted the people to focus on loving
others, not merely on performing public religious ceremonies. This principle
should guide our Sabbath activities.
Matt.
12:10-13; Luke 13:10-17 Jesus taught about the purpose of the Sabbath when he
healed the man with the withered hand and the woman bound by an
infirmity—teaching that doing well and doing godly service to others is
acceptable on the Sabbath.
The
Savior also taught about the Sabbath in Mark 2:27-28 (The Joseph Smith
Translation of Mark 2:26 explains that the Sabbath was given as a “day
of rest” and a day to “glorify God.”)
Think about what you can do on the Sabbath day to
glorify God.
Consider how keeping the Sabbath day holy can make
our burdens light and bring us rest.
Jesus forgave a woman in
the house of Simon the Pharisee.
Luke
7:37 The
woman who entered the house of Simon the Pharisee carried the burden of sin. Luke
7:36; 7:44-50 The woman did that which allowed Jesus to take away her
burden by showing love and having faith.
Consider what you can do so that the Savior can
remove the burden of sin from our lives.
The
sinful woman and Simon the Pharisee differed in their attitudes toward Jesus:
§
The woman demonstrated repentance, respect, humility, and love.
§
Simon attitude reflected pride, lack of courtesy, and a judgmental
attitude.
Elder James E. Talmage taught: “It was a custom of the
times to treat a distinguished guest with marked attention; to receive him with
a kiss of welcome, to provide water for washing the dust from his feet, and oil
for anointing the hair of the head and the beard. All these courteous
attentions were omitted by Simon” (Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed.
[1916], 261).
The qualities that the woman possessed are important
as we repent and seek forgiveness, so they lighten our burden.
The qualities that Simon possessed keep us from
repenting and thereby increase our burden. Simon’s attitude toward the woman
would have made her burden seem heavier. We can learn from the Savior’s
response to the woman.
Luke
7:37 Even
though she had not been invited and would risk being treated unkindly by Simon
and his household, the woman came directly to Christ as soon as she knew where
to find him.
We can learn from her example that we need to seek Christ regardless of the obstacles that might keep us from repenting and coming unto Christ.
Luke
7:41-50 We
learn from the parable of the two debtors who were forgiven their debts.
Luke
7:44-50 (with emphasis on verse 47-48) Sin is comparable to debt. Having Christ as our
“creditor” makes our burdens light because he is willing to forgive as we
repent and change our lives to be more worthy.
We
can choose to take upon ourselves the burdens of the world or the yoke of
Jesus. Christ’s teachings are true and we will find rest when we follow him.
Learn of Christ and obey his teachings so that you can find rest and peace.
Additional Teachings in
these scriptures:
The importance of unity
Matt.
12:22-30 We
are sometimes divided against ourselves in our families, homes, or wards. The
Savior’s counsels us here to eliminate division and become more united.
Matt.
12:30
Jesus told the Pharisees, “He that is not with me is against me”. This is so
because this life is a test involving choices—and we must choose the Lord’s way
or the way of the world—we cannot avoid a choice. A choice not to choose is a
choice against the Lord’s way.
“Every idle word” (Matt. 12:36)
Matt.
12:33-37 The
words we speak reveal a great deal about us. Jesus placed high importance on
the words we speak. When He referred to “idle words”, that may include sarcasm,
gossip, lies, profanity, and rudeness.
Consider how you might strengthen your commitment to
speak only in good ways.
These lessons are posted in the Internet at http://www.neumanninstitute.org