Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Jesus asked more of his hearers than any human teacher could reasonably ask but in return promised more than any other could give. He himself would need to be the center and focus of the lives of his disciples. Jesus did not point beyond himself to some doctrine or teaching that could be validated independently and then lived apart from him. The one who was calling others to come to him was himself God's own living wisdom.
Take her yoke upon your neck;
that your mind may receive her teaching.
For she is close to those who seek her,
and the one who is in earnest finds her (see Sirach 51:26).
His disciples did have much to learn, but they could only learn it by coming to him and being in relationship with him. They would need to share the yoke with Jesus so they could come to internalize his teaching by the experience of trying to live it in union with him. As we know all too well from our own experience, disciples would tend to push ahead or pull back in the yoke, making the labor more burdensome than necessary for themselves. But over time they could learn to lay down that harmful self-will and ease into the rhythm Jesus himself set. When Jesus was in control of the pace the disciples would no longer experience discipleship as a struggle. They would find instead what Paul found, "I can do all this through him who gives me strength" (see Philippians 4:13).
Jesus was a different kind of teacher than the Pharisees "tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger" (see Matthew 23:4). His own meekness and humility of heart were assurances that he himself was trustworthy, not seeking his own advantage, or drawing others to himself for his to satisfy his own self-interest. His meekness and humility characterized the pace with which he would lead the disciples who shared his yoke. Pride would push brazenly ahead. Despair would refuse to move forward or even flee in fear. But meekness and humility moved at a pace that was endlessly sustainable.
O LORD, you mete out peace to us,
for it is you who have accomplished all we have done.
When we share the yoke with the Lord we experience the reality of grace in our lives. It is his strength and wisdom, his side of the yoke, his presence and proximity, that makes it possible for us to have peace. When this is how we pursue our labor in the field we learn not to claim anything as our own accomplishment, for it is Jesus himself who has accomplished all we have done. We begin to understand the reality Paul described when he wrote, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (see Galatians 2:20).
and you will find rest for yourselves.
We find rest even here and now by sharing the yoke of Christ. The peace he gives is one which the world cannot offer and cannot take away (see John 14:27). It is a peace that guards our hearts when we entrust ourselves and our cares entirely to the Lord (see Philippians 4:6). This peace requires the humility and meekness that we can only learn by sharing life with Jesus himself. But he will lead us from peace to ever greater peace until we finally come to the place of true Sabbath rest in the promised land of heaven (see Hebrews 4:9).
But your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise;
awake and sing, you who lie in the dust.
For your dew is a dew of light,
and the land of shades gives birth.
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