The Jesus Way: Why His Burden Is Light
Do you like to do things the easy way, or the hard way?
I don’t know about you, but… if given the choice, I sure would prefer to do things The Easy Way.
The Easy Button
Back in 2005, Staples launched a new ad campaign featuring the Easy Button. Staples is an office supply store, and every commercial had one of these Easy Buttons in it. If you pushed the Easy Button, whatever difficulty you were facing just got easier. The whole point of the ad campaign was to show how easy it was to save money on your office supplies or your school supplies if you shopped at Staples, but the popularity of the Easy Button soared.
What Staples didn’t expect was how much money they would make not from selling office supplies and school supplies, but from selling Easy Buttons!
People at schools, office buildings, everywhere, were buying the Easy Button and putting it on their desk. It became a morale booster. When you walked into someone’s office with a problem, if they could help you solve it quickly, they would hit the Easy Button and then you would hear this…
“Press Easy Button” — “THAT WAS EASY!”
Wouldn’t it be nice if it really was that easy? If, whenever we had a problem, a difficult situation, we could just push the Easy Button and everything would instantly be better? Easier?
The truth is, there is no Easy Button.
Life is difficult. Things are not always fair. Bad things happen to good people. And it’s not always our fault. We may even wonder, why is following God so hard sometimes?
The Jesus Way
I want to suggest that while there is not an easy button, there is the easy way. And, there is a hard way. We often choose an easy way thinking it’s easier, but in reality, it’s the hard way. And we often avoid THE HARD WAY because we think it’s the hard way, but it’s actually the Easy Way.
If you’re completely confused, I understand. Hang in here with me and I think you’ll see what I mean.
I want to show you the Easy Way. You might even call it “The Jesus Way.”
These words of Jesus found only in the Gospel of Matthew have brought so much encouragement to so many people through the years. In just three verses, Jesus says something that reveals the true heart of Our Father. In just three verses, Jesus speaks perhaps the most encouraging words in all of Scripture. These words have been read and re-read by so many people going through the most difficult things in life, and these words always bring hope and healing. Let’s take a few minutes to lean in and listen to what Jesus says and what it might mean for us.
For everyone who may be a little…
weary from the load you’re carrying right now,
who may be down because life is heavy,
who may be hurting because the days have been difficult,
who may be worried because you don’t know what’s going to happen next,
for everyone who is tired,
running on fumes,
worn, and concerned about tomorrow,
hear the Word of the Lord…
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” — Matthew 11:28-30, NIV
I don’t know about you, but those words, those three verses, may be some of the most encouraging words in the world.
The Context Behind the Comfort
As comforting as those words are, I think they mean even more when we consider the context. When we remember that when Jesus said them, who He was talking to, and what was around the next corner.
If you back up just a little bit, what you’ll discover is that Jesus says these powerful words right after he hears about John the Baptist who is in prison, facing discouragement, and asking, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” (Matthew 11:3). Jesus is doubted by the very person who came to prepare the way for Him.
Right after that, Jesus begins to denounce the cities that have rejected Him (Matthew 11:20). Throughout Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is doubted and rejected by the very people He came to save.
In the very next chapter, Jesus is going to hint at His death (Matthew 12:40). Jesus is going to face ultimate rejection. Jesus is going to be crucified as He sacrifices His life for the sake of the world.
In the middle of all the doubt and rejection, with the cross around the next corner, Jesus says…
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
You might wonder, who is Jesus talking to and what burdens are they carrying? Jesus is teaching in the towns throughout Galilee (Matthew 11:1). So He’s talking to everyday, ordinary people. These are His fellow Jews. There are probably farmers and fishermen in the crowd. He’s surrounded by mothers and fathers. There are all kinds of people who have gathered to listen to Him. Many of them probably felt tired and weary from working all day and all night. Some of them were living on the verge of poverty. All of them were suffering from Roman taxation and political oppression.
But these were also people who were trying to follow God’s way, but who probably felt like God’s way was the hard way. Like God’s way was the burdensome way. Why? Because the Pharisees and the religious teachers had made it so incredibly difficult to follow God’s way.
The Weight of Legalism
If you fast forward to Matthew 23, Jesus tells His disciples:
“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” — Matthew 23:2-4
The Pharisees and religious teachers were teaching the truth about God’s way, so Jesus says… “do what they tell you.” But then He says, “don’t do what they do.”
In other words, these Pharisees know the Word of God, the Law of God, but they are not putting it into practice. They have turned the way of God into a heavy, cumbersome load that they themselves are not willing to carry. Their way is heavy. Their way is burdensome. Jesus says, my way leads to rest.
The legalism and religious rules that the Pharisees placed on people made it nearly impossible for anyone to follow God’s way. Instead of people experiencing the Good Life, people were weighed down by all the demands the religious leaders were placing on them. And to be fair, I get it. There’s something appealing about knowing the rules and keeping the rules.
But legalism leaves out God’s grace. Legalism leads to a heavy burden that is too great for anyone to bear and does not lead to eternal life.
To be clear, there is a Way that leads to Life. We are called to live in a way that pleases God, honors God, and leads to Life.
The Way of Jesus is full of Grace & Truth.
But this is not a check the box kind of faith. We are not called to live a life of perfection, but to live life in a different direction, following the Way of God and trusting in the grace of God daily.
The Pharisees would say, if you don’t keep every letter of the law, you cannot please God (they put this burden on others, even though they themselves could not live up to this standard).
Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
What Is a Yoke?
For many of us, we don’t know what a yoke is much less why we would put one on and wear it.
Here’s a picture of a couple of oxen wearing a yoke. Working together, the load is easier, lighter.
I want you to have this image in mind because I want you to consider perhaps the most powerful point Jesus is making in this moment.
If you’re wearing the yoke on one side, who is wearing the yoke on the other side?
Maybe for you, it’s no one! Maybe you’re wearing it all by yourself!
Maybe that’s why you’re so tired, weary, and worn.
Maybe for you, you’re sharing the yoke with someone else and they’re not pulling their weight.
Can we be honest for a moment, if you’re sharing a yoke with anyone else but Jesus, they are not going to be able to pull the weight that Christ alone can carry. Some of us put unrealistic expectations on others — just like the Pharisees did — and we spend our lives frustrated, upset, and exhausted. We blame and we shame others. But truthfully, there’s no way they could ever carry the load that only Christ can carry.
But here’s the real power in what Jesus is saying. If you’re on one side, who is on the other? Jesus says… Take MY yoke upon you… In other words, Jesus is saying, “I’m on one side, and I want you on the other side. I am going to be with you, right beside you, pulling with you.”
This is a theme throughout Matthew’s Gospel, this idea that Jesus is “with us” (Matthew 1:23; 28:20).
Jesus says… “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Jesus, in His humility, is coming alongside us, shouldering the load with us, and He wants to teach us something as we walk and work together. He says, “learn from me.”
Jesus wants to be our ever present Teacher. You see this in the ministry of Jesus. Jesus walked with His disciples daily. He shouldered the load of life and ministry WITH His disciples as they traveled together and worked together. All the while, they were learning from Him. And that was possible because, in contrast to the Pharisees and religious teachers, Jesus is gentle and humble.
Now, don’t mistake gentle and humble for being weak and a wimp. If you’re looking for a portrait, a picture, of a real man, look no further than Jesus. No one has ever been stronger, more able, more powerful, no one else took on the evil principalities and forces of this dark world like Jesus.
Not only did He take them on, He defeated them. And, He defeated death. He is a strong and mighty warrior, He alone can save us from our sin and shame, He alone withstood the devil’s temptations, He alone sits enthroned as the King of kings and the Lord of lords!
He is Greater, He is Stronger, He is Mighty, He is ALL-POWERFUL, and… He is gentle and humble.
And when you come to Him, you can find REST for your souls.
Jesus here is echoing something the prophet Jeremiah once said:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.'”
— Jeremiah 6:16
For people at a crossroads, and we’re all at a crossroads, there is a way to walk that leads to rest for our souls, but many people have said… “We will not walk in it.”
Choosing the Jesus Way
I don’t have an Easy Button for you, but I do know the Easy Way. And it is the Way of Jesus.
The question is, will you choose the Jesus Way or, will you choose Your way?
Sometimes we have to learn things the hard way because of the poor decisions we made. Sometimes, we have to learn things the hard way because we live in a broken and fallen world. Things are not the way they are supposed to be. And sometimes, we have to learn things the hard way because of our own pride.
We tend to miss out on the Good Life because we think we know which way to go and what we should do. We burden ourselves and others because of our own pride. We carry heavy loads because we think we can earn our salvation if we just do enough good things and try harder. We choose the hard way.
The Backpack We All Carry
For some of us, I think it’s kind of like this. Imagine that we all wear a backpack of some kind. Everyday, we decide what load we’re going to carry. Sometimes, we make a very conscious decision about the things we put in our backpack. Other times, those rocks are almost invisible to us, but we still feel the weight.
Some of us are carrying the heavy load of EXPECTATIONS. Maybe those are the expectations we have of ourselves. We set a high bar for ourselves and when we don’t hit it or achieve it, we feel like failures. Others of us are carrying the heavy load of expectations others have placed on us. Either way, they’re heavy burdens to bear, these expectations.
Some of us are carrying the weight of PERFECTIONISM. We think we have to be perfect, look perfect, perform perfectly, keep the rules perfectly, and this perfectionism is a heavy load to carry.
Some of us/ALL OF US are carrying the weight of sin and shame, and this is a HEAVY burden to bear. So heavy, truthfully, you CANNOT do it on your own. That’s why you feel like you can’t make any progress in your spiritual life, or life in general, because you’re trying to carry this one on your own and it can’t be done. But you struggle with it all alone because you don’t want anyone else to know you’re carrying it. This one is a secret.
You’ve believed the lie from the Enemy that you’re the only one who struggles. Truthfully, everybody struggles. You know that in your head. You know it’s true. But you don’t want anyone else to know you struggle. So you struggle with your sin and shame in secret. And that is a heavy load to carry. Jesus came to remove, forgive, and atone for all of our sin and shame. Talk about amazing grace!
There are other rocks, other weights we carry. There’s regret. People pleasing. Comparison. Financial stress. Family problems. Addiction. Fear of failure. Trying to earn people’s love. Trying to earn God’s love. Worrying that you’re not enough. And the list goes ON and ON.
Can I tell you a secret? It’s an open secret, but yet so few people know it. You don’t have to carry this backpack. This is the hard way. But… There is an easy way. It’s the Jesus Way.
The Jesus Way is lighter. The Jesus Way is made up of only two rocks. Although, they aren’t really rocks as much as they are building blocks.
Here’s the first one: Love God. In everything you do and say, love God and honor God. You won’t do this with perfection. But this is the direction you want to live your life in. In loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Here’s the second one: Love Others. In everything you do and say, be loving towards others. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Be helpful, kind, and full of grace. Give each other the benefit of the doubt. And don’t go around putting heavy rocks in other people’s backpacks. Whatever is good and helpful and loving and kind, do that.
And here’s the really Good News: this backpack is already lighter, but this backpack was made for two. And you don’t have to carry it alone. Jesus is going to carry it with you, because He is with us.
We could choose to do life our way. But… What if, instead, we choose the Jesus Way?
The Jesus Way Leads to Life
The Jesus Way leads to life.
For His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
Which way will you go? Can I encourage you to choose the Jesus Way? How?
- Come to Jesus.
- Learn from Him.
- Find Rest.
Rest for Your Soul
At the cross, Jesus took the weight of the world, the weight of sin and shame, any and every weight you carry, He took it upon Himself. The judgment we deserved, He took that. The punishment we deserved, He took that, too. The weight of it all was and is on His shoulders. That’s why Jesus can say…
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
What if we choose the Jesus Way? Maybe we can take off these heavy backpacks, lay our burdens down, and come to Jesus.
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