The Yoke Of Wisdom
THE YOKE OF WISDOM
MATTHEW 11:25-30
Notice the invitation: to take Christ’s service on ourselves; the benefit: we rest in his salvation; the promise: his will for our lives will fit us perfectly.
While Jesus deplored the unbelief of the majority of his hearers, he reserved warm words of commendation for the minority that did respond to him, and—“babes” in intellect though they might be alongside the alumni of the rabbinical schools—were enabled nevertheless to appreciate the revelation of the Father which he imparted. This reversal of worldly standards was no innovation in the dealings of God with man: Jesus acknowledged it to be his Father’s will.
11:27 (cf. Luke 10:22) has been described as an “aerolite from the Johannine heaven” because its style and content are so similar to what we find in the Fourth Gospel; yet it belongs to the earliest literary stratum of our Gospel material. Our Lord speaks here as the Son and Revealer of the Father (cf. John 1:18) and as One whose person and commission are known in fullness to the Father only. In the “comfortable words” which follow he speaks in the rôle of the divine Wisdom (cf. note on 23:34). A striking parallel in Jewish wisdom literature is provided by Sirach 51:23-30, where the author issues an invitation to draw near and lodge in his school in order to learn wisdom. “Put your neck under the yoke,” he says, for under that yoke, he adds, “I … found for myself much rest.” He was a learner and teacher of wisdom; Jesus is Wisdom incarnate (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:24-30).
“Take my yoke upon you” (11:29) means “Enrol yourselves as my disciples”; with his “easy” yoke we may contrast the burdensome yoke to which Peter refers in Acts 15:10. On the lips of another the claim to be “gentle and lowly in heart” would not have the ring of truth. If it is said that the claim is unlikely to have been made by Jesus in person we may reflect (a) that generations of readers or hearers of the Gospel have been conscious of no incongruity here, (b) that it agrees with objective testimony (cf. 2 Corinthians 10:1) and (c) that, as has been said, it is uttered in the character of divine Wisdom.
Thought The yoke is a sign both of Christ’s lordship and partnership.