"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me" (Matthew 11:28, 29).
DURING THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, which can tend to invite stress, check out Jesus' command: "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28, New Revised Standard Version). While this verse has always reassured me, the next verse found its way to the top ten list of things I didn't want to hear in a stressful situation. Why? Because it begins not with a promise of rest—but with a demand for labor. Jesus commands: "Take my yoke upon you" (Matt. 11:29, NRSV). At first read, this command appears to increase the workload of the weary and overwhelmed. But it doesn't stop there. Surprisingly, what begins with the command to take on Jesus' yoke ends with the assurance that we will find rest.
How does taking on "more" lead to rest? The metaphor of the yoke explains this paradox. A yoke usually joins oxen together, so taking Jesus' yoke upon us means that we are connected not only to Jesus, but more importantly to his divine nature, which in Christian Science we call the Christ. When we are yoked to the Christ, we realize that we are not abandoned by God and cursed to carry heavy loads. Instead, the Christ-consciousness is with us—which acknowledges the supremacy of spiritual action—and thereby lifts the burden of personal responsibility. But this recognition requires humility—turning away from the inconsistency of human ability, to the constancy of God's intelligence and strength.
