Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 11:30
For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.
My yoke is easy … – That is, the services that I shall require are easily rendered. They are not burdensome, like all other systems of religion. So the Christian always finds them. In coming to him there is a peace which passeth all understanding; in believing in him, joy; in following him through evil and good report, a comfort which the world giveth not; in bearing trials and in persecution, the hope of glory; and in keeping his commandments, great reward.
Remarks On Matthew 11
1. A spirit of inquiry about the person and works of Christ is especially proper, Mat 11:2-3. John was solicitous to ascertain his true character, and nothing is of more importance for all than to understand his true character. Upon him depends all the hope that man has of happiness beyond the grave. He saves, or man must perish. He will save, or we must die forever. With what earnestness, therefore, should the old and the young inquire into his character. Our eternal all demands it; and while this is delayed, we are endangering our everlasting felicity.
2. Clear proof has been furnished that Jesus is the Christ and can save us, Mat 11:4-5. If his miracles did not prove that he came from God, nothing can prove it. If he could open the eyes of the blind, then he can enlighten the sinner; if he could unstop the ears of the deaf, then he can cause us to hear and live; if he could heal the sick, and make the lame walk, then he can heal our spiritual maladies, and make us walk in the way of life; if he could raise the dead, then he can raise those dead in sin, and breathe into us the breath of eternal life. If he was willing to do all this for the body which is soon to perish, then he will be much more willing to do it for the soul, that never dies. Then the poor, lost sinner may come and live.
3. We see in this chapter Christs manner of praising or complimenting men, Mat 11:7-15. He gave, in no measured terms, his exalted opinion of John – gave him praise which had been bestowed on no other mortal ranked him far above the purest and sublimest of the prophets. But this was not done in the presence of John, nor was it done in the presence of those who would inform John of it. It was when the disciples of John had departed, and his commendation of John was spoken to the multitude, Mat 11:7. He waited until his disciples were gone, apprehending, doubtless, that they would be likely to report what he said in praise of their master, and then expressed his high opinion of his character. The practice of the world is to praise others to their faces, or in the presence of those who will be sure to inform them of it, and to speak evil of them when absent. Jesus delivered his unfavorable opinions of others to the people themselves; their excellences he took pains to commend where they would not be likely to hear of them. He did good to both, and in both prevented the existence of pride.
4. The wicked take much pains, and are often fickle and inconsistent, for the sake of abusing and calumniating religious people, Mat 11:18-19. They found much fault with the Saviour for doing the very same thing which they blamed John for not doing. So it is commonly with people who slander professors of religion. They risk their own characters, to prove that others are hypocrites or sinners. The object is not truth, but calumny and opposition to religion; and hitherto no means have been too base or too wicked to pour contempt on the followers of Christ.
5. The purest characters may expect the shaft of calumny and malice, and often in proportion to their purity, Mat 11:19. Even the Saviour of the world was accused of being intemperate and a glutton. If the only perfectly pure being that ever trod the earth was thus accused, let not his followers think that any strange thing has happened to them if they are falsely accused.
6. Judgments will overtake guilty people, and cities, and nations, Mat 11:21-22. They fell on Sodom, Tyre, Sidon, and Capernaum. They may long linger; but in due time the hand of God will fall on the wicked, and they will die – forever die.
7. The wicked will suffer in proportion to their privileges, Mat 11:23-24. So it was with Capernaum. And if they of ancient days suffered thus; if more tremendous judgments fell on them than even on guilty Sodom, what shall be the doom of those who go down to hell from this day of light? The Saviour was indeed there a few days; he worked a few miracles; but they had not, as we have, all his instructions; they had not Sunday schools, and Bible classes, and the stated preaching of the gospel, nor was the world blessed then, as now, with extensive and powerful revivals of religion. How awful must be the doom of those who are educated in the ways of religion – who are instructed from Sabbath to Sabbath – who grow up amid the means of grace – and then are lost!
8. The poor and needy; the weary and heavy-ladened; the soul sick of sin and of the world; the sinner conscious of guilt and afraid to die, may come to Jesus Christ and live, Mat 11:28-30. The invitation is wide as the world. The child and the old man may seek and find salvation at the feet of the same Saviour. No child is too young; no man is too old: no one is too great a sinner. Christ is full of mercy, and all who come shall find peace. O how should we, in this sinful and miserable world, borne down with sin, and exposed each moment to death – how should we come and find the peace which he has promised to all, and take the yoke which all have found to be light!
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 11:30
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
Christs yoke and burden
some of the particulars in which Christ is reputed to impose a heavy yoke and burden. I know of no obligation chat rests upon me as a Christian which does not equally rest upon me as a man.
1. The burden of duty. Purity, justice, love, industry, are enjoined upon me as a man. This burden Christ makes light and easy.
(1) By giving us clear knowledge of the right in His plain precepts.
(2) By the irresistible motives to duty which He supplies in the love of the Father.
2. The yoke of penitence, the burden of self-reproach. This burden we bring with us into the school of Christ; nor can we get rid of it by remaining from Christ. It has rested far more heavily under Pagan than Christian auspices. But through Christ penitence is the way to peace. Its tears are the dew-drops of the souls resurrection morning. Forgiveness is its counterpart.
3. The burden of selfdenial. This not merely a Christian duty, but a universal necessity. Through Christ it is made such as we can carry with joy and gratitude.
4. The unavoidable burden of earthly suffering least of all to be ascribed to Christ. (A. P. Peabody, D. D.)
Christs yoke easy
Important that those to whom the ministry of the gospel is entrusted should state with clearness the real nature of religion, neither too easy or too difficult.
I. Christians are under the yoke. Not their own masters; please not themselves. What is the yoke? Obedience to His commandments.
II. It is an easy yoke.
1. In comparison with the yoke of Satan.
2. In comparison with the yoke which self-righteousness imposes on mankind.
3. As it is made easy in itself to those who wear it, Christ renders obedience pleasant to His followers. (E. Cooper.)
Christ s burden a light burden
I. In what it consists.
1. In the daily conflict which the Christian maintains with the sin that dwelleth in him.
2. In the hostile treatment which the Christian experiences from the world.
3. In the chastening which the Christian receives from his heavenly Master.
II. It is light.
1. It is light compared with the burden of the unpardoned sin in another world.
2. It is light compared with the burden of unpardoned sin in this world.
3. It is made light in itself to those who bear it; strength is given to bear it. (E. Cooper.)
Hard to nature, easy to grace
Is Christs yoke not easy then? Is there not force and meaning in His own words? Yes, most assuredly; but it is easy only to them who, having heard His voice, have come unto Him at His call, and who have thus received the will, the grace, the strength to take it upon them, and to bear it. A thing is easy to be done just in proportion to the power of doing it. It is easy for a man to lift a weight which a child could not move from the ground. It is easy for the bird to soar into the atmosphere, and for the fish to make its way through the waters; their natures are suited to their respective elements; but it were impossible for man to do either. So, in the spiritual world, what becomes easy to a believing and renewed soul is impossible to a sinner in his carnal state. What is impossible to nature, is easy to grace. (J. Macfarlane.)
The nature and excellence of the Saviours discipline
I. That christ has his yoke, his discipline, and that we are never to forget that it is so substantially and really. These are, in the first place, conditions of discipleship.
1. One condition is the entire submission of the judgment of the disciples to the Great Teacher.
2. If any man will be My disciple, so says our Lord, let him deny himself.
3. Taking up the cross.
But the discipline of Christ has its restraints as well as its conditions.
1. Christ lays restraint upon our society.
2. Upon the affections and tempers of the soul.
3. Upon the words.
4. Upon the whole conduct.
Then there is service, too, in the discipline of Jesus Christ.
1. Service of devotion.
2. Charity and zeal.
II. That his yoke is easy and that even his burden is light. Rest can be found in no other way of life. Easy
(1) Because the discipline of Christ is confined to the truth and reality of things;
(2) Because it brings with it a sense of the approbation of the great God Himself;
(3) Because it is part of the religion of Jesus Christ to plant in the soul principles corresponding with everything which God requires of us, it is a regenerating system;
(4)Because it is a discipline which has always a respect to the heavenly state, and whilst it is the only road to heaven, it is the infallible preparation for it. (R. Watson.)
Christs yoke easy to the subjects of His kingdom
1. Because having come to Christ they have received the willing mind to bear it.
2. Because there is a pure satisfaction imparted to their mind even in the very exercise of self-denial and self-abasement which He enjoins.
3. Because His Presence is promised to be with His servants to make it easy and light.
4. This yoke ever becomes easier and this burden lighter as the Christian continues to bear it.
5. That it is easy in comparison with that which must otherwise be borne. (J. Macfarlane.)
Religion easy
1. Because of the means of instruction which are afforded us, to teach us how to commence it.
2. Because of the principles on which the Christian acts; not from compulsion, but from filial affection.
3. Because of the helps which a Christian derives while maintaining the discipline of that life.
4. Because of the enjoyments that stand connected with the Christians course.
5. Because of the prospect before him in heaven. (E. E. Jenkins.)
Christs service easy
Christs service is easy to a spiritual mind.
I. It is easy, as it is a rational service: consonant to right reason, though contradictory to depraved nature.
II. Easy, as it is a spiritual service: delightful to a spiritual mind.
III. Easy, as it is an assisted service; considering that we work not in our own strength, but in Gods.
IV. Easy, when once it is an accustomed service; though hard to beginners, it is easy to professors; the farther we walk the sweeter is our way.
V. Easy, as it is the most gainful service; having the assurances of an eternal weight of glory as the reward of our obedience. (Burkitt.)
God knows our burden
A little boy was helping his father to unpack some boxes of dry goods. His father took the pieces of goods from the box and put them on the outstretched arms of the boy. Dont you think you have load enough? said some one passing by. Father knows best. He knows how much I ought to carry, replied the boy. How much trust and confidence it shows us. He knew that his father, who loved him, would not give him more than he could carry. And so it is with our Heavenly Father. Sometimes we think He is putting more on us than we can carry, and we become fretful. Sometimes He adds sorrow to sorrow until we think we cannot bear the load, but He knows best, and will not give us more than we can bear, for He is a kind and loving Father.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 30. For my yoke is easy] My Gospel imposes nothing that is difficult; on the contrary, it provides for the complete removal of all that which oppresses and renders man miserable, viz. sin. The commandments of Christ are not grievous. Hear the whole: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself. Can any thing be more congenial to the nature of man than love?-such a love as is inspired by God, and in which the soul rests supremely satisfied and infinitely happy? Taste, and know, by experience, how good the Lord is, and how worthy his yoke is to be taken, borne, and loved. This most tender invitation of the compassionate Jesus is sufficient to inspire the most diffident soul with confidence. See Clarke on Mr 8:34.
Creeshna, the incarnate God of the Hindoos, is represented in the Geeta addressing one of his beloved disciples thus: “I am the creator of all things, and all things proceed from me. Those who are endued with spiritual wisdom, believe this, and worship me: their very hearts and minds are in me; they rejoice among themselves, and delight in speaking of my name, and teaching one another my doctrine. I gladly inspire those who are constantly employed in my service with that use of reason by which they come unto me; and, in compassion, I stand in my own nature, and dissipate the darkness of their ignorance with the light of the lamp of wisdom.” Bhagvat Geeta, p. 84.
The word aval, among the Jews, which we properly enough translate yoke, signified not only that sort of neck-harness by which bullocks drew in wagons, carts, or in the plough; but also any kind of bond, or obligation, to do some particular thing, or to do some particular work. By them it is applied to the following things: –
1. The yoke of the KINGDOM of heaven, – obedience to the revealed will of God.
2. The yoke of the LAW, – the necessity of obeying all the rites, ceremonies, c., of the Mosaic institution.
3. The yoke of the PRECEPT, – the necessity of performing that particular obligation by which any person had bound himself, such as that of the Nazarite, &c.
4. The yoke of REPENTANCE, – without which, they knew, they could not enter into the kingdom of heaven. With the Jews, repentance not only implied forsaking sin, but fasting, mortification, &c.
5. The yoke of FAITH, – the necessity of believing in the promised Messiah.
6. The DIVINE yoke, – the obligation to live a spiritual life a life of thanksgiving and gratitude unto God.
In Shemoth Rabba it is said: “Because the ten tribes did not take the yoke of the holy and blessed God upon them, therefore Sennacherib led them into captivity.”
CHRIST’s yoke means, the obligation to receive him as the MESSIAH, to believe his doctrine, and to be in all things conformed to his Word and to his Spirit.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
30. For my yoke is easy, and myburden is lightMatchless paradox, even among the paradoxicallycouched maxims in which our Lord delights! That rest which the soulexperiences when once safe under Christ’s wing makes all yokes easy,all burdens light.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Christ calls a profession of faith in him, and subjection to his ordinances, a yoke, in allusion to the law of Moses, and in distinction from it; and a “burden”, with respect to the very heavy ones the Scribes and Pharisees laid upon the shoulders of the people, obliging them to a strict observance of them; though of a different nature from either of them; “for his commandments are not grievous”, hard and heavy to be borne, as their’s were, but “easy and light”: not that they are so to unregenerate men, or are easily performed by the strength of nature, and power of men’s free will: but they are good and amiable, and lovely in their own nature, and are cheerfully complied with, and abundance of spiritual pleasure and delight is enjoyed in them by believers, when they have the presence of God, the assistance of his Spirit, and the discoveries of his love. Moreover, the commands of Christ, and the ordinances of the Gospel, are so in comparison of the law of Moses; which required perfect obedience, but gave no strength to perform, and threatened with condemnation and death, in case of the least failure; and of the numerous, and some very severe rites and usages of the ceremonial law; and of the bulky and heavy traditions of the elders, and ordinances of men.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Easy [] . Not a satisfactory rendering. Christ ‘s yoke is not easy in the ordinary sense of that word. The word means originally, good, serviceable. The kindred noun, crhstothv, occurring only in Paul ‘s writings, is rendered kindness in 2Co 6:6; Tit 3:4; Gal 5:22; Eph 2:7 (Rev.), and goodness, Rom 2:4 (Rev.). At Luk 5:39, it is used of old wine, where the true reading, instead of better, is good [] , mellowed with age. Plato (” Republic, “424) applies the word to education.” Good nurture and education [ ] implant good [] constitutions; and these good [] constitutions improve more and more; “thus evidently using crhstov and ajgaqov as synonymous. The three meanings combine in the word, though it is impossible to find an English word which combines them all. Christ ‘s yoke is wholesome, serviceable, kindly.” Christ ‘s yoke is like feathers to a bird; not loads, but helps to motion ” (Jeremy Taylor).
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For my yoke is easy,” (hogar zugos mou chrestos) “For my yoke is gentle,” presses softly upon the neck, in comparison with the hard, rough ox-yoke – the sinner’s yoke. But the yoke of rule, authority, or Lordship, of Jesus is easy compared with that of sin and Satan. His yoke is easy because it causes no galling conscience, as sin does, Gal 5:1; Gal 5:13.
2) “And my burden is light.” (kai to phortion mouelaphron estin) “And my burden is light,” in comparison with that of the laden burden bearer, the donkey load, the heavy load that each unredeemed, stubborn, donkey bears. The burden or responsibility of duties, and service, and worship of Jesus Christ, through His New, Covenant church, is light, easily borne, by the willing servant, with cheerful heart, as unto the Lord, 2Co 8:12; Col 3:23.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(30) Easy.The Greek has a wider range of meaninggood, helpful, kind, profitable.
My burden is light.The burden of Christ was the commandment that most characterised His teachingthe new commandment that men should love one another; and those who obeyed that commandment would find all to which it bound them light and easy.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
30. Yoke burden Men serve the world, and in that service they are like the sturdy ox; a yoke is on their neck, and a burden on their back. And this is true, as shown above, (note on Mat 11:28,) of all classes, from lowest to highest. Yoke is easy The yoke of Christ is freedom. The service of God is the highest and truest liberty. The laws of God are the laws of our highest nature; and he who comes under those laws does but do what is fittest, rightest, most happy, and most highly natural for him. When Christ gives his law, he gives a heart and a pleasure to keep that law, so that he who obeys it does as he pleases.
And now this chapter, from the second verse, must be read in one connection as a single historical piece. John sends his query to our Saviour in regard to his kingly Messiahship. Jesus answers John by deeds more than words. Then does he first draw that mingled portraiture of John, which exhibits the greatness of John as the testifier, but his littleness as the questioner. Starting from John, the Lord then upbraids that childish generation who caviled at both him and John; he peals forth a strain of woes upon the impenitent cities who rejected him; soars into a lofty thanksgiving to his Father, who had yet revealed to the docile babe his kingdom; nay, he rises to the very height of his mysterious oneness with the Father; and from that height he finally descends to call the sons of men to accept his service as divine emancipator of their souls from bondage.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
The word translated ‘easy’ means ‘good, kind’. The point is that the yoke fits well and makes life easy so as to enable the task to be done quicker and better. It is not a recipe for idleness. As a carpenter Jesus had known what it meant to make a yoke fit the particular team that it was intended for so as to make life for the oxen as easy as possible. And that is what He is saying here, the yoke that He gives us will be designed just for us, and will fit comfortably. Of course it will require being meek and lowly in heart, it will mean walking alongside Him without chafing, it will involve putting in full effort, but it will make whatever burden we have to bear a light one. We will declare, ‘this is no burden. This is what Jesus wants me to help Him to carry’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
REFLECTIONS
Will any send my soul to question, whether Jesus be indeed He that should come: or can there be a possibility of cause to look for another? Oh! no. He is the altogether lovely: and the chiefest and the fairest among ten thousand. Now, even now, as well as in the days of his flesh, the spiritually blind, are receiving from him their sight: the lame in soul, Jesus makes to leap as an hart; leprous sin-hers are cleansed in the fountain of his blood; the deaf hear the words of the book; the dead in trespasses and sins are raised; and the poor in spirit, hear and know the joyful sound, and through grace walk in the light of God’s countenance. And can there be another Jesus: another Gospel which we have not received? Oh! thou dear Lord! blessed forever blessed be thou for having said, blessed is ha whosoever shall not be offended in me!
Lord! grant if it be thy blessed will, that it never may be the condemnation of our land like Chorazin and Bethsaida! Great Gospel privileges we have indeed; but what must follow if we neglect, or reject such great salvation?
Reader! let you and I listen to the sweet and gracious invitation, which Jesus gives to the weary in sin, and to the heavy laden under the burthen of it, Oh! for grace to learn of thee, thou meek and lovely Savior! Thou art indeed, both a rest and resting place, for thy people. In thee, my soul would rest from sin, and rest to God. Thou art both a shelter from the wind, and a covert from the tempest. Thou art my hiding place, thou will preserve me from trouble. Thou wilt compass mc about with songs of deliverance. Haste, haste my soul, to thy rest, thy Jesus for the Lord hath dealt bountifully by thee!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Ver. 30. For my yoke is easy ] a After a man is once used to it a little: he cannot fudge so well with it perhaps at first, because an untamed heifer: but after a while, his commandments will be nothing grievous, “I delight to do thy will, O God,” saith David.
And my burden light ] Such as you may as easily bear away as Samson did the gates of Gaza; such as you may well run under, as a horse doth without a load, or a hind upon the mountains. It is no more burden than the wings are to the bird, wherewith it flies aloft where it listeth.
a , useful, opposed to , painful, tedious.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
30. ] , easy, ‘not exacting;’ answering to ‘kind,’ spoken of persons, Luk 6:35 . See 1Jn 5:3 . Owing to the conflict with evil ever incident to our corrupt nature even under grace, the which Christ gives is yet to be viewed as a yoke and a burden, seen on this its painful side, of conflict and sorrow: but it is a light yoke; the inner rest in the soul giving a peace which passeth understanding, and bearing it up against all. See 2Co 4:16 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 11:30 . , kindly to wear. Christ’s doctrine fits and satisfies our whole spiritual nature reason, heart, conscience, “the sweet reasonableness of Christ”. , the burden of obligation. : in one respect Christ’s burden is the heaviest of all because His moral ideal is the highest. But just on that account it is light. Lofty, noble ideals inspire and attract; vulgar ideals are oppressive. Christ’s commandment is difficult, but not like that of the Rabbis, grievous . ( vide With Open Face .)
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
30.] , easy, not exacting; answering to kind, spoken of persons, Luk 6:35. See 1Jn 5:3. Owing to the conflict with evil ever incident to our corrupt nature even under grace, the which Christ gives is yet to be viewed as a yoke and a burden, seen on this its painful side, of conflict and sorrow: but it is a light yoke; the inner rest in the soul giving a peace which passeth understanding, and bearing it up against all. See 2Co 4:16.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 11:30. , My yoke) In one point of view, Scripture speaks of the cross, in another of the yoke of the godly, see ch. Mat 10:38.-, easy) for I am meek.-, light) for I am lowly.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
my yoke: Pro 3:17, Mic 6:8, Act 15:10, Act 15:28, Gal 5:1, Gal 5:18, 1Jo 5:3
burden: Joh 16:33, 2Co 1:4, 2Co 1:5, 2Co 4:17, 2Co 12:9, 2Co 12:10, Phi 4:13
Reciprocal: Deu 10:12 – what doth 1Ki 11:28 – charge 1Ki 12:4 – our yoke 2Ki 9:25 – the Lord 2Ch 10:4 – Thy father Psa 25:8 – teach Pro 1:22 – ye simple Isa 43:23 – honoured Lam 3:27 – bear 2Co 10:5 – bringing Gal 6:2 – Bear 1Th 2:7 – we 1Ti 6:1 – servants
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE YOKE OF CHRIST
For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.
Mat 11:30
It is beautifully instructive how, in this incomparably winning invitation of Jesus, the call to rest, and the call to labour, are blended. The rest of faith, and the labour of love!
I. The easy yoke.The yoke of a Christian is not always necessarily easy. Then how are we to reconcile the contradiction? Beyond a doubt, the explanation is to be found not in the character of the yoke, but in the state and condition of the man who bears it. The secret lies not in the thing, but in the person.
The result is an act of Divine power. I shall scarcely exaggerate if I call it a miracle. It is the fitting of the man to his position. The yoke is hard till the love with it takes away the hardness. He who put it on walks at his side. And the yoke-bearer hears his Masters voice, hears Him all the way.
II. The light burden.Let us look at the great reason why Gods burden is light. The burden of sin is taken out of it! That heavy, oppressive, crushing burden of unforgiven sin,that is gone, quite gone. And when that burden is taken off, whatever is left does not deserve the name. It would not be too much to say that the burden of every burden is the burden of the sin that is in it! How can that burden be heavy, which we bear with Christ? Do you think He will not take the largest share? Will He not take all your labour? Is not He the Burden-bearer, and the Care-bearer, no less than the Sin-bearer of all His people? Do not monopolise your sorrows. Do not drag your cross. Do not flinch from duty. Do not forget Who is carrying it with you, in you, and for you.
The Rev. James Vaughan.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
1:30
Easy is from a word that means it is not harsh nor galling because it is made correctly. If a yoke for a beast is made to fit his body, he can pull a heavy load without any injury to his shoulders, and that would make a big burden comparatively light. On that principle the service that Christ places upon the shoulders of his disciples is adapted to their needs and abilities, which makes it easy to bear.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 11:30. For my yoke is easy (wholesome) and my burden is light. The yoke answers to those laboring; the burden to those heavy laden. Christ does not promise freedom from labor and burdens, but promises that we shall be so changed as to find them wholesome and light. Christ indeed demands a righteousness exceeding that of the Scribes and Pharisees, and teaches us that there is a depth of meaning in the law, which our consciences did not perceive; yet. He says that His yoke, His requirements, are wholesome, and His burden, oftentimes a cross, is light! One who goes to Christ to find rest for his soul, obtains from Him peace of conscience and power to obey. We go to Him as a teacher meek and lowly in heart; the first lesson learned is, to humbly and penitently take from Him what we need. What He has done for us secures pardon, what He does in us gives power. The Teacher of the highest morality could only fulfil these promises by becoming an actual Saviour from sin; that He can and will save is the ground tone of the whole passage. Saved by Him, indeed, as Augustine says, the yoke is like the plumage of the bird,an easy weight enabling it to soar heavenward.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. Christ’s authority and greatness; he has power to impose a yoke, and inflict a burden. My yoke; my burden.
2. His clemency and goodness, is imposing an easy yoke, and a light burden. My yoke is easy, my burden is light: that is, my service is good and gainful, profitable and useful; not only tolerable but delightful; and as is my yoke such is my burden: The burden of my cross, both light, not absolutely, but comparatively; the weight of my cross is not comparable with the glory of my crown.
Learn, That the service of Christ, though hard and intolerable to corrupt nature, yet is a most desirable and delightful service to grace, or renewed nature; Christ’s service is easy to a spiritual mind.
1. It is easy, as it is a rational service; consonant to right reason, though contradictory to depraved nature.
2. Easy as it is a spiritual service; delightful to a spiritual mind.
3. Easy, as it is an assisted service; considering that we work not in our own strength, but in God’s.
4. Easy, when once it is an accustomed service; though hard to beginners, it is easy to progressors; the further we walk, the sweeter is our way.
5. Easy, as it is the most gainful service; having the assurance of an eternal weight of glory, as the reward of our obedience.
Well therefore might our holy Lord say to his followers; My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
11:30 For my yoke [is] {k} easy, and my burden is light.
(k) May easily be carried. For his commandments are not grievous, for all who are born of God overcome the world; 1Jn 5:4 .