Is the Yoke of Christ Really Light?

With heads bowed, oxen plod through the soil bound together by a heavy yoke. Jesus uses an image that carries both weight and familiarity with the Jewish people. They understand the agricultural purpose of the wooden harness. The people also know the heaviness of the yoke of spiritual bondage. Trying to live out all the laws of the religious elite is a burden they cannot carry.

With this image, Christ offers an invitation to come to him, all of us who are aching from carrying our manmade yokes, so he can give us rest. He states his yoke is easy and his burden light (Matt. 11:30 NIV).

When I try to digest the last week of Christ’s life, I can’t imagine the weight of the emotional and psychological pain he endured, let alone the physical torture. He was tossed back and forth across waves of denial, accusation, rejection, and hatred, and I confess, nothing about it seems easy or light.

 I know I am missing the point. It’s not lost in translation. I am lost in my understanding and application.

 I recently stumbled across a YouTube video of Dick and Richard Hoyt, also known as Team Hoyt. Richard was born with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, which resulted in cerebral palsy. His father rejected the advice to put his paraplegic son away and took him home, where he was loved as brother and son.

With advancements in technology, Rick learned to communicate using a computer. When he was fifteen, he wanted to encourage a paralyzed teen, and he asked his dad to help him in a 5-mile benefit run. His dad agreed to push Rick in a wheelchair as he ran. Together, they completed the race.

Since then, Team Hoyt has finished 950 races. They trekked 3,770 miles across America and completed 60 marathons, including 25 Boston Marathons. The father pulled his son as he swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles, and pushed his wheelchair 26.2 miles through six Ironman competitions.

Rick shared, after their first race in high school, “When we are running, it feels like my disability disappears.”

As I watch the videos of the father-and-son running companions, tethered together, I witness a physical reality that reveals a spiritual truth, embodying the yoke of Christ. Love propels Dick Hoyt to cycle up a mountain with his son attached in front. A father’s love wraps a harness around his body so he can swim with his son attached in a raft. The son would not be able to participate without the father.

[Tweet “What we sometimes miss is that Christ invites us to be bound with him in love, not duty.”] It isn’t about how much we get done or get right. It isn’t about being a slave to our opinions or justifications. It’s about abiding with the One who is gentle, faithful, and compassionate.

Jesus longs to pull us up and set us on a rock when the flood comes. He aches to be our anchor in our tsunami of grief. He knows we will face pain and suffering in this world. His yoke is a not a magic eraser to tragedy.

When we are tethered to Christ, we will still face trials and feel loss. If we abide in him, however, he will carry us through and guide our steps, making the burden lighter.

Terri Fullerton is a wife, empty-nest mom, and mentor who loves stories of redemption and things that are funny. She is currently working on her first book. Terri longs to encourage others to find hope and freedom through her writing about faith, family, hiking, and mental health at Conversations at the Table.

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