Lesson 10
“Take My Yoke upon You, and Learn of Me”
Matthew 11:28-30; 12:1-13; Luke 7:36-50; 13:10-17
By Breck
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; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
In this lesson, we learn that to come unto Christ means “taking his yoke upon us” rather than taking upon ourselves the yoke of the devil. The choice of which yoke we will bear is continually before us.
yoke is an instrument of wood or metal used
to join two oxen together so they may walk in step with each other. In
Bible times it was also a symbol of belonging. To “bear the yoke” of a
ruler such as the king of
The Iron Yoke of the Devil
When the children of
Joseph Smith taught that this yoke of the devil “is an iron yoke, it is a strong band: they are the very handcuffs, and chains, and shackles, and fetters of hell.”[3] Those who fail to throw off Satan’s yoke through repentance will find themselves “sealed” to the devil: “If ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.” [4]
Imagine how hard that yoke and how heavy that burden — to be sealed to Satan! By contrast, consider how easy the yoke and light the burden of Christ! And as we are all sinners, we all bear the yoke of sin until we come unto Christ by taking His yoke upon us.
Only Jesus Christ has the power to break the yoke of sin off our necks: “There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the Lord ... Now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.” [5] He that “imagineth evil” is the adversary who keeps the unrepentant yoked to him in bondage.
We cannot free ourselves from the yoke of sin, but by our repentance Christ can free us. Then through our faithfulness, we can remain free, as Paul wrote: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” [6]
The Easy Yoke of Christ
The invitation to “take my yoke upon you” is made to all those who “labor and are heavy laden.” The Greek word translated “labor” (κοπίο) would probably be better translated “exhaust yourselves.” Too many of us fail to recognize that we are bearing a yoke that will exhaust us. Elder Russell M. Ballard reads a letter from a friend who came near to destruction as he gradually took off the yoke of Christ and put on the exhausting yoke of the world.
When I returned from my mission, I married and went to work in the construction industry. Over the next few years we had three children, and during this time I remained active in the Church. The demands of my business became much greater, and I became more determined to do whatever it would take to succeed financially. The effects of this were felt immediately at home; but with the support of an understanding wife, we felt we could endure until things “picked up.”
He went on to say that because of financial strains, his wife began working. He began working long hours and neglected his family and Church duties. His demanding work schedule left him emotionally drained and physically exhausted. He became critical of others, including his family members and Church leaders.
As my debt continued to mount, the destruction of my peace and happiness increased. The love and tenderness we once knew as husband and wife had diminished to only memories. We found character flaws in each other and began to focus on them, wounding each other over the smallest incident. I began to blame everyone but myself, taking no responsibility for failures. A great feeling of hopelessness began to fill my heart, and I felt a cloud of darkness envelop me in my desperation. [7]
This is the fate of those who shrug off the easy yoke of Christ in favor of the yoke of worldly success: spiritual and physical exhaustion and the destruction of peace and happiness. As one Church member confessed, “I can’t remember when I began to think my frequent fatigue was proof that I was diligently trying to do the will of the Lord, or proof that I had no time for anything else in my life. Second Nephi 2:25 says, ‘Men are, that they might have joy.’ Somehow I twisted that scripture in my mind to read, ‘Men and women are that they might be exhausted — and the more the better.’” [8]
Actually, the yoke of Christ is the antidote to the pain and weariness of life in a telestial world. By taking on the yoke of Christ we realize, in His words, that we would do best not to be “careful and troubled about many things,” for in reality only “one thing is needful” [9] — to come unto Him and cast our burdens upon Him.
Cast Thy Burden upon the Lord
As with the pair of oxen yoked together, when we take upon ourselves the yoke of Christ He becomes our “yokefellow”: a Partner of infinite strength capable of carrying the entire burden Himself. President Howard W. Hunter said:
In biblical times the yoke was a device of great assistance to those who tilled the field. It allowed the strength of a second animal to be linked and coupled with the effort of a single animal, sharing and reducing the heavy labor of the plow or wagon. A burden that was overwhelming or perhaps impossible for one to bear could be equitably and comfortably borne by two bound together with a common yoke. His [Christ’s] yoke requires a great and earnest effort, but for those who truly are converted, the yoke is easy and the burden becomes light. [11]
Some may feel that their burdens are too heavy for Him to bear, that their burdens will be rejected, that they are so “heavy laden” with sin and failure that there is no hope for them. In regard to such suffering souls, Jesus had this to say to the Pharisee Simon, who rebuked Him for allowing a sinful woman to anoint Him and bathe His feet with her tears:
There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
Her sins, which are many, are forgiven: for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven ... Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace. [12]
The heavier the burden, the greater the relief the Savior can administer. The miracle of the infinite Atonement is just this: like the two creditors, none of us have anything to pay. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” [13]
And those burdens are not just the burdens of sin that we all share. The burdens Christ can lift are all the defects of our mortal lives: hopelessness, illness, failure, disappointment, and discouragement.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks has said:
The Atonement of Jesus Christ and the healing it offers do much more than provide the opportunity for repentance from sins. The Atonement also gives us the strength to endure “pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind,” because our Savior also took upon Him “the pains and the sicknesses of his people” (Alma 7:11). Brothers and sisters, if your faith and prayers and the power of the priesthood do not heal you from an affliction, the power of the Atonement will surely give you the strength to bear the burden. [14]
May Christ Lift Thee Up
Too many of us believe we can lift ourselves up by our own power. Although we are clearly to do “all we can do,” ultimately, it is the Lord who lifts us.
There was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. [15]
In the end, there is precious little we can do for ourselves: that’s why “it is by grace we are saved.” [16] How often are we like the infirm woman, “bowed together” either literally or figuratively, under the weight we bear? How many of us wonder how to find the strength to stand up from day to day?
his is the only answer that works: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
I testify of Jesus Christ. I testify that He is the Savior who alone can lift us up. I pray with the prophet Mormon: “May Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death ... and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever.” [17]
[1] Matt. 11:28-30.
[2] 1 Ne. 13:5-6.
[3] D&C 123:8.
[4] Alma 34:35.
[5] Nahum 1:11, 13.
[6] Gal. 5:1.
[7] M. Russell Ballard, “Small and Simple Things,” Ensign, May 1990, 6.
[8] Cindy K. Peterson, “Exhaustion Is Not a Prerequisite to Perfection, Ensign, Oct. 1993, 51.
[9] Luke 10:41-42.
[10] Psalm 55:22.
[11] Howard W. Hunter, “Come Unto Me,” Ensign, Nov. 1990, 17.
[12] Luke 7:47-48, 50.
[13] Ephesians 2:8.
[14] Dallin H. Oaks, “He Heals the Heavy Laden,” Ensign, Nov. 2006, 9 (emphasis mine).
[15] Luke 13:11-13.
[16] 2 Ne. 25:23.
[17] Moro. 9:25