In Matthew 11:30 we read: "For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light." There are many denominational "churches" who like the old scribes and Pharisees lay heavy burdens on their member's backs, but do not lift a finger to help. Perhaps your denomination insists you pay them ten percent or more - right off the top and demands that you must "earn your salvation" by good works, fasts, weekly or even daily attendance and other participations in their "work of the Lord". Religion not Jesus has required you to wear an uncomfortable yoke and/or has placed these heavy burdens on you - Jesus tells you that you only need to believe on him and His only commandment is for His disciples to Love one another! Jesus came to set you free dear one!
Have you ever wondered why Jesus used the image of the yoke? At least two oxen are hitched together by a yoke side by side. Oxen are called "beasts of burden." So why does Jesus calls His yoke easy, his burden light? Because He yokes Himself to us. That's why His yoke is easy and His burden light. And He gives us His Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9-10) to give us the inner strength and dynamic power to bear "our share" of the burden. Once we are yoked together, our burden becomes His and "our burden" is gone. Cast your burdens upon Him dear one and He will sustain thee!
Easy yoke, light burden. But, sometimes it doesn't feel that way. Usually this is because the yoke or burden you have on or are carrying is not from our Lord but, is there either from our own decisions or what some "kind religious soul" has put upon you.. Either way, when you find yourself chafing and straining - simply lay your burden down and listen to the soft, peaceful voice of the Lord. Then continue to let go and let G-d. Listen to the Lord and not to any man! We live in a very sinful, negative, selfish, demonic, religious world that will be very happy to be given the opportunity to tell you - that you are wrong for trusting Jesus that all things (yes dear one, everything) works together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.
I believe that the one of the most pleasant discoveries of my life is that G-d will always take care of us (He still has the Manna ovens dear one). There are many thousands of scriptural examples of G-d continually providing for His people e.g., many years after the Israelites had wandered in the wilderness, the prophet Nehemiah offered a prayer of thanksgiving, remembering how G-d had easily yoked with his people and shouldered their burdens: " Thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go. Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst. Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, [so that] they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not." The Lord will never forsake us - He will be with us both day and night; He will instruct us and provide us with food and drink even in the midst of our enemies to sustain us and we will never lack anything. (Psalm 23) We are only to pray for one another so we may be healed!
At the end of Jesus’ life, just before he entered Gethsemane, he reminded his Apostles of the times when they went out to teach the people with neither purse nor scrip. Then Jesus asked them: “When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.” They lacked nothing! So, if any of you lack anything, let him ask of G-d, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth [chastises] not; and it [the blessing] shall be given him. Jesus promised us that He would never leave us or forsake us! By the stripes of Jesus we are healed! Jesus is the Author and finisher of our faith! In Philippians 1:6 we see that it is the Lord's responsibility to begin a good work in us and to perform it until the day of Jesus Christ! In John 6:28-299 we read: "Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of G-d ?" Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of G-d, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." We are only to ask to receive - we only have to ask that our joy may be full!
Jesus gave us a pattern for shifting the weight of both the burdens of sin and the difficulties of life. He said, “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.”
Stand fast therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; you are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which works by love. (Galatians 5:1-6) Circumcision was the first and perhaps the most important of all ceremonial laws. It dated all the way back to Abraham, far before Moses. Circumcising a child on the 8th day of his life was so important that it could even be done on the Sabbath without breaking the Sabbath law of rest. You are under Jesus' Grace not any of the old laws! Whom the Son sets free is free indeed!
And with respect to all the other sacrificial and ceremonial laws Hebrews says, Therefore when He comes into the world, He says, Sacrifice and offering you desired not, but a body have you prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do your will, O G-d. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin you desired not, neither had pleasure in them; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do your will, O G-d. He takes away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:5-10)
What is the ‘first” Jesus takes away? It is the “sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin,” all of the sacrificial and ceremonial laws. And what is the “second” that he establishes? His Grace. It is the coming into agreement with Jesus Christ’s will which brings us rest. ( Read about the rest in Hebrews 4:9-11) When we yoke ourselves to Jesus we have come to the place in our thinking where we can say that we agree with him and want to do his will. As our mind is renewed, our will is transformed. When our will has merged with his will, then we have come into His rest. And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of G-d. (Romans 12:2) For it is G-d who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13) You can not help G-d dear one! All you can give Him are your sins and problems and burdens!
In Mark 5:21-43 we read: " And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea. And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed (from the Greek "sozo" it is not "heal" in the usual sense; it means to "save, deliver, protect and to make whole"); and she shall live. And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him. And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years (Judges 19:29: Exodus 28:21; Leviticus 15:25), And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain (source) of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing (means "fully perceiving") in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging (means "to press almost to the point of suffocation") thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth (Hebrews 9:7-28; 13:11-21; 1 Peter 1:2,19:). And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further? As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. And he charged them straitly that no man (Ecclesiastes 3:18) should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat (John 6:48-51)."
At times, life presents us with things that are too big for us to handle. Here in the fifth chapter of the gospel of Mark we will learn that we can trust Jesus for things that are too big for us, because nothing is too big for Jesus. Here, two very different people are confronted with problems far too big for them. First, there is a synagogue official who is confronted with his twelve-year-old daughter who is deathly ill. Nothing they have done for her has helped. She is on the very brink of death and finally dies before Jesus arrives. Second, there also is a nameless woman. She has been bleeding for twelve years. Her problem has rendered her a social outcast--walking pollution. She isn't even allowed to enter the synagogue or even supposed to be seen in public. She has no family, and no money; it has all been spent on the latest remedies. She has tried everything, but this thing is too big. Mosaic Law barred such women from all social contacts - Thank G-d - Jesus did not!
Mark brings these two very different people together, because they both teach us the same lesson: We can trust Jesus for the things that are too big for us because nothing, not even death, is too big for Jesus. There are two obstacles that will keep us from coming to Jesus. Either we (like Jairus) are too self important, too religious, and/or too proud - that we never humble ourselves to ask Jesus for any help. But, what do you do when your twelve-year-old daughter, the joy of your life, lies close to death? Perhaps at that point we want to come to G-d, but we are tempted to say, "It would be hypocritical to come to Him now. I've always done things myself. Why change now? What about the fact the leaders of the Synagogue were even then plotting against Jesus?" But that didn't keep Jairus away. Jesus didn't turn this man away because he had ignored him up to that point in his life or even that Jarius may have been plotting against Him. He didn't say, "Oh yes, right, Jairus. Come to me now when things are bad." But others respond like this woman. They stay away from Jesus out of a sense of shame. They feel too unworthy too unclean. Even if you have to sneak up on Jesus, come to Him. Just a touch will do you. He will cleanse you. We must trust Jesus for things that are too big for us by coming to him, despite all of the obstacles.
The woman's 12 years represents the 12 Jewish tribes. Her flow of blood represents the animal sacrifices that did not heal her .Her physicians represent the religious leaders who also could not heal her but actually made her worse. Jesus is the Great Healer, the True Sacrifice, the Great Physician, the Way. the Life and the Truth. The High Priest, the only real plaque and curse remover, the Law ends with Him and Grace, Righteousness, Healing, Sin Removal and cleansing begin and continue to flow out of Him and Him alone. The Jewish bride was immediately and completely healed but, she did not follow Jesus. The little 12 year old girl represents the Gentiles who are the same age as the Jews but are dead in sin until Jesus takes us by the hand and raises us up. (Romans Chapter 6)
Jesus promises you/us in His own words: "Verily, verily I say unto you, he that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do: because I go unto the Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name, that will I do” (John 14:13,14).
“If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bare much fruit; and so shall ye be My disciples” (John 15:7,8).
Ye did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide: that whatsoever ye shall ask the Father, in My name, He may give it you” (John 15:16).
In that day ye shall ask Me nothing” and yet again “Verily, verily I say unto you, if ye ask anything of the Father, He will give it you in My name. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be fulfilled” (John 16:23,24).
This truly marvelous promise that He will give us whatever we ask is given us over and over. Jesus literally commands us to ask whatsoever we will. This is the greatest — the most wonderful — promise ever made to man.
We know that He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think (Ephesians. 3:20).
Well dear one, it should be obvious that Jesus' yoke [is] easy, and Jesus' burden is light. If you are carrying a heavy burden or wearing a difficult yoke set them down and ask the Lord for His help! Shalom!
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