A yoke for two.
"Take my yoke upon you." Christ's yoke, of which he speaks here, is the yoke of Sonship, his relation to God, and the responsibilities, duties, and burdens which it involved. And his point is that he did not want to bear that yoke alone. It was a yoke meant for two. It could only be borne aright when disciples and he bore the yoke together. Illustration may be taken from the yoke fitted to the shoulders of the two oxen that drew the Eastern plough. That yoke was only easy for each ox as they both cheerfully bore it together. So with the yoke of Sonship. It did not lie easy on Christ's shoulder unless his disciples bore it with him. It never could lie easy on their shoulder unless he bore it with them. It is true that rest comes for man in the spirit of sonship; but it is also true that it does not come to man in a lonely sonship—only in a sonship fully shared with Christ.
I. A YOKE FOR ONE. "Take my yoke." There must be a sense in which our Lord's yoke was his own, and could be shared by nobody. And there is a sense in which each individual man must "bear his own burden." But Christ and we have more that is common to humanity, than that is unique to ourselves. We can and do "bear one another's burdens." There is a tendency to exaggerate the uniqueness of our Lord's experience. It is healthier and wiser to dwell fully on the commonness of his experience and ours. The piece of the yoke on Christ was exactly his piece, and had its peculiar pressure; but it was only part of a yoke, which really lay on two shoulders.
II. A YOKE FOR TWO. "Take my yoke upon you," and let us share it together; then it will grow light and easy for us both. Can we bear Christ's yoke with him? Yes, if we understand aright what that yoke was.
1. it was honouring God in a gracious human life. We can share in that.
2. It was revealing God as the loving Father, in a beautiful human Sonship. We can share in that.
3. It was doing the Father's work, and seeking and saving the wandering and lost sons and daughters. We can share in that. And the strange thing is that lifting up and sharing Christ's yoke is the way to rest, the only way. Rest for any man can only come out of finding the Father in heaven. No one can find the Father until he gets the Spirit of the Son into his heart. Jesus seems to say, "My rest is in being a Son; my yoke is the yoke of Sonship. Bear my yoke, and you too shall find rest unto your souls."—R.T.