Remember that Jesus taught in parables, which is a word derived from the Greek word parabolē (Gk. παραβολή). The word’s two parts literally mean throwing alongside and, by extension, a parable entails comparison, illustration, or analogy. Most parables draw from everyday life and illustrate a moral attitude or a religious principle that is derived from such a comparison between two, usually different things. When used by the Lord, parables both reveal and conceal. One of the primary purposes of a parable is to give a message in secret code. You could say, then, that a parable is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.
The concluding verses to today’s Gospel are unique to Saint Matthew and are similar to the sage Ben Sirach’s invitation to learn wisdom and submit to her yoke. In Sirach 51:26-27, you find wisdom in person or, better yet, the personification of Wisdom speaking; and Wisdom says this: “Take her yoke upon your neck; that your mind may receive her teaching. For she is close to those who seek her, and the one who is in earnest finds her (Sir 51:26-27). By taking the yoke of Wisdom upon yourself, then such a yoke will actually give you rest, if you learn to live according to Wisdom. So, Jesus is inviting the disciples to imitate Him in His humility and gentleness, and in, so doing, He is actually alluding to the Old Testament. In a sense, Jesus is saying “I embody wisdom and I am inviting you to imitate me in humility and gentleness. If you do that, you truly will find peace and actually find rest; not rest for the body, but rest for your souls. When your soul is finally at rest, then, you will find the joy that comes from following me.” Jesus is telling us to imitate Him in meekness and, then, in humility. So those are the yokes that Jesus places on our shoulders: gentleness and humility.
When Jesus claims that the yoke is “easy,” He used the Greek word chrēstos (Gk. χρηστὸς). The word only appears seven times in the New Testament and it can cover a surprising range of meanings. Sometimes it was used to describe things. In that case, chrēstos usually meant “useful, suitable for the job, or well-adapted for its purpose.” The same word can also refer to customs or behavior. Then, on the spiritual plane, chrēstos describes what God defines as kind and, thus, it expresses what is eternally useful. Scholars believe that there is no single adjective in English that carries with it the Greek word’s unique blend of being kind and good in a single word. Jesus is posing this riddle based upon the fact that if you take His yoke upon your shoulders, yes, it is going to be a burden, though in actuality it will be light and it is also destined to be easy. Remember that the yoke and the load are not the same thing. You place a yoke on the neck of an ox so that you can attach a load that paired oxen are pulling. The yoke is not the heavy load, but it is the means by which the oxen can pull a load.
So Jesus is actually making a promise that covers two things. First, He will give you a yoke that is perfectly suited for you. It is custom-fitted, precisely adapted to fit you and to enable you to do all that He plans to ask from you. Second, he will regulate the loads that He asks you to haul. And because He is kind and good, you can know that God never gives you a burden that does not pass through His hands of love. Christ’s yoke may not always feel easy, but you can be confident that it was lovingly fitted by a kind Hand who knows exactly what He is doing.
Nature and dignity 