My Burden Is Light

At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” Mtt 11:25-30

When we think of someone under the burden of a yoke, this is the image that most likely comes to mind. But in this text, Jesus uses the image of a yoke with its heavy burden as a metaphor for something else. The burden Jesus is talking about is the burden of the Jewish law as interpreted by the Scribes and Pharisees. "They tie up heavy burdens [hard to carry] and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them". Mtt 23:4 The problem Jesus has with the Scribes and Pharisees is clearly layed out in chapter 7 of Mark's gospel.

Now when the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles [and beds].) 

To their attacks Jesus responds;

“Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.’ You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition, ... You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things.”

As the new communities of faith begin to take shape as the Christian era begins, the question of the practice of Jewish laws and traditions became an issue, especially when non-Jewish people embraced the Faith. The question becomes a problem as we read in Acts 15:1, Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.” In what is called the Council of Jerusalem, the first council of the Church, the issue is addressed. 

... Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.”

...  Because there arose no little dissension and debate by Paul and Barnabas with them, it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and presbyters about this question.

... But some from the party of the Pharisees who had become believers stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and direct them to observe the Mosaic law.”

... Peter got up and said to them, Why, then, are you now putting God to the test by placing on the shoulders of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?

... Then the apostles and presbyters, in agreement with the whole church, decided to choose representatives and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. The ones chosen were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers.

This is the letter delivered by them: “The apostles and the presbyters, your brothers, to the brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia of Gentile origin: greetings.
Since we have heard that some of our number [who went out] without any mandate from us have upset you with their teachings and disturbed your peace of mind, … ‘It is the decision of the holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities, namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage. If you keep free of these, you will be doing what is right. Farewell.’”

People need order to live constructively and in peace with one another, so laws are fashioned as a means to this end; and so it is among communities of believers. But it is God who gives our lives their ultimate meaning and purpose. We must understand that God’s commandment is given out of love, out of God’s desire that we come to understand our true purpose and finally embrace it. The best response to love is to love in return. This removes all sense of burden to anything love asks of us.

When Jesus was asked about the commandments and which of them was of highest importance he replied; 

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mk 12:28-31