Burden Bearers

by REID, A. | Category: N/a | Apr 2005

In Biblical times the donkey was the most common beast of burden. Sure-footed even over rocky terrain, requiring only a bridle to guide it, able to carry heavy loads and needing only one quarter of the food required by a horse, it was the favoured burden carrier.

When the Lord Jesus made His triumphant entry into Jerusalem, He chose to ride upon a donkey. It was presumably a donkey that had borne Him to Bethlehem, the place of His birth, and a donkey bore Him to Jerusalem the place of His death.

For the young donkey that carried the Lord it was a new experience, as it had never before borne a burden (Lk.19:30). Even if that donkey were later employed on the great caravan routes that traversed the Fertile Crescent, and carried burdens of gold, jewels and other treasures, it would never carry a more precious load than that first burden. Not only was that young animal carrying the King of kings but it was also bearing the ultimate burden bearer. A donkey could bear heavy loads, but no creature ever carried the load that Christ was to bear: 'Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows � For he bore the sin of many' (Is.53:4,12). 'He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree' (1 Pet. 2:24).

We cannot imagine the magnitude of the load Christ carried at Calvary when He bore the weight of human sin. We can however appreciate the burden that was lifted from us when we first came to Him as sinners. Christian, the hero of Bunyan's allegory, 'The Pilgrim's Progress', gives us a sense of the sinner's relief when coming to the cross:

�What a place is this!

Must here be the beginning of my bliss?

Must here the burden fall from off my back?

Must here the strings that bound it to me crack?

Blest Cross! blest Sepulchre! blest rather be

The Man that there was put to shame for me!

It was said of Issachar, 'Issachar is a strong donkey � When he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden' (Gen.49:14,15. NIV margin). The picture is of a strong and capable person, who because of the benefits he had received, was prepared to bear burdens and undertake task work. It becomes us then, as those who have had the burden of our sin relieved, to be willing to bear burdens in our Master's service, but what kind of burdens might we be asked to bear?

In our New Testament there are a number of Greek words that are translated burden or load. Two of them, 'phortion' and 'baros', occur in Galatians 6 verses 2 and 5. In his Expository Dictionary, W.E. Vine explains the difference between the two words thus: 'The difference between 'phortion' and 'baros' is, that 'phortion' is simply something to be borne, without reference to its weight, but 'baros' always suggests what is heavy or burdensome �'

Verse 2 of Galatians 6 uses the word 'baros' for it refers to the heavy burden of a believer who has been trapped in sin. The apostle calls for those who are spiritual to restore the fallen saint, describing this aid as carrying each other's burdens. He says something similar in Romans 15:1, 'We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak �' The NIV text just quoted could be interpreted as saying that the strong should put up with the failings of others. Other versions of Scripture put it differently. The AV says, 'We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak' suggesting that the strong should help to carry the burdens of the weak, which would be more in keeping with the ethos of Galatians 6:2 and fulfilling the law of Christ.

There is always the temptation, when helping other people with their problems, that we think of ourselves as immune to such things. The apostle therefore reminds his readers of another burden, one that must be borne alone. By using the word 'phortion' in verse 5, a burden with no reference to its weight, Paul is referring to the responsibility of the individual to be accountable for his or her own conduct. It is not a burden that will crush us under its weight but it is one that should be conscientiously borne. The means of bearing this particular burden successfully is given in verse 4: 'Each one should test his own actions'.

The above are examples of burdens we might be asked to bear in the Lord's service. But whatever we are called to do, let us be like the strong donkey Issachar, who appreciating what had been done for him, was prepared to bend his shoulder to the burden (Gen.49:14,15).

(All Bible quotes are from the NIV unless otherwise stated.)

REID, A. | Apr 2005
N/a