"For My Yoke Is Easy, And My Burden Is Light"

by S. J. HILL | Category: General | Mar 1944

(Matthew 11.30).

We are familiar with these words and think of them with pleasure, remembering who it was who uttered them. Let us glance a little at the circumstances in which they were spoken.

In Matthew ii. we find that John the Baptist, that great man and faithful witness for Christ, had been cast into prison. How long he was there we know not; but while there he had information conveyed to him as to the doings of the One whom he had baptised. Such information only confirmed the knowledge that "Jesus" was the Christ, the Anointed of God; but what worried John was

perhaps the fact that1 although he, His servant, was in a vile dungeon, no word had come to him, no visit had been made. In a weak moment, and under the stress of his trials, it occurred to him that he should send a message to the Lord. It would appear that John needed disciplining in patient endurance, and it is recorded for our help in such times when, seemingly, prayer is not heard., Undoubtedly John in this matter failed, and he, by his action added somewhat to the Lord's burdens and distresses. The message sent by him, when he had heard of the works of" the Christ," was, "Art Thou He that cometh, or look we for another?"

It seems difficult to believe that John could have sent such words, for well He knew that the Lord was the Sent One of God.

What effect had this on the Master? "In that hour" (Luke 7.21) He did many signs, and turning to the messengers He said, "Go your way and tell John the things which ye do hear and see," and concludes with the words,-"And blessed is he, whosoever shall find none occasion of stumbling in Me." Doubtless the Lord's words had a restoring effect upon John. But what did the Lord say after John had so acted? Did He speak of John's weakness and lack of faith, and hold him up to censure? Far otherwise! He took that occasion to eulogise His servant, and in a few words He sketched his character and shewed him to be one of His most faithful servants, even asserting that "among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist." John the Baptist's question,

I though painful, was not the Lord's greatest trial. No! the Lord in few words witnesses to the fearful unbelief which marked that generation and particularly certain cities, both in reference to John and to Himself. Unbelief is to be measured by the character of the testimony rejected or set aside, and that being so those people were more guilty than Tyre and Sidon, or even Sodom. Thus the Lord saw that He was rejected and the cross was already in view. How then did He act and speak?

"At that season," when John had doubted Him, and when evidence was given of the wicked unbelief of the people amongst whom He had wrought, at that season He looked up to His Father and thanked Him for those circumstances, that the revelation of His Person had been bidden from the wise and prudent, and on the other hand that the Father had revealed such things unto babes The experience of saints is at times similar in character They know that God is Sovereign and could, if He would, prevent much evil happening to them; and although they often pray for deliverance from their trials yet no answer comes. Ungodly men around them seem to be free from cares and to prosper in their self chosen course and the believer is brought very much into the experience of Psalm 73 2 and so forth until he leaves off considering the present prosperity of the wicked and retires into the sanctuary of God where he sees things in the light of God and is reassured.

The blessed Lord did not pass through experiences of doubt like Asaph. His confidence in God was absolute and He unreservedly acquiesced in all that was well-pleasing in- God's sight. In the midst of the distressing circumstances recounted He asserted His confidence that, despite appearances and present happenings, the Father had indeed given all things into His hands, and had constituted Him the One through whom lie, the Father, should be known. It is the knowledge of the Father which is the key to all other knowledge, and he who knows the Father is, or at any rate ought to be, at rest in his mind as to all the happenings in this world.

Then the Lord, fully confident as He was in the perfection of His Father's wisdom in all the circumstances of His life, turned to others who were also burdened by manifold cares and invited them to come to Him, and in so coming He would give them rest. Doubtless such a word will cover any and every burden, even the burden of the sinner, but it need not be limited.

S. J. HILL | Mar 1944
General