And learn from me
September 13, 2011 (Tuesday)
The prophet Jeremiah pretended he was an ox and put a yoke on his own neck. The yokes came in pairs, so his neck was in one and the other was empty. He went to see King Zedekiah, and invited him to wear the empty yoke. It was an object lesson. He wanted the king to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar because the alternative was too horrible to contemplate. Zedekiah chose to refuse the yoke. He chose to defy Nebuchadnezzar. His decision was final. His fate was sealed. Nebuchadnezzar came with unbeatable power, destroying everything in sight. He “killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah. Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death” (Jeremiah 52:10-11 NIV).
Zedekiah had rejected the prophet Jeremiah’s invitation to humble himself before the king of Babylon, which would have saved the lives of his family and his own also. It was a defiant act and a fateful decision.
Jesus Christ also issued an invitation to wear a yoke: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV).
God sent his messenger to Zedekiah, asking him to choose life by wearing the yoke. He has now sent his own son to each of us, inviting us to wear the yoke of submission. The difference is that Christ’s yoke is easy and his burden is light. It is joy and pleasure to submit to Jesus as Lord. The Apostle Paul said it like this: “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:7-11 NIV).
