Matthew 11-12, Luke 11 - Come Follow Me with Sam

Welcome! 

My yoke is easy and my burden is light

I've thought about this phrase as I'm sure many of you have. I feel it is true at the same time that I'm not sure what it means. If anyone has faced their shadow, they know that the burden of integrating it is no small feat. If anyone understands what the Savior atoned for them, they do not describe that as easy or light.

the word 'easy' comes from the Greek 'chrestos' which, you will notice, is extremely close character-wise to Christos or Christ. Chrestos can also mean good, loving, kind, or goodness. In the French Louis Segond, this is translated  as'doux' or soft.

The word 'light' means little weight without much nuance as far as I can tell.

Christ said just before this that those who are heavy laden should come to Him to find rest. The best I understand this verse, Christ is saying 'take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is is a loving kind goodness of the kind that fills the soul with the true knowledge that it is good and worthy and that makes it bearable, and my burden, once you find rest, will be like those who do not fear death or any thing, and have that calm assurance of those in a blessed state of inner peace.

is it lawful to do good on the sabbath

There was a time when the church was heavily emphasizing proper sabbath worship. I decided to make a list of all scripture that reference what to do on Sunday because that is what I do and also I was curious.

After completing this exercise, I felt like there was no wonder people struggle to figure out what to do on the sabbath. Almost the entirety of the old testament references were all 'thou shalt nots'. There was very sparse guidance on how to sanctify the sabbath throughout the rest of the scriptures. One clear thing was to worship together. After that, it was difficult to get closer guidance.

Remember Christ was talking about rest on the chapter just before this. His Rest.

The sabbath is a day of rest. Symbolically, we rest from all our labors. But the real meanining, in my opinion, is that we dedicate this day to the culmination of finding the Rest of the Lord. 

I'm going to speak symbolically here to explain how to make Sunday a day of the Lord's rest. This way of keeping the sabbath holy starts on Monday. On that day, I begin my great work to do God's will and bring forth His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. I let the power of creation fill me with desire to accomplish a great work. On Tuesday, I recognize that because I am still imperfect, my best actions still cause disorder in the work and I have much to repent of. On Wednesday, I recognize that when I repent and seek the kingdom more earnestly, I am filled with power. On thursday I recognize that God's power is intrinsic with God's Love. On Friday, as I near the end of my work, I am filled with wisdom on the experiences God has given me, and the new knowledge I have acting in His way in the creation. On Saturday, I have the last great effort before the work is done. On Sunday, I can show forth all my works, but not for what I have accomplished, but what I have become. Then I can approach the throne of God with confidence, and plead with Him that I may be one, and enter into His Rest. If I have kept my week focused on my God, my Sabbath is in order and can be sanctified. The next day I take up my burden to begin my heavenly spiral once again.

On living and dead and the key of knowledge

The God of the bible really is the true and living God. He breathes life into all His words and all his works. The pharisees, like so many institutions become dead institutions. Christ is very harsh with the religious institution of His mortal ministry. I believe in particular that this is because these are the shepherds meant to safeguard and spread the words of life to the people, but instead, they encase it and enshroud it in various organizations and teachings, and thus the guardians of the word become the guardians against any who seek the word. Christ says they have taken away the key of knowledge, not entering in themselves, and not allowing others. Being a guardian of the word is always a tricky business; but if you are to take it up, I would pray that you do not hinder in your efforts the words of life.


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