The Rabbi’s Yoke

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burden, cultural, inner motivation, intention, Jesus, law, Matthew, rabbi, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Torah, yoke

A clear image comes to mind when Jesus says this morning (MT 11:28-30) “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.” I see a team of oxen joined together by a wooden structure that keeps them together and joins them to a wagon that is full of supplies of some kind. That “collar” that joins them has always been known to me as their yoke. Whether or not the “burden” that the oxen are pulling is heavy or light, they themselves are heavy and so the yoke appears that way too.

Some years ago I heard a talk that gave me a new interpretation making the “yoke” Jesus was talking about more plausibly light. It seems that as rabbis began to interpret the Torah for their students they stressed different things in the law: care for the poor, personal piety, proper worship, etc. It did not mean that they jettisoned part of the given law but rather that they considered the community to which they were speaking, the cultural situation, etc. (just as we know the gospel writers did) and taught what was most needed for the people who were their disciples. Their interpretation came to be called their yoke. So when Jesus spoke of his yoke being easy and his burden light, he was calling us to the way of love and to what he came to reveal of the Kingdom of God. For those who truly grasp his message, it is not a question of the outer experiences of our lives being the determining factor in our assessment of ease or difficulty, but rather the inner motivation and intention that allow a vision and a path of light. It does not mean that we will never feel burdened but that we will be able to withstand our trials in light of the example of Jesus who came to share his “yoke” with us.

Protocols

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class system, diversity of gifts, Downton Abbey, family of equals, grateful, humility, Jesus, Matthew, rabbi, servant, superiority, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Western society

Sunday evening I watched the season finale of Downton Abbey and was once again amazed and confused by all the roles and divisions in the “upstairs/downstairs” of the house. The differences between first valet and butler or downstairs maid and the kitchen staff who never saw the light of the upstairs was daunting, to say the least. Happily, the last sequence of the season was the annual Christmas party at the manor to which all tenants and servants were invited and all happily sang carols as “one big happy family.” There was a chink in the armor of tradition in that event because Lady Rose had married a Jewish man earlier in the year and it was his first Christmas celebration. All took that in stride because they loved Rose and because he was a lovable chap as well. Although the theme of the entire series is the transformation of British society in the 20th century and the necessity of accepting change in order to survive, I found myself marveling that what was portrayed on Sunday could have been accurate (as they claim) and acceptable just decades ago in Western society.

I was reminded of all that this morning when I heard Jesus say to the crowds and to his disciples, “They (the Scribes and Pharisees) love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’ As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher and you are all brothers…The greatest among you must be your servant…” (MT 23: 1-12) This doesn’t mean, of course, that we ought not to accept the gifts and talents that God has given us but rather that we not think of ourselves as intrinsically better than other people. Sometimes the sense of superiority is subtle and it’s good for us to stay awake to its approach. When I sing in church so that people will notice my lovely voice, when I fix a computer glitch that “anyone could manage” or when I ace an exam, smiling as I finish faster than the others…it’s time to take a look at where humility resides and remember to be grateful to God for all I have been given. And step two is the ability to find the diversity of gifts that exist among us in the great family of equals in God’s eyes.