Pauls well known warning, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Cor. 6. 14), introduces us to the fundamental idea behind the word yoke. It is a joining together in close association. Two beasts, usually oxen, were fastened together by a cross bar on their horns or neck, for the purpose of drawing carts or ploughs.
The idea of subjection is also associated with yoking. The Galatians are exhorted (5. 1), “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage”, namely, the law. Peter agrees with this when he says at Jerusalem (Acts 15. 10), “Now, therefore, why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?”. The first letter to Timothy (6. 1) refers to “servants under the yoke”, indicative of the subjection and bondage of slaves to their earthly masters.
Taking this earthly illustration to a higher plane, Paul writes to the Philippians (4. 3), “And I entreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellow labourers, whose names are in the book of life”. Paul regarded himself as a “slave under the yoke” of Christ and counted his Master worthy of all honour, as did others who were “true yoke-fellows”. In the collective sense we are all bound by the Cross, to work together in unison and love, being in subjection to the will of God.
In practice, a young and nervous animal is often yoked beside an older and more experienced one and so is steadied and calmed into useful service. Jesus invites each of his followers, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me”. We are to learn “of” Christ, or as the R.S.V. more accurately translates, learn from him. The Diaglott reads, “be taught by me” and, as we know, Jesus taught by example first and foremost. His yoke was a complete submission to the will of his Father and he invites us individually to be a yoke fellow with him. In being yoked beside Christ, we the fearful, the discouraged and the troubled, find spiritual strength and “rest for our souls”.
Being a carpenter, Jesus undoubtedly would have made many yokes, and with his care lavished upon them they would be of superior quality. Indeed legend has it that men came from far and near to buy the yokes that Jesus made: the best in all Galilee. The descriptive word Jesus uses of his yoke is translated in the A.V. as “easy”. But the Greek word “chrestos” is generally used in the papyri with the sense of “excellent”. The same word is elsewhere translated in the A.V. as “good”, “gracious”, “kind” and “better”. Young suggests “useful” and “profitable” as alternate meanings and “well-fitting” has been suggested by another commentator.
But we know that Christ’s yoke is the best of all yokes, divinely fashioned to fit well, gracious and kind in its effect, useful and profitable in its purpose of making the way of salvation possible. He who is “meek and lowly in heart” has taken the major share of the load, thus making the heaviest burden seem light. In learning from our great Yoke-fellow, let us determine to be guided by him, pulling our weight as we should, but never in such a way as to put a greater load on his shoulders.
Reflections on the Potter and the Clay