Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come to me, all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you. 29 Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls. 30 For my yoke is sweet and my burden light.
While the message of Christ that was most scandalous to the religious Jews was His claim to be God, committing the crime of blasphemy if not true and punishable by death, He did many things that violated their religious laws. He repeatedly violated the Jewish Sabbath. He associated with gentiles, tax collectors, sinners and lepers. He called the religious leaders, “whitewashed tombs” and charged them with using the law for financial gain. He said that they made the Law unnecessarily burdensome, enforcing trivialities and details while lacking compassion for man and true love of God.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus offers us the alternative of Christianity. He does not require the keeping of the Jewish sabbath, circumcision, temple sacrifice, dietary regulations or any of the burdens of the Mosaic Law. Of course, the basics remain – don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t commit adultery, worship the one true God. This was summed up in His explanation of the true meaning of the Law, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself.”
The burden of the Torah was so heavy that very few of even the most religious Jews could uphold and follow every tenant. Whether individually or as a people, they were in constant violation of the Law and that was why offerings for sin were constantly sacrificed in the Temple. Jesus took upon Himself the penalty of death for all sins that had ever been or would ever be committed throughout time and everywhere on earth. For that reason, He could say that the Law of Moses no longer applied to the Christian. A yoke is something with which one controls beasts of burden – oxen and such. The yoke of the Jewish Law was heavy. The yoke of Jesus is light.
When we read the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we may feel somewhat restricted by this yoke. After all, it is human nature to desire sin. Concupiscence means that we are more inclined to do wrong than right. Even so, we know that God is the author of all creation and He alone has the authority to decide what is right and wrong. This authority, He gave to His Church when He said such things as, “He who hears you hears me and he who rejects you rejects Him who sent me.” He commanded His apostles to teach in His stead to all peoples and He ensured their authority stating, “what you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and what you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” We not only can, but we must follow the teachings of the Catholic Church in matters of morals and doctrine. That is the yoke Jesus promised.
He also knew that we would fail. He knows that no matter how hard we try, we are no more able to keep His teachings perfectly than were the Jews under the Law. But for us, the sacrifice has already been made in His crucifixion. All we have to do is confess our sins to His priests, who stand in His stead, and express sorrow for our sins, resolving to amend our lives as best we can. Jesus, through His priests, gives us absolution because He has already suffered the punishment for us. Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Catholic may truly participate in the sacrificial death of Christ and realize that His yoke is truly light. It is our sins that are heavy. Trading one for the other is an incredible joy and relief!
Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings July - December, 2026 It is Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GRGY1D15
A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings January - June, 2026 It is also available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GDK16N45
and
Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK
His podcast is The Uncensored Catholic https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-uncensored-catholic
thank you Judson
AMEN!