Treasures New and Old

On Being a Disciple – Our Burden

“As a disciple, I want to master the Bible so that the Master of the Bible can become my Master.”

– Author unknown

As we continue this series of study, I wanted to dig a little deeper into what being a disciple entails and requires. Notice that most of my quotes are direct quotes from the Master Himself! This month, I wish to emphasize another key principle to being a disciple of Christ: bearing His yoke and not our own!

“Take My Yoke”

Matthew 11:29a: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me.“

What Are the Four Basic Elements of a Kingdom?

1. A king: The Lord Jesus Christ
   
2. A jurisdiction: In His future kingdom, He will rule the world. In His present kingdom, He wants to rule our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength.
3. Laws: The Ten Commandments, the commands of Christ
4. Citizens who follow laws: Jesus’ disciples and believers

The theme of Christ’s teaching and Paul’s preaching is the kingdom of God. Jesus tells us to make it our first priority, and Paul proclaims it to both Jews and Gentiles. His final days under house arrest were spent teaching things concerning the kingdom of God. (See Acts 19:8; 20:25; 28:23.)

Mark 12:28-31: “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”

Is There a Difference between Believers and Disciples?

Yes! A believer is one who believes in Christ, in His salvation and who has left the path of sin to follow the path of righteousness – as best they can. They go to church, pray, and eliminate those things that may take them off the path that they know they should follow. But a disciple is one who has decided to go even further, to study under the Master’s feet, to forsake many and all worldly things so that they can be like the Master. Believers do try and follow the Master. Disciples try to be like the Master.

Jesus Has a Yoke to Bear and Wishes to Bear It with You!

Matthew 11:25-30:

At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomever the Son will reveal him. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Come: deute: imperative form of eimi (to go): come, follow, come hither (Strong’s G1205)

Unto: pros: strong form of forward or toward direction – shows clear purpose (Strong’s G4314)

Me: me: I, me, my (Strong G3165)

Labor: kopiao: fatigued, having worked hard, labored, toiled, wearied (Strong’s G2872)

Heavy Ladened: phortizo: loaded up, overburdened, to be heavy laden (as an overloaded donkey or animal) (Strong’s G5412)

Rest: Ana-Pauo: to repose, be refreshed, take ease, be exempt from those labors (Wordsearch’s Strong’s G373)

Take: airo: to lift up, to take up, raise the voice (Strong’s G142)

Yoke: zygos: to join, a coupling, servitude with another, obligation, the beam of a balance, yoke (Wordsearch’s Strong’s G2218)

Upon: epi: superimposed over, on, on behalf of (Strong’s G1909)

Learn: manthano: to learn in any way, to understand, to learn more, learn with a moral bearing and responsibility, gain a full knowledge (Strong’s G3129)

Meek: praos: meek, humble, gentle (Strong’s G4235)

Lowly: tapeinos: low of heart, lowly demeanor, humble, of low estate, base as opposed to exalting one’s self (Strong’s G5011)

Find: heurisko: to find, get something, to obtain, to perceive that which was blind to you, to find out by inquiry (Strong’s G2147)

Easy: chrestos: easy, good, kind, gracious (Strong’s G5543)

Burden: phortion: burden, lading, task, service, from a root word that means a bill of lading of freight (Strong’s G5413)

Light: elaphros: light or lighter, easy, less weighty, to be light in weight (Strong’s G1645)

Key in this passage for a disciple is the word manthano. To learn. To learn of Him – of the Master. There are definite benefits, such as you will drop your burdens, and His burden is light, easy to bear because He is bearing it with you. But to do this burden sharing, you must learn of Him.

What Must I Do? Three Steps:

Step 1: We are to come to Him – it is an imperative – non-optional. It is a forward motion in the right direction. It strongly implies leaving things behind: people sometimes, things, places, the darlings of our hearts.

Step 2: Take His yoke upon you: How do we do that? We first must drop the yoke we are currently bound in. We drop the worldly burdens we picked up over the years. Worries, cares, wasteful activities, damaging habits, etc. Then by faith, we reach for, lift up, and place His yoke that He has for us upon ourselves. You are the young ox, He, the seasoned one. A wise farmer never pairs two young, untrained oxen to the plow. He will be fighting them while they fight for control from each other. He pairs the young, untrained ox with an older, trained and reliable ox who knows his job. Christ is that older ox; you are that wild, untamed young ox. As you walk together and pull the plow, His steadiness and strength will eventually overwhelm your chafing desire to bolt or stop, etc. and eventually, you will see how much easier life is if you keep in step with the wizened old ox.

Step 3: Learn of me: How does one do that? For the two oxen, as they walk together every day, the young ox learns the ways of the older ox. How he responds to commands, hold his strides, how he leans just the right amount on the yoke, when to stop and start is the behavior to emulate.

OK – you’re not an ox. How then do you yoke yourself with Jesus and “learn of Him?”

1. Studying His Word. What does He say He likes, dislikes? What does He do and not do? Who does He quote?
2. Walk with Him daily. Start with prayer and then study His Word.
3. Determine to “die daily” as Paul taught – that is, to set aside your wants and desires and replace them with His wants and desires.
4. Have the same attitude: a meek and lowly heart.
5. Move forward in your walk with Him – watch those backsliding “gotchas” that often come along to try and spoil you. They are often very little compromises: Song of Songs 2:15a: “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines.”
6. When things don’t seem to be going right, rest in Him. Trust Him – He is in control. Don’t doubt Him.
7. Take His Yoke. What would Jesus have you to do each day?

What Benefits Do I Get? Three:

1. You will gain rest
2. He will remove your overburden load
3. He will give the portion of His burden designed specifically for you

What Might My “Portion” Be?

The burden of rabbis. A rabbi had a particular message they would impart to their students, their talmidim. Besides the general teachings they all got, they would get specific training and teachings in a special area of ministry. One would concentrate on the Torah. One would emphasize prophecy. One, purity of heart. Another on the coming of the Messiah and to look for His signs. One on self-discipline for a holy life, etc.

Becoming a Talmidim member: A rabbi would watch you in your younger days at Torah school, and as he saw a particular bent or passion, he might ask you to go past thirteen (age of adulthood) and study some more in his particular discipline. Sometimes a young man could petition a rabbi of renown that had an established school that was known for an emphasized subject and, after an interview, could be accepted.

What’s your burden?: As you set down your heavy weights and loads and accept His burden (portion) He designed for you, you will find that God has a burden (an emphasis, a cause, a desire) that for you is not burdensome at all, but light! Evangelizing the lost, ministry to widows, teaching God’s Word, making disciples, waiting on tables (in the sense of serving the congregation), etc.

Warning! Not everyone has your burden! Do not force or look down on others who may have a different burden!

And that brings us back to:

2 Peter 1:10: “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:”

May God bless you all!

Bro. Joe

Strong, J. Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries. Meyers, R. (2005). e-Sword. [computer software] . Franklin, TN: Equipping Ministries Foundation. (Original work published 1539)

Strong, J. Strong’s Talking Greek_Hebrew Dictionary. Wordsearch. (2020). Wordsearch Bible. [computer software] . Nashville, TN: LifeWay Christian Resources. (Original work published 1890).

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