Jesus said, “Come to me, for my yoke is easy and my lordship is gentle, and you will find rest for yourselves.”
This saying may be so familiar to us from the New Testament Gospels that we can barely see it with fresh eyes here in the Gospel of Thomas. But, let’s do our best to approach it through the lens of Oneness and the contrasts of the old versus the new ways of understanding reality as it truly is.
We may not notice at first glance the radical differences between the concept of taking on a yoke and finding rest, but that may be because most of us are not familiar with yokes or their association with hard labor. To wear a yoke is to be enslaved as a beast who pulls a plow through the hard earth, or who moves a heavy grindstone in an endless circle under the hot sun. Being yoked is to be worked hard by one who cracks a whip and demands relentless physical performance. Yet, Jesus suggests that his yoke is easy and his lordship is gentle. These are not the adjectives used to describe the experience of any person or animal under a yoke. At least, not in the minds of anyone in the First Century who was acquainted with the concept.
Jesus says that those who take on his yoke can expect things to be easy, and gentle and that the experience will bring them rest, rather than stress. Ironically, those who are yoked by Jesus are driven into an easy, restful, and gentle reality which is the most un-yoke-like thing imaginable. In fact, the idea is almost comical for the early Christian mindset. It’s a complete reversal of expectation. Like a cold fire or a glass of dry water. To be honest, there is no such thing as what Jesus describes, at least in the practical reality we all experience on a daily basis.
But, this is the point. Jesus wants his disciples – and us as well – to reimagine reality through a totally upside-down lens where yokes are easy, and burdens are light; where up is down and out is in.
Whatever you might expect to see is not what you see. Whatever you think you know, you don’t know at all.
To find rest, we take on a yoke. To inherit eternal life, we die daily. To become the first, we must be the last. To be blessed, we become poor. To win battles, we refuse to fight. To heap coals of fire on our enemies, we offer them a glass of cool water. This is the Kingdom reality that Jesus invites us into.
But we can only see it if we have eyes to see.
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What if God is all of us? Find out more about what it means to be one with God and one with everyone else in my book, SOLA DEUS: What If God Is All Of Us? available now on Amazon>
Keith Giles is the best-selling author of the Jesus Un series. He has appeared on CNN, USA Today, BuzzFeed, and John Fugelsang’s “Tell Me Everything.” He hosts the Second Cup with Keith podcast, and co-hosts the Apostates Anonymous podcast, and the Heretic Happy Hour Podcast.
His latest book, Second Cup with Keith is available now on Amazon HERE>
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