Yes, You Can!
Help for Life’s Labors
Matthew 11:28-30
Excited for the arrival of my first baby, I nervously prepared for labor. Curious about what I would soon face, I watched reality TV shows filming soon-to-be moms experiencing delivery. Graphic scenes of pushing, panting, groaning, and outright yelling sent me into a full freak-out. I called my sister in tears declaring, “I CAN’T DO THIS!” My sister, already a mother, calmly said, “Yes, you can.”
Coaxing me back into a rational frame of mind, she reassured me that millions of women accomplished what I would face in a few months. Medical professionals would help and guide me. After enduring the hardship of labor, I would hold the new baby I longed for in my arms. Then she added, “Stop watching those shows.”
Laboring over a Lifetime
Unlike the comparatively swift process of delivering a baby (although not so swift when you’re in the middle of it), life’s other labors and burdens persistently intertwine our steps. From emergencies in the middle of the night to long hauls through daily grit and grind, we either brace to meet the unexpected crisis or grasp for leverage to dig in. Sometimes a worthy reward waits at the end of our struggles—an education degree, a work promotion, a long-desired reconciliation, or a return to full health. But often our labor means a series of leaden footsteps in what feels like an endless trail of weary slogging.
Choosing How to Labor
Jesus acknowledges our heavy loads and expresses compassion for our need to press on. Using the imagery of livestock laboring together under a yoke to plow a field or pull a cart, he extends an invitation to his weary listeners. "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me… For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Jesus knows an imperfect world creates yokes of pain and toil. He knows all humanity labors, whether they follow him or not.
Admittedly, the term “yoke” strikes a controversial tone in today’s culture. But Jesus intentionally chose that word, also provocative to his Jewish audience, who chafed under the oppression of Roman occupation and religious legalism. That word expressed how their burden felt, as he invited them to a better way to bear it.
Of course, we instinctively recoil at the idea of any yoke upon us—from anywhere at any time. Yet, during daily life, we participate in many necessary yokes needed for cooperation: working as a team in our jobs, navigating the push and pull of marriage, submitting to authority structures in government, tensions of diverse perspectives in communities of faith, and the list goes on.
“Jesus wants to replace the heaviness and frustration that weigh us down and rub us raw.”
Jesus wants to replace the heaviness and frustration that weigh us down and rub us raw. He proposes a different strategy to tackle the inevitable tensions and pressures. His yoke brings us into a peaceful union with him to accomplish tasks and share burdens. He offers to lay his strong arms across our shoulders to persevere with us—side by side. His yoke binds us to his promises of peace, fulfillment, and eternal life.
A Partner in Labor
In due time (pun intended), I entered the intense labor of childbirth. Even with the epidural I begged for, a point came where I thought: I’m finished. I can’t do this anymore. When the doctor read my pitiful expression, he calmly said, “Only you can deliver this baby. You can do it and you will do it.” And then he came alongside and coached me how to do it. I trusted the doctor and followed his instructions with everything I had in me. Together, we got it done. When my baby girl’s cry announced her first breaths, my straining and exhaustion swept away at the sweet sound of my labor’s reward.
Jesus chose a tough word because he loves us enough to tell us the truth—we will struggle under the challenging work of living one way or another. We can tackle the burdens alone and unguided, hoping for the best. Or we can choose to ease under the yoke of the Savior who directs our labors toward worthy ends and reassures us: “Yes, you can!”