A Thrill of Hope
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“A Thrill of Hope, the Weary World Rejoices!” We’ve been singing these words all through the Christmas season. They are tucked away in the first verse of O Holy Night. But have they made it past our lips and into our hearts?
I see in almost every face, a look that says, “I’m wiped out, fatigued, never able to catch up or get a break.” It’s a weariness that goes beyond late nights and over-crammed schedules. It goes to the bone, or rather to the soul. Is there a hope for this weariness? A hope that leads to rejoicing? If so, I want it. I need that kind of hope. How about you?
In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” What is weighing on you today? A health crisis? Holiday expectations? Strained relationships? Financial pressure? Loss? Loneliness? Depression? Heavy stuff. We know what it is to be weary and burdened.
“Come!” Jesus is calling, inviting us. I love that word. It’s an invitation to be WITH Him. Not a command to “Go away”, or “Go and do…” He says, “Come to me! I have a new way, a better way for you to live.”
“Come to ME”; not to religious practice or performance; not to a checklist of rules to follow. But to a relationship, to a person.
“All who are weary and burdened.” Yep! That would be us! We are depleted, exhausted, fatigued, and weighed down. Chances are, you’ve got somebody in your life who is at the bottom right now. Maybe they call you to vent, or cry, or ask advice. Maybe they need you and their neediness is sucking the life out of you. I’m not proud of this, but it’s true: Sometimes I don’t answer my phone. I see the number come up, and I think, “I haven’t got it in me. I just can’t right now.”
But I’ve also been that needy person. I’ve been the friend calling at 11 pm, desperate to be held together by someone else’s words. I’ve been crumpled on the floor, sobbing with grief, aching for comfort.
And Jesus? He never silences His phone. He never puts it on “Do Not Disturb”. Actually, He comes looking for me. He seeks me out and invites me to be with Him. And He says, “I will rest you.” Rest is not a noun He gives us, but verb He does to us. “I will rest you, refresh you.” Yes please.
So far, so good, but I’ve always been a bit confused by this passage. Right after Jesus says, “I will give you rest.” His very next words are, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart. And you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Do you know what a yoke is? It’s a huge wooden tool, placed over the shoulders of two oxen, to hook them together. Then it’s attached to a cart, piled with a heavy load for them to pull.
Hmmmm…..” I will give you rest - put this heavy wooden beam across your shoulders and get under this yoke with me.” I don’t know about you, but that’s not my idea of rest! I would rather Jesus invited me to a beach vacation. Instead He invites me to join Him under a yoke.
What does He mean? We need a bit of context. Jesus was talking to a group of people in the New Testament who were ALREADY wearing a heavy yoke. They were under the yoke of religious oppression.
The religious leaders were constantly piling burdens on them. Their mantra was “Do more! Give more! Pray more! Follow more rules!…” Funny thing was, those who were in charge wouldn’t lift a finger to help.
The people knew they were burdened by their sin. The religious elite kept them always striving, but never arriving. They would climb their ladder in an effort to reach God, and the leaders would keep adding rungs. No matter how high they climbed, they couldn’t reach Him.
We too are under a heavy yoke. You may or may not relate to religious oppression. You may have really heavy burdens you are carrying around, or you might be in a relatively light season. No matter your circumstances, you are still carrying the heavy weight of sin.
Before you dismiss me as being judgmental, please hear me out. Sin is not just murder, adultery and stealing. It’s also gossip, complaining, jealousy, lying - it’s any way we miss the mark of God’s holy standard of perfection. And we ALL miss the mark!
Jesus says “learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.” Unlike the religious leaders, who wielded their authority like a club, Jesus’ heart was full of humility and kindness. He, who had all authority, came and willingly laid Himself down. He served. He lifted the oppressed. He touched the untouchable. He made himself nothing, at the hands of those who made much of themselves.
“You will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” At first glance, this sentence seems to be a promise of easy days and light burdens. But both the Bible, and life experience prove otherwise. Jesus promised hard times for those who follow Him. He says things like, “Take up your cross...” He tells His followers that their faith might cost them their comforts, their families, or even their lives. So what is this talk of easy yokes and light burdens?
To understand this claim, we’ve got to see what Jesus did. Take a journey with me, will you? We are going to Jerusalem. It’s a Friday afternoon, and a crowd has gathered. We can hear the jeering mob as we get closer. There, on a hill, a cross is hoisted. On it hangs a man bloody and beaten beyond human recognition. The people are mocking and spitting on Him. “Who is this criminal”, you wonder?
It’s God. God in the flesh. His name is Jesus. He is the baby born that Holy night. He is all grown up now, and the time has come for Him to fulfill His purpose.
See how this one, whose birth we celebrate, is described by Isaiah, the prophet:
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with His wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth...
By oppression and judgment he was taken away...
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush Him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt…
Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53, parts) ESV, emphasis added.
Stand before the cross and take in the sight. Jesus is there for you and me.
Hebrews 2 says that Jesus “endured the cross”. Endured = remained under the heavy load. HE bore, carried, had our sins laid on Him, according to Isaiah 53. WHY? Why would it please God the father to Crush His son under the weight of OUR sin?
Forgiveness. The Hebrew word literally means “to lift / carry / take”. When we come to God in faith and confess our sins, He forgives us. But our sins don’t just dissipate into thin air. They were “lifted, carried, taken” by Jesus. They were laid on Him, when He endured the cross.
God knew that all our climbing would never ever get us close to Him. So He came down to us. The religious people of Jesus’ day couldn’t offer rest. They could only crack their whips and demand, “More!” Jesus offers rest because He CAN. He can offer rest because He ALREADY BORE the heavy load.
But there is more. Jesus did not stay in the grave. He rose from the dead!!!
The New Living Translation says “I will give Him the honors of a victorious soldier.” (Isa 53:12a) Back in the day, when a king conquered a city, he would go on a victory march. He would be up front, with his army, and behind him would be all his humiliated captives. They would shuffle in chains, heads bowed low in humiliation.
When Jesus conquered death, He took a victory march. Behind Him were death, hell, sin, shame, fear, and everything else that separates us from God. Defeated, by His sacrificial death and resurrection!
I need you to use your imagination again. Picture 2 ox-carts. The one on the left is ours. It’s piled high with our struggles, our sins, our burdens. We strain under under it’s weight. There is another ox- cart on the right. It belongs to Jesus. It’s empty. His cart has nothing on it but freedom, love, peace, rest, hope and the joy of knowing Him.
Struggling under our yoke, we call, “Jesus! Please help me! My burden is so heavy and I’m so weary! Won’t you come and help me?!”
Jesus is under His yoke. He looks at us with compassion and says, “No child, come to me. Step out from under your yoke. Step away from all your straining and striving. Come under my yoke. It’s easy for you. It’s light for you. Because I have already borne the weight of it. I took it to the cross. I endured my Father’s wrath on your behalf. Won’t you come out from under your yoke and come to me?” It’s an exchange. We let go of our heavy yoke, and we come to His.
How do you reconcile Jesus’ invitation to easy yokes, light burdens, and rest, with the knowledge that a life of following Him will entail trials, suffering, persecution and possibly death? Maybe the answer lies in the phrase “rest for your souls”.
Soul rest. Not physical rest or a life free of adversity. But a deep, abiding settledness in your soul that your burden of sin has been lifted, and transferred to Jesus, and that the yoke of slavery that once bound you has been untethered from your neck. As you lean into Jesus, and walk with Him, you find the crushing weight you’ve been under has been lifted. He’s carrying your soul, so you can rest.
My prayer is that you will respond to His invitation by running to Him! If you already know Him, I hope you are letting Him pull the weight of your life. The work has been done. No need to strain, or strive, or prove yourself. He’s inviting you to rest.
If you don’t yet know Him, I hope that you will take a long look at the cross, confess your need for a savior and find rest for your soul. You don’t pile your goodness next to the cross. And if you’re too ashamed to come, know that shame has been defeated too. He took it for your sake.
“A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices!” A savior has been born. Let this Christmas song remind you there is reason to hope and rejoice. Today, I’m praying joy and rest for you as you walk this weary world!
Merry Christmas!
