46 But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers.” Luke 11:45-46.
Jesus said: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and YOU SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light”. Matthew 11:28-29.
What is a yoke? According to Oxford American Dictionary, published in 1980 by Oxford University Press, a yoke is a “wooden crosspiece”. It is a foundation for pulling or work.
After reading this definition of yoke, I thought of the cross. The cross is a wooden crosspiece that was fastened to Christ as a foundation for His work of carrying away our sins. The yoke that Christ endured was the cross, but the yoke that Christ give us is His Spirit.
The lawyers lay legal burdens upon legal burdens upon the people, weighing men down with burdens hard to bear, while they themselves were not even willing to touch the burdens with one of their fingers.
In sharp contrast, Christ tied up the heavy loads of the law and laid them on His own shoulders and gave us His Spirit as a yoke: “in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit”. Romans 8:4.
Isaiah 58:6:
“Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke?”
“Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?”
“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 