Holy Priest-Martyr Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata (379-80).
Apostles’ Fast.
Romans 11:13-24; Matthew 11:27-30.
Read Matthew 11:27-30
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Before the invention of mechanized farming, farmers would use a yoke, a heavy wooden crosspiece, to harness animals to each other and to various farm implements – enabling them to perform burdensome tasks such as plowing fields or pulling wagons. Because of this function, the yoke was also seen as a symbol of slavery and oppression as we see in the prophetic actions of the Jeremiah (Jeremiah 27-28).
Yet in today’s gospel reading, Jesus exhorts his listeners: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” At first glace, this seems like a difficult saying – how can we find rest, by putting on a yoke – which implies backbreaking work and captivity?
Though the yoke could be burdensome, it also served to allow farmers to guide and coordinate the movements their animals, and to distribute the weight between them allowing them to bear more than they could have on their own.
Christ desires to guide us down the right path, the straight and narrow path that leads to life (cf Matthew 7:14). The Holy Fathers also call this the royal path – and they see in it nothing else than the communal, ascetical, and liturgical life that we live in the Church. Holy Tradition is the yoke which are exhorted to take on, this is what guides us and ensures that we are on the same path, living the same life as those saints who have run the race before us and now rest with Christ.
This rest implies, not just physical rest, but transformation, a true healing from slavery to the passions which constantly wage an exhausting war against us. This transformation is only possible by staying on the royal path. Without Christ’s direction and guidance, we are stuck wandering, being dragged in a multitude of different directions as we try to figure it out on our own. This is why the Church’s ascetical tradition opposes following the Holy Tradition to living in delusion (πλάνη) – the word in Greek literally means ‘wandering’.
If we strive to trust in Christ, and allow ourselves to be guided, through the tradition of the Church, we will find great peace for our souls. As St. Isaac the Syrian says, “In all the paths upon which men journey in this world, they will find no peace until they draw nigh to hope in God. The heart finds no peace from toil and from stumbling-blocks, until hope enters it, makes it peaceful, and pours joy into it. That worshipful and all-holy mouth spoke of this when it said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Draw nigh, He says, and hope in Me, and find rest from labor and fear. (Homily 51 from the Ascetical Homilies)