Episode 124 – Rabbis and Disciples Pt 8: Jesus’s Yoke
Key Passage(s): Matthew 11:28-30
One of the biggest problems we have when reading the Bible is familiarity. When we’re too familiar with a passage, we start believing we already know what it means. In doing so, we forget there’s so much more it has to teach us, and we rob it of its explosive power to transform our lives. In this final episode in our series, Rabbis and Disciples, we set Jesus’s famous words about “his yoke” in their historical and cultural context, and discover Jesus making a shocking claim that no other rabbi ever made. By understanding this passage anew, you’ll experience the depth, the audacious challenge, and the compelling nature of Jesus’s invitation to life in him!
Discussion Questions
- What was your biggest takeaway from the teaching?
- How did exploring the different “hints” Jesus gave in this passage change or deepen its meaning for you?
- What are one or two specific examples of times you’ve made life harder for yourself by trying to do it your way rather than doing it Jesus’s way?
- What are one or two specific examples of times you practiced the way of Jesus and it helped you to navigate the difficulty of life with a kind of ease and lightness?
- What does “rest for your soul” look like in your life?
- How will you begin living out the truths of this teaching this week?
For Further Study
New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus by David Bivin – Chapter 4
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Thank you, thank you Brad! It was such an amazing teaching series! I enjoyed every explanation you gave about rabbis and disciples, also the humbleness you had to recognized your mistake about a rabbi’s yoke😊 I pray God continues blessing your ministry and your family.
Really appreciate that, Andrea. Thank you!
I’ve been doing this study with my Sunday school class. We have learned so much. I love the short videos that are packed full of information. My aunt and uncle sent me the Bread of Life link more than a year ago and I really loved that timeline of Holy Week events. Since then, I’ve been doing several series. Thank you for your work.
Really appreciate you sharing that, Jaime. Thank you!
First, thank you for your work. Second, in this video you talk about an error you made explaining yoke in a previous video. Your honesty and humility is wonderful. I have been watching the series and I didn’t see a correction in the previous video. If I had stopped watching the series on the earlier video I would think that yoke is interpretation. The suggestion is to go back and add some kind of on screen note of correction. Thanks again for your work
The Mishnah mentions the yoke of Torah.
Rabbi Nechunia son of Hakanah said, “Anyone who accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah removes from himself the yoke of government duties and the yoke of the way of the world; but one who casts off the yoke of Torah accepts upon himself the yoke of government and the yoke of the way of the world.” Pirkei Avot 3:5
This would make me think that Jesus was making a reference to the yoke of Torah because HE is the Torah. Yes, Mishnah wasn’t “written” until well after Jesus walked the earth, but the words contained within it pre-date Him by 200 years – so, these oral traditions would have contained this idea.