It is not meant to give
pain, but to save pain. And yet men speak of the yoke of Christ
as if it were slavery, and look upon those who wear it as objects
of compassion. For generations we have had homilies on "The Yoke
of Christ"--some delighting in portraying its narrow exactions;
some seeking in those exactions the marks of its divinity; others
apologizing for it, and toning it down; still others assuring us
that, although it be very bad, it is not to be compared with the
positive blessings of Christianity. How many, especially among
the young, has this one mistaken phrase driven forever away from
the kingdom of God? Instead of making Christ attractive, it makes
Him out a taskmaster, narrowing life by petty restrictions, calling
for self-denial where none is necessary, making misery a virtue
under the plea that it is the yoke of Christ, and happiness criminal
because it now and then evades it. According to this conception,
Christians are at best the victims of a depressing fate; their
life is a penance; and their hope for the next world purchased by
a slow martyrdom in this.
The mistake has arisen from taking the word "yoke" here in the same
sense as in the expression "under the yoke," or "wear he yoke in
his youth." But in Christ's illustration it is not the "jugum" of
the Roman soldier, but the simple "harness" or "ox-collar" of the
Eastern peasant.
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