How Could Jesus' Yoke Be 'Easy'?

Now, Contending for the Faith. In this regular feature, Dave and Tom respond to questions  from listeners and readers of The Berean Call. Here’s this week’s question: “Dear Dave and T.A., I’m having difficulty understanding Matthew:7:13Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
See All...,14: ‘Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.’ Jesus seems to be saying that His way is narrow and difficult, yet He says in Matthew:11:28-30 [28] Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
See All... that, ‘His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.’ How can the two verses be reconciled?”

Dave: Tom, first of all, let me relate this to Calvinism…

Tom: Yeah, and you have many friends that are Calvinist.

Dave: …and almost every passage you turn to is related to Calvinism. Is God really a God of love? Does He love everybody? Does He want everybody in heaven or doesn’t He? And then do we have free will? Do we have the power of choice or don’t we? And I have searched many books by Calvinist authors and I can’t find that they deal with this passage, because in another gospel it says, ‘Strive to enter in at the strait gate.’ It puts the responsibility on man to enter in at this gate. It’s not that God just causes it. Why would Jesus say, ‘Strive to enter in at the strait gate,’ if everybody is either predestined to go to heaven or predestined to go to hell?

Tom: And strait—we can look to other translations here—strait really means the narrow way, it’s a focused way.

Dave: Right, right, okay? So now, going back to the question, ‘broad is the road that leads to destruction, narrow is the gate that leads to life,’ Jesus is that gate. He said, ‘I am the way.’ Then how can His yoke be easy and His burden be light?

Tom: Yeah?

Dave: It is that way, Tom, for those who trust Him…

Tom: Mm-hmm.

Dave: …for those who enter in at this gate…

Tom: For those who are willing to do things His way.

Dave: Exactly, exactly. Now…

Tom: And not even by their own strength, Dave. And you can’t—you can’t do it. “‘It’s not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord.”

Dave: We could look at it many ways, Tom. Let’s say, “I think it’d be a lot easier if I could just be a millionaire and retire young and so forth,” and yeah, but what happens after death? And I’m not saying millionaires don’t go to heaven, please don’t misunderstand me, but you have no regard for God, and Jesus, this narrow-minded, sober, sad, self-denying life that He calls me to, I’ve got to miss out on all the fun? How can He say, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light”? Well, I guess for 70 years, maybe you thought it was tough, but now for eternity there is joy, and you are in His presence forever as opposed to being, as you said a few minutes ago Tom, separated from Him forever in agony and remorse for having turned your back on Him and having rejected the gospel, the salvation that He offered. Furthermore, Paul could say, and I think Paul probably suffered as much as any Christian—he was beaten with rods, he was stoned, left for dead, he was shipwrecked, and on and on it goes, you know, what he endured…

Tom: Mm-hmm. Not for his salvation.

Dave: No, for Christ.

Tom: Right.

Dave: He said, “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” And yet Paul said, “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” I remember my wife’s father, godly man—never read a newspaper, (chuckles) never had a salary, he just was an itinerant preacher traveling—and all he knew was the Lord. Didn’t know much else about what was going on in this world. And I remember sitting with him, and he did this verse backwards: “Glory,” he said, “It works glory; no, it works a weight of glory; no, it works an eternal weight of glory; no, it works an exceedingly and eternal weight of glory; no, it’s a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; no, it’s a far more…” you know, and he loved to do it that way! (laughing)

Tom: Mm-hmm.

Dave: “Our light affliction, but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory while we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen, for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal.” So when you get eternity in mind, I think you begin to understand what Jesus was saying: “May be kind of tough, folks. They’ll hate you.” In fact, He promised His disciples, “You’re not of this world. Because you’re not of this world, but I’ve chosen you out of this world, the world’s going to hate you. If they persecuted and killed Me, what do you think they’ll do to you if you are true to Me?” But then He can still say, “My yoke is easy, My burden is light.” Because He is very gentle and loving and kind. I wouldn’t want to serve anyone else.

Tom: So the limitation here, Dave, in Matthew:7:13Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
See All...,14 is not really a limitation, it’s just saying, “You choose.” If you do things God’s way, His yoke is easy, His burden is light. But if you’re going to do it your own way, and that’s the broad way, and many people are going to opt for that as opposed to God’s way, and we talked about Calvinism; it comes down to really their own choice, the choice that they make.

Dave: Yeah, it comes back to what Solomon said in Proverbs: “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. It takes us to the ecumenical movement: broad is the road—“Oh, every road! Take whatever road you want. We’re all taking different roads to get to the same place.” Well, if you’re on the broad road, indeed you are. You may think it’s a different way, and your lifestyle, whatever, but if you have rejected God and His will and His Word, then you are heading for destruction. And in fact, you find out there’s a lot of people who think they’re doing their own thing, but they’re all on that same broad road to destruction. And Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me.” So, we just urge people, let’s enter in at the narrow gate and experience life eternal.

Tom: Mm-hmm. Dave, let me add Matthew—the full text of that verse—Matthew:11:28-30 [28] Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
See All...: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”