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. It is the literal wooden yoke which He, with His
own hands in the carpenter shop, had probably often made. He knew
the difference between a smooth yoke and a rough one, a bad fit
and a good fit; the difference also it made to the patient animal
which had to wear it. The rough yoke galled, and the burden was
heavy; the smooth yoke caused no pain, and the load was lightly
drawn. The badly fitted harness was a misery; the well-fitted
collar was "easy."

And what was the "burden"? It was not some special burden laid upon
the Christian, some unique infliction that they alone must bear.
It was what all men bear. It was simply life, human life itself,
the general burden of life which all must carry with them from the
cradle to the grave. Christ saw that men took life painfully. To
some it was a weariness, to others a failure, to many a tragedy,
to all a struggle and a pain. How to carry this burden of life
had been the whole world's problem. It is still the whole world's
problem. And here is Christ's solution: "Carry it as I do. Take
life as I take it. Look at it from My point of view. Interpret
it upon My principles. Take My yoke and learn of me, and you will