Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

In these verses, Jesus is most likely referencing the “burden” which the Pharisees placed on followers of Old Testament Law–their highly legalistic reading of Scripture led to a strict way of life, almost barren of faith but full of never-ending atonement rituals. Jesus is literally saying to His listeners, “Follow Me and you won’t need these rituals to keep you spiritually cleansed.”

But this is not Jesus’ only reference–He is also speaking of the spiritual burden of sin, which these traditions were originally meant to pay for. The Israelites and their descendants had long struggled to come closer to God through these traditions, and now Jesus would provide them “rest” through His coming sacrifice on the cross, lifting the burden of sin and removing the yoke of constantly atoning for it. Replacing that yoke and burden is the command to “learn from [Jesus],” following His way of life, placing more emphasis on expressed faith than on mere policy and tradition.

This passage is just as much for modern readers as it was for Jesus’ listeners–we also need to be reminded of the importance of faith in God, rather than just blindly following “God-ish” traditions. Today, we too can “come to [Jesus]” and take on His way of life, emulating Him as best we can in thoughts, words, and actions. When we do this, our burdens become lighter as we learn to depend on God, even if our faith is challenged sometimes–because we know that we have a Savior who gives us rest.