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 expressions "under the yoke," or "wear the 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.
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