This is one of my favorites in all of Scripture. I used to understand it as advice to walk with Jesus when life gets hard. That is, as Carole King wrote, "when you're down and troubled, and you need a helping hand, and nothing oh nothing is going right... " it could be Jesus speaking in the lyrics. And while that's theologically fitting and works for me at a personal level, it's really not what this verse is about. The weariness Jesus is referring to is that from carrying the burden of trying to live according to Jewish law. Given that there are 613 laws in the Old Testament, that was a lot of rules to hear, know, live by, and share. Jesus gives us one law in two parts: Love-- Love God, Love Each Other. He tells us that all the law and the prophets are contained therein. To fully understand this text, you have to know what his "yoke" is. Jesus is speaking as a rabbi to a Jewish population. The "yoke" of the rabbi was the set of his interpretations of the law. Jesus' yoke was easy and his burden was light because you didn't have to have legal mastery of the 613 religious laws that seemed so difficult to live by... you just had to know the one law in its two parts. So love God, and love each other, and enjoy his rest.
Readings: Genesis 32:13-34:31; Matthew 11:7-30; Psalm 14:1-7; Proverbs 3:19-20
