Tyre & Sidon- Matt 11:20-30

After speaking on the greatness of John the Baptist, Jesus turns his attention to cities and uses comparisons that were outrageous to the more “religious” listeners, i.e. the Pharisees. Matthew tells us, “then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done; because they repented not.” We have to remember that at this point in time the Jews regarded themselves to be God’s chosen people. While this is true at the time, the culture took this to mean that they were superior to all others simply by birth right alone. This meant that they took themselves to be the most righteous by nature, the most loved, and therefore stood in judgment of everyone else, all the gentiles. To hear the Jewish people be compared to gentiles was unacceptable, but to be told that those gentiles surpassed them in righteousness and favor with God was blasphemy. The cities he talked about have seen his most “mighty works” but they did not embrace his teachings, they did not change their lives to correspond with his gospel. Some did, but for the most part, they kept on living their lives the way they always have with the only change in their attitude being anger at the Savior.

 

Jesus says, “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto theeBethsaida! For if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre andSidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes… And thou, Capernum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for theland of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.”

 

Jesus compares Chorazin and Bathsaida to Tyre and Sidon, which at the time were two thriving Roman port cities, which I’m sure entailed all of the depravity that comes with port city lifestyle. To compare seemingly contrite Jewish cities to the pagan and morally corrupt Roman cities would have been a kick in the stomach to those listening. I guess it would be like comparing Provowith Las Vegas today, which would be something. While googling Tyre and Sidon a certain website summed it up nicely, saying, “Jesus used the pagan cities of Tyre and Sidon to highlight the way God’s chosen people refused Him. The Israelites of Jesus’ day believed themselves to be righteously following God, yet they did not recognize God in their midst. Jesus, in essence, shamed Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernum- they, who were supposed to be God’s representatives on earth, refused to listen; yet pagan cities would have quickly repented. Jesus’ comments demonstrate the importance of responsibility and stewardship.”

 

The infamy of Sodom was so extreme and well known that its reputation remains today. Jesus isn’t saying that Sodom, Tyre, orSidon are more righteous than those cities presently, but he is saying that the hearts of those gentile places were more receptive to the gospel than that of the Hebrews. Clearly, the wickedness of Sodom was bad enough that it was worthy of complete destruction, and at the time of his speaking, those Jewish cities were not in that state yet. This shows the importance of keeping perspective and a personal relationship with the Holy Ghost. Those of the Jews who had a heart softened enough to receive the Savior’s message, did so, but the rest rejected Him, again showing that miracles don’t convert, only the Holy Ghost does.

 

There are a few verses that I don’t understand, but Jesus finishes up asking those he just rebuked to “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.” It has taken me a really long time to understand what Jesus meant by this. I always imagined being yoked with someone as taking on more of their burden, but Jesus brings us no burden, it’s like carrying 10 bags full of groceries and having someone with empty hands take as many as you will give them. The IM explains, “In times past, wooden yokes were usually carefully crafted by carpenters to fit the necks of the animals that would wear them. Since yokes were used to bind one animal to another animal, they can be seen as symbolic on the covenant relationship that binds us to the Savior and allows us to ‘pull together’ with Him. President Howard W. Hunter explained: ‘In biblical times the yoke was a device of great assistance to those who tilled the field. It allowed the strength of a second animal to be linked and coupled with the effort of a single animal, sharing and reducing the heavy labor of the plow or wagon. A burden that was overwhelming or perhaps impossible for one to bear could be equitably and comfortably borne by two bound together with a common yoke…Why face life’s burdens alone, Christ asks, or why face them with temporal support that will quickly falter? To the heavy laden it is Christ’s yoke, it is the power and pace of standing side by side with a god that will provide the support, balance, and strength to meet our challenges and endure our tasks here in the hardpan fields of mortality.”

 

Honestly, I feel like I carry a heavy load, a lot of the time I feel like my load of responsibility is crushing and that’s because, at those times, I am not yoked to the Savior. Jesus speaks of His yoke being light, but the way that makes more sense to me is that He is willing to take our yoke upon himself, he carries as much of the load as we’ll let him. Once we’re yoked together, does he take off like a rocket to the finish line? No, he goes at our pace. Howard W. Hunter continues to be quoted saying, “Obviously, the personal burdens of life vary from person to person, but every one of us has them. Furthermore, each trial in life is tailored to the individual’s capacity and needs as known by a loving Father in Heaven. Of course, some sorrows are brought on by the sins of a world not following the counsel of that Father in Heaven. Whatever the reason, none of us seems to be completely free from life’s challenges. To one and all, Christ said, in effect: As long as we all must bear some burden and shoulder some yoke, why not let it be mine? My promise to you is that my yoke is easy, and by burden is light.” That really changed my perspective on how the yoke thing works.

 

So that begs the question, how do we take the Lord’s yoke upon us? First, what makes our burdens heavy? Responsibility. Responsibility isn’t a bad thing, in fact we absolutely need it to grow, however, having stewardship over many things isn’t what makes our loads heavy, it’s the worry that we have about fulfilling them. I’m not burdened by caring for my children, I am burdened with worry about them, worry about my job, feeling trapped, feeling overwhelmed, that’s what makes my burden heavy. How does Jesus take that burden from me? He promises that he will provide for me, if I am faithful. It takes the focus off of me trying to provide for my family, which I can’t control as much as I would like to think. Economies change, jobs disappear, food doesn’t grow, animals get sick, people get sick. These are the things that dictate whether or not I can care for my children, and I can’t control any of them. I can control my attitude while at work, I can prepare for economic uncertainty by following prophetic counsel. Those are what I can control, so what should my focus be? Worry? No, my focus should be on being righteous and the rest will come as God wills it. I’ve seen so many miracles in my life that came out of no where to fulfill needs I didn’t know that I had. God is mindful of me. This reminds me of our family scripture study last night, we were reading Jarom and of course there are wars, and the Nephites won the war, so I asked my kids, “why did Jarom say that the Nephites won the wars? Because they had the most soldiers?” “No.” “Because they had the best weapons?” “No.” “Because they had the best training?” “No.” “Then why did he say that they won?” “Because they were righteous.” The burden comes off of us as we are righteous because our focus changes from “What if…” to “God’s will.” And this isn’t just in the temporal sense either, because what if we do starve to death, which seems unlikely because in all the scriptures the righteous starving to death is rare. But what if we do? What if we starve to death? Can I control that? Clearly not, because if I could, then I would. What is we are killed in a car accident? Then families are forever, and we’ll see them in the next life. What if we are overtaken by an enemy government, then we submit and pray for deliverance, like Alma the Older and Zeniff.

 

We can be free of worry because if we do our best, ultimately, in the eternal perspective, we will be taken care of. What if I don’t get married again? Then I’ll meet someone in the next life and have all the privileges that have been promised to the faithful. What if I feel sad and have no one to talk to? Jesus is always ready to talk and listen to everything I have to say, that’s a significant lesson that I’ve learned over the past couple of years. What if my children turn away from the gospel? I can’t control another’s actions. I can only do the best I can with what I have and pray for them, and trust that they will have a full and complete understanding with which to make their ultimate choice before all is said and done. What if I get fired from my job? If I’ve prepared like the prophets have told me to, then financially, I’ll be ok until I find something else. God will prepare a way for me to provide for my family, either through Church welfare services, a new job, a different opportunity, etc. What if my son is killed in a war? Then I know that he is with God in a beautiful, magnificent after life where I will meet him again. What if my child is kidnapped, raped, and murdered? I can do my best to keep my children safe, I can teach them protocol, but ultimately if it happens, then my heart will break, but I know that Jesus suffered through this incident, he felt the terror and pain felt by my child, he felt the loss and heart ache that affect us all. He felt that, I trust that he would welcome my child into His loving arms and bring peace to their hearts, and to mine, eventually. What if I’ve been abused before, there are serious and lasting scars from that, how does Jesus take that burden? He takes it when he promises that all things will come together for our good. He takes it when he tells us the standards for relationships, even though that isn’t a guarantee. He takes it when we follow counsel to forgive. As we turn from our own sins, we can feel peace and trust in the Savior that all can be ok.