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. (Matt 11:28-30)
Many believe Matt 11:28-30 is evidence of
Wisdom Christology. Against this interpretation, Tom Holland noted a better
explanation for the Old Testament background to this passage:
Matthew is the gospel
of the kingdom in which Jesus is presented as the ideal king for whom Israel
has been waiting. It was Rehoboam who threatened to multiply the burden of his
father when Jeroboam came to him on behalf of the people. Rehoboam rejected the
advice of his father’s counsellors who advised him to make himself the servant
of the people (1 Kings 12:8-11). He refused to lighten the yoke that they had
had to bear under Solomon and threatened to multiply it. It is this that Matthew
is alluding to, for in the following chapter he presents Jesus as the true son
of David (Matt. 12:3), who is the perfect servant (12:15-21). He is the one who
is greater than Solomon (12:42). Matthew is not pointing to personified Wisdom,
but to the true king who is wiser than Solomon, and who is the true Son of
David, the true burden bearer of his people. The ultimate yoke as seen by the
law (Lev. 26:13) and the prophets (Isa. 14:35) was the exile itself. Such a
description, within the sacred writings, could hardly be missed by first
century Jews. Thus Jesus could well be referring to the freedom that he had
come to bring was the release from bondage (exile). (Tom Holland, Contours
of Pauline Theology: A Radical New Survey of the Influences on Paul’s Biblical
Writings [Ross-shire, Scotland: Mentor, 2010], 345)
