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.
Ver. 29. Take my yoke upon you] q.d. Though freed by me from the damning and domineering power of sin, you must not think to live as you wish. In the greatest freedom is the least licence. a To argue from mercy to liberty is the devil's logic: from mercy to duty is the right reasoning, as Romans 12:1. Christians must not be yokeless, aweless, masterless, Belialists, that wander at will as wild asses, or canes, αδεσποτοι, but they must yield the obedience of faith, and be adding to their faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, &c., linking the graces hand in hand as in a dance (so the word signifies, επιχορηγησατε), 2 Peter 1:5; 2 Peter 1:11, so shall they have an entrance ministered unto them further and further into Christ's glorious kingdom.
And learn of me] The Arch-prophet, the Counsellor, that excellent speaker, as he is called in Daniel 8:13, that came out of the Father's bosom, and hath his Father's will at his fingers' ends. Besides what he taught us by himself and his servants, he hath written for us those excellent things of his law, those lively oracles. He hath also left us, as here, his own practice for a pattern of the rule, and for a complete copy (as St Peter calleth it, υπογραμμον, 1Pe 2:21), to write after. Pindarus saith of Hiero Syracusanus, that he had cropped off the tops of all virtues; b Melancthon, of Frederick the elector of Saxony, that he had picked out the flower of all noble abilities and endowments, c The same author proposeth George, Prince of Anhalt, for an example of unparalleled piety, worthy of all men's imitation. Machiavel sets forth Caesar Borgia (a far worse man) as the only pattern for a prince to express. St Jerome, having read the religious life and death of Hilarion, folding up the book said, Well, Hilarion shall be the champion whom I will imitate, How much rather should we say so of Christ: every one of whose actions, whether moral or mediatory, were for our imitation. In his moral actions we should learn of him by doing as he did,1 Peter 2:23. In his mediatory, by translating that he did to our spiritual life, as to die to sin, live to righteousness, &c.
For I am meek and lowly in heart] Lo, here is a piece of Christ's yoke, which he therefore so calleth, because as the yoke maketh the heifer hang down her head and frame to hard labour, so doth humility (the mother of meekness) work in our hearts, Hosea 10:11. d Ephraim was a heifer used to dance and delight in soft straw, and could not abide to plough: but the Lord will make him (and all his) both bear and draw, and that from their youth up, Lamentations 3:1,66. And whereas meekness and lowly mindedness go coupled here together, we must know that they are virtutes collectaneae, as Bernard calleth them, a pair of twin sisters, never asunder. Remember, saith Mr Tyndale to Mr Frith, that as lowliness of mind shall make you high with God, even so meekness of words shall make you sink into the hearts of men.
And ye shall find rest unto your souls] These Christian virtues have virtutem pacativam, they lodge a sweet calm in the heart, freeing it from perturbations and distempers. A humble man saith, Who am I but I may be despised, abused, injured? And that which will break a passionate man's heart, will not break a meek man's sleep. e
a In maxima libertate minima licentia. Salvian
b δρεπων κορυφας αρετων απο πασων .
c Freder. selegit florem ex omnibus virtatibus. Scultet. Annal.
d ταπεινος quasi εδαφεινος, ab εδαφος, terra. Humilitas, ab humo.
e Socrates cum in comoedia taxaretur ridebat: Polyagrus vero seipsum strangulabat. Aelian. 5.