(REFLECTIONS ON Deuteronomy 21:1-23)

The burden of being holy, just living, doing what was right, was heavily on Israel. No matter if they were issues of justice, human dignity, family order, or communal responsibilities, Israel was called to reflect God’s holiness, mercy, and order.

In today’s Scripture, we see that crimes committed in their midst were the responsibilities of the community, and not to be ignored, or to be the burden of an individual or just a select few. We also see that the burden of keeping order in the family, a marriage, should not be based on the household, but based on God, reminding us that the community, the family, the individual were all to be the Lord’s.

Israel’s burden was that they were not to have only parts of their life under the Lord’s order, but rather their entire life and community was to be God’s. When the burden in ours as the church, a Christian community and household, we are also reminded that there should be no part of our life that is not the Lord’s.

When the burden in ours, we also are reminded that Jesus Christ, through His death on the cross, has taken upon Himself these burdens so that it is no longer a question of our ability to reflect God’s holiness, mercy, and order, but rather reflecting Jesus Christ who has taken the burden upon Himself.

Jesus said, in Matthew 11:28-30,

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

That Jesus has taken the burden upon Himself, doesn’t mean that we remove the burden off of our shoulders, pile them on Jesus and just run, but rather we take upon ourselves the yoke of Jesus and let Him lead us, so that we walk together with the Lord.

Just as a yoke tied two animals together to do field work, Jesus asks us to yoke with Him, and let Him be our strength, guide, and bearer of our burdens. When the burden in ours, let us learn from Jesus, for He is gentle and humble in heart, and rather than the weight of our burden, we will find rest in Him, rest for our souls.

The burden of Israel led to failure, but when the burden in ours, it should lead us to Jesus.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy 21