Greetings all…
I recently wrote a blog and a short story titled “The Boulder and the Brigand”. You can read it (October 13, 2009) if you would like. I received some amazing feedback from a reader named David and I thought I would share the dialog with you here. This is a long blog but there is some good information from both directions… Feel free to check it out (in stages if necessary) and join the dialog as well if you would like.
Enjoy…
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BIGCHRISART,
I just finished reading your post, “The Boulder and the Brigand”. Very nice. I have a couple of thoughts for you.
First, I was wondering, if you know of anywhere in the Bible that is says that Jesus (God) will carry your burdens for you? I could not think of anywhere.
This story certainly called to mind – Matthew 11:28 (NIV)
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
But, as you see, this does not talk about Jesus carrying our burden; rather he shows us an easy yoke and a light burden.
To put this in the words of the example story, He shows us how to “set aside” our boulder, for if it is not so precious to us, the thief will have no interest in it. He suggests that a gentle, humble heart and a teachable mind will free us from these attachments.
Perhaps then these boulders are simply illusions that we create for ourselves. And the best of us, who freely give of ourselves, and happily carry the burdens of others (more of our own illusions), are the ones most in danger of losing themselves to the thief.
So perhaps… we simply open our minds and take upon ourselves the lighter burden that Christ suggests, and be that example of a gentle, humble heart. And by doing so, find the rest for our souls and perhaps for our brother and sisters as well….
-David
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Greetings David,
This is my favorite part of having a blog so far… I’ve had SO many people with varying and even unusual perspectives on what I write; which is really my ultimate objective here… My entire goal is to see what “everyone else” thinks beyond what my limited understanding might bring to the table… My hope is to eventually just start the topic and let whoever reads from there to run with it… So thank you for being a part of that! I’ve just had so much response and from such a variety of people reading my blogs the last couple weeks… Just today I’ve had feedback from a Grandmother… an atheist… a Mormon… a tattoo artist… a Pastor… and a homosexual. “These” are the kinds of people I hope read my blogs…
So as to your question…
Your question was… “First, I was wondering, if you know of anywhere in the Bible that is says that Jesus (God) will carry your burdens for you? I could not think of anywhere.”
A couple verses come to mind…
1st Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Psalm 55:22 Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.
Here’s an interesting quote from Charles Spurgeon:
Spurgeon comments: Thy burden, or what thy God lays upon thee, lay thou it upon the Lord. His wisdom casts it on thee, it is thy wisdom to cast it on Him. He cast thy lot for thee, cast thy lot on Him. He gives thee thy portion of suffering, accept it with cheerful resignation, and then take it back to Him by thine assured confidence.
Biography: Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-92) was England’s best-known preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1854, just four years after his conversion, Spurgeon, then only 20, became pastor of London’s famed New Park Street Church (formerly pastored by the famous Baptist theologian John Gill). The congregation quickly outgrew their building, moved to Exeter Hall, then to Surrey Music Hall. In these venues Spurgeon frequently preached to audiences numbering more than 10,000—all in the days before electronic amplification. In 1861 the congregation moved permanently to the newly constructed Metropolitan Tabernacle.
Also…
Anxiety or Burden: merimna: from merizo = to divide or draw different directions – which is exactly what anxiety does to most of us!) refers to a care (the sole way it is translated in the KJV) or concern and so to care for someone or something. It is often used in a negative sense and thus is translated as “worry”. From the origin, one can see that merimna describes the state of “being pulled apart.” Thus when circumstances are difficult, it is easy to let oneself be dominated by anxiety and worry.
Merimna is used 6 times in the NT (Matt. 13:22; Mk. 4:19; Lk. 8:14; 21:34; 2Co. 11:28; 1 Pet. 5:7) and is translated KJV (6) – care, 6 and NAS (6) – anxiety, 1; concern, 1; worries, 3; worry, 1 There are 5 uses in the Septuagint – Esther 1:1; Job 11:18; Ps. 55:22; Prov. 17:12; Da. 11:26
Also…
Larry Richards (The author of Expository dictionary of Bible words) has this to say about merimnao and merimna:
Richards has an excellent summary of merimnao and merimna noting that…
When used by the Greeks concerning the future…both came to connote anxious expectation. When used of the present, the words expressed an aching sense of grief. The meaning of any term, however, is defined by the way it is used. It is the way that Jesus and the writers of the Gospels and Epistles, guided by the Holy Spirit, used words that filled them with their biblical meaning…But while it is legitimate to have concerns that we will at times experience as demanding pressures, there is a limit to their legitimacy. The “worries of this life” may so dominate our attention that they make God’s Word unfruitful in our lives (Mt 13:22; Mark 4:19). The pressures of legitimate concerns can cause us to so focus on worldly matters that we forget to relate our needs and our worries to the Lord…By linking legitimate concerns to God, believers are freed from anxiety and worry. This freedom allows us to concentrate on seeking God’s kingdom and his righteousness, knowing that “all these things will be given to [us] as well.” So Jesus concludes, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.”
What the pagan Greeks experienced as anxious concern over a tomorrow they could not control, the believer who knows God as a loving Father can experience in calm confidence. Released from fears about tomorrow, we can concentrate on doing God’s will today, as obedient subjects of a kingdom over which the Almighty rules.
The Gospels recognize the tendency of legitimate human concerns to lead to a loss of perspective; we can forget God and adopt a pagan materialism that looks ahead anxiously and concentrates on running after the material things that seem to offer security. In order to avoid this tendency, believers must orient life to God and realize that life’s meaning is to be found in living as subjects who are responsive to their loving, wise, and powerful King.
Both anxiety and worry spring from natural and legitimate concerns that are part of life in this world. But legitimate concerns are handled wrongly when they do one or more of the following: (1) become dominating concerns in our life and lead to fear, (2) destroy our perspective on life and cause us to forget that God exists and cares, or (3) move us to drift into an attitude of constant worry and concern over a future that we cannot control.
Jesus deals with anxiety by calling us to an awareness of God. God does exist, and he cares. He is aware of our needs and is committed to meet our needs. Remaining aware of God frees us from the tyranny of things. It enables us to focus our lives on our relationship with God and go on living a righteous and productive life.
The Epistles add to our understanding by pointing out that areas of legitimate anxiety exist even for the strongest of believers. But the pressures of even legitimate concerns are not to dominate us or to make us habitually anxious, worried people. We escape by using anxiety creatively. This means that we must recognize the feelings of pressure and concern as a call to prayer. We should immediately turn to God to lay our needs and the needs of others before him. We then turn back to live our lives encompassed by his peace. Anxiety, rather than drawing us away from God, draws us to Him and thus fulfills His purpose for it in our lives.(Richards, L O: Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Regency)
These are a handful of interesting thoughts… Let me know what you think.
-BIGCHRIS-
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I am pleased you are getting so much interesting feedback. We so wrap who we are in our words and our beliefs, that we can easily forget that there is so much more beyond our tiny perceptions. What a nice way to open your perspective.
So, here is a bit more…
Matthew 11:28 (NIV)
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
1st Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Psalm 55:22 Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.
I think these all say pretty much the same thing… give your burden to God. None of these quotes say that God will carry them for you, but rather that he “cares” for you.
So, I think we can infer that it is the act of giving them that is important. And since God does not take them up and carry them for you, what has happened to them? Well… perhaps they were never really there to begin with.
As you point out in your response, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself”, Jesus reference to the lilies of the field illustrates this same idea, how they take no thought for tomorrow, but simply are… existing in the now of life. They have no burdens as they do not create them.
Nature is complete because it does not serve itself.
The sage places himself after and finds himself before,
Ignores his desire and finds himself content.
He is complete because he does not serve himself.
-Tao Te Ching
So… who is it in the story that follows the biblical path?
Once they released the boulder illusion, each person is immediately changed. Only wishing to tie his shoes, the brother found he could run. In much the same way, the sister could turn cartwheels and the friend could rest. Each one taking up their “new path” as they realized the illusion of the boulder. This is further demonstrated as they go to the “other side of the hill”, this being the metaphor of their new life… rebirth… awakening… of their acceptance of the godly path (come my yoke is easy…)
It was not that they forgot about the caring person who was left holding their boulders, but rather that the boulders were no longer part of their lives. Freed of their attachments, in their minds the boulders no longer existed… and they acted accordingly. Even when he calls to them for help, it has no meaning, for for that was their “old life”, now left far behind.
Freedom from their boulders has also brought freedom from the thief. Again, it is the kind and caring person, the one who has taken on so many burdens, that is the most susceptible to the thief. And in trying to keep his life, he loses it.
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
– Matthew 10:39 (NIV)
Some are filled with life;
Some are empty with death;
Some hold fast to life, and thereby perish,
For life is an abstraction.
– Tao Te Ching
–David
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David…
Thank you again for your amazing comments. There is one more scripture that comes to mind. It is Matthew 8: 14-17
14And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever.
15And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.
16When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:
17That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
Granted, this is referring specifically to “sickness” in this passage, but for me… this sets a precedence of Jesus “taking” or “baring” our burdens Himself. So, in my opinion, if Jesus would be willing in these cases to bare our burdens of sickness then it seems He might also be willing to do the same for any other burden type we would bring to Him.
I love your thoughts and would certainly be interested in hearing more from you on this or any topic. Till then…
-BIGCHRIS-
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Here is where we left off but I am sure there will be more to discuss… Feel free to join the conversation.
Till Next Time…
-BIGCHRIS-
