The Yoke and the Cross

     Two different people recommended watching the conversation between Dr. Jordan Peterson and Jonathon Pageau on the eighth episode of the fourth season of the Jordan B. Peterson Podcast. The two men engaged in a beautiful discussion of finding faith in the midst of crushing suffering and unsettling changes, neither of which seem to have an end in sight. As beneficial as it was to watch, Dr. Peterson's obvious suffering in so many ways and on so many levels was difficult to silently witness. That said, I would recommend this episode, as well.

     During the first few minutes, when the two friends were catching up and becoming reacquainted after having spent a long time without speaking, Dr. Peterson mentioned, that right after he had returned home from his harrowing and horrifying series of hospitalizations, Bishop Robert Barron had sent him a book of a series of critiques of Dr. Peterson's series, The Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories, by various Catholic theologians. (Perhaps more on this at another time.) Mr. Pageau, though, got to the heart of the issue saying, that the Church is frustrated, that they can get no one to a Bible study, while millions of people are watching Dr. Peterson's videos and a number of them are converting to Christianity as a result. Dr. Peterson attracts such a large audience, because he treats the biblical narratives as relevant and bearing on reality, Mr. Pageau went on to say, while the Church stopped doing so years ago. Mr. Pageau's succinct analysis reveals the problem with Bishop Barron and his confreres: their abject inability to foster effective evangelization and catechesis beyond their own cults of personality.

     Later, at the 38:15 mark in the video, Dr. Peterson relates, that one of the critics in Bishop Barron's book talked about the yoke of Christ being light and of the joy in the bearing of that yoke. Dr. Peterson associated this with a "take up your cross sort of thing," but that "living in constant pain makes the idea of joy seem cruel." Unfortunately, the conflating of the yoke of Christ and the bearing of one's cross is as common as it is incorrect. The yoke of Christ is completely separate from the Christian's need to carry his cross.

     "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).

     Starting with Matthew 11:1, Jesus, having finished instructing his twelve disciples, goes to teach in the towns around Nazareth and is first confronted by the disciples of John the Baptist about his identity. In response, Jesus asks them to compare what they have seen from him to Isaiah's prophecies about how the Messiah would be known. Jesus then identifies John the Baptist as Elijah, the prophet who precedes the coming of the Messiah, to the seemingly ubiquitous crowds and upbraids them for missing this and, therefore, missing who he is. Jesus becomes sharply critical of the sinfulness and the lack of faith of "this generation," of the citizens of Chorazin and Bethsaida. In his rebuke of "this generation," Jesus states unequivocally, that Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom, cities the Jews considered guilty of abhorrent sinfulness and rightfully punished by God, will fare better in the day of judgement. Why? "...[F]or if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes....For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day" (Matthew 11:21, 23). Jesus spends Matthew 11:1-24 pointing out the inability of the Jews to recognize and accept him as the Messiah and attributing their lack of faith to their sinfulness, a state of sinfulness worse than the denizens of Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom.

Now a person's persistence in sinfulness has always been understood as slavery: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions....Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness....But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:12, 16-18, 22-23). and "So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe. But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying 'Abba! Father!' So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir" (Galatians 4:3-7).

     At this point it becomes clear that the yoke Christ offers in Matthew 11:29 is salvation through a sweet slavery to God, which results in eternal life rather than eternal damnation. Such a slavery is free of the bitter burden of the absence of self-control and self-discipline, self-hatred, and the destruction of self and others experienced in a life lived in slavery to sin. Rather, in accepting Christ's yoke of slavery, the burden is a life spent in the service of God through service to His people. The lesson Christ teaches to those enslaved to him through love is the humility and death to self necessary to lovingly and selflessly live the Christian life, a life spent most often in obscurity, ridicule, and loneliness. As Jesus makes clear, though, each and every person is a slave, whether to sin or to God, and that each and every person freely makes that choice for himself.

"Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me'" (Matthew 16:24).

"And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, 'If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me'" (Mark 8:34)

"And he said to all, 'If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me'" (Luke 9:23).

"Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:27).

     Christ's lesson of humility and death to self is the lesson of the cross. The Christian is required to take up his cross, because the Christian is required to die to himself, to empty himself of himself, in order to make room for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the making of his soul by the Holy Spirit into a temple of the Holy Spirit and in emulation of his Divine Savior, who "emptied himself, taking the form of a slave" (Philippians 2:7). Ridding himself of himself is a horribly painful ordeal and takes an entire lifetime to never accomplish. Joy, however, can be found in taking up Christ's yoke and Christ's cross. This joy is joy whose foundation is Christ's promise of eternal life to those who persevere: "He who conquers shall not be hurt by the second death...I will grant him to sit with me on my throne..." (Revelation 2:11, 3:21). Further, the joy of Christ's yoke is found in the leaving behind of the anxieties of the world in exchange for the peace found in the seeking first of God's kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). In addressing of what the kingdom of God consists, St. Paul states, "For the kingdom of God does not mean food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit..." (Romans 14:17). The joy found in wearing Christ's yoke and carrying his cross, therefore, is a gift of the Holy Spirit made possible by the love of the Christian for God, a love which opens his heart to this gift of joy. This joy, then, is about rejoicing in God as the Divine Good considered in itself and about rejoicing in the Divine Good as participated by the Christian (ST II-II, q. 28, a. 1).

     Suffering qua suffering, on the other hand, contains no joy. Jesus Christ Himself found no joy in suffering (Matthew 26:37-45, Mark 14:33-41, Luke 22:39-46). Suffering is not something to be pursued. As an absence of a good, suffering is an evil. Those who suffer are to be shown love and comforted as much as possible. Suffering, though, can be efficacious for the Christian. As stated above, the Christian takes up his cross in order that his old self will be crucified and his sinful body destroyed "and we might no longer be enslaved to sin" (Romans 6:6). Christians living according to the Spirit "put to death the deeds of the body" in order to live (Romans 8:13). Constantly assailed by the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil (Ephesians 2, Council of Trent, Session 6, Chapter 13, ST III, q. 41), crucifying the old man is painful, frustrating, and humiliating. Suffering can provide the Christian, therefore, an opportunity to properly prioritize his responsibilities in light of what has been revealed as important in light of the suffering undergone. Suffering, also, is an opportunity for the Christian to offer his suffering in union with the sufferings of Christ for the salvation of souls and the deliverance of those in purgatory. While suffering in and of itself contains no joy, the good which can come from it in the Christian's pursuit of his own sanctity and for the good of others from suffering offered up is a cause of great joy and may mitigate to some extent the harshest pangs of his suffering by providing some good purpose or end for something, which on its own, has none.

     Looking at the yoke and the cross a little closer to home, it's like a person sick with Type II diabetes, Billy. Billy loves pies and cakes, and mochas, and Bailey's Irish Cream and a bowl of hot rice with butter and brown sugar. The way he eats has helped him get through a lot of hard times. Billy's feeling a little unwell now and not like he used to feel. He's bloated and swollen and in constant pain. He falls asleep immediately after eating a slice of sugar cream pie. His mornings are horrible anymore as he battles just to get awake and out of bed. His friends keep suggesting he sees his doctor, so, finally, he makes an appointment and goes. His doctor does a complete workup on him before sitting down across from him in the small exam room. The doctor's tests and examination confirm his initial suspicions and the doctor relates this to his patient. "Billy, you have Type II diabetes, which means you are producing an insane amount of insulin each time you eat, but your body's cells have become oversensitive to the insulin and aren't paying attention to the insulin anymore. You are very, very sick and are in danger of the remainder of your life being an increasingly horrible trudge to an early death."

     Billy is shocked and mortified. "I don't want that. What can I do?"

     Billy's doctor tells him to begin a low carbohydrate and high fat diet. "If you want to beat this, Billy, not another crumb of a pie, pizza, cake, candy, ice cream or any other sugar or flour can pass your lips."

     Billy, much more concerned with being active and living a happy and much longer life, eagerly agrees to adopt the much healthier way of eating (putting on the yoke of a healthy diet in order to gain the benefits) and spends each day of the rest of his life denying himself his former sweet tooth and choosing healthy proteins, fats, and vegetables (daily taking up his cross of a LCHF diet). Billy puts up with the suffering of having to forgo his former favorite foods, but the joy of awakening to a much better and brighter day is worth it.

     One of the many eye-catching rays glinting off the beauty of the Catholic faith is it's providing a purpose to suffering and offering a concrete path to a better life here and in the hereafter. "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are worth nothing comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us....For in this hope we are saved" (Romans 8:18, 24).

Photo Credit: Jung Ho Park on Unsplash