(GAL. 6, 2)
"BEAR ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ," Paul
says.
"No, thank you!" you say, "I have quite enough in taking care of my own
burdens. If I am to be troubled with those of others in addition, life
will be intolerable."
Nevertheless--do you think Paul speaks aimlessly? Or isn't it rather
the case that there is something of _relief_ in bearing burdens for
others--something of a _gain_?
Think of a wheat field: One straw stands close beside the other.
The wind-storm sweeps the field. The wheat bends down in billowy
undulations under the heavy pressure of the wind, but rights itself
stronger than ever before. The close-standing straws bore the pressure
together. Then the wheat is harvested. A few straws are left standing.
The wind again sweeps across the field, the lonely straws bend down to
the soil--and lie there. They are broken. Singly, they could not resist
the pressure of the storm.
Thus in the life of mankind. Great burdens can be shouldered with ease
when shouldered in common while the smaller burdens may crush and
destroy those who stand all alone.
There is relief in bearing burdens for others.
But you ask: Dare I, a single individual, try to shoulder the burdens
in my home, in the church? Suppose that in one or more instances I were
the only one to do so. The others left it all to me, although they had
the same obligations that I have--what then? Will I accomplish anything
but being crushed under the weight of the burdens?
How about Jesus Christ when He, _all alone_, bore the sin of mankind?
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities, as the prophet had foreseen.
But when He who was so strong, was wounded and crushed under the
weight of the burdens--what will happen to me, then, when I shoulder
the burdens of others? I cannot do so cheerfully and courageously and
expect a satisfactory result. Rather I must flee timidly away from the
burdens by recalling what happened to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Yes, if that was all that may be said about Jesus that He was "wounded
and bruised" when He, out of the depths of His love, shouldered our
burdens, then no doubt you are right. Then there is no prospect that
you will do better.
But that isn't all.
After having been wounded and bruised under the weight of the burdens,
bent to the ground, indeed, bent in death, He arose with the mark of
victory upon His brow, and with _peace_ and _healing_ for us.
Yea, _peace and healing_!
That was the last, the ultimate result. And it is the law in His church
that wherever we shoulder one another's burdens, we shall find peace
and healing.
We may be wounded, indeed crushed, under the heavy pressure of those
burdens. We may be bent down into the dust, but that is not the last,
the ultimate result.
It is peace and healing.
Thus it is not only a _relief_ to bear one another's burdens; it is
the highway to peace and healing. We can extract this blessed fruit
from out of the burdens. How splendid to be able to bear the burdens of
everyday life with and for one another and to gain peace and healing
for those who are timid and bruised. _This is the last and final result
of bearing one another's burden in the name of Jesus.