John Bunyan was a master of allegory. To sink in the Slough of Despond, to wander through Vanity Fair, or to converse with Mr. Worldly Wiseman within the pages of his prose causes the reader to wonder at Mr. Bunyan’s grasp of the human experience. But perhaps, at no point is his use of allegory so poignant as when Christian (named “Graceless” up to that point) reaches the foot of the cross. For it is at that precise instant that he is freed from his burden of sin and guilt. That burden which had so beleaguered him throughout his journey rolls away, down the hill of Calvary, and disappears into the open tomb, never to be seen again! The believer can truly sing the joyous refrain:
At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day.
The burden of judgment for sin has passed. Christ has taken it out of the way and it is gone. In a manner that is superior to Bunyan himself, the Scriptures use beautifully descriptive terms to narrate our release from the burden of sin. Psalm 103 declares, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (v12).1 The prophet Micah emphasizes, “He will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (7:19). And the Lord Himself testifies, “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Heb 10:17). The work of the cross is so complete that it is not scripturally accurate to state that today my sins are on the Lord Jesus. Yes, He has borne them, but now they are gone, never to be called into remembrance again.
However, we would be naive to assume that beyond the cross the believer is entirely free of burdens. In His great call to discipleship, the Lord Himself declared, “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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mat 11:29-30). While the life of faith and service is the best life and the life where His tender care and provisions are made known, it is not a life free from burdens, at least not on this side of heaven.
In this series of articles we will consider some of the unique burdens that believers bear. The Apostle Paul was greatly concerned with the business of Christian living. Across his epistles we find a fruitful scattering of responsibilities that we have one for another. He writes that we are to prefer, to admonish, to serve, to forbear, to forgive, to comfort and to edify one another. But we would be remiss to leave behind his imperative to the Galatians as he stated, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself” (Gal 6:2-3).
How can we help a believer bear a burden that we do not see or know? The purpose of this series of articles is to seek to open our eyes and sensitize our hearts to such burdens. The account of Exodus provides us with a historical picture that goes far beyond allegory. Consider Joshua and the children of Israel in battle with the Amalekites at Rephidim. Moses raised no sword, but he looked on the battle and raised his arms in prayer. Aaron and Hur were unstained with the blood of battle, but they sustained the arms of Moses. Consider a burdened battle-weary believer today who may be in need of your Christian service at this very moment!
How can we help a believer who is unwilling to share their burden? I recently had an eye-opening experience at the medical practice where I work. We invited two sons of a patient with a medical crisis to come and speak with our social worker. We felt we were going out of our way to provide extra-mile service. Yet, unexpectedly, as we spoke, every time we said, “I understand,” one of the sons grew angrier and angrier. I realized afterward that he felt that we were saying that we understood his feelings, while we were saying that we understood the situation. In the end he stormed out of the office in anger and frustration, only to return and apologize later. The situation was surprising, but also most instructive. The reality is that in many cases individuals are not ready or willing to share their burden. However, as believers seeking to help one another, we are without excuse, because if no other avenue is open, we are always able to uplift one another in prayer.
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV.
