Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 11:29

"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." — Matthew 11:29 (ASV)

Take my yoke upon you — As the teaching of the Pharisees was a yoke too burdensome to bear, so the yoke of Christ is His teaching and His rule of life, and is thus explained by the phrase “learn of Me” that follows .

I am meek and lowly in heart — The stress lies on the last words. Others might be lowly with the lowliness that is ambition’s ladder, but pride and self-assertion were reigning in their hearts. In His infinite sympathy with people of all classes and conditions, Christ could boldly incur the risk of seeming to boast of His humility so that He might win them to come and prove by experience that He was able and willing to give them rest, to hear the tale of their sorrows, and to turn from none with scorn.

Ye shall find rest unto your souls — Here, as often elsewhere in our Lord’s teaching, we have a direct quotation from Jeremiah (Jeremiah 6:16).