Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (a study)
Galatians 6:2
When we hear or read, “bear one another’s burdens”, we most often think, “share the load”, but sharing the load does not seem to be the best understanding of this phrase, as I find it used in The Bible.
I have found that when a burden in mentioned metaphorically in Scripture (as something carried by men), it almost always refers to the weight of sin, either as a direct burden of engaging in sin, or in the form of consequences and effects of sin. For instance, Moses had to bear with the internal conflicts of his tribal people, and it became a metaphorical “burden” to him; one that his father-in-law sought to relieve (Ex 18). In the book of Numbers, the complaints of the people also became a burden to Moses, and God gave him seventy elders (the Sanhedrin) to help bear it. “My iniquities have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.” says the Psalmist in Psalm 38. Likewise, when the Apostle Paul admonishes the Galatians to “bear one another’s burdens” it is in reference to someone who is “overtaken in a fault”.
In contrast to bearing the burden of Sin, Jesus is said to have been a “man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief”, and it was actually our sorrows (pain) and griefs (illness) that He bore with us. "When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them"(Matt 9:36). "Compassion literally means "with-suffering", and is similar to the word, "sympathy" which means "same=sickness". Neither "compassion" or "sympathy" infer the lessening of the other's load, but rather feeling the same load on yourself, or as A.W. Tozer has said, "feeling the wounds of other people's sorrows". He (Jesus) “bore our iniquities”; He “bore the sins of many”. Having no sin Himself, Jesus invites us to bear that weightless yoke of His, which he calls light and easy. He invites men into His weightlessness through a gift of His grace. We emulate our master, as in In Romans 15, Ephesians 4, and Colossians 3 by “bearing with the weaknesses” of other disciples. Again, this means putting up with others failures, recognizing we all suffer the same weaknesses and proclivities to sin.
When we are told that when we “bear one another's burdens (lit. heaviness, i.e. difficulties)”, we “so (in this way) fulfill the law of Christ.” we recognize we are being referred to the single commandment Jesus gave His disciples, and that is to “Love one another”. We fulfill “the law of Christ”, when we care more for the welfare and restoration of an errant brother than we do for his exposure or his punishment. The apostle is not advocating for a tolerance of sin, but pleading for sympathy and compassion for a brother in Christ. In this respect, bearing his burden is not actually sharing some of his load, but rather enduring and standing with him through the consequences and effects of sin. The word used for bear literally means support, and support takes many shapes. Support can be actually sharing or lifting of some of the weight of a burden, but here it means caring, understanding, and empathizing with someone who is going through a difficulty.
The burden felt as a consequence of a mistake or lapse in judgement is by design, and we are not called to necessarily take that burden away if we are able. We are called to bear the burden of another not by relieving it, but by enjoining it; empathizing, feeling the same burden ourselves, suffering alongside our brother. Our brother may also experience the consequences and effects of sin without personally engaging in the sin that caused it. The law of Christ (love one another) compels us to bear that load with our brother by enduring and standing with him through the time of difficulty. We usually cannot actually share his load, but we can still bear his burden when we feel his pain, offer our compassion and our understanding, and verbalize our heart-felt support. Where a burden is physical weight, we sure can lend a hand and carry some of that weight for our brother (acts 4:32). When the load is emotional, we lift the burden with our hearts and lighten the load with our compassion. When the load is spiritual, we plead with The Father of compassion to help us lighten their load with light; by interceding our own lives to be burdened with the spiritual weight. Paul interceded, and allowed himself to be burdened by the cares of the churches; ”…Besides those things that are without, the crowd [of cares] pressing on me daily, the burden of all the assemblies. 2 Corinthians 11:28 (Darby)
So,
bearing one another’s burdens may mean offering practical help where we can,
but more often we biblically bear one another’s burdens when we offer patience,
compassion, and support for a fellow Christian who is suffering the effects of
sin, either their own, or someone else’s. The labor of compassion and the exertion
of prayer are ways we lift the burden of another.
I offer
the scripture that I used for this article below. Please let me know if by
reading these scriptures you come to a different understanding.
Your thoughts?
14 So when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, "What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?"
15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to inquire of God.
16 When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of God and His laws."
17 So Moses' father-in-law said to him, "The thing that you do is not good.
18 Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself.
19 Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God.
20 And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do.
21 Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
22 And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you.
23 If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace."
24 So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.
25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
26 So they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.
27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way to his own land.
11 So Moses said to the LORD, "Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me?
12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,' to the land which You swore to their fathers?
13 Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep all over me, saying, 'Give us meat, that we may eat.'
14 I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me.
15 If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now--if I have found favor in Your sight--and do not let me see my wretchedness!"
16 So the LORD said to Moses: "Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you.
17 Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone.
1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure!
2 For Your arrows pierce me deeply, And Your hand presses me down.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh Because of Your anger, Nor any health in my bones Because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds are foul and festering Because of my foolishness.
6 I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.
7 For my loins are full of inflammation, And there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am feeble and severely broken; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart.
9 Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.
10 My heart pants, my strength fails me; As for the light of my eyes, it also has gone from me.
11 My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague, And my relatives stand afar off.
12 Those also who seek my life lay snares for me; Those who seek my hurt speak of destruction, And plan deception all the day long.
13 But I, like a deaf man, do not hear; And I am like a mute who does not open his mouth.
14 Thus I am like a man who does not hear, And in whose mouth is no response.
15 For in You, O LORD, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God.
16 For I said, "Hear me, lest they rejoice over me, Lest, when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me."
17 For I am ready to fall, And my sorrow is continually before me.
18 For I will declare my iniquity; I will be in anguish over my sin.
18 You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men, Even from the rebellious, That the LORD God might dwell there.
19 Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah
1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
9 And they made His grave with the wicked-- But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 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.
30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
4 For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
5 But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.
46 And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
17 These things I command you, that you love one another.
32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.
10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;
11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;
13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.
18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord.
20 Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head."
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
1 We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples (weaknesses) of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.
3 For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me."
14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.
2 Bear one another's burdens (lit. heaviness, i.e. difficulties), and so fulfill the law of Christ.
3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
4 But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
5 For each one shall bear his own load (responsibility).
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
7 But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.
8 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins."
9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.
10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
