Mat 12:33 Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by [its] fruit.

One of my favorite verses in the Gospel both because it is such a useful idea (that the means determine the ends) and because, in the Greek, it combines both the moral lesson that we normally here with a lesson in economics.

"Make" is from the Greek word, poieô, which means has two meanings, "to make" and "to do." In the sense of "make," which is how it is used here, it means "to produce," "to create," and "to cause." It has an economic sense of producing something through work.

"Good" is kalos, which means "beautiful," "honorable," "noble," and "of fine quality."

"Fruit" is karpos, which means both the fruit of trees and the fruit of your actions. In the later sense, it means "return" or "profit." The play on words here is clear: produce a good tree and you also produce good profits.

"Corrupt" is sapros, which means "rotten," "putrid," and "diseased." Again, this word has a moral sense and an economic sense. It is used to mean "worn out" and "stale," that is, not retaining any value. It is also used as a metaphor for "unsound" and "bad."

"Known" is from ginôsko, which means "to learn to know," "to recognize," and "to learn."

The principle here of "good producing good" is used as a tool for judgment. Those who claim to have good intentions and high ideals, but who do not accomplish good and productive work (or good and productive societies) are not good. The quality of people (or trees) is never judged by their intentions, their logic, or their bloodlines but by the quality of what they produce. This is a powerful and important lesson for all those that follow "idealistic" and "fair" systems that never seem to do anything but produce misery for their followers.

How do you choose what philosophy to follow? Look first at what it has produced? Are people who follow that philosophy happier, healthier, and more successful? Or at they more miserable, less healthy, and less successful?

Mat 12:32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whoever speaks against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the [world] to come.

Most of the relevant terminology in this verse is the same as in the previous verse. However, this verse is interesting because in English translation it seems to say something about the afterlife. However, in the original Greek, this does not seem to be the case.

"This world" is from the Greek aiôn, which means "lifetime," "life," "age," "generation," and "a long space of time." It is the basis for our English word, eon. It doesn't refer to "this world" at all, though you could translated it as "this lifetime."

"The [world] to come" is from the Greek, mellô, which is a verb (not a noun) that means "to think of doing," "to intend to do," "to be about to do," and "to be destined." It is used to express certainty, probability, or intention of doing something in the future.

So Christ is saying that speaking against divine inspiration is not acceptable in the current age nor will it every be acceptable in the future. Christ often recognizes that his life is a transition point in history. The arrival of the "kingdom of heaven" or the "universal rule" represents a historical transition from one form of society to another. Christ is simply saying here that denying the divine inspiration is unacceptable in every age.

Mat 12:31 Therefore I tell you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men: but the blasphemy [against] the [Holy] Ghost shall not be forgiven men.

"All manner of" is from the Greek pas, which means "all," "every," "the whole," and "everything."

"Sin" is from the Greek hamartia, which means "to miss the mark," "failure," "fault," and "error." Only in religious uses do it become "guilt" and "sin."

"Blasphemy" is from blasphêmia, which means "slander," "profane speech," "word of evil omen," and "irreverent speech against God."

"Forgiven" is aphiêmi, which means "to send forth," "to launch," "to send away," "to put away," "to get rid of," "to set free," and "to be released from." It means literally "to go from." It is interesting that this word gets translated as "forgiven." It is Christ's first word in the Gospel Mat 3:15) when he tells John to "suffer" baptizing him. It is often translated as "to leave" or "to let" in the Gospels. It is first translated as "forgive" in the Lord's Prayer (Mat 6:12) where it is applied to fogiving debts. It has the sense of leaving something alone and leaving someplace.

"Spirit" is pneuma, which means "blast," "wind," "breath," "the breath of life," and "divine inspiration."

The larger context here is still unity and the division between good and evil. Sin and speaking inappropriately are not enough to divide a person from the divine. Speaking against the spiritual and the divine is the real separation between good and evil.

Mat 12:30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that does not gather with me scatters abroad.

We can think about this as Christ's demand for allegiance to his teaching, but in the larger context of "the demons" that afflict us, it also explains how we all see our lives when we face adversity. Additionally, it extends Christ's lesson in focus and concentration.

Meta means "with" and kata means "against." These are common prepositions and foundation words in Greek.

"Gather" is sunagô, which means "bring together" and "gather together." It is used both to describe people coming together in festivities and worship and people meeting each other in battle. It also means to entertain people in your home.

"Scatter" is skorpizô, which means "to scatter," "to disperse," "to dissipate," and "to disintegrate."

"Abroad" does not appear in the original Greek. It is an addition by the English translators.

Remember that this series of verses began with explaining that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. This verse returns to that idea in a new way. Unity and focus is the source of strength. Being scattered and divided is the source of weakness. Satan or demons work their evil by dividing us and our abilities.

Mat 12:29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and plunder his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will plunder his house.

This statement equates a person inflicted with evil spirits with the house of a strong man whose abilities are owned by a demon.

"A strong man" is ischuros, which means "strong," "mighty," and "powerful." It is from ischus, meaning strength. Here is seems as though it is used to refer to demons that control people.

"Plunder" is from diarpazô, which means "to tear into pieces," "to efface," "to spoil," and "to plunder."

"Goods" is skeuos, which means "a vessel," "an implement," "a piece of equipment," "household furnishing," and "an inanimate object."

"Bind" is deô, which means "to bind," "to tie," and "to fetter. "

In the gospels, afflications of all types are attributed to "demons." Certainly this analogy works well for various types of addictions, but the gospels apply it to physical infirmities as well, which is very different than the way we think today, but rather than get all caught up in the "supernatural" aspects of demons, generally Christ's teaching work well in a modern sense if we simply think of all afflictions as burdens, the burdens of being alive. So Christ is saying that a our afflictions must be tied up, that is, chained or disarmed, before we can recover our abilities. The idea is that we can recover at least our sense of power if we recognize a power greater than whatever is afflicting us.

Mat 12:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come to you.

The interesting part of this is the last phrase, "come to you."

"The spirit of God" is pneuma (wind, breath, divine inspiration) theos (God). In Christian tradition it came to mean "the Holy Spirit," the third person of the Trinity.

"The kingdom of God" is basileia (kingdom) theos (God), which is different than Christ's normal formula, "the kingdom of heaven," which in Greek can also mean the rule of the universe.

"Come to" is phthanô, which has a lot of interesting meanings. It means "to overtake" "to come or act first," "to act beforehand," To translate as "come" is to miss the major part of the meaning which is the sense of preceding or anticipating.

What Christ is telling everyone, including us, that the God's reign overtakes people, catches up to them and us without them or us being aware of it.

Mat 12:27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast [them] out? therefore they shall be your judges.

I personally love it when Christ says something that leaves me scratching my head. First, why draw a distinction between Satan and Beelzebub? Then, whose children is casting out devils?

"Beelzebub," like "Satanas" is a word of Aramaic origin. It means "lord of the house," but is a homonym for "lore of the flies." It is derives from the name of a Philistine deity, Ba'al Zebul, "lord of the high places." Zebûb is a Hebrew collective noun meaning "flies." Only in Christian times did it become a synonym for Satan.

"Cast out" is ekballô, which means to "throw out," "cast out," "throw away," "caste aside," or "strike out."

"Devils" is daimonion, which means "divinity," "divine power," "a lower divine being," and "evil spirit." "Evil spirit" is a New Testament usage or interpretation.

The phrase "therefore, they shall be your judges" is actually, touto (this, that) dia (through, by means of) autos (themselves) esomai ("I shall be"-the first person future form of "to be") humon (your) kritês (arbiter, umpire, judge of a contest). So a more accurate translation is "That by means of them (your children) I shall be your judge."

A transliteration of this whole phrase directly from the Greek is: "And if I by Beelzebub cast out demons by whom your children are thrown away that though them I shall be your judge."

Christ is saying something more complicated than the usual translation. It is confusing because, as it so often the case, there is a play on words here, using ekballo the first time to mean "cast out" but the second time to mean "throw out" or "throw away," which is its usual meaning when not applied to demons.

Remember the context here, Christ was healing the people brought to him who were "possessed" in some way. These people were usually crippled children brought by their parents. Christ is saying that if he is curing these children by Beelzebub it is because he is acting as an arbiter because the devil and their parents. In other words, Beelzebub would cure these children to reward these parents for their behavior.

Mat 12:26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?

The idea of the words here is that of an adversary, which means "one opposed to another," cannot also be opposed to himself.

"Satan" is Satanas, which is an Aramaic word meaning "adversary" or "one who opposes anothers in purpose or act. " The word is used only in the New Testament. The meaning it has comes from Christian traditions unknown at the time the Gospels were written. (I plan to write about all Christ's reverences to the devil, demons, and Satan at some future date, to separate what Christ taught from Christian tradition.)

"Cast out" is ekballô, "throw out," "cast out," "throw away," "caste aside," or "strike out."

"Divided" is merizô, which means "to divide," "to spit up," and "to be divided."

"Kingdom" is basileia which "kingdom," "dominion," "royal power," and "reign."

"Stand" is histêmi, which means (among other things) "to stand," "to set up," "to place," and "to rise up." (See the last post for more about these last three words.)

Mat 12:25 Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:

This is a statement about the nature of power. It is particularly interesting to me because I teach classical strategy and it is one of the many areas where Christ's teachings overlap with the principles of strategy.

"Kingdom" is basileia which "kingdom," "dominion," "royal power," and "reign." It is the same word used in the phrase "kingdom of heaven." It means that which is ruled by a specific person, a basileus, which means "leader," "prince," "commander," or "king." Basileia is not a synonym for a state, a country, or any social group of people (see polis below). A basileia is defined by its control or ownership by the master and refers both to people and property under that control.

"Divided" is merizô, which means "to divide," "to spit up," and "to be divided."

"Is brought to desolation" is erêmoô, which means "to strip bare," "to lay waste," "to be left without," and "to abandon."

"City" is polis, which means "city," but at the time also indicated a country, a society, a country, and a community. It was generally thought of as the defining social unity for a people.

"House" is oikia, which means "house," "building," and "household." It was also the term that was used to describe a family or clan and the people associated with that family or clan, such as their servants and slaves.

"Stand" is histêmi, which means (among other things) "to stand," "to set up," "to place," and "to rise up." It is used here in the negative. Classical strategy (which is the basis for the entire science of strategy) teaches that unity (not size, wealth, or force) is the foundation of strength. Here, Christ is expressing that same idea in a very specific way. He says that everything that requires fidelity to a leader is destroyed by divided loyalties. Christ goes on to say that social structures fall apart when the people are split from one another. It is interesting to note that in classical strategy, the element that is the uniting force is a shared philosophy or belief in a mission. Does Christ agree with this view?

Mat 12:13 Stretch forth your hand.

This is one of those phrases that gives strong evidence for the theory of this site: that Christ wasn't speaking just to those around him in his lifetime, but to us all, even in his most basic statements. Here, this seems to be a command to a man to stretch out his crippled hand, but it is actually much more than that when we look at the words in the original Greek.

"Stretch forth" is ekteinô, which means "to strech out," but also means "to offer food," "to prostrate yourself," and "to extend."

"Hand" is cheir, which means "the hand" but has a host of meanings in Greek beyond a simple body part. It means "helping another" (like the English "lending a hand") and it means "an act or deed," especially in the sense of going beyond words, which if very much in keeping with what Christ is saying in this passage, that God doesn't want lip service from us

To the lame man, Christ was saying "stretch out your hand" but to us, he was saying "offer food, prostrate yourself, extend yourself" and "help others" and "going beyond words to deed." A pretty complete statement for three Greek words--ekteino (stretch out) sou (your) cheir (hand).

This statement punctuates Christ's response to those who criticized him for doing good on the Sabbath. As we reach this point, I realize that, from Christ's point of view, the exchange was less about that Sabbath than about what God expects from us. He starts by saying that he wants "mercy not sacrifice." The idea of the Sabbath is extended not just to the day of rest but to all religious practice and "the law" or more precisely, the "traditions" of worshipping God. From his view, the practices of worship are less important than how we treat each other.

How does Christ view our relationship with one another? He describes a sheep that has falling into a pit as an analogy for our fellow many. We have all gotten in too deep, gotten in a rut, and we need to be raised up. How does God raise us up? Through our helping one another. That is why we are here and by raising one another, we are worshipping God in the way he prefers.

Mat 12:12 How much better then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the sabbath days.

"Better than" is diapherô, which means "to carry over," "to carry from one place to another," "to bear through," "to carry different ways," "to be different from," and "to quarrel."

"Lawful" is exesti, which means "to be allowed," "is possible," and "to be in one's power."

"Good" is kalos, which means "beautiful," "good," "of fine quality," "noble," "honorable," and "fairly."

When Christ asks,"How much different is a man from a sheep?" he is referring to the fact, if it is good to rescue a sheep on the Sabbath, it is just a good to rescue a man on the Sabbath. More to the point, we are all allowed and have it within our ability to do what is beautiful, good, noble, and honorable on the Sabbath.

Mat 12:11 What man is there among you, if he has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold of it, and lift [it] out?

Isn't in interesting that Christ always uses examples regarding farming and livestock despite that fact that he personally was a carpenter. He never illustrates his ideas with examples from carpentry. Why? The reason is that Christ was speaking to all people at all time. People may or may not be able to related to a profession like carpentry, but everyne understands about growing things and taking care of animals, even if you aren't a farmer.

Also notice that Christ never disparages people looking after their self-interest. Christ ask us to imagine that the sheep that has fallen into a well is the only sheep we have. It is not part of a large herd. This makes it both valuable property and something of a pet. Christ considers it only natural that someone would rescue their sheep despite the laws regarding the Sabbath because that sheep is valuable.

"Fall into" is empiptô, which means "to fall in" and "to fall on."

"Pit" is bothunos, which means "pit" and "well." It is a version of bathuno, which means "to make deep," "deep," and, interestingly, "poverty."

"Lay hold" is krateô, which means "to be strong," "to prevail," "to get possession of," and "to lay hold of."

"Lift out" is egeirô, which means "to waken," "to rouse," "to raise," and "to be excited by passion.

I like the way that the author illustrating the ideas of "laying ahold of" and "rousing" with the ideas of "being strong" and "getting excited." You would get excited if an animal fell in a pit and you would be strong.

Mat 12:8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Let's quote the whole verse here in Greek because it is so simple.
gar (for) huios (son) anthropos (man) esti (is) kurios (lord) kai (and, also, even) sabbaton (Sabbath). "For mankind's son is also the Sabbath's lord."

The only word that we might expand on is kurios, which means "having power," "being in authority" and "being in posession of." It also means "lord," "master of the house," and "head of the family."

Christ's habit of referring to himself as the "Son of man" makes it so all these statements in the original Greek refer both to him and to everyone. He is saying, both that he is the master of how God is recognized and that all people are masters of how they worship God. In other words, social pressure is meaningless when it comes to worshipping God. A persons relationship with God is personal, private. Society has no part in it.

Mat 12:7 But if you knew what [this] means: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not condemn the guiltless.

This is an historically pivotal verse in Christ's teachings, but you very seldom hear anyone comment on it, even among those who focus on Christ's words. This statement marks the transition from Old Testament worship, in the form of offering sacrifices at the temple, to New Testament worship in the form of treating your fellow humans more mercifully. And he does this, not by contradicting out the Old Testament but by quoting it.

"Knew" is gignôskô (ginosko) which means "to learn to know," "to know by reflection or observation," and "to perceive."

"Mercy" is eleos, which means "pity," "mercy," and "compassion."

"Sacrifice" is thusia. which means "a burnt-offering," "a sacrifice," and "a victim of sacrifice." While in English, we have the idea of "personal sacrifice" to mean voluntarily giving up something for the benefit of another, this was not the sense of this word. This word focuses on the destruction of something of value to satisfy the gods. The word, hiereuô, means "to slaughter," and it is the basis of the words used by Matthew for priest, hiereus and temple, hieron, though both of these later words came to mean "holy" and "wonderful" by the time of Christ.

In this first part of this verse, Christ is quoting from the Old Testament:
Hsa 6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

In the Hebrew, "desire" is chaphets, which means "to delight in," "to take pleasure in," and "to be pleased with."

In the original Hebrew, "mercy" is checed, which means "goodness," "kindness," and "faithfulness." It also means "to be ashamed" and "a reproach." Based on the verb checed ("to be kind"), the adjective combines both the idea of being good and feel guilty if you are not good.

In Hebrew, "sacrifice" is zebach, ("a sacrifice") which is the noun form of zabach, which means "to slaughter" either for sacrifice or for eating.

But the original gets more specific, pairing "mercy" with "knowledge of God" which in Hebrew is da`ath ("knowledge," "perception," and "wisdom") 'elohiym (gods, divine ones, God). It also pairs "sacrifice" with olah, that is, "a burnt offering."

In the second part of this verse, Christ goes on to say that because people don't understand what God wants, they condemn the guiltless.

"Condemn" is katadikazô, which means "to give judgment against," "to pass a sentence," and "to condemn."

"Guiltless" is anaitios, which means "not being at fault," "guiltless," and "not being the cause" of something. It means literally "not the cause." We saw this word used just a few verses ago to describe the priests who violate the Sabbath by working.

Here, Christ in this short phrase announces the new era where religion, for the first time in human history will be defined by compassion. While people today in almost every religion accept the basic idea that religion means having compassion for your fellow humans, hardly anyone realizes that this idea was completely novel when Christ introduced it. Until Christ, religions were about getting power from the gods or at least being protected from them.

However, this line is not only historically significant, it is also extremely clever because in this short phrase Christ both announces compassion as the new standard for worship AND condemns those attacking him for their lack of compassion. The ease with which Christ's words work on several different levels is one of the reasons studying his words makes me a stronger believer.

Mat 12:6 But I say to you, That in this place is [one] greater than the temple.
..hoti (that, because) hode (this, here) esti (is) meizon (greater) heiron (temple).

"In this place" is the demostrative pronoun, hode, which means "this," but when referring to a place, means "what is present" or "what is before you." In many uses, it means "here," which is how it is almost always translated in the Bible.

"Greater" is meizôn, which means "bigger," and "greater" and is the comparative form of megas, which means "big" and "great."

"Temple" is hieron, which as we discussed in our last post, means "holy place" and it related to the word used for "priest."

Christ is saying two things at once in this statement. The English translations are usually written so that one meaning-that Christ himself is greater than the temple-is predominant. However, the larger meaning is that what happens where we are now is more important than what happens in the temple. It is out actions in the world, and as we discussed in the last post, our motivations for them, that are important. Our actions in the social setting of church are relatively unimportant.

Christ is turning this who discussion of what you can or cannot do on the Sabbath into a larger look at acting morally. He is saying that personally morality cannot be confined to one day (the Sabbath) and one place (the temple). If we try to confine it, religion loses all meaning.

Mat 12:5 Or have you not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

"Law" is nomos, which means "that which is in habitual usage," "custom," and "tradition." The word's translation to the "laws of God" is a special use from the Bible. The sense is much more how the books of the Old Testament are the "traditions of God."

"The priests" is hiereus, which means literally "holy man," but also "priest," "sacrificer," and "diviner." "The temple" is a related word, hieron, which means literally "holy place" or "temple." Both come from the word hieros, which means "super-human," "mighty," "divine," "wonderful" and "holy." I particularly like the idea of using the word, "wonderful" here. This make "holy man" a "wonderful man" and a "holy place," a "wonderful place."

"Profane" is bebêloô, which means "to pullute" and "to defile" especially meant to refer to the Sabbath.

"Blameless" is anaitios, which means "not being at fault," "guiltless," and "not being the cause" of something. It means literally "not the cause."

Here, Christ separates actions from the cause of those actions. In other words, he says it is the motivation that creates sin, not the action itself. This is an critical idea and one where Christianity departed from Jewish traditions. Tradition judged people by outward actions. By saying that it was the inward motivations, Christ is saying that one person cannot judge another person morally, because we cannot see into their soul.

This is very consistent with Christ message of separating social judgments, where he constantly recognizes that judgments are necessary, from spiritual judgment, which are restricted to God.

Mat 12:3 Have you not read what David did, when he and those who were hungry?
Mat 12:4 How he entered into the house of God, and ate the offering bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

Christ says this upon being challenged for he and his disciples picking and eating corn on the Sabbath.

"Read" is anagignôskô, which means "to know well," "acknowledge," and "to recognize." It means "read" in the sense that to read, you must recognize the characters. In this same sense, it can mean "to read aloud" or "to attend a lecture." This perhaps refers to the Jewish practice of reading the scriptures at meetings.

"Hungry" is peinaô, which means "to be hungry" or "to be starved," and it is a metaphor for desire and cravings.

"Offering" is prothesis, means "placing in public," "public notice," or "offering." "Bread" is artos, which is a cake or loaf of wheat bread. This "offering bread" (artos prothesis) refers to the twelve loaves representing the twelve tribes of Israel that was set out before the sanctuary for a week every week

"Is not lawful" is ou (not) exesti, which means "it is possible" and "it is allowed." It generally refers to something within someone's power, or, in this case with the negative, something outside of someone's power.

"Priest" is hiereus, which means a "priest" and specifically a person that offers sacrifices.

Christ is saying something very important here. He is saying that the physical demands of the body take precedence over the cultural and social demands of religion. Christ's differentiates between physical reality, which is from the Father and social cultural practices, which are never perfect because it is interpreted by flawed humans. There are different levels of real. The real of the physical world and our physical needs is more a reflection of God's will than our interpretation of God's word.

With this warning, Christ is telling us that we can never put our mere interpretation of words above physical reality. However, interestingly enough, he makes this point by actually quoting scripture.

Mat 11:30 For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.

"Easy" is chrêstos, which means "useful," "good of its kind," and "serviceable." However, in a moral sense, it is the opposite of kakos, which means "bad."

"Burden" is phortion, which means "a load," "burden," and "frieght." This was also a term used for the unborn child carried by a mother.

"Light" is elaphros, which specifically means "light in weight" and "easy to bear."

Christ is saying something about himself here and about our lives. We are all burdened, but if we understand our lives correctly, the mission that we are given is appropriate to our abilities and the load we are given to carry is easy. The ease comes simply from faith.

Post like this, where Christ talks about his burdens, get me thinking about the divinity of Christ lately and what it means. When I was younger, my feeling was the Christ's death, however, painful, was not like human death because human death carries the burden of uncertainly. Christ knew where he was going and where he came from. We do not.

My general sense is that humans debating divinity are a little like cockroaches discussing nuclear energy. We know too little about the subject to make much sense on it, which is perhaps why Christ addresses human issues, not the divine. For me, the Trinity is our perception of God on three different levels. The Father is the creator of the physical universe with which we constantly interact and cannot explain. The Son is the communicator who explains in words our place in the world and the nature of human society. The Spirit is our personal contact with the spiritual and divine. We experience God physically, mentally, and spiritually. God is one, but our perceptions as human are limited into how we can experience God.

However, this reduces Christ to a intellectual concept and he was more than that. He was a physical man, whi lived and died and lives still. How can a man be God? Are we just doing like the pagans and making a god out of our leaders?

Christ's divinity is mysterious, but to the degree we can understand divinity at all, we can know more about it. Christ was a living contradiction, the perfect man, in a world where man is inherently limited and flawed. How can a man be perfect? Christ tells us himself, calling us all gods. We all have God within us but the limitations of our human awareness blocks us from seeing and experiencing the divine. Christ did not have that limitation. He experienced divinity directly. One of the reasons we are protected from experiencing divinity directly is that a direct perception of God destroys our freedom. Knowing God is becoming one with God.

What Christ seems to describe, from the beatitudes on, is a progression of spiritual development where we become one with God. For humans, we are always on the journey. Christ was different from regular people in that he stands both at the beginning and the end of that particular path.

Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest in your souls.

There are some loose translations and hidden balancing of opposites in this verse. It also says something very important about studying Christ.

"Take" is really aeirô (airo), which doesn't mean "take." It means "to raise up," "to elevate," "to take up and carry," and "to elevate." It can mean "exalt," as we would use praise, or "to rear" as in raising a child. It can also mean "to take away" or "to carry off."

"Yoke" is zugos (or zugon), which is the yoke that holds an ox or horse to a plough or carriage. It was used as a metaphor for slavery. It also means the beam in a balancing scale. It is from a root word (zeugnumi) that means "to join."

"Learn" is manthanô, which means "to learn especially by study." The work that Christ is giving us to do is to study and learn his ways.

"Meek" is praos, which means "mild," "soft,""gentle," and "meek."

"Lowly" is tapeinos, which means "low," humble," "submissive," "poor," and "weak." He doesn't refer to himself this way but to his "heart," which is kardia, which means "heart," but which was in Greek, as in English, the seek of a persons emotions and feelings. Christ is saying that he feels low, humble, poor, and weak.

"Rest" is anapausis, which means "rest," "repose," "relaxation," and "recreation." The idea is in direct opposition to the idea of being "yoked" and the labors and burdens of the previous verse.

"Souls" is psuchê, which means "life" in most uses, but literally means "breath." It is also used to mean "the soul," or "consciousness" which separates a living body from a dead one. It is the spirit that animates a life and is the source of self-awareness.

Christ is saying that by exalting the burden of studying his ways, especially his gentleness and his feelings of humility, we are released from our burdens and instead our lives become relaxed and easy.