In the post about the easy yoke, we learned that a yoke was essentially a Rabbi’s teaching, of what was prohibited and what was allowed. Jesus had his own yoke and he said it was easy.
The process of ascertaining what things were to be prohibited, was the act of binding. To “bind” something, was to prohibit it; that is, to hold to it tightly. To “bind” implies obligation.
The process of determining what things were to be allowed, was the act of losing. To “lose” something was to allow it; that is, to let go. To “loose” implies freedom.
Since Jesus’ yoke was light, there must have been only a few things that he wanted to “bind” and many things that he wanted to “lose.”
However, Jesus doesn’t stop there. He also told his disciples that “whatever you bind (prohibit) on earth will be bound (prohibited) in heaven and whatever you loose (allow) on earth will be loosed (allowed) in heaven.”
In doing so, he implicitly gave them — and us — the opportunity to interpret scripture just like he and the Rabbis were doing — with the promise of agreement in heaven.
As such, we need to be extremely careful about the things we bind and loose; there are eternal consequences.
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
