be borne
by us.

I suppose I need not dwell on the other aspects of this burden-bearing
of our Lord, how that He, in a very deep and real sense, takes upon
Himself the sorrows which we bear in union with, and faith on, Him. For
then the griefs that still come to us, when so borne, are transmitted
into 'light affliction which is but for a moment.' 'In all their
afflictions He was afflicted.' Oh, brethren! you with sad hearts, you
with lonely lives, you with carking cares, you with pressing, heavy
duties, cast your burden on the Christ, and He 'will sustain you,' and
sorrows borne in union with Him will change their character, and the
very cross shall be wreathed in flowers.

Jesus bears the burden of that solemn solitude which our personal being
lays upon us all. The rest of us stand round, and, as I said, hoist
signals of sympathy, and sometimes can stretch a brotherly hand out and
grasp the sufferer's hand. But their help comes from without; Christ
comes in, and dwells in our hearts, and makes us no longer alone in the
depths of our being, which He fills with the effulgence and peace of His
companionship. And so for sin, for guilt, for responsibility, for
sorrow, for holiness, Christ bears our burdens.

Yes! And when He takes ours on His shoulders, He puts His on ours. 'My
yoke is easy, and My burden is light.' As the old mystics used to say,
Christ's burden carries him that carries it. It may add a little weight,
but it gives power to soar, and it gives power to progress. It is like
the wings of a bird, it is like the sails of a ship.

III. Lastly, Christ's carrying our burdens binds us to carry our
brother's!

'So fulfil the law of Christ.' There is a very biting sarcasm, and, as I
said about another matter, a grave irony in Paul's use of that word
'law' here. For the whole of this Epistle has been directed against the
Judaising teachers who were desirous of cramming Jewish law down
Galatian throats, and is addressed to their victims in the Galatian
churches who had fallen into the trap. Paul turns round on them here,
and says, 'You want law, do you? Well, if you _will_ have it, here it
is--the law of Christ.' Christ's life is our law. Practical Christianity
is doing what Christ did. The Cross is not only the ground of our hope,
but the pattern of our conduct.

And, says Paul in effect, the example of Jesus Christ, in all its sweep,
and in all the depth of it, is the only motive by which this injunction
that