Alfred Nobel
The Swedish chemist Alfred Bernhard Nobel died on this date in 1896. He left the bulk of his fortune in trust to establish what has become one of the most highly regarded international awards – the Nobel prizes. For the past 102 years, the prizes have been awarded on December 10.
Nobel developed a factory in Sweden for the production of a liquid explosive – nitroglycerin. In 1864 the factory blew up, killing his youngest brother and four others. The Swedish government forbade him to rebuild the factory.
In 1867, working on a barge in the middle of a lake, Nobel discovered a way to combine nitroglycerin with other substances so that it could be used in non-liquid form. This was much safer and more effective. He called it “dynamite.”
Nobel developed other explosives and amassed an immense fortune. Essentially a pacifist, he hoped the destructive powers of his inventions would bring an end to war.
The word “dynamite” is from the Greek dynamis which means “power.” It is the same Greek word regularly used in the Gospels for the “powerful acts” of Jesus, translated “miracles” in English
This is one of the most loved of all Gospel passages.
A yoke is a curved piece of timber that links two draft animals, one to the other. The Jewish people used the yoke image for the Mosaic Law. Linked to the Law, one traveled right paths.
Jesus takes that image and applies it to himself. ”Come to me…Take my yoke upon you…
Then he says, “My yoke is easy, and my burden light.” And he means it.
We tend to have the general impression that, while it is a fine thing to be a disciple of the Lord, it is a long, burdensome road we have to walk.
But the Lord says something quite different: “You will find rest for yourselves…my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
It is my yoke that is heavy, not the Lord’s. We all have our own burdens. It may be my job, family struggles, my terrible self-image, the mess I’m in, the weight of past sins…Jesus knows all about me, and he says, “ Come to me…learn from me…and I will give you rest.”
And he will.