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Take My Yoke

One overloaded backpack opens the lesson, then comes back for a Sabbath showdown, a two-person yoke and one rock handed over

  • 🧭 Youth 12–13
  • Week 11
  • 📅 Sunday, March 14, 2027
🤔 Forehead Guess🏆 Showdown
💡 The big idea

Jesus Christ invites everyone who is worn out and weighed down to come to Him, take His yoke through covenants, and find rest, and His Sabbath is a day to do good and draw close to Him, not a pile of extra burdens.

I can bring my burdens to Jesus Christ, stay yoked to Him through my covenants, and use the Sabbath to do good and find rest.

Study it yourself firstRead Matthew 11–12; Luke 11 in Gospel LibraryCome, Follow Me manualOpen this week (Matthew 11–12; Luke 11)
Know the chapters

Matthew 11:28–30 is one of the Savior’s most tender invitations: come to Me if you’re worn out and weighed down, take My yoke, learn of Me, and you’ll find rest. A yoke is a wooden beam that joins two animals so they pull a load together. Through our covenants we are yoked to Jesus Christ; He doesn’t always remove the load, but He pulls with us, and He is far stronger. The manual asks what “rest” means here and points to several talks, including President Camille N. Johnson’s “Jesus Christ Is Relief” (April 2023), where she compares our burdens to rocks in a backpack: some from our own sins, some from other people’s choices, and some simply from living in a fallen world. Today’s hook borrows that picture.

Matthew 12:1–14 shows what the Savior’s rest is not. Over the centuries, religious teachers had added many rules to the Sabbath, and some Pharisees counted even plucking and rubbing a handful of grain as forbidden work. When Jesus’s hungry disciples did that (the King James Version calls it “corn”), the Pharisees objected. Jesus answered from their own scriptures: David ate the temple’s holy bread when he was hungry, priests work in the temple on the Sabbath, and God said through Hosea, “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6). Then, in the synagogue, with a man with a withered hand as bait, they asked if healing on the Sabbath was lawful. He asked who wouldn’t pull their sheep out of a pit on the Sabbath, taught that it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath, and healed the man. Instead of rejoicing, the Pharisees went out and plotted to destroy Him.

Luke 11 adds prayer. After watching Jesus pray, a disciple asked, “Lord, teach us to pray,” and Jesus taught the pattern we call the Lord’s Prayer, then told of a friend knocking at midnight and promised: ask, seek, knock. No earthly father hands his hungry child a stone or a scorpion, and Heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask (Luke 11:9–13). Luke 11:39 and Matthew 12:34–35 add that God cares about the inside, not just a clean outside.

For 11- to 14-year-olds, burdens are real: homework and grades, practices, family stress, friend drama, anxiety, a mistake they can’t stop thinking about. Don’t minimize them. The message isn’t “try harder”; it’s “you don’t pull alone.” For many of them, the Sabbath is also where the question “what am I allowed to do?” lives. Turn it toward the Savior’s question: what can I do today that does good and brings me closer to God?

Only have 5 minutes?

Read Matthew 11:28–30 and Matthew 12:1–14. Load a volunteer’s backpack with the burdens the class names. Tell the Sabbath showdown from Teach Mode. The Pharisees add a book, and Jesus takes it out. Read Matthew 11:28–30 while two volunteers share the load. Let a youth run the questions. Close by asking each youth to hand one rock to the Savior this week. Brought nothing? Tap “I brought nothing,” and outstretched arms hold invisible rocks.

What to bring2 items

Tick what you have. Forgot something? Every step that needs a supply has a no-supplies version in the plan below.

Before class

  1. Set the backpack and books by your chair, so you can add them one at a time.
  2. Read Matthew 11:28–30 and 12:1–14 once.
  3. Think of a time the Savior lightened a burden you couldn’t carry alone, or a Sabbath that really felt like rest. You’ll share it in two sentences.

If your class is wild

  • The backpack gets heavy fast. Stop at six or seven books, and let the volunteer set it on a chair. The point is made.
  • Keep the backpack in sight all lesson. It comes back in the story, the yoke and the testimony, so it keeps teaching.
  • Don’t ask anyone to name their own heavy rocks out loud. Keep burdens general, like “school” or “family stuff,” and let them keep their list private.
  • The Sabbath can get preachy fast. Keep the focus on the Savior’s question, what does good, instead of a list of don’ts.

The 25-minute plan23 min + bonus

Bonus steps are for when you have extra time. Steps that mention Teach Mode, the Sound Board or other class games refer to the Gospel Sparks app; on the web you can play Forehead Guess and Scripture Showdown from this page.

1. Hook

The Backpack

4 min

The demonstration: a volunteer’s backpack gets heavier with every burden the class names, which makes the Savior’s invitation to the heavy laden feel real.

  1. SAY“Everybody carries a backpack you can’t see. What goes in it for people your age?”
  2. Have a volunteer put on the empty backpack.
  3. Each time someone names a burden, drop in a book. Think of a test, practice, family stress, a mistake or feeling left out. Stop at six or seven.
  4. SAY“President Camille N. Johnson compared burdens to rocks in a backpack. Some come from our own sins. Some from other people’s choices. Some from living in a hard world.”
  5. Ask, “Which of these can a person take out alone?” Let the volunteer set the backpack on a chair, in sight. Say, “Jesus has something to say about this.”
🌪️ Volunteers only. Stop before it gets too heavy. Six or seven books is plenty.

Class screen: 🎒 What’s in the backpack you can’t see? · Name a burden. Add a rock.

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A backpack and six to eight heavy books (or cans from the pantry)

  1. SAY“Everybody carries a backpack you can’t see. What goes in it for people your age?”
  2. A volunteer stands and holds both arms straight out, palms up.
  3. Each time someone names a burden, the class “places” an invisible rock in the volunteer’s hands. Holding your arms out gets heavy within a minute.
  4. SAY“President Camille N. Johnson compared burdens to rocks in a backpack. Some come from our own sins. Some from other people’s choices. Some from living in a hard world.”
  5. Ask, “Which of these can a person take out alone?” Let the volunteer drop their arms. Say, “Jesus has something to say about this.”
2. Story

Tell It: The Sabbath Showdown

6 min

You tell Matthew 12:1–14 with the backpack in hand: the Pharisees kept adding rocks, and Jesus kept pointing to mercy.

  1. SAY“Some religious leaders in Jesus’s day kept adding rocks to people’s backpacks. Watch what He does about it.”
  2. Open Teach Mode. Read each scene, do its backpack move and ask its question. Take two or three answers, then move on.
  3. After the last scene, ask, “So is the Sabbath one more rock in the backpack, or a day to set some down?”
🌪️ Keep the Sabbath talk about what does good, not a list of don’ts. If it turns into a debate about activities, go back to Matthew 12:12.

Class screen: 🌾 Hungry disciples, a trap, and a healed hand. · Matthew 12:1–14

3. Scripture

Take My Yoke

5 min

Jesus’s answer to the backpack: two volunteers share the load, and the class learns what it means to be yoked to Him.

  1. SAY“Here’s Jesus’s answer to the backpack.”
  2. Read Matthew 11:28–30. Ask, “What does Jesus invite us to do?” Then ask, “What does He promise?”
  3. A yoke is a wooden beam joining two oxen to pull one load. Two volunteers carry the backpack together, one strap each. Ask, “Easier?”
  4. SAY“Covenants yoke us to Him. And He’s the stronger one.”
  5. Share President Johnson’s words from “Jesus Christ Is Relief.” Teach Matthew 11:28 with the motions. Say it twice, then have a youth lead it with motions only.

Class screen: 🐂 Three invitations. Three promises. Find all six. · Matthew 11:28–30

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A backpack and six to eight heavy books (or cans from the pantry)

  1. SAY“Here’s Jesus’s answer to the backpack.”
  2. Read Matthew 11:28–30. Ask, “What does Jesus invite us to do?” Then ask, “What does He promise?”
  3. A yoke is a wooden beam joining two oxen to pull one load. Two volunteers link elbows. Ask, “If you’re yoked to Jesus, who’s the stronger ox?”
  4. SAY“Covenants yoke us to Him.”
  5. Share President Johnson’s words from “Jesus Christ Is Relief.” Then teach Matthew 11:28 with the motions. Say it twice together.
4. Talk it over

Rest Talk

5 min

Honest questions connect the yoke, the Sabbath and prayer to a young person’s real burdens.

  1. SAY“Let’s talk about real burdens and real rest. Anyone can pass.”
  2. A youth reads each question from your phone or tablet and picks who answers. Keep answers short so more voices get in. Add one honest answer of your own.
💬 Ask the class
  • What stops people your age from asking God, or anyone, for help?
  • Jesus says His yoke is easy, but keeping covenants takes effort. How can both be true?
  • The Pharisees turned the Sabbath into a burden. What makes Sunday feel like rest instead of a list of rules?
  • A disciple watched Jesus pray and asked, “Teach us to pray.” What has helped your prayers feel less like a routine and more like real talking?

Class screen: 💬 Rest talk

5. Testimony

Hand Over One Rock

3 min

Each youth quietly chooses one burden to bring to the Savior this week, and hears the teacher’s witness that He pulls with us.

  1. SAY“Think about your own backpack. Pick one rock you’ve been carrying alone. Don’t say it out loud.”
  2. If the backpack is there, lift out one book and set it down. Share your two-sentence story of the Savior lightening a burden.
  3. Testify that Jesus Christ invites every tired person to come. He’s the stronger one in the yoke, and He’ll give rest to our souls.
  4. Share the challenge. Then ask a youth to pray.

Class screen: 🪨 Which rock will you hand to Him this week? · Come unto me… and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

6. Wiggle break

Ox Team Relay

3 minBONUS

Pairs discover what it feels like to be yoked: you only move well when you move together.

  1. SAY“Pair up and link inside elbows. That’s your yoke.”
  2. Tap Timer. Two teams race. Each pair walks in step to the far wall and back, then tags the next pair. If the link breaks, start over.
  3. Ask, “What made it work?” Then ask, “What if your partner was way stronger and always knew the way?”
⏱️ Big Timer (a class game in the Gospel Sparks app)

Class screen: 🐂 Link up. Walk in step. Don’t break the yoke. · Walk, never run

7. Game

Scripture Showdown

5 minBONUS

A team quiz reviews the yoke, the Sabbath showdown and Jesus’s teachings on prayer.

  1. SAY“Two teams. Ten seconds to decide, then point.”
  2. Tap Scripture Showdown and read each question aloud. The winning team earns a bonus point if they can name the verse.
▶ Play Scripture Showdown on the web

Class screen: 🏆 Scripture Showdown!

Object lesson

The Sabbath Showdown

Matthew 12:1–14 ↗

Scenes

  1. 🌾 A Sabbath walk through the grainfields

    On a Sabbath day, Jesus and His disciples walked through a field of grain. The disciples were hungry, so they picked some heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands and ate. Just a snack on a walk.

    🙌 Ask: “Were the disciples being irreverent, or just hungry?”

  2. 🚨 “Thy disciples do that which is not lawful!”

    Some Pharisees pounced. Their traditions counted picking and rubbing grain as harvesting. And work was forbidden on the Sabbath. They told Jesus His disciples were breaking the law.

    🙌 Drop one more book in the backpack, or mime it. It’s an extra rule. Ask: “How do rules like this add weight?”

  3. 📜 Jesus answers from their own scriptures

    Jesus reminded them that David ate the holy bread when he was hungry. And priests work in the temple every Sabbath. He quoted Hosea. God wants mercy, not sacrifice. The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath.

    🙌 Take that book back out. Ask: “What do you think ‘mercy, and not sacrifice’ means?”

  4. 🐑 A trap, and a sheep in a pit

    In the synagogue, a man with a withered hand waited. The Pharisees asked if healing on the Sabbath was lawful. They were hoping to accuse Jesus. He asked them, wouldn’t you pull your sheep out of a pit on the Sabbath? A person is worth much more.

    🙌 A youth reads Matthew 12:12. Ask: “What does ‘do well on the sabbath’ look like for you?”

  5. ✋ “Stretch forth thine hand”

    Jesus told the man to stretch out his hand, and it was made whole, like the other. Instead of celebrating, the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him. They knew every rule and missed the Lord of the Sabbath.

    🙌 Pause. Let the good news sink in. Ask: “The Pharisees knew every rule. What did they miss?”

Key verse

Matthew 11:28 ↗
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
In plain words: If you’re worn out and carrying too much, come to Jesus. He will give you rest.
🙌 “Come unto me” = wave someone toward you · “all ye that labour” = wipe your forehead · “and are heavy laden” = slump your shoulders like a heavy backpack · “and I will give you rest” = straighten up and let your shoulders drop, relaxed.

More verses

Matthew 11:29–30 ↗
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
In plain words: When we’re yoked to Jesus by covenant, He pulls with us, and the load gets lighter.
Matthew 12:12 ↗
“How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.”
In plain words: People matter more than rules. The Sabbath is for doing good.
Luke 11:9 ↗
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
In plain words: Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking. God answers.
Luke 11:13 ↗
“how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”
In plain words: If good parents give good gifts, Heavenly Father will definitely give His Spirit to people who ask.

Forehead Guess words17 words

  • 🐂 Yoke
  • 🎒 Heavy laden
  • 😌 Rest
  • 🕊️ Meek and lowly
  • 📅 Sabbath
  • 🌾 Grainfield
  • 🧐 Pharisees
  • 👑 King David
  • 🍞 Shewbread
  • ✋ Withered hand
  • 🐑 Sheep in a pit
  • 🕍 Synagogue
  • 🙏 Lord’s Prayer
  • 🚪 Knock
  • 🦂 Scorpion
  • ✨ Holy Spirit
  • 🤝 Covenant
Clues for each word
  • Yoke: Wooden beam joining two oxen
  • Heavy laden: Carrying way too much
  • Rest: What Jesus promises the weary
  • Meek and lowly: How Jesus described His heart
  • Sabbath: The Lord’s day
  • Grainfield: Where the hungry disciples snacked
  • Pharisees: Rule experts who accused the disciples
  • King David: Ate the holy bread when he was hungry
  • Shewbread: Holy bread in the house of God
  • Withered hand: Healed in the synagogue on the Sabbath
  • Sheep in a pit: You’d pull it out, even on the Sabbath
  • Synagogue: Where the trap was set
  • Lord’s Prayer: Jesus taught it when asked “teach us to pray”
  • Knock: Do it and it shall be opened
  • Scorpion: No father gives this instead of an egg
  • Holy Spirit: The gift Heavenly Father gives those who ask
  • Covenant: How we get yoked to Jesus
▶ Play Forehead GuessFull screen, 60-second timer, works on any phone.

Scripture Showdown9 questions

  1. What is a yoke?
    • A. A wooden beam joining two animals to pull together
    • B. A kind of bread
    • C. A shepherd’s staff
    Show answer

    ✅ A. A wooden beam joining two animals to pull together Yoked to Jesus, we pull with the strongest partner there is.

  2. Who does Jesus invite in Matthew 11:28?
    • A. Only the righteous
    • B. All who labour and are heavy laden
    • C. Only the Twelve
    Show answer

    ✅ B. All who labour and are heavy laden Everyone who is worn out and weighed down. That includes you.

  3. How did Jesus describe His heart in Matthew 11:29?
    • A. Strong and mighty
    • B. Proud and powerful
    • C. Meek and lowly
    Show answer

    ✅ C. Meek and lowly The One who pulls with us is gentle and humble.

  4. Why did the Pharisees complain in the grainfield?
    • A. The disciples picked grain on the Sabbath
    • B. The disciples stole sheep
    • C. Jesus was late
    Show answer

    ✅ A. The disciples picked grain on the Sabbath Matthew 12:2. Their traditions counted it as forbidden work.

  5. What did Jesus say we would all do for a sheep in a pit?
    • A. Wait until Monday
    • B. Pull it out, even on the Sabbath
    • C. Call a priest
    Show answer

    ✅ B. Pull it out, even on the Sabbath Matthew 12:11–12. And a person matters far more than a sheep.

  6. What did Jesus say is lawful on the Sabbath?
    • A. Nothing at all
    • B. Only sleeping
    • C. To do well
    Show answer

    ✅ C. To do well Matthew 12:12. The Sabbath is a day to do good.

  7. What did the Pharisees do right after the man’s hand was healed?
    • A. Rejoiced
    • B. Plotted to destroy Jesus
    • C. Asked to be baptized
    Show answer

    ✅ B. Plotted to destroy Jesus Matthew 12:14. They knew the rules but missed the Lord of the Sabbath.

  8. What did a disciple ask after watching Jesus pray?
    • A. “Lord, teach us to pray”
    • B. “Lord, why pray?”
    • C. “Lord, pray for us”
    Show answer

    ✅ A. “Lord, teach us to pray” Luke 11:1. Then Jesus taught them the Lord’s Prayer.

  9. What does Heavenly Father give to those who ask, in Luke 11:13?
    • A. Riches
    • B. The Holy Spirit
    • C. A stone
    Show answer

    ✅ B. The Holy Spirit Good parents give good gifts, and He gives the best one.

▶ Play Scripture ShowdownTeams take turns on one screen.

From general conference

“That the yoke is easy and the burden is light presumes we get in the yoke with the Savior, that we share our burdens with Him, that we let Him lift our load.”

— President Camille N. Johnson, “Jesus Christ Is Relief,” April 2023

Share in Take My Yoke, right after two volunteers share the backpack.

Read the talk ↗

Songs

  • Did You Think to Pray? Hymns, no. 140

    Luke 11 is Jesus teaching His disciples to pray; this hymn asks whether we remembered to. Find it ↗

  • The Lord Is My Shepherd Hymns, no. 108

    A hymn about the Lord giving rest to His sheep, and Jesus said a person is worth even more than a sheep. Find it ↗

This week’s challenge

Hand Over One Rock

Pick the one rock in your backpack you’ve carried alone. This week, bring it to Heavenly Father in a real prayer, in Jesus Christ’s name. Then plan one specific way to “do well” next Sunday. You could visit, text, serve, rest or study. Memorize Matthew 11:28, so it’s there when the backpack gets heavy.

Text the parents

This week in class we loaded a backpack with the burdens youth carry. We learned what it means to take the Savior’s yoke, in Matthew 11:28–30. We talked about the Pharisees accusing Jesus’s disciples on the Sabbath. Then Jesus healed a man’s withered hand, because it’s lawful to do well on the Sabbath. That’s Matthew 12:1–14. Ask your youth one way your family could “do well” next Sunday.

📝 After class

What worked? Who needs a check-in this week? Jot it here on a printed copy, or in the app’s private class notes.

Got extra time?

🦂 Egg or Scorpion? · 4 min

  1. Put a small rock inside a bread bag, or draw a scorpion and tuck it in an egg carton. Let youth guess what’s inside.
  2. Read Luke 11:9–13. Ask, “What would you think of a parent who did this to a hungry kid?”
  3. Ask, “What does this tell you about how Heavenly Father answers when we ask for the Holy Spirit?”

🥤 Clean Outside, Dirty Inside · 4 min

  1. Show a cup that’s spotless outside, with something gross drawn inside. Ask, “Would you drink from this?”
  2. Read Luke 11:39 and Matthew 12:34–35. Ask, “How can someone look great outside, online or at church, but not be clean inside?”
  3. Ask, “What cleans the inside?” Repentance, the sacrament and the Savior’s Atonement.

🙏 Lord, Teach Us to Pray · 5 min

  1. Read Luke 11:1–4. List what Jesus included: praising the Father, His kingdom, daily needs, forgiveness and protection from temptation.
  2. Read Luke 11:5–8, the friend knocking at midnight. Ask, “Why would Jesus tell a story about not giving up?”
  3. Each youth picks one part of the pattern to add to their prayers this week.

📝 Do Well Draft · 4 min

  1. Two teams get ninety seconds. They list Sunday ideas for their age that help someone, draw them closer to God or give real rest.
  2. Teams read their lists, and ideas both teams wrote get crossed off. Unique ideas score a point. The most specific idea earns a bonus.
  3. Ask, “Which of these would make next Sunday feel different?”

Sources

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, the Bible used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tap or click a reference to open it in Gospel Library. Start with the official Come, Follow Me manual; these ideas are here to help it come alive.

All Youth 12–13 lessons