American slang has a long and colorful history. Have you heard the saying, “He doesn’t know me any better than Adam’s off ox”? It refers to person A speaking about person B in a familiar way, when in fact person A doesn’t know person B at all. To be an off ox, then, is to be a stranger to the very person one most needs to know.
A yoke is a piece of shaped wood placed across the necks of paired draft animals enabling them to pull a cart, wagon or plow together. When two oxen are harnessed under one yoke, the driver controls the lead ox, in other words, the trained proven animal. The lead ox has a docile temperament. It understands the driver’s commands. The “off ox”, as one might surmise, is the one that “follows” with little, if any, comprehension about what really is happening.
Sadly, a great many Christians don’t know our Lord Jesus any better than Adam’s off ox. They say I know Jesus, but lacking a purposeful relationship with him, they merely know about him and very little at that. Being off ox to the Word of the World means they don’t know their own selves, who they’re supposed to be with or where they ought to go. The clearest evidence that a person lacks a coherent life is revealed in his aimless tracks. No plowed field. No harvest.
Whether hoary Adam owned oxen after being expelled from Eden, we’ll never know. We can be sure of one thing, however. Devout Christians are not Adam’s off ox in their relationship with God. We hunger to know Jesus, love him and do his will. We delight in shouldering the agreeable yoke of Bethlehem’s child, born in a feed trough, surrounded by farm animals. We never forget how Roman centurions yoked Our Lord to the patibulum of a cross. And how he harrowed the Way of Sorrows to make us pure.
By putting our shoulders to the load, we learn to trust God in everything. What does Jesus ask of us? “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [Mt 11:28-30]
The faithful follower of Christ is not naive and credulous. Neither is he embarrassed by a vulgar stable or ashamed of Golgotha’s ghastly cross. Listen to God. Do what God wants. Plow the spiritual field in this advent season. Father Barker
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