Galatians 6:5 - Exposition

For every man shall bear his own burden ( ἕκαστος γὰρ τὸ ἴδιον φορτίον βαστάσει ); for each man shall carry his own pack. A man's business is with his own pack; and all depends upon his carrying that , not putting it down. This "pack" ( φορτίον ) is the whole of the duties for the discharge of which each man is responsible. It is thus that the image is employed by our Lord ( Matthew 11:30 ), "My yoke is easy, and my pack is light." So also in Matthew 23:4 , "For they tie up packs heavy and hard to carry, and lay them upon men's shoulders." The phrase, τὸ ἴδιον φορτίον , "the pack which is individually his own," implies that men's responsibilities vary, each one having such as are peculiar to himself. This "pack" is to be carefully distinguished from the "heavy loads" ( βάρη ) of Matthew 23:2 , Our Christian obligations Christ makes, to them who serve him well, light ; but our burdens of remorse, shame, grief, loss, which are of our own wilful procuring, these may be, must needs be, heavy. One part of our "pack" of obligation is to help each other in bearing these "heavy loads;" and we shall find our joy and crown of glorying in doing so; not only in the approval of our own consciences and in the consciousness of Christ's approval, but also in the manifold refreshments of mutual Christian sympathy. On the other hand, our Christian responsibilities, including these of mutual sympathy and succour, we must not attempt to evade. One man is able to do more for others than another man can; the truly "spiritual" man, for example, can do that which others may not even attempt to touch: each one has his own part and duty. And Christ's mot d'ordre to all his workmen, or possibly the apostle means to all his soldiers, is this: "Every man carry his own pack!" The future tense of the verb "shall carry" does not point to some future time, but to the absoluteness of the law for all time; as in Galatians 2:16 . The varying turn given to the same general image of carrying burdens in Galatians 2:2 and here is quite in St. Paul's manner. Compare, for example, in 2 Corinthians 3:1-18 . the varying turn given to the images of "epistle" and "veil."