G1645 ἐλαφρός (elaphrós)

Light (1645) (elaphros) means not heavy, easy to bear (as in Mt 11:30, the only other NT use), not burdensome, not difficult to bear, having little weight, easy to be lifted, borne or carried by physical strength. In the present passage the idea of "light" is that which is not oppressive and thus is easy to be suffered or endured. Other synonyms: lightweight, slight, easy, trifling, trivial (albeit when we are experiencing them, they are not "trivial" to us!), manageable, small, featherweight, "light as a feather" This is an interesting term, for a thing is light only comparatively. That which is light to a man, may be heavy to a child. A light burden for a camel, may be insupportable to a horse. Now read 2Co 11:23, 24, 25, 26, 27 to see what Paul calls "light affliction"! Paul's point is that they are light compared to what is coming (See Our Light Affliction where C H Spurgeon elaborates on this thought ). Compared to the weight of glory, his afflictions are like a feather on the scale (see Ro 8:18). This weighty glory is beyond all comprehension. In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul had written... that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him. (1Co 2:9) And remember it is not just that the momentary, light afflictions precede glory, but they also help produce glory as discussed more below. Hodge rightly says that... It is only by comparison with the eternal glory that it (affliction) seems insignificant. Vance Havner on Suffering It won't last forever but we will! Now for a season...ye are in heaviness...(1Peter 1:6). After that ye have suffered a while...(1Peter 5:10). For our light affliction, which is but for a moment...(2Cor. 4:17). Thomas Watson... Consider that our sufferings are light. It is heavy to flesh and blood—but it is light to faith. Affliction is light in a threefold respect: 1. It is light—in comparison to SIN. He who feels sin heavy, feels suffering light. Sin made Paul cry out, 'O wretched man that I am!' (Ro 7:24). He does not cry out of his iron chain—but of his sin. The greater noise drowns the lesser. When the sea roars, the rivers are silent. He who is taken up with his sins, and sees how he has provoked God—thinks the yoke of affliction to be light (Micah 7:9). 2. Affliction is light—in comparison of HELL. What is persecution, compared to damnation? What is the fire of martyrdom, compared to the fire of the damned? It is no more than the pricking of a pin, compared to a death's wound. 'Who knows he power of your anger!' (Psalm 90:11) Christ himself could not have borne that anger, had he not been more than a man. 3. Affliction is light—in comparison of GLORY. The weight of glory makes persecution light. 'If,' says Chrysostom, 'the torments of all the men in the world could be laid upon one man, it were not worth one hour's being in heaven!' And if persecution is light, we should not be overly downcast by it. Let us neither faint through unbelief, nor fret through impatience. Consider that our sufferings are short. 'After you have suffered a little while' (1 Peter 5:10). Our sufferings may be lasting, not everlasting. Affliction is compared to a 'cup' (Lamentations 4:21). The wicked drink of a 'sea' of wrath which has no bottom. It will never be emptied. But it is only a 'cup' of martyrdom, and God will say, 'Let this cup pass away'. 'The rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous' (Psalm 125:3). The rod may be there, it shall not rest. Christ calls his sufferings 'an hour' (Luke 22:53). Can we not suffer one hour? Persecution is sharp—but short. Though it has a sting to torment—yet it has a wing to fly! 'Sorrow shall fly away' (Isaiah 35:10). It is but a little while when the saints shall have a writ of ease granted them. They shall weep no more—and suffer no more. They shall be taken off the torturing wrack—and laid in Christ's bosom. The people of God shall not always be in the iron furnace; a year of Jubilee will come. The water of persecution like a land-flood, will soon be dried up. (Beatitudes) TWO MAJOR STAGES OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE STAGE 1 THE PRESENT STAGE 2 THE FUTURE In the World In Christ's Presence Temporary Eternal Humility Exaltation Cross-bearing Cross-wearing Suffering Glory Describable Incomparable Trials Triumph