Whatever it Takes to Rest in Jesus

Introduction

ILLUST - work and vacation. Vacations that we feel we must DO stuff lead us to feel as though we’ve had no vacation. Vacation should be rest

Similar to religion (pejorative) and grace. Just like DOING stuff on vacation in order to maximize vacation makes it unrestful, so to DOING religious things to maximize grace makes it unrestful and un-graceful

Matthew 11:25–30 (ESV)

25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;

Matthew 11:20 (ESV)

20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.

26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

First point is really the main idea of the passage:

Jesus wants you to find rest for your soul

or, the posture of the Christian life should be one of rest.

Do you feel this is true? No?

Or do you feel as if now that you are a Christian:

There are more to-dos than you’ll ever be able to accomplish

You see your imperfections, the effects of your flesh, your ungodly desires and you feel ashamed they are not gone yet.

You feel guilty that you are not good enough, you haven’t prayed enough,

That the reason things are not going well for you is that somehow you did somethings or did not do something and God is upset or disappointed with you.

That God will not be happy with you until you are perfect.

To this, Jesus says “Come here!” and relax for a moment.

ILLUST - this was me in seminary - I began to realize all that I wasn’t doing (and felt that I should be doing) - my intentions were good but it was actually leading me away from resting in Jesus.

I went to lunch with one of my professors and shared my thoughts, how I felt guilty for not doing more for Jesus.

He had previously overseen a large missionary organization and shared this thought with me:

Suppose there was an African woman - wakes and thanks God for the morning - walks miles for water - spends day caring for children - not able to “study” Scripture for long periods of time - does Jesus love her less? No.

Jesus’ love for you is never measured by the things you do (or don’t do) for him. It can only be measured by what he has done for YOU.

There are times we don’t think this way.

We think the more we serve God the more he loves us.

This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the gospel.

The gospel is the radical

Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV)

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

You can’t earn grace - that’s the whole point.

This is different from human religion

Human religion says we need to serve God for him to serve us

Matthew 20:28 (ESV)

28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus says he came not to give us something to do but to give us rest - for our souls

Rest for the soul is more important than rest for the body.

You can find rest for your body but be tormented in your soul.

It is far greater to find rest for your soul no matter what you are going through in your life.

Find rest by submitting to Jesus and not by performing for Him.

Three action words: Come, Take, Learn

First step in finding rest for your soul is to come to Jesus

Come

*Jesus is speaking to those who feel the weight of seeking God (through religious effort)

Jesus says, “Come Here!”

Not calling the self sufficient or self righteous

Come as children - v25

25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;

This means that unlike those who had seen the signs of of Jesus and rejected him, the only ones that can truly understand and receive Jesus are those who come to him like little children.

Take

Take his yoke

Trade all you think you should do for Jesus for all he has done for you.

If you do:

“give you rest” (verb)

“you will find rest” (noun)

Literally, “Come to me, all you who are tired from trying to please God and I will help you rest (verb). Now, trade the yoke of religion for my yoke, and you will find continued rest (noun).”

Yoke:

most likely not referring to animal yokes but to a yoke for a person

Galatians 5:1 (ESV)

1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

1 Timothy 6:1 (ESV)

1 Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.

Jesus was likely referring to:

2nd C BC

English Revised Version Ecclesiasticus

ECCLESIASTICUS

The Prologue of the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach

Sirach 51:23–27 (ERV)

23 Draw near unto me, ye unlearned, And lodge in the house of instruction. 24 Say, wherefore are ye lacking in these things, And your souls are very thirsty? 25 I opened my mouth, and spake, Get her for yourselves without money. 26 Put your neck under the yoke, And let your soul receive instruction: She is hard at hand to find. 27 Behold with your eyes, How that I laboured but a little, And found for myself much rest.

Sirach 51:30 (ERV)

30 Work your work before the time cometh, And in his time he will give you your reward.

Taking on the yoke of Jesus does not mean taking up a yoke when you previously didn’t have one. It means to trade the heavy yoke of self-righteousness and religious effort for Jesus’ yoke of grace.

To take on the yoke of Christ means to remove the yoke (tools of effort) in your life that you are using it bring your life meaning, purpose apart from Christ and the religious efforts to gain God’s love.

“Human religion allows us to delude ourselves into believing that, somewhere in the inmost recesses of our souls, there is some minuscule outpost of goodness that kick-starts God’s work in our lives — some prayer we can pray or righteous deeds we can do. Even if we admit that we can’t do anything to start God’s work, human religion assures us that surely there’s something we can do to keep it going. And so we work to manage our sins more effectively, to serve in more ministries at church, to multiply our theological knowledge, to keep artificial preservatives away from our family’s dinner plates — whatever it is that we think might merit more favor from God and others. When that happens, the good news of grace has been eclipsed by a delusion that’s not really good news at all…

“What goes around comes around.

God helps those who help themselves.

You get what you pay for”

— Daniel Montgomery, PROOF: Finding Freedom Through the Intoxicating Joy of Irresistible Grace

It means to put on (to surrender) to Jesus’ yoke which he calls “easy” and “light”

It is not the yoke, but resistance to the yoke, that makes the difficulty; the whole-hearted surrender to Jesus, as at once our Master and our Keeper, finds and secures the rest.

Andrew Murray

Grace is an astounding mystery that confounds our human tendency to expect value or love through our own performance.

ILLUST - Our adopted children have taught me much about how my own heart will default to working for God’s approval.

— They don’t need to earn our love but they, by default, feel they needed to.

— We don’t expect them to obey in order to stay in the family or continue to earn our love.

— They can rest in the fact that they are part of the family

— We want them to obey, to follow the way of the family, because we want them to live the full life of a Dickinson.

Learn

Verb form of disciple

Learn from Jesus - Learn what?

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Following Jesus requires much but demands little

Just as we have seen from Luke 5 as we started this series,

To follow Jesus you must be willing to give up everything.

Notice Jesus is not offering to remove the yoke but to trade yokes.

From whom?

It’s always the case that when we reject the light yoke of God’s will, we end up wearing a heavier yoke of our own making.

Warren W. Wiersbe

Matthew 23:4 (ESV)

4 They (the Pharisees) tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, (Yoke) but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

1 John 5:3 (ESV)

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

Illustration – how does a burden bring rest? How

The difference between weights and a weighted blanket. The burden or weight of a weighted blanket is not overwhelming is not tiring actually brings rest.

Jesus is looking to serve you more than you are looking to serve him.

Jesus is not looking to serve you in selfishness or evil desires.

He wants you to know the Father and find rest for your soul

27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

You can rest because of who Jesus is and not because of what you can do.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,

Center of the passage.

A - Come to me. . . heavy laden (φορτίζω)

B - I will give you rest (ἀναπαύω - verb)

C - I am gentle and lowly in heart

B’ - you will find rest (ἀνάπαυσις)

A’ - His burden (φορτίον) is light

Jesus, your master, wants you to rest.

He wants you to know the goodness of following him

He loves you more than you can imagine

He doesn’t invite you to:

work harder

do more

be perfect

He invites you not to try what you can do but to rest in what HE HAS DONE.

Galatians 5:1 (ESV)

1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.