There is Rest

According to a Greek legend, in ancient Athens a man noticed the great storyteller Aesop playing childish games with some little boys. He laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity.

Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and placing it on the ground. Then he said to the critical Athenian, "Now, answer the riddle, if you can. Tell us what the unstrung bows implies."

The man looked at it for several moments but had no idea what point Aesop was trying to make. Aesop explained, "If you keep a bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be more fit for use when you want it."

People are also like that. That's why we all need to take time to rest.

Are you always bent?

Are you always overloaded?

Are you always burdened with burdens you can’t carry?

If so, today’s Scripture and message is just for you.

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; 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.”

Such a powerful section of Scripture.

In this section we see a grand invitation to all who will listen.

We also see that there are many who will not listen at all because they think they have it all figured out.

Prime examples of these two types are found in the first parts of this chapter.

We see John the Baptizer sending his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the Messiah to come or if there will be another.

This is encouraging to me because John at the Baptism of Jesus knew Jesus was more than he.

He said I am not worthy to untie his sandal strap.

He heard God the Father say as the Spirit descended on Jesus “this is my Son in whom I am well pleased.”

John Knew Jesus was the Messiah. He knew Jesus was the one to come.

Yet, here he sat in Prison and waiting for his death he knew was coming.

He was in a dreary place and had deep worries and concerns.

He was struggling and instead of saying Jesus was not the Messiah, he cried out through his disciples.

Then we see the self-righteous cities.

Chorazin and Bethsaida.

These people had seen Jesus firsthand perform miracle after miracle and seen Him do great things, yet they rejected because they knew better.

Tyre and Sidon were ancient cities full of wickedness and evil.

They worshipped false gods and were against God the Father.

Sidon fell in 67 BC to Assyria and Tyre fell to Alexander the Great in 322 BC.

Jesus is saying even these wicked and pagan cities would have repented of their evil had they seen my works in them.

Yet, you two have seen and have rejected much like Abraham told the rich man in hell that even if a man was raised from the dead and went to his brothers they would not believe.

This is what happened here.

Then Jesus denounces Capernaum. This had been Jesus’s hometown.

They rejected Him and His works and said He was mad.

They were too proud to see the truth and they were now receiving severe condemnation for their rejection.

He said Sodom would have a more tolerable day of judgment than they.

Sodom was totally destroyed for their utterly wicked and sinful behaviors.

Capernaum for their arrogance and rejection of Christ will have a more severe judgment than Sodom.

Pride and arrogance are truly terrible sins that cause more grief than most any other sin.

That is why John the Baptizer is different than these cities.

He asked in humility if Jesus was the one even though he had seen great things too.

He wanted to confirm if he had truly seen that and make certain.

Jesus honored him for this and said he was the greatest man to be born of woman.

He was humble and wanted to know the truth rather than arrogant and acting like he knew it all and even adding to what the truth was.

Which leads to the main Scripture of study today. That we have already read from Matt. 11:25-30.

We see the beginning of the invitation in the first three verses through Jesus’s thankfulness to the Father.

In this thankful prayer we see that it is better to...

Be Childlike

Jesus praised the Father for revealing the truth to those who are childlike rather than those who are “wise and understanding.”

The wise think they know everything, which is why those cities rejected Christ.

They had been trained by the Pharisees and Scribes to follow not only the Law of Moses but the extras they added to the law.

They have said over and over that you must do and do and do some more to be sure you are clean.

You must follow not only what the law says but also what we say the law says.

It is not only what you hear from Moses that you must do, but you also must do so much more.

We see this same thing today with those who constantly scream that a Christian must do works to show they are saved.

If you do not do the works that I say you must do, then you must not be saved.

This is the type that Jesus says the truth of His rest offered is hid from.

But the childlike have the truth.

They are like John the Baptizer.

They may doubt and wonder but they stay curious.

Some will say this is due to the electing grace of God that God has those that He has predestined to save and they will hear His voice and come.

But this text itself knocks that view because Jesus says in a minute that all things have been handed to Him by the Father and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

This still sounds like that election talk until the next verse where Jesus says “Come to me, ALL who labor...”

All who labor meaning all of us in this world are called by Jesus.

The question is are you childlike and willing to accept this call or are you too wise like the Pharisees and Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum?

Will you hear this call for rest and take rest or will you reject it and say it must not be true because you know you must do this and that to earn that rest?

The Son is revealing to you now that He wants you to come into His rest.

He is saying that He wants you to truly know the Father.

He wants you to see Him for who He is and come to that because in Him and with Him is rest for your weary and worn souls.

He desires you to know Him and learn from Him and rest in Him because that is what we need to do, what we must do, what we CAN do in Christ.

He is doing this by revealing who He is.

In this next section we see...

The Heart of Christ Revealed

We see the heart of Christ for you in three words in these last three verses.

These words are

Come

Take

Learn.

With these three is another word that we all need to heed and allow to soak into the marrow of our bones.

This word is REST.

REST is so important and There is Rest in Christ for His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

A yoke is a heavy wooden harness that was fit over a team of oxen and fixed to a piece of equipment that those oxen pull.

You may be saying “wait a minute. If I am to rest why am I to put on a yoke that is heavy, and may very well rub my neck raw?”

Great question.

This yoke is one of Gentleness and humility. It is not the burden of the Law that the world and the Pharisees tell you and others to bear.

That yoke is one no one can bear.

If we could do enough or be good enough to receive salvation then Jesus was not needed.

But we soon find out that we are not capable of bearing that yoke so this yoke of Jesus is light and easy.

One reason is that Jesus asks you to come to Him.

He does not demand this obedience that the Law did and that we put on ourselves trying to work to Him.

He asks you to come and take this yoke upon your neck and shoulders.

See in Matt. 23:4

Matthew 23:4 ESV

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

This is what the Pharisees of that time did and this is what we do to ourselves when we try and do it all.

When we try to work hard enough to be saved.

When we try and work hard enough to continue to get more so when we get more we will give more or we will get enough and stop to find out we never stop but keep seeking more.

We can’t bear that load and were never meant to bear that load.

That is why Jesus asks you to come to Him.

Come to Him. Humble yourselves and come to Him.

Do not think you have it all figured out and reject this offer to come.

Do not be like those condemned cities, but come to the savior and take His yoke upon you.

When you take His yoke on you you will find out why it is so easy and light.

It is because Jesus is bound to you by this yoke.

He is there with you bearing it along and to be honest he is bearing the majority of it actually He is bearing it all.

All you do is stay obedient to Him in life and follow where He goes and you will not find yourself bearing that old yoke of bondage to slavery of the world and the Law.

When you stay connected to Jesus and united with Him bearing His yoke you will learn from Him.

To learn from Him means you see how Gentle He is because He has revealed His heart to you.

You see how harsh the world is and how miserable it made and can make you.

You also learn that Christ is lowly meaning He is humble and loving.

Think if you will about what He did at the cross for you.

Paul said He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil. 2:8).

He died for you and not only that but He was whipped and beat and spit on and mocked.

The creator of everything.

The one who made those people who beat and mocked Him.

He was humble and allowed this to happen because He knew the Father’s will and love for us.

He did that humiliating, horribly painful, and miserable death for you.

He is humble and gentle and loving and He demonstrates this even more by staying with you and bearing the yoke that He gives you.

What a glorious and comforting thought this is.

When we are beat down and weary from the world, There is Rest.

Jesus says come to me and stop living under that heavy burden of sin and its consequences.

Stop living under burdens you were never meant to carry.

Find rest for your souls and find true refreshment and renewal now through this experience of rest in Christ now.

Dane Ortlund says it best what Jesus is saying to you when he wrote in his great book “Gentle and Lowly, “You don’t need to unburden or collect yourself and then come to Jesus. Your very burden is what qualifies you to come. No payment is required; he says, “I will give you rest.” His rest is gift, not transaction” (20-21).

Ortlund further noted, “His yoke is kind and his burden is light. That is, his yoke is a nonyoke, and his burden is a nonburden. What helium does to a balloon, Jesus’s yoke does to his followers. We are buoyed along in life by his endless gentleness and supremely accessible lowliness” (23).

What joy this is to know.

In this overworked and under rested world to know that the yoke we take upon us when we come to Jesus is really a nonyoke.

To know we will be carried along through this battle scarred world by an amazing Savior is so comforting and peace giving.

Now, this does not mean we stop doing anything in this life.

We must work still and seek to help others hear this call from Christ.

The Christian life can be one of peace and comfort in the Lord even when persecution and struggles are happening.

This rest is a rest from thinking we must do it all that we must make those outside Christ believe.

We are not back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, where they had the board with names on it and you were to go evangelize those people and come in and mark their name off the board after they “said a prayer and were saved.”

That is adding a burden to you that you cannot do or carry.

No, this is we take the word to those outside and let the Spirit draw them to this call of Christ.

We are not in charge of who believes and who does not.

We take this yoke on us and share Christ but let Christ carry the load because you and I cannot do that.

Rest in Christ for the lost.

Rest in Christ for the craziness of this world.

Rest in Christ for the money to come.

Seek Him first and as He said in chapter six, all those things will be added.

He will provide.

Like a man involved with the North American Mission Board, NAMB for short.

He was in missions in the early 2000s and went to the SBC convention to share what was going on and hoping others would get on board and help fund the missions.

He scraped together enough money to get from Canada to New Orleans where the convention was.

He took what he thought was enough cash for food but it wasn’t.

He ran out on Tuesday and was going to be there until Friday.

He trusted Christ and other men in the ministry took care of his meal needs.

Now, he did not sit back and do nothing but he went to them and explained he was broke and they provided.

He trusted Christ and was humble enough to ask for help and help was given.

This is exactly what this section of Scripture is asking of you.

It is asking you to be humble enough to ask Christ for help.

To look to Christ to save you not only eternally but also from all the things happening now.

Humble yourself and seek Christ and let Him give you rest.

For His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.

Take that yoke on your shoulders, learn from Him, and find that much needed rest for your soul.

Christ is offering that now as we come to a close.

He is offering you rest if you are weary in your walk.

He is offering rest if you are unsaved, He is calling you to believe in Him today.

He is offering rest to all who are weary and lets be real yall, we are all weary and need to give more and more to Christ.

So today, let Christ yoke up with you and let his yoke carry your burdens today and find that rest.

Surrender control of your life to Him and see what He does.

Stop trying to control life and let Christ who is life have control and find rest from the work and burdens you can’t do or carry.

There is Rest in Christ, today He offers that rest, will you take it?