Come To Me

Recap Last Week

In last week’s passage Jesus was confronted by John’s disciples with a question about whether he was the messiah or did they follow him by mistake. All of that was represented in their feelings that Jesus wasn’t doing what they thought Jesus came to do.

Jesus challenged them to see and remember all that He had done, which fulfilled prophecies from centuries ago and ended with the beatitude, Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.

Jesus then made the appeal to those left after John’s disciples left to consider who John actually was, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” the Herald of the messiah, and essentially who that would make Jesus to be, the Messiah being proclaimed.

We were challenged with the application by question. Will we receive Jesus for who he is, or do we live lives of constant offense because of Jesus and the truth of His word?

How we answer that question will truly set the course for our lives into eternity.

This week we will finish chapter 11 as Jesus confronts through comparison again, but he doesn’t just confront to confront. He confronts everyone with who he is so He can invite them into a relationship with Himself.

Tonight we will see Jesus compare, confront, contrast, then invite us to come.

To Hear or Not to Hear

Matthew 11:16–19 ESV

16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, 17 “ ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”

Coming out of verse 15 Jesus now compares two groups. Those who have ears to hear and those who have hard hearts and will never hear.

This Generation - refers to the disbelieving children of Israel.

Jesus used a word picture here.

We (John and Jesus) played the flute for you. Playful song, but you didn’t dance.

We (John and Jesus) sang a dirge, but you didn’t mourn.

The sad thing about those who hear the gospel is that some will turn a deaf ear because of a hard heart and reject the good news that is delivered.

Characteristic of God/Yahweh: He’s omniscient, all knowing. He knows everything, past present and future, all at the same time. He knows what state he will find our hearts before we ever existed. He knew that these immature Israelites would reject both the forerunner as well as the Messiah. He also knew that there would be a remnant who would be open eared and have soft pliable hearts of flesh.

The response to the message of John and Jesus was:

Matthew (B. This Generation (Israel) Rejects John and the King (11:7–19))

the proverbial, “Our mind is made up; do not confuse us with the facts.” Out of their hardened hearts the skeptics looked for any reason to reject John and Jesus in order to justify their disbelief.

Matthew (B. This Generation (Israel) Rejects John and the King (11:7–19))

Jesus’ closing comment to this segment, “Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds”, is the same as saying, “Anyone who observes my behavior and John’s behavior with an honest heart will see clearly our righteousness.”

Greater Accountability

Jesus now confronts “this generation” with a startling contrast. One that they would have not seen coming.

Matthew 11:20–24 (ESV)

20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin(Khoradzin)! Woe to you, Bethsaida(baythsaheedah)! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

Chorazin and Bethsaida were with in a few miles of Capernaum, which was Jesus headquarters essentially. The would have seen and heard of all of the signs, teachings and miracles that Jesus performed.

He compared those to cities to Tyre and Sidon.

Tyre - center of Canaanite religion and Gods, which had infiltrated Israel. God used king Neb to concur and level Tyre and Sidon.

Jesus is saying to Chorazin and Bethsaida, as well as Capernaum, that there is a level of judgement that will be brought upon those in these cities that disbelieved because the Messiah himself came and proclaimed the kingdom, performed miracles, and revealed himself as God in the flesh, yet they rejected Him.

Tyre and Sidon, as wicked as they were, if confronted with the Messiah, would have repented, and Sodom, if confronted with the Messiah, would have remained to this day and not been destroyed.

Matthew C. The King Denounces Unrepentant Cities (11:20–24)

Rather than receiving the covenant blessing of heaven, they would receive the eternal covenant curse of the depths

Isaiah 5:14 ESV

14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure, and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down, her revelers and he who exults in her.

This is a grave warning for anyone who has heard the gospel. There is a greater level of accountability for them having heard it and there will be a higher level of judgement for those in these Jewish cities who witnessed Jesus miracles than for those in Tyre and Sidon.

It makes me think of the United States of America. Think of its Christian heritage. Think of it’s shear number of churches, evangelists, and para-church ministries. We have lived in a culture where at large measure we have known or heard of what Jesus did for us and what his righteous requirement is of us. How much judgement will that place on us as a nation? What about the people of Frenchtown, or Missoula, or Huson, Alberton, Arlee, Potomac, where ever? That’s the hard reality.

Come to Me

The thing that amazes me about our God, is that at the same time he is calling out unrepentant cities and condemning them to harsher judgment, he still has a heart for the lost.

Lost = those who are perishing, being destroyed, ruined.

Matthew 11:25–27 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.

This brings us back to that character trait of Jehovah. He knows the hearts of those who will reject him. Those who were considered “Wise and Understanding” are those who in their arrogance don’t have ears to hear what is being revealed to them.

The Apostle Paul said it this way.

1 Corinthians 1:20–25 ESV

20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

God’s gracious will is that he will still extend the invitation of salvation through his Son Jesus, to those who are humble enough to receive it. For those willing to realize and admit that they are poor in spirit.

Verse 27 speaks of two main things. Knowledge and authority.

All things have been handed over to me by my Father.

Matthew (D. The King Invites the Weary to Himself (11:25–30))

Jesus has total authority and discretion on earth about who will find true knowledge of the Father.

Matthew D. The King Invites the Weary to Himself (11:25–30)

Only the Son and the Father truly know each other. The word for know here is epiginosko, which takes the root word ginosko, “to know intimately by experience” (a term of relationship, as opposed to oida, “to know factually”), and intensifies it with the prefix epi-. The resulting verb implies thorough, intimate, experiential knowledge, as in a very close relationship.

Matthew D. The King Invites the Weary to Himself (11:25–30)

Incredibly, those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him [the Father] can also participate in this divine intimacy but no one else has a clue, being excluded by their lack of faith. The Christian can revel in his walk with Christ, while the arrogant unbeliever does not know it exists.

Jesus is revealing in this public prayer to the Father, that He is claiming to be the Son, the Messiah, and that He knows, an the most intimate way possible, Jehovah/Yahweh, because He is also included in Elohim, the Godhead. He knows who to reveal himself to because of His relationship of equability in nature and authority.

We have our knowledge of who God the Father is because Jesus has revealed Him to us. No one who knows the Lord in an intimate relationship does so on his own merit. Only those who have had Him revealed truly know the Father and the Son. This right here is why we preach relationship, not religion. We are not talking about traditions, rituals, or activities, we are talking about knowing intimately and being known intimately. That only happens in the realm of relationship.

It is God’s desire that all would come to Him, but he knows that not all will believe to salvation. Many will, but many many more will only in a factual way, not in a relationship.

In relationship there are titles. Friend. Best friend. Buddy. Mother, Father, Son, daughter. Child of God. Savior, Lord. All speak of more than just facts.

Look what Jesus does next.

Matthew 11:28–30 ESV

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.”

Jesus’ favorite word is come. He doesn’t say, come to my teaching. Or, come to my miracles. We aren’t to say, come to my church. Or, come to a knowledge of the facts about Jesus. He says come to me. We are to say, Come to Jesus. He speaks of relationship, embrace, peace, joy. It’s contrasted in the words that follow. Who is he inviting to come to him?

All who Labor: a burden we put on ourselves

Those who are heavy laden: those who have a burden placed on them by others.

Matthew (D. The King Invites the Weary to Himself (11:25–30))

The Jewish people struggled under an enormous load of religious expectations and legalities that were laid on them by their false religious leaders.

Jesus was saying, “Come, take on yourself the light burden of obedience under the covenant I will seal with my own blood, and I will give you the covenant reward of deep-down, peaceful rest—freedom from guilt, the power of sin, and self-striving. If you continue carrying the heavy burden of works-oriented, self-serving Pharisaism, you will never find rest. You were designed by God to carry my load, not man’s” (cf. 23:4).

Jesus, knowing that he was talking to a crowd of rejectors, still brings the message of the kingdom to anyone who would have ears to hear.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Jesus offers rest for all those who come to him. This is the same rest that Jeremiah talks about in chapter 6

Jeremiah 6:16 ESV

16 Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

Our God has been pleading with Mankind since the beginning to come to him, trust in him, and walk with him in relationship. Walking in right relationship with him is what brings rest for our souls.

Jesus offers a yoke which sounds like servanthood, and you’d be right. The thing is, we are either servants of Jesus or we are slaves to our sin and the world. One is harsh and unbearable, the other is easy.

To yoke yourself to Jesus is to learn from Him. Like a young ox learns from an older more experienced ox. Learn from Him, who he is as he relates to you and who you are. He’s known you since before you were born. He knew us when we were being knitted together in our mother’s womb.

Jesus description of himself as Gentle and lowly is a description of his nature and his accessibility. He may be the lion of Judah, but he is the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. He is the Son of God who lowered himself down and came to this earth to relate to mankind in human form, bringing heaven to earth, to make himself and salvation through him accessible.

We all carry a burden in life. Our burden when we yoke ourselves to Jesus is easy and light when compared to the burden of sin unforgiven which damns us to hell.

Many will go through life thinking that our God is a god who forces his ways on us in a mean and humanly jealous way, when in fact he is a loving Father who sent his Son to offer life, peace, and rest for our souls.

There is a day coming when Jesus will return for those who are His. Let us rejoice in that! In the faithful everlasting love of our Heavenly Father!

Jeremiah 31:2–6 ESV

2 Thus says the Lord: “The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, 3 the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. 4 Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. 5 Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit. 6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim: ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.’ ”