Rest for the Weary
Notes
Transcript
Last weekend, my wife and I were able to have a nice extended and relaxing weekend. Something we have not really done in 18 years or more. Not having to rush around to get this done or that done, only had a couple of things planned that had a set time. We actually finally felt rested and not tired at all. As we were starting our drive home on Monday, we started to think about what this week would hold for us, and the weight of all that was just so heavy. I knew I had a 12 hour day my first day back to work. A short week for sermon prep and hoping I didn’t have to work longer the rest of the week.
I kept praying to God for what he wanted me to speak on today. I kept thinking about a book series and started looking at that, but then I came across this passage for this morning. I was not exhausted physically from what I had to do, but emotionally exhausted, even spiritually exhausted because I was stressing over what to talk about this morning. I’m sure I’m not the only one thinking this.
When you are emotionally and/or spiritually drained, your body feels it too. I was so tired the other night, I finished off a Mountain Dew right before bed and passed right out…even with all the caffeine in the drink.
How easy is it in these busy times to lose ourselves in work. Are we using technology to help us study God’s Word, or are we using technology to spend time in social media and away from God, investing time in gossip.
If you have your Bibles with you, open to Matthew 11:28-30, or you can just read from the screen with me.
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.”
I want to break this down a little bit verse by verse. Matthew 11:28 “28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Jesus here is saying Come to me. The greek word here, dyoo’-teh, means follow. He is telling the people, follow me. This sounds quite a lot like Matthew 4:19,
19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
and Matthew 9:9,
9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
But this time, Jesus is inviting everyone. You see, during this time period, the Pharisees all said “Do!”. You must follow the laws of Moses, you must follow all of our traditions. You must Do this…you must Do that. And how could they not be exhausted. Nothing they would do, was good enough for the Pharisees. Oh, this goat is not pure enough for the offering. Go find another.
True salvation is only found in one Person, Jesus Christ. We do not have the same “burdens” as the Israelites did while living under the laws from Moses; however, even after we are forgiven our sins, Satan has a way of tossing them back into our face, making us question ourselves. Knowing that on our own, nothing we do is ever good enough, but following Christ is a game changer.
Verse 29, Matthew 11:29,
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.
Take…the Greek word, ah’ee-ro means to lift, bear, carry. During this time period, to “take a yoke” meant to become a disciple. When we submit to Christ, we are yoked or tied together to him.
Christ offers a yoke that is easy in contrast to the grinding, binding yoke of the law. Acts 15:10,
10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?
If we look at verses 28 and 29, we see two uses of the word rest. “I will give you rest”, the peace with God that comes with salvation, Romans 5:1,
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
“You will find rest”, this is the “peace of God” that comes with surrender, Philippians 4:6-7,
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
To be yoked with Christ is the greatest blessing possible.
Verse 29 also tells us to “Learn”. Christ is telling anyone who will listen, to learn from him. As we learn more about Him, we find a deeper peace, because we trust him more. And this invitation is not just for the people of Israel, but for everyone.
Verse 30, Matthew 11:30,
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
One commentator wrote, “The word “easy” means “well-fitting”; He has just the yoke that is tailor-made for our lives and needs. The burden of doing His will is not a heavy one.” 1 John 5:3,
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
Henry Alford wrote, “Our Lord does not promise freedom from toil or burden, but rest in the soul, which shall make all yokes easy, and all burdens light. the main invitation, however, is to those burdened with the yoke of sin, and of the law, which was added because of sin. Owing to our continued conflict with sin and evil in this world, the rest of Christ is still a yoke and a burden, but a light one. The rest and joy of the Christian soul is to become like Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-17,
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
Jesus is the source of covenant blessing. Notice that he did not say, “Come to my teaching” or “Come to my miracles,” but, “Come to me.” Jesus is the fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:25,
25 For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”
If we look at Jeremiah 31:31, we see where Yahweh announced the new covenant.
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
So, I have 3 points I want to go through with you this morning.
Point 1 - Jesus went to the Father to re-energize.
Jesus went to the Father many times during His earthly ministry to re-energize. We must connect with Jesus the same way Jesus connected to the Father.
In Matthew 11:28 we are told to come to Jesus. But I don't believe that many Christians know exactly how. That is why Jesus going to the Father is the perfect example. And one of those examples is found in Mark 1:35-37,
35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.”
In Matthew 11:29, Jesus tells us to “learn” so what can we learn from Jesus about connecting to the Father.
1. Find a time that is your time with Jesus and schedule it on a regular basis. It must be intentional, if must never be if I have the time.
2. Find a place that is your place where you will not get distracted. Sitting in the den trying to have time with Jesus with the television on and kids talking on their cell phones is not the place to have that conversation with Jesus.
3. Make the effort; it takes effort to get up long before daylight; it takes effort to get away from everybody else to be alone with Jesus. It takes effort to be alone with Jesus when everyone is looking for you. You feel that obligation to them but realize you have a greater obligation to be with Jesus.
4. See it to completion; When Jesus got up early when he arrived at the solitary place, Jesus didn't daydream or dose off because it was so early. He did what he came to do and that is: pray. Sometimes this may be difficult. I’ve been in bed praying, and found myself dosing off before. Have you ever done that?
If your intention is to reconnect with Jesus then time, place, effort, and completion must be present. Jesus pushed away from everything to give the Father exclusive time.
Point 2 - Exhaustion and not able to deal with others.
We all know, there will be times you are exhausted, and you cannot handle another thing or deal with another person, and that should be the warning sign to get away with Jesus.
The first point tells us how to get away, but in addition to those set appointment times with God, there are the "emergency times" when we must get to Jesus.
Jesus teaches us about that also in the Gospel of Mark with Mark 1:32-34.
32 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
So, the entire city was at Jesus’ door. The people were probably pushing and shoving to make sure that they got to see Jesus for themselves or for a loved one that needed to be healed or set free. I am sure they were yelling and shouting, "I'm next." Mark wants to make sure that we get the complete picture by telling us in verse thirty-two all who were sick, or demon possessed were brought to Him. And then in verse thirty-three, we are told the whole city was gathered at his door. Even if you were not sick or demon possessed, you came to watch.
People in small quantities is great, you get a huge crowd, like 1000 or more Pastor Tim’s, and it is gonna be physically draining. If I was the one there that everyone was coming to, I would be lucky to even last an hour. Verse thirty-four, tells us that Jesus healed many but did not get to all of them which tells us He probably reached His exhausting point as a man. Remember, Jesus was all God, and He was all man.
We have to kind of piece things together here, and guess that with him exhausted, he probably went inside the house and went to sleep. As the next verse shows , Mark 1:35 “35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”
Jesus got up before anyone else, went to some place quiet and met with God!
And our takeaway from this is that at times when you are exhausted, you cannot go any further, those are times we need emergency time with Jesus.
Point 3 - Follow God’s will
When you spend time with God during either those scheduled times or emergency times, you find rest because He puts you back on the right track.
Mark 1:36-38,
36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”
When you are doing what God wants you to do, you are in place of rest. Fighting God, not doing what He desires of you will wear you out.
Jesus spent the prior evening from sunset to late at night healing the people and casting out demons. He went to pray and talk to the Father early the next morning. Simon finds Jesus and tells Jesus that there are many more people to heal and people who need demons cast out of. Jesus tells Peter “Hey look, I cannot get sidetracked because my main purpose in coming is to preach the Good News. Let us go to the next towns to preach.”
Obviously, His conversation with the Father helped Jesus keep on track. The disciples were pushing Jesus to heal, and the people were pushing Jesus to heal, it would have been so easy to get sidetracked and focus on the healing rather than the preaching.
And when you are doing what God wants you to do, that is where there is rest. When you come to Jesus distracted by the world, He re-focuses you on what you should be doing and that will give you rest.
Follow Him, and He will give you rest.
Closing -
Jesus instructed his followers to take His yoke at their own initiative. Jesus will not put it on us without our consent. But to refuse Jesus’ yoke is not to be burden-free, but to retain a much heavier burden. Everyone in life must carry a burden; the question is whether we will carry one that is within our capacity, or one heavier than we were designed for.