Take a Rest

Introduction: My Story

Share your story:

Share your role at CIU.

Wife, kids.

Born into a pastor’s family.

Strict background.

Close-minded, self-righteous, and dogmatic.

Story of condemning young woman to hell for not being “Apostolic.”

Much like the individuals in this passage.

Share about your journey of finding Christ.

(Talk about how you almost walked away from Christianity.) Out of all the time I spent in church, I eventually became amazingly surprised at how much I did not know Jesus. The reason is because I didn’t spend enough time reading about Him, I just took whatever everyone said about Him as my own truth.

Is it possible to spend all of our lives in church, only to never come into a transformational relationship with Jesus Christ?

It is important that we do not mistake a traditional relationship for a transformational relationship.

Background of the Text

Matthew 11:28-30 is a very familiar text. We have probably heard it preached, taught, and shared on many occasions. One of the first lessons we learned as students of the Bible is that context is king. And if we are truly studying this passage in Matthew 11:28-30, we will discover that this portion of the chapter is actually concerned with Matthew 10. It is in Matthew 10 that we find the purpose and depth of Jesus’s invitation.

Explanation of Matthew 10

In Matthew 10, Jesus calls his twelve disciples and gives them authority to cast out spirits, heal sicknesses, and do works in the name and authority of Jesus. However, it’s in Matthew 10:6 that Jesus instructed his disciples to only go to the lost tribes of the nation of Israel.

This small detail is an extremely important point, because we will later find that Jesus would indict these very people for their disbelief. Interestingly, Jesus was appealing to those that were considered the people of God. This was not a missionary or evangelism mission to Gentiles, pagans, or non-religious nations. This was an effort to gather people who thought themselves to be sufficiently in a relationship with God. However, we find that God’s people were unwilling to repent.

Matthew 11:20-24 compares three Jewish towns to three Gentile cities, and Jesus’s conclusion is that there’s more faith in the Gentile cities than there are in the Jewish towns. That is, the religious people are worse at faith than the “sinners.” Consequently, the “sinners” were accessing God’s promised blessings and the traditionalist were, by their insistent self-righteousness and therefore disbelief, were pushing away the very power they needed to have their lives changed by the gospel of Christ.

The truth is self-righteousness occurs in many forms that does not always look like a religious ritual. What seemingly bothered Jesus the most about the nation of Israel’s hard-heartedness is the fact that they were carrying burdens and weights that were far too heavy for them. Self-righteousness is a weight far too heavy to carry.

Principle: Self-righteousness and self-reliance is the vain attempt that tries to convince God we can handle your problems all on your own.

Self-Righteous Test (Things Self-Righteous People Say):

(If you’ve ever said these things, you may be relying on yourself too much.)

I don’t need anyone.

I can do it myself.

I don’t need anyone’s help.

All I need is me, myself, and I.

The truth is, we all need somebody and we definitely need Jesus.

Philip Yancey interviewed a young alcoholic who had formerly been an active church member, but had allowed Alcoholics Anonymous to replace the church. When questioned why, the young man responded, "Mainly I'm trying to survive, and AA helps me in that struggle far better than any church."

Yancey explored further, "Name one quality missing in the local church that AA somehow provides."

The alcoholic stared at his coffee, watching it go cold. Finally he looked up and whispered one word: "Dependency."

He explained, "Most church people give off a self satisfied air of superiority. I don't sense them consciously leaning on God or on each other... Maybe God is calling us alcoholics to teach the saints what it means to be dependent on Him and on His community on earth."

Jesus is speaking against the Rabbinic piety that required individuals to bear a “yoke of the kingdom” that was often times far too heavy to realistically carry. It was a way of suggesting, the more I do, the more God owes me. If I keep all of the obligations, the kingdom belongs to me!

**Demonstration**

Essence of the Yoke

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Historical Development

The primary purpose was to lessen a human’s burdens and increase productivity in agricultural work by harnessing a plow to an ox.

From Dr. Larry Petton’s Sermon,

The picture would have been very familiar to Jesus' audience for in Biblical times a young ox was commonly yoked to an older, more experienced ox so that the older ox might train the younger to perform properly. For example, by bearing the same yoke, the untrained ox would soon learn the proper pace and how to heed the direction of the master. By analogy, believers learn by being yoked to Christ as we surrender to His will in every area of your life.

Christ yoke is "easy" in that it is well-fitting. In Palestine ox yokes were made of wood. The ox was brought, and the measurements were taken. The yoke was then roughed out, and the ox was brought back to have the yoke tried on. The yoke was carefully adjusted, so that it would fit well, and not gall the neck of the patient beast. The yoke was tailor-made to fit the ox. And so is His yoke for you beloved, for He is "gentle and humble in heart". Learn meekness from the Master's touch.

When Jesus invites those to come to Him, he is not simply inviting them to take a break. Rather, He is inviting them to find rest by coming alongside Him to join the work of the kingdom and learn what it means to be a child of God.

Rest is not received by lessening our responsibility, but accepting the right responsibilities. It comes from doing the things God has assigned to us and letting God do the things that only He can do.

Conclusion: Three Things that Will Give You Rest:

Come to Jesus! Coming to Jesus is not simply an exchange of burdens. It is a forsaking of the burdens we would rather carry in exchange for the burden of Jesus Christ.

We are not simply serving Jesus, we are serving with Jesus.

Serve with Jesus! There is no such thing as a burdenless life. Jesus calls us to accept a burden that is meaningful and purposeful.

We are to join the purpose of Christ.

Learn from Jesus! We must learn by yoking ourselves to Christ.

By yoking ourselves to Christ, we find a rest [revival, refreshing].