Matthew 11:20-30

3 Weeks Ago, We Saw How John was Doubting Jesus’ Messiahship…

Because Jesus’ Ministry was Different Than He Expected the Messiah’s Ministry to Be

Then Last Time Jesus Spoke of How He and John Both Were Rejected By Their Childish Generation (Specifically Jewish Leaders)

This Week, the Theme of Rejecting Jesus is Going to Continue

Matthew 11:20–24 (NASB95)

Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.

“And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

Jesus Started Pronouncing “Woes” Upon 3 Different Cities

The 3 Cities Were Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum

They Were All 3 Very Near to Each Other

Jesus Lived in Capernaum…

So it Makes Sense that Most of His Miracles Were Performed In/Around These 3 Cities

“Woe to You” was a Way of Saying:

“Sorrow, Pain, and Doom Awaits You”

Why Did Sorrow, Pain, and Doom Await These 3 Cities?

Because Jesus Performed Most of His Miracles in Them and They Didn’t Repent

They Heard the Proclamation of the Kingdom More than Any Other Cities:

“Repent, Because the Reign and Rule of God in Heaven is Coming to Earth!”

They Witnessed the Demonstration of the Kingdom More Than Any Other Cities:

He Healed, Cast Out Demons, Resurrected the Dead, and Forgave Sins…

Casting Out the Effects of Sin and Death Everywhere He Turned

But They Refused to Accept the Truth and Repent

He Says the Wicked Cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom will Have an Easier Judgment than Them

Why?

Because Even Those Horribly Wicked Cities Would Have Repented…

Had They Seen and Heard What Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum Seen and Heard

They Will Not Be Exalted to Heaven But Will Descend to Hades/Death

Nothing But Eternal Death Awaits Those Who Reject the Messiah

Matthew 11:25–26 (NASB95)

At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. “Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.

Jesus Immediately Begins Praying to His Father

“I Praise/Thank/Confess You, Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth…”

Jesus is Telling Us Something Wonderful About God and What He Does Through the Gospel

God Has Hidden the Truth of the Kingdom From the Wise and Intelligent

But He Has Revealed the Truth of the Kingdom to Little Children

The “Wise and Intelligent” Should Have Been the First to Recognize Jesus as the Messiah

Turns Out the Wise and Intelligent are Only So in Their Imaginations

The Foolish and Ignorant “Infants” Were the Ones Who Recognized Jesus as the Messiah

The Contrast Jesus is Making Isn’t Intelligent vs. Foolish

It’s the Arrogant vs. the Humble

It Wasn’t the Scribes, Pharisees, Priests, and Rabbis Who Flocked to the Kingdom

Though, That’s Exactly Who We Would Expect to Recognize it and Seek it Out

It was the Common People Who Recognized Jesus for Who He Truly is

Only Those Who Recognized Their Own Spiritual Poverty Would Recognize the Gospel of the Kingdom

“Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, for Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”

This is the Way God Intended for it to Be

And Jesus was Thankful

Jesus May Be Upset that So Many Were Rejecting Him…

But He was Thankful that His Father Chooses to Reveal the Truth to the Humble and Lowly

Matthew 11:27 (NASB95)

“All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

First, Jesus Says that He’s Been Given “All Things” By His Father

This is Probably Referring to His God-Given Authority

He Would Soon Take the Throne as King of Heaven and Earth

Jesus is the Man in Charge of the Kingdom

Then He Mentions that He and His Father Have a Special Relationship

The Father Alone Has Close and Intimate Knowledge of the Son

And the Son Alone Has Close and Intimate Knowledge of the Father

All of this is Leading to One Important Statement:

No One Can Have a Close and Intimate Relationship with the Father Unless the Son Reveals Him to Them

If You Want a Relationship with God, You Can Only Have that Through Jesus

The Wise and Intelligent of the World Believe They Can Know and Have a Relationship with God

But Without Humble Submission to the One Whom the Father Has Handed Over Authority…

You Can’t Know the Father

“Woe to You Who Reject Me, Because I’m You’re Only Hope”

Matthew 11:28 (NASB95)

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

This Entire Chapter Has Been About Those Who Doubted and Rejected Jesus

But Matthew Ends this Passage with a Call to Accept Jesus

“If You are Working to the Point of Exhaustion and Have Been Carrying Burdens Too Heavy to Bear…”

“Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest”

The Religious Atmosphere of Jesus’ Day was Extremely Legalistic and Burdensome

The Jewish People Were Being Crushed Under the Weight of Religious Traditions/Customs

Later, Jesus Will Say of the Scribes and Pharisees:

Matthew 23:4 (NASB95)

“They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.

Religion was No Longer About Having a Reconciled Relationship with God

It was All About Seeking to Achieve Righteousness Through Perfect Law and Tradition-Keeping

And Such Burdens are Too Great for Anyone to Bear

There is No Spiritual Rest in Such a Religion

But to Those Who Come to Jesus, He Promises to Give Rest

Matthew 11:29 (NASB95)

“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Coming to Jesus Involves Submission and Discipleship

To Take Jesus’ Yoke is to Submit to His Leadership

To Learn is What a Disciple Does

A Disciple Follows His Rabbi in Word and Action

The Goal of a Disciple is to Become Exactly Like Their Rabbi

Jesus was Calling Those Who Were Spiritually Exhausted and Burdened…

To Submit to and Imitate Him

Why Should They Do That?

Because He is Gentle and Humble in Heart (To His Very Core)

These are 2 Words that Would Never Be Used to Describe a Scribe or Pharisee

Their Interpretation of the Law Made the Law a Unbearable Burden to the People

But the Law was Never Meant to Be a Burden

Jesus Shows Us this By Quoting From the Prophet Jeremiah

Jeremiah 6:16 (NASB95)

Thus says the Lord, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

Living According to the Law Brings Rest to the Soul

The Religious Leaders Were No Longer Leading the People to Obey the Law

They Were Commanding Them to Keep Their Traditions

Like We Saw in the Sermon on the Mount…

Jesus Didn’t Come to Destroy the Law

He Came to Lead the People Back to the True Intention of the Law

The True Intention of the Law was for People to Love God and Love Others

This is Not Exhausting or Burdensome

It is How One Experiences True Spiritual Rest

Matthew 11:30 (NASB95)

“For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Jesus’ Yoke is “Easy” - Good, Reasonable

Jesus’ Burden is “Light” - Easy to Bear

We Still Must Submit to the Yoke of Jesus’ Leadership

We Still Have to Carry a Burden

But the Yoke We Bear is Good, Not Exhausting

And the Burden We Bear is Light, Not Too Difficult to Carry

One Commentator Put it This Way:

His yoke is gentle, but not in the sense that it is less demanding than Judaism. In some ways it is more demanding. But it is the yoke of love, not of duty. It is the response of the liberated, not the duty of the obligated. And that makes all the difference.

I Love That!

We Submit Ourselves to the Yoke of Jesus…

Not Because it is Our Duty to Do So

But Because We Love Him

That’s an Easy/Good Yoke to Carry

We Take On the Burdens of Jesus…

Not Because We are Obligated as His Slaves

But Because He Has Set Us Free From Slavery

Where the Religious Leaders of His Day and Ours Offer Burdensome Religion

Jesus Offers Restful Relationship in Him

If You Want an Example of What We are Talking About…

Read the Very Next Passage

Matthew Brilliantly Places the Next Chapter After this One as Examples of What Jesus is Talking About

For the Next Few Weeks We Will Get a Firsthand Look at the Heavy Burdens of the Pharisees…

As Well as the Easy Yoke and Light Burdens of Jesus

Application

If this Whole Chapter Teaches Us Anything, It’s that We Should Approach God’s Word with Humility

The Religious Experts and Even John the Baptizer Himself…

Believed They Knew Who and What the Messiah and His Kingdom Would Be

And When Reality was Nothing Like Their Expectations…

Instead of Changing Their Expectations, They Rejected Reality

The Intelligent and Wise, the Scholars and Theologians, the People Who Knew the Bible Better Than Anyone Else…

Completely Missed Out on the Messiah and His Gospel of the Kingdom

It’s Better to Be Humble and Always Willing to Learn Something New…

Than to Think You’ve Already Got it All Figured Out

The Churches of Christ Have Been Notoriously Bad for That in the Past and Present

I’d Rather Be Known as the Humble Church that Continues to Learn and Grow…

Than the Church that Believes They Already Have All the Answers

If We are Unwilling to Recognize the Fact that We Could Be Wrong…

That it’s Possible We Could Have Misunderstood or Misinterpreted the Bible in Some Way…

Then We are Just Like the Arrogant Religious Elite of Jesus’ Day

And We Shouldn’t Be Surprised When We Miss Out On So Much Truth the Scriptures Hold

Because God Reveals the Truth to the Humble and Hides it From the Arrogant

That Means, if You Want to Know the Truth…

You’ve Got to Open Your Mind and Be Willing to Learn New Things From the Bible

Jesus Offers a Greater Invitation at the End of this Passage than I Ever Could

He Offers Us Rest From Our Burdens

(And We are All Carrying Burdens)

To Be True to the Context, We’re Talking About Religious Burdens

We’ve All Got Heavy Burdens of Religious Tradition that Have Been Laid Upon Us…

Or That We’ve Laid Upon Ourselves

We as Humans are Really Good at Making Christianity/a Relationship with God Harder than it Has to Be

But Jesus Offers Us an Easier/Better Way

He Offers Us the Chance to Submit and Learn Under His Gentle and Humble Leadership

There’s Never Been a More Kind, Understanding, and Patient Teacher

There’s Never Been a More Compassionate Master

There’s Never Been a More Merciful King

You’ll Occasionally Stumble Under the Load of His Expectations…

But He’s Not Quick to Chastise or Condemn

He’s Quick to Forgive and Help Bear the Load

Life in Submission to Christ Takes Work

But it’s Work that Doesn’t Exhaust or Burden Us

It’s Work that Brings Joy and Fulfillment to Our Lives

I Love the Way Eugene Peterson Paraphrases this Passage in His The Message Bible

Matthew 11:28–30 (The Message)

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Jesus Invites You to a Better Way of Life

A Satisfying Life

A Purpose-Filled Life

A Joyful Life

A Life that Will Never End…

Thanks to His Sacrificial Death and Resurrection