Read Matthew 11:28–30
Questions from the Scripture text: What is the primary command of Matthew 11:28? To people in what condition? To Whom are they to come? What will He give them? What two things are they to come to do (Matthew 11:29)? What especially qualifies Christ for us to live/work alongside Him and learn from Him? What sort of rest will they find? What two realities make this yoking restful for the soul (Matthew 11:30)?
How does Jesus reveal the Father to sinners? Matthew 11:28–30 looks forward to the morning sermon in public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these three verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Jesus reveals the Father to sinners by welcoming them to Himself.
Jesus’s Power. All things (even the Father Himself) belong to Jesus in His divine sonship, and all things have been handed over to Jesus in His office as the Mediator Who became man for our sakes (Matthew 11:27). We cannot do the heavy lifting of the burden of the need to know God (cf. verse 27) or the need to be converted (cf. Matthew 11:20). Jesus gives us this command in His authority as the One Who has ability for its fulfillment.
Jesus’s Welcome. This is a universal command, offered to “all” (Matthew 11:28) without distinction. But it is also a particular command, singling out those who have discovered that they are toiling and burdened. If you have never felt yourself to be under the curse, and unable to deal with the weight of your sin, misery, and ignorance of God, then you are not in a condition to answer this invitation. He is welcoming not the “wise and prudent” in their own eyes, but “babies” (cf. Matthew 11:25). Likewise, He is not welcoming the comfortable and the able but the toiling and overburdened (Matthew 11:28). A right view of ourselves is not what saves, but we can hardly expect a right view of Christ without it. And how sweet that right view of Christ is—freely welcoming all to Himself!
Jesus’s Yoke-bearing. Jesus was concerned to welcome sinners to Himself as the only One Who could bear the burden. Later, we will see him affirming that the Pharisees were right about what is required (cf. Matthew 23:1–3) but dreadfully wrong about who could bear such a burden (cf. Matthew 23:4). In Acts 15:10, Peter refers to such a burden as a “yoke.” Only Jesus can bear the burden of our guilt before the law. Only Jesus can bear the burden of enabling us to walk according to it.
Jesus’s Teaching. It is from Jesus that we must learn our weakness and His power. It is from Jesus that we must learn how to walk before God. How do we do this? In part, we must do it by inclining our ear to His Word and applying His Word to our heart. We are reading and hearing this in a book, via words. But, it is also important/helpful to notice here that learning from Jesus is a consequence of being yoked in with Jesus. The Pharisees did not lift a finger to help others with burdens. Jesus not only bears the burden, but yokes the believer in with Himself, as He pulls the weight and thus guides the yoked-in believer along.
Jesus’s Gentleness. How very much we need the gentleness and meekness of the heart of Jesus Christ! You can imagine the frustration of being yoked-in with someone who is not carrying his weight, someone who is repeatedly getting stuck, someone who is constantly pulling off into the wrong direction. And that is exactly what we are! But Jesus is not frustrated with us, nor does He respond in frustration. He is gentle and lowly. The bruised reed, He does not break. The flickering candle of a Christian, He does not snuff out. Our souls need a rest that we are not only unable to give ourselves but are even disinclined to take.
What piteous creatures we are that we have to be commanded to take our rest in Him! And yet, we are full of pride. How common is the aversion to receiving charity! And how common is the insistence that we are doing fine and don’t need the rest. But our souls desperately need this charity and desperately need this rest. Jesus’s gentleness and meekness disarms us, that we might come to Him, and then persists with us. The yoke itself is hard, but when joined to Jesus (n.b. “My” yoke!), we find it easy. The burden itself is heavy, but when carried with Jesus (n.b. “My” burden), we find it light.
What is wearying you in your life, especially spiritually? What makes it so wearisome? How can Jesus help? What, about Him, encourages you to come to Him? What will that be like? Why don’t you?
Sample prayer: Lord, we are indeed toiling and overburdened. But all things have been delivered to You as our Redeemer. We come, now, as You have welcomed us. Receive us, in your perfect gentleness. Teach us how to walk with You. Give us rest in Yourself, we ask, in Your own Name, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP23B “The Lord’s My Shepherd” or TPH272 “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say”
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