CLICK TO LISTEN: 059 Finding Rest (Matthew 11 ,25-30)
Finding Rest
Matthew 11:25-30
July 31, 2011
When we read that text you are instantly familiar with what Jesus says.
Especially the “Come to Me” part.
After all, it hangs on a banner at the front of our church as a constant reminder
That Jesus is above all things a Savior.
And you are aware of this.
What you may not be aware of is that
This invitation is an extremely Jewish invitation.
And why wouldn’t it be?
• After all, Jesus is preaching in the towns of Israel.
• Jesus is searching for the lost sheep of Israel.
• Jesus just condemned three towns in Israel for their hardness of heart.
So obviously any invitation that Jesus gives here, must be a Jewish one.
And in understanding that, it helps us to better understand the passage.
And the main thing you need to see in this text is what exactly
That Jesus is offering.
He says, “I will give you rest”
And in verse 29 He quotes Jeremiah 6 in offering “rest for your souls”
And this notion of rest is important to understand.
It runs back all the way to the days of Moses and really even before.
You will recall that it was Joseph
Who was first sold into slavery in the land of Egypt.
And because of God’s favor upon him
Joseph ascended to the second most powerful man in Egypt,
And during a time of famine, Joseph brought his entire family into that land.
Exodus 1:8-14 “Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. “Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.” So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously; and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them.”
Israel was forced into hard labor, and you are familiar with the story.
However, after 450 years in the land of Egypt,
God raised up a deliverer named Moses.
Moses would lead the children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt
And to the new Promised Land of God.
God promised to give them a resting place.
Deuteronomy 12:8-9 “You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes; for you have not as yet come to the resting place and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you.”
In Deuteronomy 12:10 Moses called it “rest from all your enemies”
And so God had a place of rest for His chosen people.
• A place that was their own.
• A place where they could worship Him.
• A place where they would no longer be oppressed by their enemies.
But again, you remember the story.
• Israel wouldn’t enter the promised land.
• They grumbled continuously
Scripture says they tested Him, and it angered God.
Psalms 95:8-11 “Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, “When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways. “Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”
These people grumbled against God, and God said, “No rest for you”
And that generation died in the wilderness having never achieved it.
40 years later the Israelites did enter, but again they were unfaithful.
Instead of wiping out all the inhabitants of the land,
They made treaties and allowed some to remain.
Numbers 33:55 “’But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live.”
And that is precisely what happened.
The inhabitants of the land not only warred against Israel,
But also tempted her to worship pagan gods.
In short, they entered the land, but they had anything but rest.
All through the Judges we get battles with the Moabites and the Amonites and the Philistines and many other pagan nations.
These battles continued into the days of the Kings, until ultimately Assyria and Babylon would come and wipe Israel out enslaving her all over again.
The point is that Israel never really received the rest
That God intended for her to have.
And even the prophets knew that.
It was Jeremiah who first spoke the words that Jesus quotes here.
Jeremiah 6:16-17 “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.’ “And I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen.’”
Israel never would receive the rest God intended.
They remained stubborn.
They remained blind.
They remained deaf.
They remained hard-hearted
And that is what Jesus has been saying in Matthew 11 thus far.
Matthew 11:16-19 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children, and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
Beyond that we heard Jesus tell them that their judgment
Would be more severe than even Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom.
Israel continually refused God, and never received the rest God intended.
(Even now they were under Roman rule)
Certainly it was her own fault, but still suffering was all she knew.
And now, here comes Jesus, offering that rest one more time.
One more time He comes and offers the “rest”
That has eluded her for so many years.
3 things
#1 THE EXALTATION
Matthew 11:25-26
I really find this to be somewhat of a surprising response from Jesus.
It is obviously a praise, but look at WHEN and look at WHY.
“At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth…”
“At that time” indicates that no sooner did Jesus pronounce certain judgment upon Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum,
Than did He immediately break out in praise to God.
That is not a time that you and I would typically think a praise song is due.
If that is not surprising enough, then certainly the reason for His praise is.
“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.”
So not only is Jesus praising God at a seemingly strange time,
But He is also praising Him for a seemingly strange thing.
“these things” are obviously truths about the kingdom of God
And salvation, and Jesus is praising the Father
That they have been hidden to some and revealed to others.
WHAT ARE WE TO MAKE OF THAT?
Is Jesus actually happy about their impending doom?
Is Jesus rejoicing that these people are lost?
Certainly not!
Matthew 23:37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.”
Jesus did not rejoice in their judgment.
We have too many statements throughout the Scriptures that see Jesus
Grieved over unbelief, pleading with sinners, and even reminding us
That His purpose was to save men’s lives, not destroy them.
So we cannot deduce that Jesus is happy about their doom.
WHY IS JESUS PRAISING?
Jesus isn’t praising because of the response of the people,
Jesus is praising because of the sovereignty of the Father.
He is praising God for keeping salvation exclusive.
He is praising God for keeping salvation precious.
You remember what Israel was doing to the kingdom of God.
Matthew 11:12 “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.”
And you remember that this meant they were trying to
Malign the kingdom and manipulate the standards in order to enter.
They were trying to force God’s gate wider and lower God’s standards
to accommodate their desires.
The reason of course is because they thought themselves
So wise and deserving.
Of course Jesus told us last week that
“wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
What we mean is that the Jews of Jesus day would have destroyed God’s kingdom in order to allow themselves to enter.
And while Jesus does desire sinners to be saved,
He does not desire them to be saved at the cost of the kingdom.
Jesus never intended for God to have to change
In order for men to go to heaven,
Jesus always intended for the sinners to do the changing.
And while it is disheartening that they would not repent,
Jesus still praises the Father for holding His ground.
You see today we take the gospel out to the world and we ask men to leave their sin and surrender their lives to Christ.
• Obviously all men don’t want to do that.
• Some desperately cling to their sin.
• They reject the claims of the gospel.
HOW IS A CHRISTIAN TO RESPOND TO THAT?
Well many have faulted the gospel.
Many have faulted the fact that God is too rigid.
And this is obvious because so many have perverted the gospel
To make a salvation apart from repentance or commitment.
In many areas the gospel has been dumbed down
to just a simple one-time agreement to go to heaven.
In short sinners have refused to repent and it is as though
Men have blamed their failure to be saved on God.
Jesus did no such thing!
While He was grieved that Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum would not be exalted to heaven, His grief was not aimed at God.
These cities were lost, but it wasn’t God’s fault
Jesus makes that clear by praising God for sticking to His guns.
God refused to let the arrogant force their way into the kingdom.
God only allowed the humble and meek to enter.
That is what Jesus meant by “You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.”
Those who remained arrogant and wise in their own estimation
Were not granted access into the kingdom.
God would not allow them to get it.
God reserved the precious truth of the kingdom for the humble, and the frail, and helpless; for the “infants”.
This was (26) “well-pleasing in [God’s] sight”
And Jesus praises God for that.
What Jesus is doing is sending a signal to the Jews of that day
And to all who would read His words later
That entrance into the kingdom requires you to change, not God.
• God is sovereign.
• He is “Lord of heaven and earth”
• He does what is “well-pleasing” in His sight.
Don’t think for one second that after these people walked away from Jesus that He instantly turned to the Father and said,
“See, You’re just making this too hard!”
After these sinners walked away, Jesus turned and praised the Father,
Because He knew the one at fault was the sinner, not the Father.
So Jesus starts here with praise.
The Exaltation
#2 THE EXPLANATION
Matthew 11:27
Now Jesus has just revealed that because of the arrogance of man,
They have not been allowed to enter the kingdom.
The truths of the kingdom has been hidden from them.
They thought they deserved it, but they would not be getting it.
Jesus builds on that thought here.
Namely that they all understand something.
SALVATION IS NOT A RIGHT, SALVATION IS A PRIVILEGE.
If you think God is wrong to hide truth from some while revealing it to others is just wrong, then you need to change your thinking.
Romans 9:19-21 “You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?”
They cry out, “That’s not fair!”
Paul’s response? “Who are you..?”
Who do you think you are to question anything that the sovereign God desires to do?
Do you suppose God owes you salvation?
Do you suppose it is your birth right?
Do you suppose God must answer to your expectation?
Do you suppose God must submit to your judgments?
And the answer is no.
He is God, you are not.
He is “Lord of heaven and earth” you are not.
Salvation is not a right, it is a privilege,
And that is what Jesus builds on here.
“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…”
Now let me explain to you what Jesus just said.
He just said that a relationship with the Father is exclusive.
Not just anyone can enter into a relationship with God or His Son.
And do not suppose that anyone else has a right
Into that exclusive relationship.
But we read, “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father”
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
It means that while the relationship between the Father and the Son is exclusive, the Father has given the Son authority to make a decision.
WHAT DECISION IS THAT?
The Son has been given authority to decide
If anyone else gets to partake in this special relationship.
“no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son will to reveal Him.”
The Son has the right to reveal men to the Father.
The Son has the right to take men to the Father.
And of course now we know why it is important for Jesus to know you.
Remember Matthew 7?
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”
You may know all about the Son, but that doesn’t matter.
The Son has to know you.
Because you can’t go and introduce yourself to the Father,
Only the Son can do that.
It’s like trying to enter a White house party and your name isn’t on the list.
You can’t force your way into the kingdom, the Son has to let you in.
Now let me just recap what is happening.
• Jesus is preaching in their cities, but the people won’t listen to Him.
• They accuse Him of being “a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.”
• And because of their rejection of Him Jesus tells them that there is no way they will enter the kingdom of heaven.
• They can’t enter on their own, the Son has to introduce them.
• And Jesus praises the Father for maintaining this.
You see earlier we said Jesus could have gotten mad at the Father
For making the standard too high, but He didn’t.
Here we learn that the Father could have decided
To let people in apart from an introduction by the Son,
But He wouldn’t.
God’s way of salvation is concrete.
God’s way of salvation is absolute.
God won’t let anyone in, whom the Son doesn’t introduce
The Son won’t offer any standard except what the Father desires.
That means that salvation is extremely exclusive.
The only way you get in is if you demonstrate the frailty that the Father demands and come to the Son that He may introduce you to the Father.
You can’t force your way in.
You can’t lower the standard.
You can’t sneak in apart from Jesus.
You must do it His way.
In a Jewish sense, you don’t get to enter the Promised Land
Unless you do it God’s way.
And every time Israel tried to do it her own way,
She failed to achieve the rest God wanted her to have.
Jeremiah 6:16-17 “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.’ “And I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen.’”
They wouldn’t do it God’s way so they never received rest.
And Jesus is reminding them that salvation is only possible
Through the Son, the Son they have thus far rejected.
Exaltation, Explanation
#3 THE INVITATION
Matthew 11:28-30
And here is the tremendous grace of our Savior.
They have rejected Him continually,
Yet He continues to give them opportunity.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”
Israel’s entire history is nothing but “weary and heavy-laden”
Why shouldn’t it be?
All they have ever done is exactly the opposite of what God commanded.
So it is even today.
People continually make decisions outside of God’s revealed truth
And then wonder why their lives are falling apart.
We live lives of coveting and adultery and deception and idolatry and drunkenness and gossip…
And then wonder why life is so hard.
Ask Israel.
It is hard to achieve God’s blessings
When you are continually disobeying every command He gives.
They were “weary and heavy-laden”
However, Jesus was still willing to fix their problem.
First they have to “Come to Me”
Rejecting the Son won’t do them any good.
It is time to quit rejecting Him as a drunkard
And start recognizing Him as the Son of God.
But that is not all.
(29) “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in hear, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
If they wanted rest, it was time they come to Jesus and submit to Him.
WHAT DO YOU THINK “Take My yoke upon you” MEANS?
A yoke was a device meant to tie two oxen together
So that moved in unison and always went the same direction.
Jesus was saying,
• You’ve been walking your own way too long.
• You’ve been going in your own direction too long.
• It is time you let me drive the car.
Come put your neck under My yoke and walk with me for a while.
And this is the beauty of that.
Jesus isn’t the farmer with the reigns and the whip.
Jesus is the other ox.
That is why “you will find rest”.
He wants to pull for you.
He wants to deliver you.
He wants to help you.
He doesn’t ask you to come to Him to help Him pull His load.
He asks you to come to Him so He can pull for you.
“For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Jesus is returning to that same offer that God had given under Moses.
Come to Me, do things My way, and let Me give you a land of rest
Where I will meet all your needs.
Jesus is offering the same.
• Come rest from your labors of trying to make yourself pleasing to God.
• Come rest from your efforts of trying to make life work by your logic.
• Come rest from your striving to make everything come together.
Jesus already has life figured out.
He just wants you to submit to Him and let Him do it.
• He is offering you access into God’s promised land.
• He is offering access into that exclusive relationship with the Father.
• He is offering you what He most certainly is not required to give.
He can give it to those He “wills” and yet He says “I will”.
That means it is time to let go of control of your life
And submit your life to Jesus.
You won’t ever meet the Father any other way,
But honestly you won’t ever even find relief any other way.
The path to rest runs through Jesus.
Don’t just recognize Him.
Don’t just acknowledge Him.
Put your neck under His yoke and follow Him.
But above all, do not do what Israel has continually done and reject the rest of God simply because she did not want to submit.
Hebrews 3:7-12 “Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED Me BY TESTING Me, AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS. “THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SAID, ‘THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS’; AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, ‘THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.'” Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.
Hebrews 4:1 “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.”
Hebrews 4:11 “Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.”
The message is clear.
Salvation is exclusive.
God isn’t lowering His standard,
And Jesus won’t introduce anyone who tries to.
The only way to find rest is to submit your life to Jesus Christ.
So do it and find rest for your soul.
