Christ Brings Rest

having me and my family. Thank
you for your prayers. And for those of you that we
know, it’s good to see you again. And for those of you whom we
have not met yet, we look forward to meeting you. The passage for
this morning is Matthew 11, Matthew 11, verses 25 through 30. So
please hear as I read the word of the Lord. 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.
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. Come to me. all who are weary and heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. 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, for my yoke is easy and my burden
is light. Please pray with me. Father,
thank you for this word. And we affirm, God, that your
word never fails, the grass withers, the flower fades, but your word
endures forever. So we ask that you would give
us ears to hear, eyes to see, enlighten the eyes of our hearts
that we may know and understand. And we ask that you would do
this for Christ’s sake. Amen. Well, if you’ve watched
the news at all lately, it seems that the world has gone crazy,
right? There’s unrest at every turn. There are wars. There are rumors of wars. There’s
senseless violence that seems to take place every day. We have
a seemingly fractured political system, in this country at least. And in the midst of this chaos,
we and everyone around us are trying to find rest. And this
is not new. The readers of Matthew in Jesus’
time were also seeking to find rest. At the time, the nation
of Israel was under the dominion of the Roman Empire. And some
were seeking to find rest in revolution. They wanted to overthrow
the Roman Empire. They wanted to re-establish the
Kingdom of Israel and to find rest in that way. Others saw
the reality that Rome was so much more powerful than Israel
and they decided to exploit the system. They decided to essentially
sell out their own countrymen, go and work for the enemy and
get rich. Others embraced rigorous religious systems. They attempted
to find joy and peace. They attempted to earn God’s
favor through precise adherence to the Mosaic law and to rigorous
systems of moral perfection. Still others turned to idolatry.
They decided to worship the creation rather than the creator. And
if we really think about it, that’s not altogether different
from what we experience today, is it? Some of us and some of
the ones we know attempt to seek rest and to find fulfillment
in politics or in nationalism. We think that if we can just
elect the right person, if we can just get the right laws passed,
then everything will be right in the world. Others turn to
materialism. We seek to fill the void with
money, with power, with success. Still others turn to religion,
right? We seek to earn God’s favor, to assuage our guilty
consciences through doing the right thing, through living good
lives, through following rules. And we could come up with a longer
list of ways that people seek to find rest, but ultimately
these ways have failed, have they not? We see it on the news.
And we must ask ourselves, why? Why has mankind been unable to
find rest? I’d like to know, I’m sure you
would as well. Is there any hope for us? Will we ever find rest? And this brings us to our passage.
Matthew 11, and we’ll read verses 25 through 26, where Jesus says
that at that time, 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. This brings us to the first of
three points, that this rest that we seek is elusive. It’s
hidden. And it’s been hidden by God,
and it was pleasing to Him to hide it. Now, the first question
that I ask when I read this is, well, what does Jesus mean by
hidden these things? What are the things that have
been hidden? And I think the easiest way to understand that
is if we look at the beginning of chapter 11 in context. Jesus
has finished giving instructions to His disciples. And John the
Baptist, who was actually Jesus’ cousin, is in prison. And he
sends his own disciples to Jesus to ask him, are you the one that
is coming? Or should we look for another?
And Jesus, interestingly enough, quotes Isaiah to them. He quotes Isaiah 35. And I will
read it briefly for you. Feel free to write it down. You
don’t have to turn there. The wilderness and the desert will
be glad, he alludes to this portion, and the Arabah will rejoice and
blossom like the crocus. It will blossom profusely and
rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy. The glory of Lebanon
will be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They will
see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. So encourage
the exhausted and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with
anxious heart, take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will
come with vengeance. The recompense of God will come,
but he will save you. And the eyes of the blind will
be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped, and the
lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout
for joy, for the waters will break forth in the wilderness
and streams in the Arba. And at the very end, in verse
10, he says, And the ransomed of the Lord will return and come
with joyful shouting to Zion with everlasting joy upon their
heads. They will find gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away. Isn’t that amazing? So
when they come to him and they say, hey, John sent us to ask
you, are you the one that’s coming? Or should we look for another?
Jesus responds in chapter 11, verse four, Jesus answered and
said to them, go and report to John what you hear and see. The
blind receive sight and the lame walk. The lepers are cleansed
and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up and the
poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who
does not take offense at me. Now Jesus is not just saying,
of course I’m the one to come. Look at all these great things
I’m doing. Look how powerful I am. No, he refers to the Old
Testament and to the prophecy of the Messiah coming in judgment,
but to save his people. And these are the things that
have been hidden from Jesus listeners. God has hidden these things and
he’s hidden them specifically from those who are wise and intelligent
or understanding. Now, if you were to picture the
kind of person who could understand the mystery of the eternal, the
ontological trueness, the essence of life and eternity, who would
it be? Various people may come to mind.
You may think of someone like Einstein, right? In front of
a chalkboard with tons of equations that I can’t understand, and
using his brain power to crack the code of the mystery of God. You might think of someone like
Elon Musk, really rich. He’s just throwing untold amounts
of wealth at this problem to figure out the truth. You may
think of someone like the Dalai Lama, right, who spent decades
in introspection and pondering the deep things. But we see here
that these are not the people that this has been revealed to.
In fact, it’s been hidden from them. And instead, it’s been
revealed to infants. Now, an infant is the antithesis
of someone that is wise or intelligent, are they not? An infant has no
ability to achieve anything great on its own. An infant has no
equations, right? No money, no power, no introspection,
no deep thought. These things are not requirements
to understand these things, the knowledge of the kingdom of God.
Now, this is not to exclude wisdom, and it’s not to exclude success.
In the Bible, it will say that it encourages you. In fact, in
the New Testament, it says to gain wisdom, to grow up in understanding,
to do well and to work hard at everything you set your mind
to for the Lord. But what it is to say is that
God chooses those who recognize their inability. And as infants,
they cannot find rest on their own. In fact, it says that God has
chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.
And God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things
which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised.
God has chosen the things that are not, so that He may nullify
the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.
So we see it’s pleasing to God to hide the fact that the promised
Messiah, the King himself has come in the flesh. God silences
the wisdom and the glory of men so that his own name might be
glorified. And we should also note here
briefly that at the very beginning of verse 25, that Jesus refers
to God as his father. He’s not an impersonal cosmic
force. He’s a present reality. He’s
the sovereign Lord over all things. He is the creator. And Jesus
now further explains the reason why we don’t find rest. If the
first reason was that it is elusive, it’s hidden. Then the second
point we have is that rest is exclusive. This rest is exclusive,
verse 27. 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. As we read this, I notice
a sort of crescendo. It’s like Jesus decides to turn
up the tension a little bit in the passage. Because not only
is it hidden from those who are wise and intelligent, but the
knowledge of God and achieving rest is for a very exclusive
few. This is concerning. It’s as if
Jesus is telling his listeners, you know the God that I mentioned,
the father, the sovereign over everything, the creator of the
universe who breathed life into Adam, who descended onto Mount
Sinai in terror and gloom. And your fathers were so terrified
that they begged God, don’t let him speak. We’re going to die
if we hear him again. That God, that’s my dad. And He’s given every single thing
to me. And no one knows me except my
Father. And no one knows God except for
me and anyone I choose to reveal Him to. What was the response of those
who were wise and intelligent in Jesus’ day? Jesus is crazy. This is ridiculous. This is Joseph’s
son. That’s his brother and sister
right there. Sometimes the response was a
bit more visceral, right? How dare you disrespect God in
my synagogue? Hand me that cinder block. I’m
going to kill him, right? And what is our response? What
is the response we see around us from those who are wise and
intelligent? You can’t tell me there’s only one way to God.
That’s your truth, but that’s not mine. So is it any wonder
then that these things have been hidden from the wise and intelligent
and only revealed to infants? Jesus has revealed the extent
of his own power here. He’s equated himself to God.
He said that all things have been handed over to him by God.
He has essentially said, I am the cosmic king of the universe
that holds it all together. And again, are we surprised that
this rest we seek is elusive and exclusive? We shouldn’t be. We shouldn’t be. Which is what
makes the next verse all the more shocking, right? Because
the invisible, eternal God, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, now suddenly
steps into history. And he stands before them in
flesh and blood. And he holds out his hand to
them and says, come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden
is light. If rest is elusive and rest is
exclusive, then the gospel message, the good news, is inclusive.
And to best understand this, I think we should briefly speak
about the yoke and the burden that Jesus talks about. What
does that mean? What did it mean to Jesus’ listeners when he says
that my yoke is easy and my burden is light? Well, Paul, speaking
of the law, the Mosaic law in Acts 15, says this, Now therefore,
why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the
disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been
able to bear? And in Luke 11, Jesus says to
the lawyers, the experts in the Mosaic law, Woe to you, you’re
cursed. For you load people with burdens
hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with
one of your fingers.” So we see that the yoke and the burden
of God’s righteous law that was placed upon the neck of the people
was crushing. It was impossible to do perfectly. It was meant to show the people
the inapproachable perfection of God, who is so high above
us and so perfect, and we, fallen corrupt human beings, are simply
incapable of pleasing Him through solely fulfilling these works
and these laws. And in Galatians 3, Paul says
that the law, the Mosaic law, acted like a schoolteacher. Imagine
a schoolteacher with a ruler or a switch in their hand. A
schoolteacher to show us our need for a redeemer. To show
us the impossibility of fulfilling God’s righteous law and to drive
us to Christ. Or as Paul says in Galatians,
to lead us to Christ. But it’s not just the Mosaic
Law. It’s also for those that don’t have God’s Ten Commandments
and His moral code. God has given them a conscience.
And it’s for those that are weighed down by the guilt of their sin
and their shame that this message is for them as well. So for those
who are yoked and burdened by the law and by the guilt of sin,
Jesus calls them. We see it’s not those who are
wise or intelligent or able to help themselves. Rather, all
those who were weary and heavy laden are invited by Jesus. Those who were tired of trying
to find rest on their own may come to Christ. So how do we
come to Jesus? What does finding rest in Christ
mean? It means that the yoke of Jesus,
as it says in our passage, and His burden, His teaching is light
and it’s easy. And the reason that Christ’s
commandments, his teaching are light and easy is because Christ
himself came to earth as a man. He stepped into history and took
on flesh and blood. And in his death on the cross,
he died for the sin that weighs us down with guilt and shame. And he took the full punishment
and the wrath of a holy God on your behalf. But not only that,
Christ also bore the yoke of the Mosaic law on himself perfectly. In fact, he did it perfectly.
He did it personally and perpetually. He fulfilled the righteous law
of God on your behalf. This is how Christ brings rest.
It may be helpful if we see the pattern in the Bible in Genesis
at the beginning. God creates the world in six
days and everything in it and calls it good. And then he rests
from his work on the seventh day. Jesus comes to earth and
accomplishes the work that the Father gave him to do perfectly.
And then on the cross, as he’s dying, he says, it is finished.
I accomplished what you gave me to do. Then he’s buried, raised
again, and goes up into the heavens and sits down at the right hand
of God. and rests. And in Hebrews 4,
3, it says, we who have believed enter that rest. Jesus, the son
of God, has passed through the heavens. In Hebrews 4, 9, it
says, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from
his works as God did from his. So what about us? We’ve seen
the three points from the passage that this rest we seek is hidden
from us. It’s very exclusive, but that
the gospel Christ brings is inclusive. He holds out his hand and says,
come to me. If you’ve not believed in Christ and you’re here, if
you’re struggling with fear and doubt, are you afraid? Maybe
you’re afraid of what new conflict may come tomorrow. You see the
foundations of society crumbling around you. Are you weighed down
and burdened with guilt and shame? Well, then don’t try to earn
your way to God through your own efforts. It can’t be done. Don’t rely on your own wisdom
and your own intelligence. Instead, come to Christ. He’s
holding out His hand to you and says, come, come to me. I will
give you rest. And we see that we enter into
that rest through believing, believing that He is the God
who is coming, who is coming to bring us rest. And what about
if you’re here and you have believed in Christ? What about you? Is this for you? Well, I would
ask you, are you struggling with sin? Are you struggling with
fear and doubt? Are you measuring your status
with God by inward reflection? Are you counting the minutes
that you spend doing good things? Are you asking if you read your
Bible enough? Maybe you ask if you spend enough moments in prayer.
Are your prayers sincere enough? Do you struggle with sin and
despair over the fact that you’re tempted and you fight against
it, but at times you fall into it? And you wonder, what does
Christ think about me? Am I just a huddling, quivering
mass of sin on the ground and Christ is going to come over
and just stomp me out? If you’ve never felt that, I
have. Well, this message is for you as well. Because you have
been buried and raised with Christ. In newness of life, you are Christ’s
new creation. God sees Christ’s perfect work
and righteousness when he looks at you. Christ is your justification. He’s your sanctification. He
is your glorification. And it says in our passage that
Jesus is gentle and lowly. He’s humble in heart. He will
not break a bruised reed or snuff out a smoldering wick. And maybe
it’s good if we just look at the end of this passage again
in Isaiah 35 verse 10. And the ransomed of the Lord
will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion with everlasting
joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy
and sorrow and sighing will flee away. This is the hope for those
who have placed their faith in Christ. Or if we go back to 4,
it says, Behold, your God will come with vengeance. The recompense
of God will come, but He will save you. If you have placed
your faith in Jesus Christ, He will save you on the last day.
So the answer, really, for the unbeliever is the same as that
for the believer, which is put your faith in Christ and cling
to Him. And if you’re a believer who struggles, you doubt and
you fear, Well, then look to Christ. He’s in heaven. He is
your righteousness. You are in him. Please pray with
me. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you that you sent your
son to die.