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Come Unto Me All Who Labor and are Heavily Burdened
~Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30~
In-person service at Temple Baptist Church
(850 Venice Blvd., at Oak)
William S. Epps, Senior Pastor
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16“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces, who call to their companions 17and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you didn’t dance. We mourned for you, and you didn’t lament.’ 18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.” Matthew 11:16-19
25At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast
revealed them unto babes. 26Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.
27All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. 28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:25-30
Introduction
This particular passage of scripture has a familiar invitation from the Lord Jesus Christ. 28Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Verses 16 through 19 set the stage for the meaning of Jesus’ invitation to come unto him.
16“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces, who call to their companions 17and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you didn’t dance. We mourned for you, and you didn’t lament.’ 18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.” Matthew 11:16-19
Jesus offers an invitation to those with whom He came in contact. Some accepted the invitation and some did not. When you think of the invitations you have received,
which ones did you accept and which did you just dismiss? Invitations are used for,
“life cycle” events such as weddings, anniversaries, important birthdays or baby-related events such as a baby shower. Jesus issues an invitation to those who are anxious, fearful, frustrated and unnerved about life and their faith was making them bitter and combative rather than better and conciliatory.
Consider what it means to accept the invitation
Jesus offers to those who come to him.
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Hear the words of Jesus describing the context of this invitation.
Jesus indicated that some people refuse to be satisfied, and Jesus describes such contrary people in these verses. He likens, “this generation” (v. 16) to children who refuse to play with each other. Jesus uses this phrase, “this generation,” several times in this Gospel, always in a negative way or in the context of judgment (12:41-42; 23:36; 24:34).
“We played the flute for you, and you didn’t dance. We mourned for you, and you didn’t lament” (v. 17). A flute and dancing are appropriate for a wedding. Wailing and mourning are appropriate for a funeral. Whether the game is happy (weddings) or sad (funerals), the children refuse to play. This wedding/funeral imagery depicts the differences in style between Jesus and John the Baptist. John is too forbidding (hostile and harsh). Jesus is too happy (He's welcoming and inviting).
Consider what it means to refuse to be satisfied
regardless of what is offered to you.
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Jesus came eating, drinking and mixing with sinners, and they said, “Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard; a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (v. 19). The background for this phrase is Deuteronomy 21:20-21, which prescribes how parents shall deal with a rebellious son. “And they shall tell the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.’ All the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones: so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.” This label, “glutton, and a drunkard,” is therefore far more serious than it first appears. If Jesus is, in fact, a glutton and drunkard by the standards of Deuteronomy 21, God’s law prescribes that he shall die a violent and dishonorable death. This verse gives us a veiled hint of the cross that awaits Jesus.
John lived an ascetic life in the desert—harshly disciplined. Few people would want to live like John. His fire and brimstone preaching drew some people, but repelled others. He was arrested and later beheaded because he offended Herod’s family, but he surely offended others as well. They said of him, “He has a demon” (v. 18).
While John looks like a religious fanatic, Jesus appears to be less restrictive in the way He applies the law of ethics and morality than those who considered themselves religiously ethical and moral in their practices and principles.
Jesus is not as fastidious (demanding and fussy) as some regarding His diet. He heals on the Sabbath. His disciples are not scrupulous in their observance of the law, and He defends them (12:1-8; 15:1-20). Even worse is His association with (and apparent approval of) tax collectors and sinners.
And then there is Jesus' blatant disrespect for scribes and Pharisees—keepers of the law—God’s law. Everything about Jesus seems to move in the wrong direction according to some. Compounding the problem, Jesus attracts great crowds, and they are drawn to him.
The root problem for those who reject Jesus is their awareness that taking John and/or Jesus seriously requires that they change their lives. Both John and Jesus jolt us and push us into uncomfortable places:
- John demands that we repent and move in new directions—give up cherished pleasures and take on uncomfortable responsibilities.
- Jesus turns comfortable assumptions on their heads. How, we ask, can the poor in spirit be blessed—or those who mourn be comforted—or the meek inherit the earth? How can Jesus make such outrageous demands regarding anger—or adultery—or divorce—or oaths—or retaliation—or the treatment of enemies? (5:1-48).
If we can find fault with John and Jesus, we can ignore their demands—and it is far easier to criticize than to obey. And so this generation finds fault with both of these very different but very compelling persons.
Consider what it means to find fault with John, Jesus and their
representations of practicing your faith as a reason to ignore their them.
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“But wisdom is justified by her children” (v. 19). The meaning of this proverb is much the same as “By their fruits you will know them” (7:16, 20). Jesus challenges His critics to look at the effects of His ministry—“the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them”(11:5). To fail to understand the significance of such events, one must be blind and deaf—must refuse to see—must stop up one’s ears. Jesus challenged His listeners that wisdom is justified by her children means that wisdom is judged by the fruit it bears. Wisdom produces the fruits of righteousness. God commands us to strive to be at peace with all – so much as it is in your power (Romans 12-16-18). Fruits of wisdom are charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness. Wisdom produces honesty, fairness and equity. You will know wisdom by the fruit it bears.
Jesus became wisdom incarnate. The wisdom about which Jesus speaks produces the fruit of righteousness, which is being ethically and morally correct, upright, fair and equitable (reasonable).
25At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants. 26Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight. 27All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him.” Matthew 11:25-27
Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight” (vv. 25-26). This reflects Jesus’ personal experience. Those in high office reject Jesus, but common people—including sub-common tax collectors and sinners—flock to him. The polarity between those who reject Jesus and those who flock to Him is evident. The more that Jesus appeals to the rejected of society, the more that society-people reject Jesus.
Jesus addresses God as Father and as “Lord of heaven and earth” (v. 25), thereby capturing both the nurturing and the majestic sides of God. The focus changes from those who have rejected Jesus to those who have accepted him. God has hidden the truth from, “the wise and understanding” (v. 25) but has revealed the truth to “infants” (v. 25). The mood also changes. In verses 16-19, Jesus expresses frustration tinged with anger towards “this generation,” but in verses 25-27, His mood is optimistic and thankful. Jesus’ optimism is based, not on any recent success, but rather on God’s gracious authority and the intimacy Jesus has with the Father.
"Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight” (vv. 25-26). This reflects Jesus’ personal experience. Those in high office reject Jesus, but common people—including sub-common tax collectors and sinners—flock to him. The polarity between those who reject Jesus and those who flock to him is evident. The more that Jesus appeals to the rejected of society, the more that society-people reject Jesus.
Not being full of self, the little ones are open to receiving God; they are open to receiving grace. Possessing no wisdom, they are open to learning from Jesus.
Consider what it means that wisdom is judged by the
fruit it bears, just as a good tree bears good fruit so wisdom
bears results that are godly and not deadly.
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Then Jesus offers this invitation.
28“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle (Greek: praus—meek, humble) and lowly (Greek: tapeinos—humble, lowly) in heart; and you will find rest (Greek: anapausin—respite) for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
These are among the most beloved and quoted verses in the Bible, because all of us feel burdened and in need of rest.
In their original context, these verses spoke specifically to those burdened by the Jewish law. God gave the law to guide the Jewish people through the moral practices of life, but well-intentioned people embellished the law until it became its own hindrance, creating complications of confusion producing a paralysis of analysis. Religious professionals prided themselves on their observance of the law, but even they could not avoid violations. The common person did not stand a chance of perfectly observing the law.
Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me” (v. 29). Rabbis often likened the law to a yoke–a wooden bar or frame fitted across the necks of two oxen to make them a team. A yoke imposed a measure of control on the animals. Neither animal was free to go its own direction, because its bond to the other animal served as a constraint. Animals with a yoke are under the control of the master.
This is a good point. We can only choose to which master we will decide to be yoked. It is better to be yoked to Jesus than the yoke of the world with its demanding, outlandish yokes, because the yoke of Jesus is God inspired. In the hands of the scribes and Pharisees, however, the yoke of the law and faith became almost as burdensome as the yoke of the world.
Consider what it means that you make the decision to whom you will
be yoked, the Lord or some other demanding master.
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Jesus does not propose that we go yoke-less, but that we accept His yoke, which is chrestos—”manageable, i.e., mild, pleasant (as opposed to harsh or hard).”
A well-made yoke distributes the load evenly, making the task easier. A well-fitted yoke follows the contours of the oxen’s neck so that it does not rub or chaff. A legend says that Jesus, assisting his carpenter father, made the best yokes available–yokes that would serve both master and oxen well. It has been said that there was a sign in Joseph’s carpenter’s shop that said, “We make yokes that fit.”
For a contemporary analogy, consider the advantages of new, high-tech, athletic equipment. A hiker can go faster, further, and more easily when equipped with a well-engineered backpack, a tiny camp stove, freeze dried food, and a featherweight tent. New advances in tennis racquets, skis, golf clubs, and running shoes help athletes to set new records. Instant replay helps them to analyze opponents. Sophisticated training programs help them to reach their peak. None of that equipment allows the athlete to win the game while sitting on the sidelines, but each enhances the athlete’s performance on the field.
When Jesus invites us to take His yoke and to learn from Him, it is as if He is giving us access to the finest equipment and the best coaching for the game of life. A yoke usually joins two oxen together to work as a team. When Jesus invites us to take His yoke and to learn from Him, He is inviting us to join Him in the harness—to allow Him to take the lead—to let Him help us through difficult places—to give Him the opportunity to show us how it is done.
Jesus says, “for I am gentle (praus—meek, humble) and lowly (tapeinos—humble, lowly) in heart” (v. 29). Jesus blessed the praus (meek), promising that “they shall inherit the earth” (5:5)—a promise that seems counter-intuitive. It appears to us that the bold and forceful inherit the earth. Perhaps the meek will inherit heaven, but we doubt that they will inherit the earth. Jesus’ promise, however, is based on God’s economy rather than the ways of the world. Just as Jesus transformed the world by his meek submission to God’s will that he died on a cross, so also, by God’s grace, the praus—those who submit their will to God—will find themselves possessed of power that transcends their natural skills and abilities.
Jesus says, “and you will find rest (respite) for your souls” (v. 29). Jesus makes a promise to those who take His yoke upon them. The word used here (Anapausin)
“denotes a temporary rest, a respite, so to speak, a break for refreshment for the work ahead that is required." Jesus offers a respite to regroup and reenergize for the purpose of being a faithful disciple fulfilling the mission of the Lord for your life. Jesus offers a life energized by a vision that fulfills a divine purpose as creatures made in God’s image and fashioned in God's likeness.
We learn from Jesus how to live God’s truth. The caution for Jesus’s disciples who are yoked to him is that they can also turn His yoke into an unbearable burden unless we consciously recognize that discipleship to Jesus is not essentially a religious obligation as it is an act of faith that exercises itself out of allegiance, commitment, loyalty and love to one who has given His life to teach them how to live God’s truth. Love leads those who follow Jesus in learning God’s truth to mimic what Jesus does.
Consider what it means that the yoke of Jesus is made to fit
to help you live God’s truth for your life.
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Hear the blessed Savior calling the oppressed,
“Oh, ye heavy-laden, come to Me and rest;
Come, no longer tarry, I your load will bear,
Bring Me every burden, bring Me every care.”
Refrain:
Come unto Me, I will give you rest;
Take My yoke upon you, hear Me and be blest;
I am meek and lowly, come and trust My might;
come, My yoke is easy, and My burden’s light.
Are you disappointed, wand’ring here and there,
Dragging chains of doubt and loaded down with care?
Do unholy feelings struggle in your breast?
Bring your case to Jesus—He will give you rest.
Stumbling on the mountains dark with sin and shame,
Stumbling toward the pit of hell’s consuming flame;
By the pow’rs of sin deluded and oppressed,
Hear the tender Shepherd, “Come to Me and rest.”
Consider what it means to accept the invitation of the
Lord to be yoked with him throughout your life’s faith sojourn.
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