Matthew 11.25-30

After the passage that we saw yesterday, Jesus denouncing all these cities, Jesus changes tone and says something very endearing. Let's read this passage:


 ²⁵ At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. ²⁶ Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
   ²⁷ “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
   ²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ 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. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”


Jesus begins by praying to the Lord, saying something very interesting. He said that he has hidden all these things, Jesus' ministry, to the wise and learned and revealing them to little children. Now is he meaning this that literally God hid his ministry from the wise and learned and only revealed it to little children? I don't think so. I think What Jesus is saying is that the people who should have got it, the cities where all his miracles were performed in, didn't and that the outsiders, the unexpected, they are the ones that have recognized Jesus as the Messiah. We will see this in the next following passages, that the Jewish leaders, the wise and the learned, don't think Jesus is who he says he is. There are a number of controversies that occur, but the people who are following him are the fishermen, the tax-collector's, those that everyone wouldn't have thought would have gotten it. 


Then in verse 27, we see Jesus stating what his ministry is doing. Let's read this again:


²⁷ “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.


Jesus' ministry is revealing God to the world. This is what Jesus came to do. By revealing God to the world, he is blessing the world. Because now, people have access to the father through Jesus. And then Jesus gives an invitation that is quite incredible.


²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ 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. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”


Have you ever felt weary or burdened? Do you need rest? Do you want a master that is gentle and humble in heart? Do you want rest, not only for your body, but also for your soul as well? 


Then Jesus is inviting you to come, and submit yourself underneath his yoke. 


What is that? 


A yoke is like a collar that is placed on a cow or horse that would then guide them, telling them which direction to go. The Old Testament Law was referred to by the Israelites as their yoke. They saw the Law as a gift because after they came out of the idol worship, pagan filled nation of Egypt, they needed a guide on how to be the people of God. So they saw the Law as their yoke, something to guide them through a very confusing and dark world. This is why they called God's word, his law, as "a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." But when the Pharisees and Sadducees began to tack on all kinds of different interpretations and traditions to the law, it became a weight rather than a yoke. 


Jesus is inviting everyone to submit to him as your guide through life. He wants to help you in this confusing, dark and weary world. And he says take my yoke, let me be your guide, and it is easy and his burden is light. 


So following Jesus is easy? Didn't Jesus just say in Matthew 10 that you have to give up everything to follow him, even take up a cross? 


Yes.


So what does Jesus mean by easy?


The general consensus is that he means that his yoke, having Jesus your guide, is fitting. It works. When you submit your life to Jesus and follow him, he will guide you in a fitting matter. This, in comparison to being lost in a dark and weary world, is easy and light. 


This is Jesus' invitation to you. We live in a very confused world, a world that says it has all the answers, but it doesn't. A world that kills each other, over eats while others starve, a world that sells its children into sex slavery, a world that is destroying itself. And Jesus is inviting you to submit yourself to him as your guide. Trust him, he will guide you through life and help you live the life that you were created to live. 


The question then, that has to be asked, is this....Do you trust him?