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COME TO ME
Matthew 11:1-30
Key Verse: 28
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Today’s passage begins with John the Baptist’s question: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” This is a very serious question. It asks if Jesus is the Christ promised and prophesied in the scripture. Jesus answers to this question by showing his messianic works. Then Jesus laments over unrepentant people and pleads with the weary and burdened to come to him and to find rest for their souls.
I. Jesus warns those who are unrepentant(1-24)
After teaching his twelve disciples about the discipleship, Jesus visited the towns of Galilee again to teach and preach the kingdom of God. Wherever Jesus went, he preached the kingdom of heaven. Through Jesus the work of the Christ was powerfully going on. Now when we stand back and see this time period in view of God’s redemptive history, we can see that it was the transitional period from the ministry of John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Christ to the ministry of Jesus. The messianic work began as John the Baptist preached in the wilderness, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Mt 3:2). When baptizing Jesus, John the Baptist witnessed that heaven was opened and the Spirit of God was descending like dove on Jesus. John heard a voice from heaven, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Mt 3:16-17). As the forerunner of the Christ, John then proclaimed the Christ Jesus. He understood the work of the Christ that was to take away mankind’s sin and said by pointing to Jesus, “Lookthe Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn 1:29). Then John was imprisoned after he rebuked King Herod to repent of his immoral relationship with Herodias, his brother’s wife. According to verse 12, Satan tried to destroy God’s work through violence, and the kingdom of heaven was subjected to violence. But God was in control. In view of God’s redemptive history, John’s mission was over, and Jesus’ messianic work began. At this transitional moment, the disciples of John were disorientedand dispirited because of their teacher’s imprisonment. So John sent his disciples to Jesus. Most probably, John wanted his disciples to meet Jesus personally. He wanted them tolook at the work of Christ and to commit themselves to Jesus.
What was Jesus’ answer? Look at verses 4-6.“Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” Jesus described the work of the Messiah that Isaiah had prophesied (Isa 35:5).The work of the Messiah was life-giving. Humanly speaking, it was a tragedy for John who was persecuted and would soon be martyred.But God had his sovereign time-schedule and will. God had used John preciously as the forerunner of the Messiah. And now it was God’s time for Jesus to serve the messianic work. However, John’s disciples may not have understood the way God was doing his work. They may have thought that Jesus should rescue John from the prison with his power and bring God’s justice to Israel. However, God’s will and his way of the messianic work were different from what they thought.They should have spiritual eyes to see God’s on-going work powerfully through the Christ. They should follow God’s sovereign will and his way humbly. They should not stumble just because Jesus didn’t fit their way of serving God. In our self-centeredness, we sometimes fall into doubt and complaints when God seems to disregard us and to ignore our prayers. But we must know that our God is Sovereign. God is good—allthe time. Therefore, we must go to Jesus and put our trust in him.
After John’s disciples left, Jesus taught the crowd who John the Baptist was. According to Jesus in verses 7-15, John was theprophet and the messenger of the Christ who would prepare the way for the Christ. Jesus affirmed John’s greatness by saying. “…among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” John was great because he had a great mission from God. But Jesus emphasized that we Jesus’ people are greater that John. Jesus didn’t mean that John the Baptist is least in the kingdom of heaven. Rather it means that those who have the kingdom of heaven are all great in God’s sight.
In verses 16-19, Jesus pointed out the childishness of mankind. Jesus compared the generation with children sitting in the shopping mall, playing games. They were totally engrossed with their own interests. They were interested only in the latest gadgets and carnal desires. They were deliberately ungodly. They ridiculed and persecuted God’s people. They gossiped about John’s holy, ascetic lifestyle and said, “He has a demon.” They ridiculed Jesus’humble, incarnational lifestyle and said,“You know, Jesus is a drunkard and a glutton and he hangs out with sinners.” They are the impossible-to-please people. Perhaps these people would mourn when a joyful wedding tune was played and would dance joyfully when a funeral dirge was sung. They were rebellious and hard heartedpeople who deliberately made a decision not to respond to the words of Jesus. It was the general response of Galileans that Jesus saw as he had taken his evangelistic journey around the Galilean towns.
In verses 20-24, Jesus denounced three Galilean towns: Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. In these three towns, Jesus had served his works the most. There he had healed the sick and preached the kingdom of heaven. But the people did not repent. Jesus lamented that these chosen people are farworse than with the people of Tyre and Sidon and even Sodom. These godless Gentile cities would have repented in sackcloth and ashes if they had heard the Messiah’s words and seen his gracious work. The Galileans saw Jesus’ miracles and said, “Halleluiah!” and “Amen!many times. But they went home unrepentant and unchanged. Once, Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves and two fish in a remote region. Actually these people were blessed not because they ate free bread and fish from Jesus, but because they could see the Christ Jesus through that miracle. But these people were not interested in knowing Jesus, but in food that Jesus gave. The next day, they came back to Jesus to get free bread and fish again. But instead of handing out free bread and fish, Jesus talked to them about heavenly bread again and again. In his divine love, he really wanted them to know that Jesus is the living bread who gives them eternal life. But these people rejected Jesus and left him. Jesus lamented over his chosen people who rejected their messiah. Jesus lamented over them because the day of final judgment is coming. Inlove and sorrow, Jesus warned them,“Woe to you unrepentant towns!” On the day of judgment, wemust all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.(2Cor 5:10).
So far, we learned that many people in Jesus’ time rejected Jesus, although they saw Jesus’ miraculous works and truthful teachings. The disciples of John the Baptist were in deep confusion and doubt, because they did not focus on Jesus and his work, but on their own. What’s worse, most of God’s chosen people were indifferent to Jesus’ work like children, aimlessly wandering in the shopping mall. They were trouble makers who persecuted and ridiculed Jesus. What was the fundamental problem of John’s disciples and the people of Galilee in Jesus’ time? We can find the answer to this question in verses 11-12. Let’s read these verses together.“Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone great than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it.” Here, Jesus’ point and focus was the kingdom of heaven. Those who have the kingdom of heaven are truly great. On the other hand, the kingdom of heaven was raided by violent people. Who is Jesus? And why did he come to this world? Did he come to the world to resolve political issues of the time? Did he come to do the humanitarian work by helping the poor and establishing social justice? None of these. He came to restore the kingdom of heaven for human beings who lost it because of their sins.Of course, Jesus was concerned about human affairs in this world. So he healed the sick and fed the hungry. But we’d better know that Jesus’primary focus was the kingdom of heaven from beginning to end. Read his first message on earth. Read the Sermon on the Mount. Read his last message after rising from the dead. You can find that Jesus spoke about the kingdom of heaven constantly. If the kingdom of heaven is omitted from Jesus’ teaching, there will be just a few teachings of Jesus left in the gospel stories. If the kingdom of heaven is not Jesus’ focus, he would rescue the pious and godly man John the Baptist and would defeat the Romans and establish the kingdom of Israel on earth. If the kingdom of heaven is not the focus of Jesus’ teaching, most of things we Christians do, don’t make any sense. Why do we come to Bible study and worship service? We do it to learn and have the kingdom of heaven. Why do we pray to God? We do it to possess the kingdom of heaven and to let others have it. Why do we witness on campus? We do it to spread this good news of the kingdom of heaven to all creation. The kingdom of heaven is our focus, our food, our breath and our goal. If the kingdom of heaven is excluded in Christian faith, why do we have to follow Jesus?The problem we have is our obsession and desire for the things of the world. Ever since Jesus came to the world, there was a great spiritual warfare between Jesus and the enemies of the kingdom of heaven. The enemies of the kingdom of heaven are those who are indifferent to Jesus’ words and unrepentant. The enemies of the kingdom of heaven are those who are obsessed with the things of the world. Let us examine our lives of faith. Which side are you standing on? The day of judgment is soon coming. May God soften our hearts to repent and live for the kingdom of heaven.
II. Jesus gives rest to our souls (20-30)
Look at verses 25-26.“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. Yes, Father, but this is what you were pleased to do.’”When Jesus looked at the hostile and unresponsive world he could have gotten angry or sad or tired. He could have thought, “I’ve wasted my life.”Or “I will do something else.”He could have complained to God. But what did he do? He went to his Father God with a heart full of thanksgiving. He accepted God’s sovereignty. God is the ruler of heaven and earth. He is the one who reveals Jesus. He thanked his Father, Lord of heaven and earth for revealing the secrets of the kingdom to his humble, childlike disciples rather than to the sophisticated intellectuals. While surrounded byunbelieving and indifferent people, Jesus saw God’s on-going work in the lives of a few people and became so thankful.Here we learn that joy and thankful spirit can flood into our heart as we turn our eyes to God and see his life-giving work.This is true. When I see the signs that God is working in our growing students’ hearts, I am filled with thanks, not only because of their growth, but also because God is working among us.Jesus rejoiced with God, saying, “Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.”Essentially, Jesus’ thanksgiving and joy came from his personal relationship with God (27).
Now let’s turn to verse 28. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Jesus is gentle and humble. Anyone can come to him and not feel despised or threatened. Gentle Jesus invites us to come to him just as we are. He doesn’t invite us because we are smart or pretty or talented or able. He invites us because he loves us. Who is qualified to come to him? No one. But he invites us because he knows that we are weary and burdened living in this sin-sick world. He invites us knowing that we need true rest and that only he can give us rest to our souls. Before the fall of man, humankind enjoyed God and his creation in God’s perfect, harmonious world. The Sovereign God ruled; spiritual order prevailed. Human beings had the peace and enjoyed their lives in the perfect love relationship with God. But this peace and harmony with God was broken when human beings fell into sin. Since then on, human beings longed for peace and real rest but found it nowhere. God sent Jesus to give us true rest through Jesus’ shed blood. Through Jesus’ blood, our sins are forgiven and broken relationships are healed. In Jesus, peace and rest is restored.
Look at verses 29-30. “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.”Here we find the relation between rest and yoke. According to Jesus, when we take Jesus’ yoke upon us, we will find rest for our souls. It sounds unreal and absurd, because a yoke seems to refer to restriction. In Jesus’ time, a yoke was used for two oxen to pull a load together. When two oxen pull a load, they can have an effect greater than the total sum of their individual effects. We call it synergy effect. Without God, each one takesthe yokeby oneself and becomes weary and burdened. Just like Christianin the book “The Pilgrim’s Progress” each person is weighed down by a great burden of sin and death. But when we take his yoke, we no longer pull the heavy load all by ourselves, but sharing the burden together with Jesus. Jesus is gentle and humble. In his grace and mercy, he takes all our burdens of life as we just walk together with Jesus under Jesus’yoke.Jesus’ yoke is a yoke of grace. Today, most people don’t like the idea of being yoked to anyone or anything. They want to be free. But we must know that we all have our own yoke to take. We must accept Jesus’ invitation to take Jesus’yoke and find true rest to our souls. In other words, we must come to Jesus and walk together with him. We must yield to Jesus’ will and let him carry our burdens. Then Jesus will walk alongside us each and every day and we will find true rest. May God melt our hardened heart to repent humbly in response to Jesus’teaching.May we come to Jesus and take his yoke and walk with him so that we can get true rest from Jesus.