Matthew Series, Week 23 - Knowing God’s Servant

  I think we’ve all been in a situation where we say something and as soon as it passes our lips, we know that we said the wrong thing. It got so bad when I was younger, I stopped commenting on things all together. It’s actually one of the reasons I try not to give my advice unless expressly asked. I’ve put my foot in my mouth too many times, that I have made an effort to zip my lip, rather than yakking my jaw. 

One of the best foot in mouth situations that I remember wasn’t about me. It was about one of our teens, when we went on a missions trip to San Francisco. On the way up there we took Tehachapi Pass. There’s some winding parts, and on one particular twist in the road, both our small mirror and hub cap on the passenger side fell off. We then made it to a gas station and my passenger, a girl, made the comment about how the two things fell off. Well that’s when another teen decided to insert foot in mouth. The young boy spoke up and said, “It’s because you were sitting there.” The girl glared at him and said, “Are you saying I’m fat?”

Now, I don’t think he intended it to be taken this way, but because of something he said prior to this the girl instantly got upset. See not to long prior to this we were having a discussion about walking on ice, to which the same  boy told this girl that he didn’t think the ice could hold her. His thought was because the ice was so thin, but to her it was a jab at her weight. And so it became a running gag for her to mention how she’s was an ice breaker. So when this boy mentioned how it was her fault that the mirror and hub cap came off, it just added to the whole situation, where not only she was an icebreaker, she was a van destroyer. 

Now the girl was kidding and teasing the boy, but I know for a fact that both times the boy knew he stuck his foot in his mouth. 

And it’s this idea of watching what we say that brings us to our final week in our summer series in the Gospel of Matthew, where will be finishing up the last two passages in chapter 12. So as we open up to Matthew 12, let’s look back on what we’ve covered so far in this third section of Matthew’s Gospel. 

A few weeks ago, when we started into Matthew’s third section, we saw how the focus was on being a part of the kingdom. Jesus said that John was the greatest of anyone whoever lived, but even the least in the kingdom would be greater than him. This led us to begin to look at the qualities that God desired from those who would be in his kingdom. The first two that we saw as being foundational was that they have a repentant heart, and that they would walk humbly with God. This is the catalyst to a relationship with God. How are we to enter into a relationship with him, if we are not first brought to a humbling place where we see our sin and need for repentance. Yet, once we come to a place of humility and repentance, we can enter into a right relationship with God, becoming a member of his kingdom. 

With this foundation set, we began looking at how Matthew, through the direction of the Holy Spirit, mirrors moments in Jesus’ life to show us how we are to be kingdom members. The first set of mirrored passages showed us that we are to be yoked with Jesus, meaning we are to be directed by him, so that we may be a part of his family accomplishing the will of God. Jesus’ yoke, which speaks of his burden being light, means it is not us who need to accomplish God’s will in our own strength, but through the guidance of the God to whom we are yoked to. 

This then led us to our examination of the mirror passages from last week. Here we saw how we must embrace Jesus’ Lordship over our lives, and be satisfied with the miracle of the resurrection. When we embrace Jesus’ Lordship, the yoke truly is lighter, and when we are satisfied with the miracle of the resurrection, anything that God does or does not do will not sway us from following him in that Lordship. 

With these weeks refreshed in our minds, let’s read the final two mirrored passages in Matthew chapter 12, starting in verse 15.

15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. 16 He warned them not to tell others about him. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 18 “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 19 He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory. 21 In his name the nations will put their hope.”

This passage starts out with, “Aware of this…” as a reminder, that the Pharisees were plotting to kill Jesus, and so are already hostile towards him. This leads Jesus to warn the people not to tell others about himself. Now there are a multitude of reasons why Jesus does this, but the point that Matthew is trying to gets us to focus on is not why Jesus tells them not to tell, but rather the connection to the Old Testament.

This passage, like many others before it, is a commentary by Matthew connecting Jesus back into the Old Testament. Now, Matthew has made several connections back into the Old Testament that we’ve looked at before. But I want us to put into perspective specifically where he is connecting Jesus to in this passage. In the twenty-two Old Testament references that Matthew has made so far, five were from the book of Deuteronomy, and five were from the book of Isaiah. A little under half of Matthew’s connections were from two pivotal books of the Old Testament. We’ve already discussed how Matthew writes in the vein of the Old Testament, especially how Matthew’s Gospel is modeled after Deuteronomy with its sections based around sermons.

Yet, we haven’t spent time discussing the other book that Matthew draws heavily from, which is Isaiah. In each of the five cases that Matthew points us back to Isaiah, it is through his own commentary, not through Jesus’ own references. This lets the reader know, that what ever it is that Jesus is doing, it’s to fulfill the prophetic word spoken through the prophet. Two of these fulfillments come from within the first ten chapters (Ma 1:23 & Is 7:14; Ma 4:16 & 9:1-2), while the other three come from chapters after Isaiah 40 (Ma 3:3 & 40:3; Ma 8:17 & Is 53:3-4; Ma 12:21 & Is 42:1-4).

This is significant because Isaiah chapters 40-55 are commonly referred to as the Servant Songs. They are a series of songs that speak of God’s salvation through the Servant of God. Most of us probably have heard the famous passage from Isaiah 53, where it Isaiah writes about the Servant, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;” 

But how many of us realize that it is in these Servant Songs, that passages like Isaiah 40:31 occur, where the prophet states, “…but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” This sounds very similar to Jesus words about his yoke being light. This not only shows us the consistency of God’s message and work throughout all of human history, but helps us see that we are to look into the Old Testament to get a fuller understanding of who Jesus is.

This connection that Matthew is making between Jesus and the Servant Song chapters in Isaiah are then brought together, by the guiding of the Holy Spirit, to what happens next. So let’s drop down to verse 22 and continue reading.

22 Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23 All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”

25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

29 “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.

30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 35 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

And so as the situation progresses, we get some chatter in the crowd about Jesus’ identity. Remember Matthew has pointed us to that identity in the Servant Songs. Now if the reader has been paying attention, they know who Jesus is. Not only is he the prophet like Moses, not only is he indeed the Son of David, both implying that Jesus’ Messiahship, but the reader knows that Jesus is greater, because he is the God come down to his creation taking on human flesh. Yet, even though this should be clear to the reader, it is not clear to the people, and so the question becomes, “Could this be the Son of David?” 

It is here that the Pharisees, specifically that group who is out to kill Jesus, make some grievous comments that I don’t think they realize how consequential their words actually are. It’s a foot in mouth situation on a really important level. They accuse Jesus of performing these miracles, specifically the casting out of a demon, by the power of Satan and not of God.

To this Jesus gives two rebuttals to the Pharisees accusations. First he gives the imagery of a kingdom divided and how it can not stand long. The second is that of a strong man being tied up. 

In the first rebuttal Jesus is showing how the Pharisees logic isn’t consistent. Satan wouldn’t work to drive out Satan because that would divide in the intentions of Satan and therefore cause Satan to be weaker. 

In the second of Jesus’ rebuttals, he reveals what is actually happening. Paul states in 2 Corinthians 4:4 that there is a “god of this age [who] has blinded the minds of unbelievers.” This god is implied to be Satan and so, we see that Jesus’ words indicate that Satan must be bond by Jesus, so that the work of Jesus may be carried out. Jesus is not in league with Satan, rather it is he who is tying Satan so that his work can be carried out.

It is here that Jesus cautions the Pharisees in what they are saying, and we find out how  grievous their comments really are. By their attributing Jesus’ work to Satan, they are on dangerous grounds, because they are falsely crediting the work of the Holy Spirit to the work of the unholy adversary. By doing so, they reveal something about themselves. Jesus uses the imagery of good and bad trees producing good and bad fruit accordingly. Out right saying that they have evil within them that is coming to the surface. Who then is really in league with Satan?

Jesus reveals that they are indeed bad fruit, and evil things are coming out of them. They are denying that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of David, which is bad enough; but they are taking that denial a step further in associating the work of the Spirit with the work of Satan. It’s here that Jesus gives us the unforgivable sin, the denial of the holy work of the Spirit and attributing that work to the enemy. I don’t want to go into too much detail here, since I have covered this in our Mark series, but we need to be aware that we must never jump to the conclusion that it is Satan who is doing something, when in actuality it might be the Spirit working things out for the good of God’s people (Romans 8:28).

But the focus here isn’t so much on the unforgivable sin, but rather on the fruit of a person and the account that each must give on the day of judgment. Our words and actions are important and will speak volumes on the day in which humanity stands before the Holy God. The pivotal difference between the believer and the nonbeliever is the calling out and trusting on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Yet the people of God need to be cautions in how they speak, taking the words of Ecclesiastes 5:2 seriously, “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.” I’ve seen many believers be quick to accuse another brother or sister of not doing the work of God, just to be exposed themselves as allowing rampant sin in their lives. 

It is here that these two passages come together to gives us a full picture of what we are to take in the context of chapters 11 and 12. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Servant of God that was prophesied about through the prophet Isaiah. He is the one on whom we are to place our hope. His burden is light, and in him we find rest. It is his will we are to accomplish by the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore we must get to know him. We must know our God, his identity, and his will.

And as we do, we must be humble as God leads us. Our words and actions are important, therefore we must follow the advice of Scripture to watch what we say so as not to bring us under discipline from our Father in heaven. 

And so, my challenge for you this week is this, read chapters 40-55 from the book of Isaiah. Learn more about the Servant of God, who’s coming was fulfilled in Jesus. Then, at then end of your reading read or recite a paraphrase of Ecclesiastes 5:2, “You are God in heaven, let my words be few before you.”

In this way, we may know our Savior deeper in the work he has, and we may be slower to speak, and more open to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Let us be a people to whom the world sees nothing else but the active work of Jesus, in words that speak truth and are drenched in holiness. Amen.

Matthew Series, Week 22 - SatisSign

  When I was in high school I tried to play the major sports. I played football my freshman year, basketball my junior year, and of course baseball. At the school I was attending there was only one sport I hadn’t played and that was soccer. So for my senior year, I played fullback. I had a good time overall, but it was way to much running for me. But one of the things that was always a problem, both in basketball and soccer was our uniforms. I had a baseball coach that thought that uniforms made a team. That if you looked good, you would play good. Of course when your practices hardily involve actual training, it won’t matter how good you look, you’ll never play well. But there is something to say about how uniforms do impact your ability to play the sport properly.

This particular school was very conservative, to the point that for our basketball and soccer uniforms, we had to wear athletic pants. Now, in basketball it was hard, but I found that in soccer it was almost unbearable. It was hotter that fall then unusual in Northern California, and running around the soccer field in black pants, that gave no air circulation was horrible. 

And so, a group of us approached the principle and requested a change. We suggested, since we wore knee high socks, that we could wear shorts and still see the conservative standards. The principle sat us down and told us that he agreed that our uniforms were restrictive and that it would help us to wear shorts, but he shared with us something that has stuck with me ever since. He told us that we were under his authority, but he was under the authority of the school board. He told us that it was like an umbrella in the rain. While we stood under the umbrella’s canopy we wouldn’t get wet, but when we stepped outside that canopy the rain could hit us. This was the same with authority. When we stand faithful under the authority God has placed over us, it keeps us from certain attacks. But when we step out from under that authority, we are more vulnerable.

Now I still disagree with the no shorts policy, but I have come to respect the authority. And it’s the necessity of Jesus’ authority in our lives that brings us back into our Matthew series today where we’ll be returning to chapter 12. And as we return to Matthew 12, starting in verse 1, lets recap where we are. 

So far, we’ve covered two sections, and have been two weeks into the third. In the introduction of Matthew’s third section, we talked about how this section was going to be focused on the kingdom of God and the disciple’s place in it. This was done through Jesus’ acknowledgement of John the Baptist being the greatest person who ever lived, yet the least in God’s kingdom would be greater that him. This led us to ponder what it means to be a disciple in the kingdom of God.  Where, in that first week, we came away with the understanding that God desires his people to have a repentant heart and to walk humbly with him. 

From this basis, we started to look at how Matthew structured the rest of his chapter, and I relayed this mirroring that Matthew is doing. This mirroring occurs when Matthew gives us to complementary situations from Jesus’ life at opposite ends of the narrative, that help build on each other. This leads to a better understanding of who Jesus is and who we are in relationship with him. And so last week we saw the mirror of Jesus’ teaching on being yoked with him, with being a part of his family when we do the will of God. To be yoked to Jesus is to be led and support by him, and when we do this we will accomplish the will of God, because it is God who is accomplishing it through his humble servants.

This now leads us into the second two mirror passages where we will be picking it up in Matthew chapter 12, verse 1. As we read today, we’re going to look at each passage individually and see how they complement each other at the end. So let’s begin reading in Matthew 12:1.

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

3 He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? 6 I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

9 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10 and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

11 He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

Here we’re given two situations that follow each other. In the first, Jesus is being confronted by a group of Pharisees that are upset because his disciples are picking grain as they walk through a field on the Sabbath, or the day of rest. These Pharisees are upset because they interpreted God’s probation of working in Exodus 20:9-10, so strictly that they couldn’t allow any nuance from it. As we’ve talked about it before, that the rabbinical tradition added so many other additional rules to God’s command that it would be impossible to follow all of them. 

To counter this strenuous reading, Jesus points to both necessity, in the case of David eating the bread (1 Samuel 21:1-6), and God’s command, in the case of the Priests preparing animals for sacrifice, as ways to show how the Pharisees’ interpretation was flawed. These examples show that the Sabbath was not to be so strict as to confine humanity to serving the day. Instead the day was meant to serve humanity as Mark records in 2:27 when Jesus says in this same situation, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

But’s its Jesus’ words, “the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath,” that are really the focal point of Matthew’s presentation of this moment. These words point the Pharisees, and us, to the realization that Jesus is the rightful interpreter here, he is greater than the Sabbath because he is the originator of the Sabbath’s institution.

This then leads into following situation where Jesus is asked by the Pharisees the question, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” This question moves beyond just the Sabbath and gets at the heart of the law. What is more important, man made rules to follow that add to the Word of God, or the purpose of the law? 

In this case Sabbath keeping, the purpose of the law, was to be have people restored by God from the week’s work. It was a time to enjoy life. To share life with others. To experience the fruits of one’s labor, instead of endlessly toiling away until death.

The Pharisees seem to think by adding rules they are promoting more rest, when in actuality they are increasing the work load. Instead of taking a break to enjoy God and what he has blessed a person with, we have to start worrying, did I do it right? Did I walk under the required steps, did I do everything in the right order? 

By adding rules to the rest, there is no room for mercy or healing of wounds. The purpose of the Sabbath is lost, because it’s for the healing of wounds that the Sabbath was established. This is the thrust of Jesus’ answer. Jesus again gives an example of how a Pharisee would do something good that would help themselves out, i.e. saving the sheep, but would they do good to help another person out?

Here Jesus calls us to follow the purpose of the Sabbath which is rest and restoration, and so doing good is in keeping with that purpose. Jesus’ teaching here and his direct affirmation of being Lord of the Sabbath, shows us that we are to recognize Jesus’ word on the subject as overriding all others.

He is the Lord, and therefore we must follow his lead. That means not being beholden to man’s addition to God’s word, but to Jesus’ word itself.

This Lord motif is then mirrored in verses 38-45 of chapter 12. So let’s jump down to verse 38 and read.

38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”

39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.

43 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

In this situation this group that comes to Jesus is most likely a different set of Pharisees who are seeking a sign so that they might believe. Remember, this follows many, many signs, the most recent of which is the man with the crippled hand being healed. But maybe these people hadn’t seen Jesus’ miracles, they have just heard about them, and so they asked for a sign. 

Jesus’ response speaks to a greater problem that permeates a lot of people. Who wouldn’t want a sign from Jesus? Who hasn’t asked for a sign? Children and adults alike say a prayer like, “if you do this Jesus then I’ll do this.” Pop atheists cry out for evidence from Jesus, saying, that they don’t know what they want, but God should show them something anyways. These requests of God for signs all have their roots in a misunderstanding of who Jesus is.

Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, he decides what will and will not be shown. We try to control God, to place ourselves as his lord, by demanding signs and wonders from him. Yet, what did that do for the Pharaoh who saw the miraculous plagues yet would not let God’s people go? What good did the signs at Mt. Sinai do for the Israelites who traded God for a golden calf? What good did the fire at Mt. Carmel do for Elijah who ran away at the fear of his own death?

Though signs are wonderful to experience, they cannot be the bases for our relationship with God. When we think that without signs, we cannot follow, what we are actually doing to is placing ourselves as master over God. We are carrying our own burden, our own yoke, because we are not interested in the will of God, but our own. 

And so Jesus says to the Pharisees, and the Holy Spirit relays to us, that the sign that we need is the the sign of Jonah, the sign of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

It’s the death and resurrection of Jesus that Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:13-14, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”

The death and resurrection of Jesus is the linch pin in the disciple’s faith; do we believe it or not?

These two understandings of who Jesus is, he is the Lord crucified and resurrected, that make all the difference. It is Jesus’ Lordship and sacrifice that makes the light yoke we as his disciples are to take, possible, and the reason why we should follow his will. The often quoted passage from Romans 10:9 is, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” 

Do we realize that this is everything that we just read, summed up? Matthew is showing us that Jesus is Lord, because his interpretation of the Sabbath is correct, because he instituted the day. Then Matthew shows us that the greatest sign God could give is the death and resurrection of Jesus himself. If we believe these things, Jesus is Lord and he has been raised from the dead, then we are his disciples, who have taken on his yoke, walking humbly in the will of God, with a repentant heart. 

We need to stop seeking signs for our own self gratification, but rather seeking God to reveal himself as Lord of our life, and Savior of our souls. Does that mean we cannot ask for God’s miraculous work? No, but we cannot hold it as a prerequisite to our following him. We must be yoked to the Lord, allowing him to accomplish his will in our life, being satisfied with only his Lordship and resurrection. 

When we’re satisfied with this one sign, then no place which he will lead us becomes unbearable, no calling on our life seems out of line, and no sacrifice he requires of us seems unneeded. For he is the Lord, the resurrected Savior, and he can take me where he wills.

This week I want to challenge you to memorize and wrestle with Romans 10:9. Every day read through the verse and spend sometime reciting it, so that you may memorize it. And as you do begin to ask yourselves two questions:

First, is Jesus Lord of of my life. That means he has dominion and control over ever aspect. There’s nothing in your life that he doesn’t have access to. His word on the subject is greater than yours or any other persons. Is that true? If not, seek God to be Lord of your life. To lead you in his will, to change your thoughts and actions to what he wants, so that you are yoked to him.

The second question is, are you satisfied with the sign of the resurrection, or do you require more from God before you’ll follow him? That means that you might want a miraculous healing, but if it does’t come will you be satisfied because Jesus is resurrected? That means that you might want God to intervene in a certain situation, maybe justifying you in front of others, but if he does’t will you be content in his resurrection? 

It’s hard to have Jesus as Lord based on nothing but his resurrection for two reasons: First, it’s hard to give up control, and second, we weren’t there for the actual event. But if God’s Word is true, and I know that it is, then the better path is Jesus’. The lighter way is Jesus’. The more fulfilling way is Jesus’. 

So let us be a people that seek the Lordship of Jesus in our lives, and are satisfied with the resurrection as our confirmation of Jesus’ truth. Amen.

Matthew Series, Week 21 - Get Yoked

  A few years before I joined Simpson College baseball, the team was little more than a club. There was no league for them, so they played whoever was willing to schedule them, and a lot of the teams they played were far beyond their ability. One time, we faced the “B” squad of the Master’s College in California and got utterly decimated. But there was one school that seemed to be within the ability of our team to overcome. Occidental College was a school that we played several times, and were always a run or two down from beating them. 

That is until my sophomore year. There was only one player left from the last time Simpson almost beat Occidental and it was his senior year. He wanted nothing more than to beat this team that had always just slipped away. We always played double header against Occidental, so it was two back to back seven innings games. We lost the first game, but were doing well in the second. For the the entire game we were up in runs, with the other team only getting a few hits on our pitcher. I was playing third base, something I hated, but was needed and the senior was playing shortstop. It was the bottom of the seventh, with two outs. In the two years I had played, we had never been so close to winning. The pitcher took his sign and the ball screamed across the plate, the batter swung and a typical ground ball bounced towards the shortstop. The whole thing was routine. Not only was this the last out, but the senior who had been waiting for the win for years, had the opportunity to be the one that hit the nail in the coffin. He grounded the ball clean and came up for the throw. 

The ball sailed five feet over the first baseman’s head. The runner was safe. The other team rallied from two runs down to score three that inning. The senior was devastated. He was the one that wanted it the most, and he was the one that lost it for the team. That night we rallied around him and grew closer as a team than we had before. In our defeat, we as players became stronger. I saw what it meant for godly men to strengthen and support others in a trying time and it gave me great encouragement. I’m sure that that senior still kicks himself today, but that moment, and many others after it, helped me understand the need to rely on others for support.

 

And it’s this idea of being reliance that brings us back into our Matthew series where we will be picking it back up in Matthew chapter 11, starting in verse 25. As we get into Matthew 11:25, let’s refresh our minds with where we are so far. So far in Matthew we have covered two out of five sections of the book. In the first section we saw how Jesus’ identity encases the identity of those who would be his disciples. In the first seven chapters, who Jesus is, is brought to the forefront of the narrative parts of the book, while the teaching section shows us how a disciple must view themselves in light of who Jesus is. Therefore, anything we as a disciple are to be, is in the middle of everything that Jesus already is. We cannot hope to be his disciple, apart from who he is.

In the second section, we saw how Jesus called his disciples to two things: not being tethered to this world, and participating in his salvation work. Like Jesus who was rejected by his creation and so had no place among it, we who are his disciples must realize that this world is not our home. Instead, our home is with Jesus himself. Yet as long as God has us in the world, we must be actively seeking God’s work in our lives and the lives of those who he brings us into contact. We must always be seeking the movement of the Holy Spirit to direct our prayers and our actions for the work of building God’s kingdom.

It was then last week that we started into the third section of Matthew’s Gospel. In the beginning of this third section we saw Jesus’ encouraging word about John the Baptist, calling him the greatest person who ever lived. Yet Jesus added that even the least in God’s kingdom was greater than John. In the opening passage we saw that, to be this greater one in God’s kingdom, a disciple must have a repentant heart and walk humbly with God. That means that when we go against God’s word, we must repent of that action, and we must seek God’s will over our lives instead of our own.

It’s with that starting point that the Holy Spirit, through Matthew, begins to show us what this kingdom reliance on Jesus looks like. And so we now turn our attention to Matthew chapter 11 verse 25. 

Now before we go into this, in our last section we saw how Matthew had this three-fold narrative structure. Matthew would give us three narratives and then a teaching of Jesus. This happened three times and led into Jesus’ second sermon. This time around, Matthew structures his section as a mirror. There are three sub-sections, which have narratives that are mirrored with other narratives in a sandwich type. The first of these narrative mirrors, the outer layers or bread of the sandwich, that we’ll be looking at, is chapter 11 verses 25-29, and chapter 12 verses 46-50. 

Let’s read through both narratives and then we’ll see how they fit together. 

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 is what you were pleased to do.

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.”

Dropping down to chapter 12, verse 46.

46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”

48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

These narrative teachings both have to deal with our relationship with Jesus. In the first narrative, Jesus is teaching on two ideas that follow each other. First, Jesus alone has the the access to God. Back in chapter 7, Jesus talked about the narrow way. Jesus’ way is the narrow way; only through Jesus can we hope to enter into God’s eternal life. Here, Jesus reveals this reality, therefore, what should a person do? They must come to Jesus. 

This has all been covered before. Yet, between that first call to only follow Jesus and this time, a lot has happened and it can seem like the life of a disciple of Jesus is an overwhelming one. Leave father and mother, don’t be tethered to this world, be useful in the salvation work of God, get ready for persecution, be ever repentant, and seek humility instead of power. These are things that can seem overwhelming, and so Jesus lets us know, that the burden we think this will be, is actually light. Jesus himself isn’t out to get us.

I just got done re-reading the book, The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer and he has this great line. When writing on the goodness of God, Tozer writes, “The whole outlook of mankind might change if we could all believe that we dwell under a friendly sky and that the God of heaven, though exalted in power and majesty, is eager to be friends with us.”

Jesus’ purpose of calling us into discipleship is so that we may know God’s good, gentle, and humble heart. This is why earlier in chapter 6, verse 33, Jesus tells us that, “…seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Jesus’ purposes are not to burden his people more, it’s to take away our burdens that weigh us down, replacing them with things that are actually freeing. And so, Jesus’ burden, his yoke that directs our path like it would on an ox, is rest for our souls, not the distress that the world would put us in. 

But how then are we to have this rest? That’s where Matthew’s mirror structure comes in. In the mirrored narrative, we are told that those who are a part of Jesus’ rest, those who are a part of his family, are those who do the will of God. 

When we are seeking and putting into action the will of God for our lives, we find rest or this lighter yoke. When we are involved in the things of God, the burden is supposed to become light. So when the things of this world try to place the stresses and worries it seeks us to take upon ourselves, we can shovel them off, because we have the burden of Christ. That burden is serenity in the storm. It is the yoke of calm in the calamity. It is peace in the pandemics of life.

So then the natural question is, what is the will of God? What is this will that brings this rest and shows us to be his family?

It’s really everything that Jesus has called us to. It’s the not being tethered to this world. When the media says fear, the untethered disciple says I fear not because Jesus is in control. It is being active in the salvation work of God. And when the world says, you’re not supposed to talk about such things, the disciples responds with there is nothing of greater importance to say. It’s doing the things that Jesus says and being directed in them by the Holy Spirit. 

Look at the words Jesus uses of his burden. He says, "For my yoke is easy (v.30).” For us none farmers, a yoke is described as, “a device for joining together a pair of draft animals.”

That means that we are being joined together to Jesus. It’s his strength we are to rely upon. We are not to tether ourselves to this world, because we are tethered, or yoked, with Jesus. We are not to do our own will, but the will of God and do so in the power of the Holy Spirit who is given to every disciple.

And so, in every aspect of our lives, we must recognize the joining that occurred when accepted Jesus as our Savior through the Holy Spirit. Trouble with family, yoke ourselves with Jesus. Trouble with finances, yoke ourselves with Jesus. Trouble with viruses, pandemics, riots, bad government, or whatever else? Yoke ourselves with Jesus. 

Don’t get me wrong, being yoked with Jesus does’t mean that those things are magically taken away, but we are to rely in the strength of Jesus to carry the weight rather than putting it squarely on ourselves. And instead, go about the work that Jesus has called us to.

We cannot be separated from our Savior and Lord, and think that we can do it alone. We’re going to be yoked with something in this life. Either the world, who will heap the burden onto us, or with Jesus, who will take the burden onto himself. 

But notice, we’re there with him. We’re there attached to him by the yoke and so he works in us to accomplish all that he is going to do through us. 

And so, my challenge for you this week is to seek Jesus’ yoke. I have a craft project for you. It has a yoke with Jesus’ face in it, and I want to challenge you to place your face in that yoke next to Jesus’ and seek his yoke this week. Place that paper with yours and Jesus’ face by your bathroom mirror and everyday you see it, say a simple prayer like, “Jesus, help me take on your yoke today and not be burden by what the world has in store.” 

Let us be people who are yoked with Jesus, found in his rest and a part of his family, as we move forward in the will of God. Let us move ever away from the world’s burdens and wholly rely on Jesus who has done everything for those that have accepted his call to follow him. Amen.