their sin exposed before all. So what happens?
They hide. Because here's what people fear. They
fear that if people really knew me, they would
not want me. I would be rejected. And it's to
these weary people that Jesus speaks words of
comfort and he says, come to me, you who labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
In our text this morning, it's very easy to see,
Jesus makes an offer of rest to those carrying
this heavy burden from which they cannot free
themselves. They must come to Christ. Jesus'
offer of rest, it is good news. And what is good
news? It's the gospel. And we see here this morning,
the gospel of Christ does not demand that we
come and try harder, that we come and do more.
Rather, there's a promise. The Son of the Living
God offers to remove the crushing burden and
give people true and lasting rest to any weary
soul who will come to Him. This is the promise.
Now we've been in Matthew 11 for several weeks
now and this chapter really is all about differing
responses of the ways in which people responded
to Jesus. Some, we see at the very beginning,
were confused by Him. Some flat out rejected
Him and some embraced Him. Matthew 11 begins
with John the Baptist. Remember John the Baptist
is sitting in prison and it begins to have some
doubts. He's confused. Is Jesus truly the Messiah
or should we look for someone else? And of course
Jesus sends back objective testimony. Go and
tell John all that you've seen and heard and
he lists all the miracles. But then we move from
John the Baptist to three cities that are mentioned.
We talked about these last week. They're there
in Galilee, northern Israel, Chorazin, Bethsaida,
and Capernaum. And these cities were the ones
in which Jesus did most of his miracles. Yet
despite the incontrovertible evidence of his
miracles, by and large these cities rejected
him. And today this chapter will end with a group
who receives Jesus and his offer of rest. Last
week was all about judgment. Jesus pronounced
judgment upon those who had seen His miracles,
had first -hand access to His ministry, but they
didn't repent. They didn't change their lives
in light of His coming. And immediately the Lord
then announces a woe, an impending judgment upon
these people. But after He does so, after pronouncing
judgment, He prays. He prays to His Father, thanking
Him for the wisdom of His plan. And you see that
in verses 25 and 26. Jesus said, I thank you,
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, he's the only
Lord, that you have hidden these things from
the wise and prudent, and you have revealed them
to babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed good
in your sight. Some were confused by Jesus, some
rejected Jesus, and some received Jesus. Why?
What made the difference between the three groups?
We don't have to wonder our Lord clearly lays
out the answer to that question Jesus said to
his father You have hidden these things from
the wise and prudent and you have revealed them
to babes. What made the difference? God God made
the difference Now this is just what the text
says to some he revealed the truth about Christ
and For others he allowed that truth to remain
hidden Very clear what he's saying there. Jesus,
in fact, says God the Father had hidden these
things. What are the these things to which Jesus
is referring that were hidden? It refers to the
truth of Jesus and his identity as Messiah and
Savior. Some were given eyes to see Jesus as
Messiah. Others were not. And Jesus said that
was God's good plan. Even so, Father, so it seems
good in your sight. Human initiative and natural
human understanding can never discern the truth
of Jesus that is only ever given as a gift from
God. Paul wrote about this in the second chapter
of 1 Corinthians, verse 14. The natural man,
that's the man that's born of Adam, that's all
of us before coming to Christ. The natural man
does not receive the things of the Spirit of
God. He doesn't receive them for their foolishness
to him, nor can he know them. It's impossible
because they are spiritually discerned. What
does it mean to be spiritually discerned? They
are revealed by the Holy Spirit of God. That
means man, without God's grace or unaided by
grace, is incapable of understanding and discerning
spiritual truth. Or we could say it this way,
man cannot see unless God grants him grace to
see. He will remain blind. The only way you or
I or anyone else living on this planet can understand
the truth of God is if God opens the heart and
the eyes of that man or woman to see and understand
the truth of the Son. That's it. Now this is
easily seen in Peter's confession. Remember the
Apostle Peter. He is the leader of the apostolic
band. He's the one that rose to the top. When
they're all mentioned, Peter's always the first.
Now, in Matthew 16, Peter makes that great confession.
When Jesus came into the region, Caesarea Philippi,
he asked his disciples, who do men say that I
am? Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?
So they began answering. Well, some say you're
John the Baptist. Some say you're Elijah, and
others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. And
he said, well, who do you say that I am? He's
asking plural. Who do you all say that I am?
Peter, the leader, answered and said, you are
the Christ, the Son of the living God. You are
Messiah. You are the promised seed to come, in
other words. Jesus, not denying it at all, but
affirming it, he answered and said to him, blessed
are you, blessed, favored by God are you, Simon
bar Jonah, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and
blood, humanity, your own natural inclination
has not revealed this to you, that my Father
who's in heaven. The reason, Peter, you understand
that is because my Father, the one in heaven,
revealed it to you. And this gives us incredible
insight. Jesus said that the fact that the Apostle
Peter had come to know and understand that he,
Jesus, was the Messiah was because the Father
had chosen in his good pleasure to reveal that
to Peter. That means the confession that he just
made did not come through his own insight, nor
did it come through his own reason. Now keep
in mind all that Peter had seen. Peter had been
with Jesus from the beginning. He had seen Jesus
do extraordinary miracles. He was there at the
Sherman on the Mount when Jesus taught with such
authority that no other scribe or Pharisee had
ever done. He saw with his own eyes the Lord
heal the sick, including his own mother -in -law.
Remember, she had a fever and the Lord raises
her up in Peter's house. He saw Jesus cleanse
lepers by touching them. There were blind men
that were given sight. He granted hearing to
those who could no longer hear. He granted speech
to the mute. Lame men from all from birth were
made to walk. And he had even witnessed Jesus
raise the dead. He was there when Lazarus was
raised. Peter had seen Jesus multiply bread and
fish from his own hands. He was there when Jesus
turned water into wine. Peter was the one who
saw Jesus walk on water. And he was there when
the wind and sea were made to be calm by the
word of Jesus himself. And Jesus said, in spite
of all that, none of that was sufficient to allow
Peter to see who Jesus really was. God the Father
had to reveal it to him. That is how blind mankind
truly is. Jesus said, Peter, you have been blessed.
You have been favored by God. Because to you
is granted understanding of who I really am.
You see me not merely as the son of Mary and
Joseph, but rather as the son of the living God.
And that's something only my father can reveal
to you. Now we think, well, come on pastor, come
on. Of course Peter came to see who Jesus was.
I mean, look at all the intel. Look at all the
information he enjoyed. Yeah, but Jesus said
that wouldn't have been enough. That's not why
Peter saw Jesus as the Son of the Living God,
the Messiah. See, divine revelation is a gift.
It's not a product of human achievement nor intelligence.
And we may not like this, but God chooses when,
how, and to whom His truth is revealed. It's
what the text says. We must understand something
though. God is not obligated to reveal himself
to anyone at any time. God's indebted to no one.
He owes no man anything at all, ever. Which means
if he reveals something, it is always a gift
of divine grace. Grace means it is not owed.
Grace means it is not earned. Grace means it
is a gift. Now having said that, that does not
mean God's revelation is arbitrarily or capriciously
given. What do I mean by that? Jesus said that
God hid the truth from the wise and prudent.
Now, why would you hide it from the wise and
prudent? Jesus is using sarcasm here. Those who
are wise and prudent in their own eyes. See,
this comes on the heels of those cities who should
have repented and didn't. Believing they were
wise, they were actually unwise. And this was
especially true of Israel's leaders. This was
especially true of the scribes and Pharisees.
They were arrogant. They were proud people who
thought they can understand God by their own
wisdom. God does not reveal the truth of a son
to those who think they already know better.
It's not the way he works. James 4 tells us God
resists the proud. So those who are proud cannot
discern their own spiritual blindness because
they think they already can see. See, they're
deceived, but it's a self -deception. They assume
they see fine. So unless God, in His grace, removes
that blindness from them, they will never see.
So He resists the proud, but James 4 verse 6
tells us He gives grace to the humble. And notice
the text. You have hidden them, Father, these
things from the wise and prudent, but you have
revealed them to babes. The word babes is the
word Greek word nepeos. An infant can mean someone
like a suckling child, a minor. It's really used
as someone who's dependent upon another. So Jesus
is not using this to refer to chronological age
at all. It's rather referring to those who are
humble of heart. They know they don't have what
it takes. They have a heart disposition that
makes them open to the truth. They're humble.
They did not come and come with their own preconceived
notions of what the Messiah should be or even
presuming of how God should work. See, that's
where Israel's leaders tripped over Jesus. They
had a preconceived notion of what the Messiah
would be like. Jesus didn't fit the bill. Regardless
of how many miracles he did, they rejected him.
But these babes, these humble ones, they didn't
come like that. They were open. They weren't
presuming to know how God would work. And as
a result, the humble were granted, because God
revealed it to them, the ability to receive truth,
and yet that same truth remained hidden to those
who were proud. And this is why God works. And
it's not just here in Matthew. I've said this
so many times. If you look at the kingdom of
God, it's as though God takes the values of man's
kingdom, turns them upside down in his kingdom.
It's almost like you can shift it on its head,
if you will. In man's kingdom, Strong and mighty
ones are chosen. But in God's, he says, it's
the weak who are chosen. In man's kingdom, it's
the wise, the humanly wise are chosen. But in
God's kingdom, he says, I choose the foolish
man. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, Paul wrote about
this. But God has chosen the foolish things of
the world to put to shame the wise. Again, these
are people wise in their own eyes. And God has
chosen the weak things of the world to put to
shame those things which are mighty. and the
basings of the world, and the things which are
despised, God has chosen, and the things which
are not, to bring to nothing the things that
are. And why is God doing any of that? Why is
he working in such a manner as that? So that
no flesh should glory in his presence. You ever
wonder why so many men with tenure in universities
and earned PhDs reject Christ? The mighty, the
noble, the powerful, the elite, most of them
aren't Christians. They scoff at this faith.
It's backwards, it's backwoods. Sure, it's good
for his people of Appalachia, but not for the
sophisticated halls of academia. God has chosen
the weak things. Doesn't flatter our ego, does
it? But boy, it gives God glory. What Christ
is clearly telling us is that man by his own
natural faculties cannot discern, nor can he
understand God's wisdom. It must be revealed
by grace. The knowledge of the Son is revealed
by the Father. But look at verse 7. There's a
converse here now. The knowledge of the Father
must be revealed by the Son. Look at verse 27
of Matthew 11. All things have been delivered
to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except
the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except
the Son, and notice the addendum here, and the
one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him, wills,
chooses to reveal Him. Now Jesus said, all things
have been delivered to me by my Father. What
are the all things? It's a good question. All
things include all authority. All authority has
been given to Christ. Matthew 28, 18, Jesus came
speaking to his disciples. He said, all authority
has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
There is no authority that exists that hasn't
already been delegated and given to Christ. He
reigns as the supreme potentate. All things include
all judgment. John 5. For the Father judges no
one, but he's committed all judgment to the Son.
authority has been given, all judgment has been
granted. In other words, Jesus is the Father's
one and only, and here's a big word you don't
even know, plenipotentiary. Okay, now what's
that? I just learned this word and so I'm using
it and it's like a $10 ,000 word, but it actually
fit really well here, okay? A plenipotentiary,
I'd never heard the word before, but a plenipotentiary
is a diplomat who is invested with the full power
of independent action on behalf of a government.
Now let me explain because this is really kind
of neat. So we have ambassadors. We're familiar
with ambassadors. Those who are representatives,
you have an ambassador to Denmark, an ambassador
to Greenland or Mexico, whatever. An ambassador
acts in the absence of the king or the president.
But he still must get the approval of the king
because he only serves as a representative. But
a plenipotentiary has the full power of independent
action. So if he could independently sign treaties,
he acts with the full power of the King himself.
So meaning if the plenipotentiary is present,
there is no need to even talk with the King because
that plenipotentiary has been given the same
authority as the King. So Jesus is not merely
an ambassador. He's not like a delegate sent
from heaven. No, he comes with the full authority
of God in his own person. As Colossians would
tell us, he is the fullness of the Godhead in
bodily form. Jesus said, if you've seen me, well,
you've seen the Father. It's not that he and
the Father are the same person, but they are
one God, eternally existing in three distinct
persons, Father, Son, and Spirit. If you know
me, you know the Father. If you know the Father,
you know me. instead of one seeing the other.
In fact, Jesus said here in Matthew 11, no one
actually knows the Father except the Son, and
no one actually knows the Son except the Father.
Okay, what's Jesus? Is that not double speak?
No. The Father and Son, the Father, God, the
Father, God, the Son, know each other in a mutually
exhaustive and intimate way like no one else
could ever know them. But, although Jesus knows
the Father, He's not the only one who knows the
Father. So do all those whom Jesus wills to reveal
him. Look at verse 27. It's very, very clear
there. Jesus said, if you're going to know the
Father, no is a relational term, not talking
about cognitive ability. If you're going to know
the Father relationally, That depends on Jesus's
willingness to reveal Him to you. This means,
again, knowledge of the Father, knowledge of
God, is a special gift of God. In other words,
let me just say it this way. The triune God cannot
be figured out. It's an impossibility. He must
be revealed. And our Lord says that He is the
mediator of that knowledge. If you know Him,
you know the Father. John 17 verse 3, Jesus said,
and this is eternal life. What is it? That they
may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom you have sent. Eternal life is not merely
life that never ends. It's a participation in
the very life of God. Peter would say we are
partakers of the divine nature. But to participate
in the life of God, you must come through faith
in Jesus Christ. So the Father must reveal the
Son, the Son must reveal the Father, and if neither
one of them does that, that knowledge remains
hidden, and it particularly remains hidden to
those who are wise in their own eyes. Because
only the grace of God makes that knowledge known.
Now Jesus, according to Hebrews 1, is the express
image of His person. Jesus is the express image
of the Father. He alone can reveal the Father.
And this is the gospel. This is the good news.
He invites weary sinners to come to Him and find
that knowledge that will bring true rest and
salvation. Look at verse 28. Come to me, all
you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest. To whom does Jesus reveal the
Father? To the people who are crushed and weighed
down by their sin. He reveals the Father to those
who know they need Him. To those who understand,
I cannot do it. Throughout scripture, there is
a beautiful, mysterious pattern that emerges.
We will see God's sovereignty, and you do. You
can't deny it. Matthew 11, verses 25, 26, and
27. God's sovereignty is there, but it's always
going to be juxtaposed with man's responsibility.
Almost always they're juxtaposed. They're side
by side. So if you would look at this. You see
God's sovereignty because God must open the eyes
and reveal Christ. It's His prerogative. But
we see man's responsibility in that anyone, anyone
who's weighed down and wants relief from their
sin, you're invited to come to Christ. Come to
me, all who are weary. Do you see it? They're
friends. God is sovereign. Man is responsible.
Jesus gives a true invitation. Come to me. Let
me just say that would be a terribly audacious
statement if Jesus were not God. But He is God.
And as such, He's the only one who can offer
your soul satisfaction. So go to Him. Run to
Him. And He says, Jesus made a glorious promise
here, that whoever comes to Him in faith, He
said, I will grant you rest. I will give you
rest. What kind of rest? You need a nap? No.
You will find rest for your souls. I love that
phrase. Rest for your soul. Your soul disturbed.
Is it noisy? Or is that peace? Soul rest. This
is a rest in which Jesus removes from you that
guilt, that shame and burden of your sin, that
soul -crushing weight that hangs over the human
conscience. The alienation, the separation that
we experience from God because of our sin, it
is removed in Christ. So Jesus is saying, come.
Does that sound good to you? Jesus is the one
that brings us home. He brings us home to the
Father. See, the invitation is open to all, but
not all will come. It's open to all. It's universal.
Come. You want, you can come. Jesus is willing
to reveal the Father to all who know they need
him. and are willing to accept accept his yoke
and learn from him look at verse 29 the first
part of it take my yoke upon you and learn from
me for i'm gentle and lowly in heart then go
down to verse 30 for my yoke is easy and my burden
is light now we don't typically think of a yoke
as a light thing before studying for this particular
sermon I learned the word plenipotentiary this
week, and I also learned what I think this yoke
is. Now when I had seen this, I always had assumed,
and I'd always heard, that the yoke that Jesus
is referring to was an animal yoke that harnessed
two animals together to plow a field or pull
a cart. However, most scholars, many scholars,
I don't know about most, I haven't read all the
scholars, many scholars say no, the yoke that
Jesus is referring to is actually a human yoke.
You see behind me, you see the animal yoke, you
see the human yoke. So this human yoke was born
by a single person, which would evenly distribute
the weight across your shoulders to make a burden
easier to carry. For example, if you're carrying
pails of water, it would be easier to carry with
a yoke than without it. And this is what Jesus
is saying. This is the word picture. Many were
carrying heavy burdens. Now those heavy burdens
probably refer to the strict and unreasonable
demands that the religious leaders had placed
upon the people. The scribes and Pharisees had
added a lot to the law. So they had added hundreds
and hundreds of detailed laws and scrupulous
traditions which came with constant pressure
to prove you're righteous. No one could live
up to it. No one. They didn't even live up to
it themselves. Now the reason we think that the
burdens Jesus is referring to are these demands
of the religious leaders because in Matthew 23
Jesus said that. Verse 4, for they, scribes and
Pharisees, bind heavy burdens hard to bear, hard
to carry, and lay them on men's shoulders, but
they themselves will not move them with one of
their fingers. Do you see what's happening here?
The religious leaders placed a heavy weight upon
the people. There's a weight it was impossible
to bear. Constantly have to improve yourself.
Constantly have to try to earn righteousness,
prove you're righteous. And Jesus said, no, take
off that yoke and put on mine. Well, they didn't
have a yoke. They were just carrying it themselves.
He said, put on my yoke. For you who are carrying
burdens that are too heavy, Jesus offers a yoke
which would make life easier rather than harder.
Now, what do I mean by that? His yoke would not
bring further hardship. It brings relief. It
brings rest. In his commentary, R .T. France
said, we should remember that the rest Jesus
offers is not a relaxation of the demands of
righteousness. No, go back and read the Sermon
on the Mount. The Sermon, not in the mouth, the
Sermon on the Mount. He says, you have heard,
but I say to you, he lifted, he elevated righteousness.
So that's not why he's not relaxing the standards
so that we can now jump through the hoop. No,
he elevates it. But here's what he is doing.
There's a new relationship with God which now
makes it possible to fulfill them. Christ has
done it for us. It's not the removal of any yoke,
but a new and kind yoke which makes the burden
slide. Okay, so that means Jesus does not set
you free. He does not liberate people so that
you can go on and live life any way you want.
That's not the freedom. That's not the freedom
Christ promises. Because, but, here's what he
is saying, when one is in fellowship with him,
when you are in fellowship with Christ, you will
see that the burden of Jesus is not a heavy burden.
He doesn't remove the need for our obedience.
If you love Him, keep His commandments. He's
not removing the need for obedience, but He changes
the weight and gives you a new source of strength.
His burden is light. Why? This is the key. His
burden is light because life with Him is how
life was meant to be lived. It's what you were
created for. To walk with His yoke is to live
life the way the God has intended. It's to live
life for the very purpose for which you were
created. So that means the weight of sin that
would have crushed us is removed in Christ. See,
salvation, it's a gift. It's a gift to be received.
It's not a goal that you achieve. That is such
a huge difference. But aren't we still called
to obey? Yes, you are. But our obedience now
stems from the love for the Lord and because
we have a relationship with God in Christ. Yes,
you're still called. Deny yourself. Take up your
cross. Those commands are still there, but you
no longer fear, well, if I'm not perfect, then
God's going to reject me. You are no longer trying
to earn God's love because love has been given
to you in Christ fully and completely. So the
work that God calls us to, church, it still may
be difficult. But we work as our souls at rest.
There is peace in our soul because there is peace
with God. See, Jesus, the truth is before he
ever asked you to follow him or do anything for
him, he first invites you to come and rest in
him. That's what you have to see. So Matthew
11, it gave us different ways that people responded.
Some rejected, others received. And we're reminded,
this is the thing that we're reminded of in this
chapter, Christianity is not about what you must
do for God. The true Christian faith is what
God has done for you in Christ. Come, receive
it. Before you work, you rest. So are you tired?
Are you tired this morning? Are you weary? You
feel crushed. There's that constant cloud. Jesus
invites you to come. But he doesn't say, come
and do more, come and try harder. He says, come
and find rest. It's a heavy thing to carry the
burden of your sin. I wonder, are you tired of
shame? Tired of the guilt? You don't have to
labor that way. Jesus has come today, find rest
in him, because he's gentle, and he's lowly in
heart, and he promises something. There will
be rest for your soul. So if you're willing to
come, He is willing to receive you. Now church,
we're getting ready to commune with the Lord.
We're getting ready to come to the special table
and fellowship with God in the way that He has
prescribed. As the elements are being distributed,
praise God. Thank God for the revelation that
He has given to you of His Son. And thank Him
for the rest that He gives to your soul. Let's
pray. Father, Lord, you are very kind to us.
Lord, you are very gracious and merciful to us,
Lord. Lord, we must remember the depth of our
depravity and sin. There was nothing in us that
would commend us, Lord. It's not as though that
we were stellar candidates, and Lord God, you
chose us because Lord, we have been so kind,
so good, and such morally upright, exemplary
people. Father, your word tells us that you choose
the weak, the base, the foolish. That's what
we are Lord if we would understand in light of
who you are Lord God Yes, there's nobility in
the humanity Lord because we're creating your
image that Lord we have defaced that Lord God
we have we have marred the image of God Deserving
judgments real righteous judgment from your throne
yet instead of giving us judgment You gave us
clemency you gave us mercy Lord you pardoned
us in Christ Our soul is set free Lord. We're
no longer trying to earn your favor We're not
trying to get in your good graces. We receive
what you offer as a gift, which is salvation
in your son, the one who as a son has life. Lord,
thank you for the gift of Jesus. Lord, thank
you that our soul finds satisfaction in him.
Lord, as we now enter in the time of communion,
Lord, we pray for the spirit of God to make this
effectual for your people. Strengthen our faith,
Lord, as we partake of the elements. We ask this
in Jesus' name, amen. Beacons, if you would come
and prepare the table.