…and
I will give you rest
Probably three of the best-loved verses
of Scripture come at the end of this chapter. They are the tender words of
Jesus about finding rest in Him.
Matthew 11,28-30 is captured most beautifully
in the first verse of a very favourite hymn of mine, written by Horatius Bonar:
I
heard the voice of Jesus say, "Come unto Me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down, Thy head upon My breast."
I came to Jesus as I was, Weary and worn and sad;
I found in Him a resting-place, And He has made me glad.
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down, Thy head upon My breast."
I came to Jesus as I was, Weary and worn and sad;
I found in Him a resting-place, And He has made me glad.
One of
the best ways we learn how to do anything – from riding a bike, or playing the
piano to tying your own shoelaces – is by watching someone else first and then
doing. In the previous chapter Jesus had sent the disciples out to carry on his
work of healing and liberating. Now he urges his followers to learn how to
rest. It is not all action or activity.
‘Are you
tired? Worn out? Burnt out on religion? Come to me, Get away with me and you’ll
recover your life,’ says Jesus in Eugene Petersen’s paraphrase. ‘I’ll show you
how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it.
Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting
on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.’
I just
love this translation. For it rings true. During the sabbatical I had this
spring and summer, I learned again the rhythms of grace which spring from
walking with God. Of course, we don’t literally see Jesus in the physical sense
when we walk each day. But learning to slow down and be alert to Christ with
me, beside me, around me, behind and ahead of me, has certainly helped me live
more freely and lightly.
I still
get very anxious. I learn to spot the signs of anxiety sooner, perhaps. But
what I do know is that these three verses and the three verses of Bonar’s hymn
are truth to me.
The
context of these much-loved and much-lived verses is important. Jesus’ strength
and resilience, as he pours himself out for others, stems from his dependent
relationship upon his heavenly Father. After raging against the generation of
people he has come to serve – especially those who have not responded to the
works of the kingdom as he had perhaps hoped (this frustration of Jesus really
does show his humanity, doesn’t it) – Jesus suddenly becomes tender. It is
almost as if his divine nature reasserts a deep sense of grace and he responds
with a prayer of thanksgiving (I am of course drifting close to heresy here by
suggesting the two natures are somehow in conflict – the mystery of Jesus is
that he was One with himself and with the Father. In him there could be no
division).
He thanks
God for concealing the kingdom from sophisticated people, and from know-it-alls
while revealing it to ordinary people and those who are meek, wretched, deaf,
blind, lame and dead! And he then speaks so tenderly about his relationship
which sustains him and gives him the unforced rhythm of grace.
All of
this is sparked first by a question from his cousin, John; who, languishing in
prison just wants to check, I think, that it has all been worthwhile. He knows
is end is coming and he wants to make sure that Jesus is the one he was waiting
for. Jesus says, effectively, the proof of the pudding is the works of the
kingdom.
But the
works of the kingdom cannot happen unless the kingdom workers know how to rest.
Here are the final two verses of the lovely hymn. May they draw you close to
the sustaining friendship of Jesus today.
I heard the voice of Jesus say, "Behold,
I freely give
The living water; thirsty one, Stoop down and drink and live."
I came to Jesus, and I drank Of that life-giving stream.
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, And now I live in Him.
I heard the voice of Jesus say, "I am this dark world's Light.
Look unto Me; thy morn shall rise And all thy day be bright."
I looked to Jesus, and I found In Him my Star, my Sun;
And in that Light of Life I'll walk Till traveling days are done.
The living water; thirsty one, Stoop down and drink and live."
I came to Jesus, and I drank Of that life-giving stream.
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, And now I live in Him.
I heard the voice of Jesus say, "I am this dark world's Light.
Look unto Me; thy morn shall rise And all thy day be bright."
I looked to Jesus, and I found In Him my Star, my Sun;
And in that Light of Life I'll walk Till traveling days are done.
I have continued to ponder Jesus' words about death; not fearing those who can kill the body, but not the soul. This chapter finds John in prison, facing his death. I find it heartening that even John had moments of doubt. Who, really, was Jesus? Why hadn't he interevened to have John released from prison? My student Bible suggests that , perhaps, John was expecting a political messiah. Such a messiah would have had John released from prison.
ReplyDeleteDespite what Jesus said about death in the previous chapter he too was afraid when he faced death. He prayed in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. He too felt intensely lonely despite having his disciples with him. In the end, he cried out, " My God, my God, why have you abandoned me." In difficult times I remember the words of St Paul in Romans 8:18
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
I went to church once and thought that I had been given a message about standing strong and wearing my armour. Having been in a dispute with a daughter in law I hastened around to her house to make things good but then was subjected to an hour’s verbal hysterics through which I sat and listened without saying a word, so much for my armour and sword. I left for home wondering if I had heard the message correctly, had the message perhaps not been for me, I had somehow got it all wrong.
ReplyDeleteHere we have John the Baptist.
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John but John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” Then John consented.
As soon as Jesus was baptized he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him and a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
I thought that John knew at this point that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah but John, who was later imprisoned, heard about the deeds of the Messiah and sent his disciples to ask him, “are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
In this case John had confirmation. Jesus said, “Go back and report what you hear, tell him about all the miracles, the blind see, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the good news is proclaimed to the poor and then he praised John, “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.”
We don’t all get our beliefs or decisions confirmed like John the Baptist but often act on faith alone.
Chapter 11 finds Jesus alone again with the disciples all over the countryside carrying the message of the Good News. No telecommunications in those days, so he must have wondered how they were getting on, sent out as sheep before wolves. But Jesus continued his teaching and preaching alone in the towns of Galilee.
ReplyDeleteHe receives messengers from John the Baptist, who was in prison and facing likely execution, was Jesus really is the Messiah? He gets his reassurance to settle his doubts, in the form of a list of what Jesus was doing in the community – healing the blind, deaf, lame and lepers, and preaching the good news to the poor. These are the things that Jesus regards as proof of who he was – practical things worked out in a spirit of compassion and love. Healing and preaching were the keynotes of the start of Matthew’s account.
Jesus then tells the crowd that John is his forerunner, and he rounds on the crowd accusing them of not knowing what they wanted. He says, you condemned John for living an austere life in the desert, remaining apart and not joining in your feasting. Yet you accuse me when I come among you, and eat and drink with you, and mix with tax collectors. Clearly we cannot win, for you don’t know what you want. That criticism is still true today – many people don’t know what they want (and don’t always like what they get as a result).
He accuses the towns where he has performed many miracles of healing of not responding by repentance and change; of not learning from what they saw around them; of not making sensible judgements. We are not that different today. We don’t always see the action of God around us and react accordingly.
Jesus thanks God that things have been hidden from the wise and learned (with all their earthly knowledge) that are seen by little children, the poor, the oppressed and those of simple faith. Yet it is to these that Jesus particularly makes a call to accept his yoke, for it is light and bearable, and does not weigh down upon them like the burden of the Jewish Law. He was offering them a freedom that the religion of his time did not. It was a freedom of the spirit, a releasing of love into their hearts and into their community that would lift their weariness with their situation and give them rest.
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ReplyDeleteI've been finding the way Matthew writes, his style and presentation of Jesus, quite hard edged. And this chapter is no exception with Jesus denouncing towns and cities, and issuing another call to repent. But then, suddenly, we read the last few verses of words of comfort, reassurance, and tenderness from a loving Saviour.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how the way we speak of or write about Jesus presents him to others? Do our words and our lives reflect his tenderness? Or can we be hard edged at times? Is there a time and a place for both?
Then there's the burdens we all can carry. And the burdens we, often unintentionally, put on others.
Today I have been with people who carry very heavy burdens. May the tender love of Jesus bring them and all of us rest and deep peace.