The Christ-centred life

Now, perhaps we can turn together in our Bibles to Matthew chapter 11. That's on page 977.

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

! We are going to read from chapter 11, verse 25 to chapter 12, verse 14.

And maybe just to say at this point as well, that shortly after the end of the service, we'll take a few minutes to pray together sometime around 6.

6.40. So if you want to stick around, we'll pray here. That'd be much appreciated, especially as we think about inviting other people to church,

as we think about, as Roddy was praying, the mission of God's people in our city and society.

But here we are in Matthew chapter 11 from verse 25. Let's again hear the Word of God.

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

At that time, Jesus said,

At that time, Jesus went through the cornfields. On the Sabbath, his disciples were hungry and began to pick some ears of corn and eat them.

When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, Look, your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.

He answered, Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

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.

Or haven't you read in the Sabbath duty in the Sabbath, the Sabbath, and yet are innocent.

I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.

If you had known what these words mean, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent.

For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.

Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue 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?

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?

How much more valuable is a person than a sheep?

Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.

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.

But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

Amen.

So we're thinking this evening as we get back into Matthew's Gospel about the Christ-centered life.

But just as we get to our text, and as we place it in the context of where we are as a church,

Imagine a conversation with a friend or a family member this week,

and the conversation turns in such a way that it leads to an invitation.

Hey, would you like to try church with us this week or next?

If there was a follow-up question, why?

How would we answer?

I want to suggest there's three excellent answers to that question here in chapters 11 and 12 of Matthew's Gospel.

We might invite someone to come and try church because it's in church and in God's Word and in worship,

where we can discover how to have relationship with God.

And that's hugely important.

We also discover, as we gather around God's Word to hear His voice,

here's how to find true rest and true peace in our lives.

And we know so many people who are looking for that.

That's a great answer.

Or we might be led to say, well, you come to church so that you can discover Jesus

and you can find about His mercy and the compassion of God.

There's wonderful answers in here.

And notice that all of them involve knowing Jesus and a life that makes Him central.

Every one of us, we have a control center.

There will always be someone or something that is providing our sense of drive in our life,

that gives us our sense of purpose.

It's where we look to to find our security, our hope, and our joy.

And what we discover with Jesus as He comes on the mission of God into this world

is He makes the unique and the bold claim that what each of us need to do is to make Him central

if we are to experience the life with God that we were made for.

So this chapter reminds us that Jesus is calling us, God is calling us to the Christ-centered life.

But as we look at this text, we also see that running in the background, there's another way of life.

There's the way of life of the Pharisees.

And what becomes clear by the end of our reading, we heard it, they are getting together to want to kill Jesus.

The Pharisees are rejecting Jesus in favor of their own way to live, strict law-keeping to find salvation.

And in this passage and in many others in Matthew's gospel,

Jesus will lovingly confront those false alternatives that would make something else central.

And so one thing that Jesus would want to do for us this evening is to expose where perhaps we come to rely on other things than Jesus.

Perhaps it's a job or a family.

Perhaps it's even our religious performance.

And He wants to strip those away so that He might have in our lives the central place.

And so this evening we're going to hear Jesus calling us to the Christ-centered life.

And we'll also be at the same time comparing and contrasting with another way of life.

To see which is better and why.

And to recognize as we think about the Christ-centered life,

this is what Jesus invites His people, His church, to experience and to enjoy day after day.

And this is what He sends us out to invite others into.

Not into religion as such, but into a wonderful life where we know Jesus as our Savior and our friend and our Lord.

We invite people so that they too might discover relationship with God and rest from God

and the mercy of God that we find in Jesus.

So let's have a look at each of these things in turn.

First of all, recognize what Jesus says.

That He gives us relationship with God.

If you look at chapter 11 verses 25 to 27,

we hear Jesus say remarkable things about Himself.

And I suppose the foundation of a Christ-centered life begins here.

It begins with believing what Jesus says about Himself.

So as Jesus announces,

I am the center of God's revelation.

That I alone can introduce you to God the Father.

We need to take Him on trust.

To understand this is no small claim.

When we hear Jesus write, we hear Him saying,

if you and I, if we want to connect with God,

we need to go through Jesus.

If we are to discover who God truly is,

then we need to look no further than Jesus.

If we want to hear God speak and reveal Himself,

then we need to listen to Jesus.

So He's making huge claims about Himself in these words.

So look with me at Jesus' logic

as we consider His words and His claim.

So look at verse 25 and 26,

where God the Father,

Jesus is saying,

God the Father conceals and reveals according to His will.

Listen to Jesus.

I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

because You've hidden these things from the wise and learned

and revealed them to little children.

Yes, Father, for this is what You were pleased to do.

God's pleasure to conceal and to reveal.

Now the context for this section

is that we've just been told earlier in Matthew's gospel,

Jesus was active in a number of towns and cities.

They saw miracles, but they have not repented.

And we're meeting Pharisees,

and they've listened to Jesus,

and they've seen His miracles,

but they have not responded in faith.

But we also know Jesus has disciples,

He has followers,

so others have turned in faith.

And the point of that is this,

that we cannot understand God

or enter into true relationship with God

by our own efforts.

It's not our church attending,

or our Bible reading,

or our study of good theology

that is the basis of knowing God.

What Jesus says,

and what we need,

is for God to reveal Himself to us.

And He invites us to have a childlike trust

that's willing to be taught by Jesus

so that we might know by God's grace,

God the Father.

He continues, beginning of verse 27,

by making the recognition that Jesus comes

with the Father's full authority.

Look again at Jesus' words.

All things have been committed to me

by my Father.

He is the Father's representative on the earth.

He is the Father's approved agent.

Whenever we see Jesus act,

He is acting with the Father's power and authority.

When we see Jesus' love,

we understand this reveals to us

the Father's loving heart.

He perfectly represents God

to us in the world.

And that includes

the right that Jesus has

to our worship,

to our trust,

to our obedience.

The logic continues.

Look with me at verse 27.

No one knows the Son

except the Father.

To put it another way,

only God the Father

truly understands Jesus.

It takes God

to know God.

There is a level of mystery

that only God can fully comprehend.

How is it that Jesus

can be one and the same time

fully human and fully divine?

How is it that the immortal God

can take on mortal flesh?

How can the eternal enter history?

How is it that Jesus,

the Word of God,

becomes flesh

and made His dwelling among us

so that we see

the glory of God

in this man

who was born of the Virgin?

Only God fully knows God.

So there are more books

and more films

and more podcasts

and more videos about Jesus

than any other figure

in human history.

But the best of minds

will only ever

scratch the surface.

And so when Jesus

says no one knows the Son

except the Father,

this calls for our humility.

But doesn't it also call us

to hunger

that as God's people

we would want to know God better.

We will never know Him fully

but we can know Him more.

Jesus continues,

continuing in verse 27,

no one knows the Father

except the Son.

So this is the flip side

of what He's just said,

only Jesus fully understands

God the Father.

Now do we sense how bold

Jesus' claim is here?

Here is Jesus walking on this earth

and saying,

I alone can reveal the truth about God.

I know God completely.

No other human teacher

would dare to make this kind of claim.

while the best of human minds

have often grappled with

the great things of God

and we have wonderful theology

that's come from great minds,

only Jesus knows the Father

completely and intimately.

Jesus uniquely calls God

His Abba Father

and wonderfully as adopted children

we get to call God Father

but Jesus has a special relationship.

He is the eternal Son of the Father.

So again,

Jesus is helping us to see

that in a world full of opinions about God,

Jesus cuts through them all

as He says,

I alone know God fully

and absolutely come to me

to know God.

And that's where He goes next.

No one knows the Father

except the Son

and those

to whom the Son

chooses to reveal Him.

Jesus alone

can fully reveal the Father to us

and recognize that Jesus came

to reveal the Father to us.

The one who enjoys

perfect relationship with His Father,

the one who has enjoyed

eternal fellowship with the Father,

He has come to introduce us

to His Father.

That when we have faith in Jesus,

we now have direct access

to God's throne room

to know the King of the universe

as our loving Father in heaven.

So Jesus in these few short words

is making remarkable claims of Himself.

He is unique.

He has direct, perfect, personal

knowledge of God

and He is the perfect,

personal revelation of God

to the world.

He is the end of human speculation

and the climax of God's revelation.

But the point of all that He says,

why it matters,

is that it means we can know God.

We can know God as our Father.

That we can enjoy life

in right relationship with God.

That all the disharmony,

all the disintegration

that we're so aware of,

caused so often by

our own human pride,

our own rebellion,

that that can be fixed.

That by God's grace,

we can share life

with the eternal God.

That by God's grace,

we get to pray

and know God as our Father.

And that's a wonderful privilege

for God's people

and it's the start of our mission

as a church.

That our mission is to announce

that in Jesus,

God is calling people back to Himself,

to the end of wandering,

back into covenant relationship,

so that by faith,

we and others

can enjoy relationship with God.

And we,

as the people of God,

can invite others,

join us

to know this relationship

that means so much to us.

You can know God as Father too.

So Jesus comes

to give us relationship

with God,

His Father.

Father.

Secondly,

what we learn

about the Christ-centered life,

why our life needs

to be centered on Christ.

Here's the second reason.

It's because Jesus

gives us rest.

Look at the beginning

of verse 28.

Come to me,

all you who are weary

and burdened,

and I will give you rest.

A recent book

written by a Korean philosopher

based in Germany

called the Burnout Society.

It really drills down

on the reality

that the modern mantras

that we hear so often

of define yourself,

of be whatever you want to be,

of manifest

and make it happen,

while for a tiny fraction

of the population

that may get them somewhere,

for the vast majority

it is proving exhausting

and it's led directly

to greater amounts

of anxiety

and depression

and feelings

of hopelessness.

People are being told,

you can do

whatever you set

your mind to

and then,

so often,

we discover,

well, we just can't.

And rather,

we're pushing and pushing

and it feels like

we're pushing against

a brick wall

and we do that

for long enough

and it leads

to a whole generation

feeling hopeless

and worthless.

And importantly,

as we still hear

that voice,

so many people

never able to rest,

never able to feel content.

Things were different

in Jesus' day

but at the same time

not so different.

If you are part

of Jewish society

as Jesus was,

that society was led

by the Pharisees.

So much of religious life

and political life

and moral,

ethical life

was governed

by these Pharisees.

And these Pharisees

were pushing people

towards salvation

by their own religion

and by their self-effort

which is always

a recipe

for exhaustion

and insecurity.

That to try

and safeguard

God's laws,

they added lots

and lots

and lots

of additional

human rules.

pushing people

onto this

exhausting

rollercoaster ride

of a sense

of momentary pride

if they are having

a good day

and they manage

to keep the laws

but so often despair

when they couldn't

reach the standards

the Pharisees

were setting

for other people.

I wonder

when we come

to Jesus' words

do we identify

with some

of his sense

of life

simply being exhausting

of self-effort

being exhausting

perhaps we realize

for ourselves

for people

in our circles

what's needed

almost more than anything

is that sense

of peace

and the capacity

to rest.

Let's listen in

to what Jesus

says next

and listen

in verse 28

to how he begins

and again

this is radical

come to me

Jesus says.

He doesn't say

go to God

this is

a direct

invitation

and a remarkable

claim

I can offer

you rest

and it's remarkable

because the Jewish

people know

and Jesus knows

that in the Bible

rest is a gift

from God.

We could go back

to creation

God created

in six days

day seven

was a day of rest

God rested

to enjoy

his creation

he invited

Adam and Eve

to rest

to enjoy

their creation

and to worship

their God

or we can think

about what God

did for the people

in the story

of the Exodus

from being slaves

where they could

never rest

to enjoying

life with God

where they had

weekly rest

where they would

eventually go

to the promised land

which was the place

of rest.

Another significant

theme in the Old Testament

the theme of exile

and then the return

home.

Having been judged

because they turned

away from God

turned towards

false gods

there was this promise

that God would

restore people

back to their land

and to the rest

of God

and you turn

to the end

of the Bible

and still

rest is there

there remains

a Sabbath rest

for the people

of God.

The imagery

of new creation

involves resting

and feasting

in God's presence

in God's perfect world

so rest is a precious

gift from God

and here is Jesus

on his kingdom mission

and by God's grace

he is inviting us

to know rest

and a particular

kind of rest

to rest

from trying

to be self

righteous

and instead

to rest

in his

perfect

righteousness

because who

is Jesus

speaking to?

Look with me

again at verse 28

he is speaking

to those

who are weary

and burdened

and in Jesus'

day

those who are weary

and burdened

were those

who are under

the laws

of the Pharisees.

Listen to Jesus

in Matthew 23

Matthew 23:4

verse 4

this is what he says

about the Pharisees

he says

they tie up

heavy

cumbersome

loads

and put them

on other people's

shoulders

but they themselves

are not willing

to lift a finger

to move them.

So the system

of the Pharisees

well it was an

absolute lie

and it was so

destructive

but the path

to God

they were saying

it comes through

ritual

and religion

and rule keeping

and so people

were weary

and burdened

and then Jesus

comes and there's

this wonderful

contrast

and wonderful promise

come to me

I'll give you rest.

Jesus

our saviour

he promises

to carry us

he promises

to lift

the crushing

burdens

off people's

backs

he promises

to give freedom

and rest

as we experience

and rest

in the grace

of God

he offers us

deep

and lasting

rest

peace

with God

peace

in our hearts

because Jesus

has come

ultimately

to remove

the heavy

burden of sin

off our backs

to end

our slavery

to sin

and to show us

that we don't need

to try and keep

the law

to deal with

that sin

because that was

never the law's

purpose

so he's inviting

us into rest

but maybe you then

wonder why in

verse 29

he moves to

an image of

working

verse 29

take my yoke

upon you

and learn

from me

for I am

gentle and

humble in heart

and you'll find

rest for your

souls

for my yoke

is easy

and my burden

is light

how can we rest

if we take a yoke

what's Jesus

talking about there

well to think

about the literal

yoke

Jesus lived

in a farming

society

so he'd be

used to seeing

a couple of

oxen

yoked together

with a harness

over the pair

of shoulders

so that they

could work

together

to plow

a field

but Jesus

was also

familiar

with a

bar mitzvah

when a Jewish

young person

became a man

came of age

there would be

a promise

given

along these

lines

where the

young man

says

I promise

to yoke

myself

to the law

of God

and do we

hear what

Jesus is doing

here

when Jesus

is saying

take my yoke

and learn

from me

he is inviting

us to

partner

in life

with Jesus

to a life

of discipleship

not trying to

figure out

our own

way to

please God

not trying to

figure out

our own

way to do

life

but to

partner

in life

with Jesus

and that's

rest

because there's

freedom

because now

we're living

the way

God made

us to live

but he's

also inviting

us

to show

loyalty

and commitment

to him

to find

rest

in enjoying

life

with God

because we

have submitted

to Jesus

the son

and there

is a freedom

in this

because Jesus

shows us

his heart

he's not a

harsh taskmaster

like the Pharisees

rather

and this is the

only time Jesus

describes his

own heart

he says

I am gentle

and humble

in heart

and he gives

us the deepest

rest

rest

for our

souls

Jesus

has come

on a

mission

to give

us rest

by giving

us God's

salvation

and Jesus

will do

that by

himself

going under

the weight

of the law

and all

of its

demands

and he

will be

truly

and perfectly

obedient

at every

point of

his life

in our

place

as our

representative

and he

will also

willingly

take the

punishment

for our

law

breaking

as our

substitute

he will

satisfy the

demands

of God's

law

giving up

his life

as a

sacrifice

to death

so that

we might

be forgiven

and have

freedom

and have

life

and rest

knowing

we live

enjoying

relationship

and love

from God

because as

we are

trusting

in Jesus

alone

for

salvation

it

allows

us

to

rest

deeply

so

when

we

sin

as

Christians

and we

do

sin

we know

that

we don't

need to

anxiously

doubt

does

God

love

me

am I

really

saved

no

we're

trusting

in

Jesus

and we

know

that

his

work

is

finished

and so

again

we

confess

our

sin

but

we

rest

as

we

trust

there

is

rest

as

we

build

our

life

around

Jesus

because

we

don't

need

to

be

comparing

ourselves

with

others

all

the

time

so

much

of

modern

life

is

comparison

and

competition

and

Jesus

gives

us

the

security

to

rest

It's

wonderful

we

are

free

to be

unimportant

and

unnoticed

by the

world

because

we

know

we

are

loved

by

God

and

we

are

seen

by

Jesus

so

as

we

learn

to

look

away

from

ourselves

and

to

look

to

Jesus

and

center

our

life

on

him

he

gives

us

relationship

where

we

know

God

as

father

and

he

gives

us

the

deep

rest

that

our

hearts

and

lives

and

souls

really

need

one

last

thing

about

the

Christ

centered

life

we

have

here

and

it's

this

that

Jesus

shows

us

mercy

that's

the

message

of

those

first

14

verses

of

chapter

12

but

just

to

step

away

from

the

text

for a

moment

in

18th

century

England

we've

been

in

18th

century

England

a lot

today

I know

but

there

was

a

revival

of

Christianity

and

one

of

the

striking

things

that

social

historians

and

church

historians

noticed

was that

over

the

time

this

revival

that

happened

so

more and

more

people

being

active

in

social

change

so

it's

at

this

period

that

William

Wilberforce

was

working

in

parliament

for the

abolition

of

slavery

it

was

at

the

same

time

that

Lord

Shaftesbury

was

working

for

better

working

conditions

it

was

the

same

time

that

Christians

like

Elizabeth

Fry

and

John

Howard

were

working

for

prison

reform

down

in

England

and

it

reveals

a

principle

that

as

Christians

receive

and are

transformed

by the

mercy

of

God

we

are

then

moved

to

show

mercy

to

others

that

as

God's

grace

comes

to

us

and

changes

us

that

it

creates

a

channel

where

that

mercy

flows

from

us

and

we

put

the

mercy

of

God

on

display

in

the

world

the

Christian

church

has

always

been

designed

by

God

to

be

a

contrast

community

Israel

was to

stand

out

from

the

nations

the

church

is

to

stand

out

from

the

society

it

finds

itself

in

and

here

we

see

from

Jesus

we

can

stand

out

and be

a

light

to

the

nations

in

part

by

the

mercy

we

show

the

compassion

we

offer

the

kindness

that

we

extend

and

the

source

behind

it

the

force

behind

it

isn't

in

our

own

hearts

isn't

in

our

own

capacity

to

summon

up

mercy

it's

in

Jesus

Christ

himself

and

what

we

see

when

we

look

at

Jesus

is

a

life

on

earth

marked

by

deep

mercy

towards

sinners

and

sufferers

so

let's

look

really

briefly

at

this

little

section

so

and

remember

the

Pharisees

so

let's

bring

them

out

of

the

shadows

for

a

moment

so

they

have

been

and

they

continue

to

challenge

Jesus

on

his

law

keeping

and

remember

they're

not

challenging

him

on

are

you

keeping

the

law

of

God

rather

is

Jesus

keeping

the

laws

of

the

Pharisees

because

they

have

made

their

own

rules

to

justify

themselves

and

it's

turned

them

into

a

very

narrow

people

a

very

harsh

and

judgmental

people

and

it's

led

them

ultimately

to

turn

against

Jesus

and

so

they

are

dominating

as

we

said

religious

!

and

social

life

there's

this

two

of

them

here

first

few

verses

of

chapter

12

Jesus

disciples

are

hungry

on

the

Sabbath

and

so

they

go

and

they

get

some

corn

they

rub

the

corn

together

so

they

can

get

something

to

eat

and

the

Pharisees

jump

on

this

hey

you're

working

on

the

Sabbath

and

then

later

on

in

the

synagogue

from

verse

9

onwards

here

comes

a

man

with

a

shriveled

hand

and

they

want

to

test

Jesus

will

Jesus

work

on

Sunday

by

showing

mercy

because

they've

decided

basically

unless

it's a

life or

death

situation

don't

show

mercy

because

that

could

be

work

can

you

imagine

how

miserable

and

anxious

and

self

righteous

and

despairing

this

society

could

be

controlled

by

this

kind

of

justify

yourself

by

law

keeping

attitude

and

then

here

comes

Jesus

and

he

bursts

onto

the

scene

and

immediately

people

flocked

him

this

is

a

new

message

this

is

a

new

mission

this

is

a

new

way

of

life

because

Jesus

reveals

the

heart

of

God

look

what

Jesus

says

in

verse

7

if

you

had

known

what

these

words

mean

I

desire

mercy

not

sacrifice

you

would

not

condemn

the

innocent

mercy

lies

at the

heart

of

the

mission

of

Jesus

because

God's

heart

is a

merciful

one

so

Jesus

will

respond

to the

critics

human

need

hunger

it

trumps

your

ritual

and

your

rules

the

priests

need

to

worship

on

the

Sabbath

when

there's

many

more

offerings

coming

in

that

trumps

regulations

about

work

mercy

over

sacrifice

and

then

in

verses

9

to

14

we

see

him

apply

the

truth

as

he

shows

mercy

in

this

healing

miracle

and

Jesus

replies

to

his

opponents

look

at

verse

11

and

verse

12

if

you

had

a

sheep

and

it

fell

into

a

pit

on

the

Sabbath

you

take

hold

of

it

how

much

more

valuable

is

a

person

than

a

sheep

therefore

it

is

lawful

to

do

good

on

the

Sabbath

there's

that hypocrisy

at the

heart

of their

religion

but

Jesus

exposes

it

it's

good

to

show

mercy

to

an

animal

how

much

more

valuable

people

are

therefore

it

is

right

to

show

mercy

to

a

person

every

day

of the

week

a

Sabbath

day

is

a

good

day

as we

look

at

Jesus

and

as

the

church

builds

its

life

on

Jesus

we

discover

that

the

kingdom

of

God

the

community

of

Christ

it

is

shaped

by

God's

mercy

so

that

we

might

in

our

own

way

in

our

own

day

showcase

God's

mercy

in

the

world

it's

no

wonder

when you

read

the

gospels

the

weak

the

marginalized

those

who

felt

guilty

and

oppressed

they

flocked

to

Jesus

to

receive

this

mercy

and

grace

and

it's

wonderful

for us

to

remember

you

when we

invite

people

come and

try church

with us

what are we

inviting

people

into

well we

want them

to discover

a people

within this

place

who love

Jesus

and love

other

people

a people

who have

received

mercy

so much

that it

flows

from us

and is

shared

within

us

a people

drawn

into

relationship

with

God

through

faith

in

Jesus

resting

in a

secure

salvation

enjoying

God's

mercy

that

gives

us a

freedom

and a

delight

to invite

other

people

to

experience

it

for

themselves

with

Jesus

we

have

the

power

and

the

motivation

to

practice

this

kind

of

mercy

in

our

everyday

lives

to

let

it

shape

our

relationship

our

capacity

to be

patient