Coming To Jesus (Matthew 11:25-30)

The passage is Matthew chapter 11, starting with verse 25.

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

Please turn to your Bibles. Don't look at me. It's not written on my face.

It is written in your scriptures. And we need to follow it carefully.

I want you to see it so you don't think I'm making this up.

It really is written in the scriptures.

I'm sure you know by now that this is an election year

and that there are many opinions about so many things

and there are almost as many opinions as there are commentators

who would like to state an opinion about everything.

In Wisconsin, I suppose one of the issues is,

is Governor Walker good or is he bad?

Is he helping the economy or is he discouraging the economy?

Is he creating jobs or is he not creating jobs?

Is he good to education or is he bad to education?

And of course, your answer depends on whom you listen to.

And there are some who say one thing and some who say something else.

And then we have political parties, the Republicans, the Democrats,

the Tea Party, the Green Party, the Massouh Party.

You know, I'm the only member of that party.

You know, so there are many opinions about so many things.

And at the time of Jesus, it wasn't that much different.

You had all kinds of parties with people with various views.

You had the Sadducees who were basically priests

who thought it was okay to cooperate with Rome.

You had the Zealots who were militants and who said the exact opposite.

It's not okay to cooperate with Rome.

You had the Pharisees who emphasized the study of the law.

But you also had the Chassidim who are not mentioned often in the New Testament,

but who were the primary opponents, the primary enemies of the Pharisees.

When you read intertestamental period, the Talmud and things like that,

you think Jesus was harsh on the Pharisees.

He was mild compared to what the Chassidim said.

There's a famous section about the 11 great hypocrisies of the Chassidim.

You know, I mean, it's creative, to say the least.

And then you had the people of the land, Ham Haaretz.

And so you could ask them, what should we do?

And you got as many opinions as there were parties and rabbis to think and discuss.

Into the scene appears Jesus.

And it looks like this is just another opinion in a milieu of many opinions.

And it's easy to think, well, that is his view.

But, you know, why shouldn't I trust the Zealots more?

Why should I accept Jesus?

Why should I not accept the Sadducees or the Ham Haaretz?

So I want us to look at this passage to try to understand why Jesus matters and others don't.

Why Jesus is special and the others are not.

Why Jesus' word is of a different caliber and a different quality and a different status than the other ones.

So please turn with me to Matthew 11, verse 25.

Matthew 11:25

At that time, Jesus said,

In case you didn't get it, the wise and the learned are the Pharisees.

They were wise in their own opinion.

They were learned in their own opinion.

Lord, Father, praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.

Because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children.

Yes, Father, this was your good pleasure.

God hid certain truths from those who thought they were wise and learned.

And why would God hide certain truths from them?

There are all kinds of reasons.

Some people are self-righteous.

Some people are unteachable.

They remind me of my freshmen in college who think they know everything.

And then I ask them to spell Heidegger and they find out that they don't know everything.

Some people are opinionated and they are so convinced of the truth of their opinions that they don't see why the rest of us don't agree with them.

Some of us are bigots.

Some of us are prejudiced.

Some of us think we know it all.

For those of you who are parents with little children, that phase will come.

You know, give it time.

The know it all.

But the Father has hidden these things from the wise and the learned and revealed it to little children.

In the next verse, he says,

Yes, Father, this was your good pleasure.

All things have been committed to me by my Father.

No one knows the Son except the Father.

Even Paul says, expresses his wish that I may know him and the power of his resurrection.

Even Paul realizes he hasn't arrived.

Now I see in part.

We know Jesus a little bit, but we certainly don't know everything about Jesus.

And that's the glory of eternity, I suspect.

So, no one knows the Son except the Father.

And now listen to this bold statement.

And no one knows the Father except the Son.

And the one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

No one knows the Father except the Son.

If I stood up in front of you here and I said,

I'm the only one in all of America who knows how to balance the budget.

I, I alone, I'm the only one in all of America.

What should you think?

Well, the naive, of course, would agree with me.

But that's why you're naive.

C.S. Lewis says, when somebody stands up and says,

I'm the only one, you think, you should think one of three things.

You know, somebody slipped LSD in his coffee.

You know, they're psychotic.

He's having grand illusions.

You know, send him to psychiatric ward.

He's lunatic.

That's one option.

The other option is that he's a liar.

He's a liar through and through.

So you could be a lunatic.

You could be a liar.

Or the other possibility,

you, Jesus is Lord.

Is Jesus lunatic?

Is Jesus liar?

Is Jesus Lord?

Lord, you read the Gospels.

And you ask the Holy Spirit to help you see which one of those three he is.

But Jesus is making a really bold statement.

I'm the only one who knows the Father.

My goodness.

So, not only does Jesus know the Father,

but also,

and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Please notice the word reveal.

It has appeared twice now.

I thank you, Father,

because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned

and revealed them to the little children.

No one knows the Father except the Son,

and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

This is a passage about revealing the truth.

This is not a passage about soccer.

It's not a passage about how to cook pizza.

It's a passage about revealing the truth.

The truth is what is important at this point.

Because the truth is so important,

Jesus says something really,

I mean, boy, he is bold in this passage.

Come to me, come to me,

all you who are weary and burdened,

and I will give you rest.

He doesn't say,

come to Rabbi Gamaliel,

or wait till Rabbi Akiba appears on the scene,

or wait, or go to this teacher,

or that teacher, or Nicodemus.

Jesus says, come to me.

Now, why does Jesus say, come to me,

rather than go to somebody else?

I am very good at some things,

and I say that just as a matter of fact,

not as a boast.

I happen to be good at some things,

but in other things, I'm just awful.

And I know myself.

I don't have illusions.

When it comes to cars,

I'm awful.

In 67, I bought a VW Beetle,

and foolishly opened the hood,

and couldn't see the engine anywhere.

And somebody had to remind me that the engine is in the back,

in a VW Beetle.

How am I supposed to know that?

You know,

you know,

the light comes on,

the tires.

Well, I can't tell whether they're low or too much.

In certain things,

I am not the right person.

If you want to know something about your car,

if you're having car problems,

you don't come to me.

I'm telling you,

I know nothing about cars.

I'm the last person

that you should go to,

maybe not even then.

But,

if you want to understand how to fix cars,

you go to a good car mechanic.

We've had a lot of electricity problems at home,

and just as I don't know anything about cars,

I don't know anything about electricity.

But,

there is a person here that,

at church,

a dear friend,

and I said,

you know a lot better than I do.

You know,

you're a handyman.

I'm not a handyman.

You take a look at it.

You know,

if I fix it,

it'll get worse.

So,

Jesus says,

come to me.

Not Nicodemus,

not Gamaliel,

not Akiba,

not any of those.

Come to me.

Why should we go to Jesus?

For the very simple reason

that Jesus just told us,

no one knows the Father except the Son.

So,

if the Son knows the Father,

and you want to know something about the Father,

you go to the right teacher.

You don't go to the wrong teacher.

If you want to study medicine,

you don't go to a conservatory.

In a conservatory,

you learn a lot about music.

You won't learn a thing about medicine.

You go to the right teacher.

And who is the right teacher?

Jesus.

Why?

Because Jesus knows the Father.

But sometimes,

you go to the right place,

and the person says,

no,

I don't want to tell you.

You know,

I'm not interested.

I don't have time for you.

You know,

just before the test,

student asked me,

what's the answer to this question?

And I say,

why didn't you ask me four days ago?

Or a week ago?

I would have told you then.

I'm not going to tell you two minutes

before the test.

Sometimes students ask me,

you know,

how many languages do you know?

And I say,

it's none of your business.

I don't know if I should share this with you,

but,

you know,

there's a dark side to me too.

I was teaching

second year Hebrew,

and I had really,

really,

really bright students.

I mean,

they were fantastic.

They're probably the best students I had.

And they were getting,

you know,

proud of themselves

and conceited,

and I thought to myself,

pride comes before the fall.

I will bring about the fall.

And they were just,

you know,

they were just brilliant,

and they were good.

And I wanted

to teach them a lesson in humility,

that they really don't know everything.

So on the test,

even though it was a course in Hebrew,

I gave them a passage in Aramaic

to translate.

Hebrew and Aramaic

alphabet is the same.

So I know

how to tell the two languages apart.

They don't.

So I gave them a passage

in Aramaic

to translate.

And halfway through the course,

they came to me,

the test,

they came to me and said,

Professor Masuh,

this is much harder

than anything

we've done in class.

And I snapped at them,

next time,

study more.

And for a week,

I pretended that I was totally unhappy with them

because they are dingbats.

And then after a week,

I told them that I pulled a trick on them

that as a matter of fact,

it was Aramaic,

not Hebrew,

so I didn't expect them

to be able to translate anything.

Well,

they didn't think it was funny.

Arthur was hilarious.

But you go to the teacher

who knows what he's doing.

And in the case of Jesus,

Jesus doesn't say,

I know the Father

and I'm not telling anybody.

It's my secret.

It's for me.

You're left out.

You're excluded.

You know,

you're outside the ark.

What Jesus says,

no one knows the Father

except the Son

and those to whom the Son

chooses to reveal him.

And if we come to Jesus

and Jesus decides to reveal him,

the Father to us,

he will.

Jesus knows the Father,

can reveal him,

and in some cases,

will reveal him

as he pleases.

As he pleases.

Come to me,

all you who are weary

and burdened,

and I will give you rest.

And then,

here comes the difficult passage.

Take my yoke upon you

and learn from me.

For I am gentle

and humble in heart,

and you will find rest

for your souls.

For my yoke is easy

and my burden is light.

I want you to hear me carefully.

What I'm going to say

is probably new

to most of you.

You have probably

never heard this before.

And so,

I want to make sure

you understand

what I'm saying.

Jesus says,

take my yoke upon you.

I would have thought

that the next thing

he would say is,

and rest in me,

or find comfort in me,

or find consolation in me.

But he says,

take my yoke upon you

and learn of me.

Learn and yoke go together.

The reason that is the case

is that in rabbinic literature,

yoke is a technical term.

It's not an ordinary term.

It's a special term.

If in a computer lab,

the professor says,

stop playing with the mouse,

he doesn't mean Mickey Mouse,

and he doesn't mean

chasing a mouse on the floor.

When he says,

don't play with the mouse,

he means that thing

that you use

to maneuver the computer.

So, in a computer lab,

mouse is a technical term.

Yoke is a technical term

in rabbinic literature.

Yoke means

knowledge,

education,

teaching.

So, when Jesus says,

take my yoke upon you,

it's the same thing

as saying,

take my teaching upon you.

Everybody in Israel

knew that.

Certainly,

all the rabbis

knew that.

As a matter of fact,

in Israel,

when a Gentile

wanted to convert

to Judaism,

they would be put

through a series

of questions

and lessons

and initiation rites.

And if you pass them all,

the last two questions

you would ask the Gentile

is,

are you aware

that Israel

at the present

is only a servant?

That Rome

is the powerful city.

at the present,

not always,

but just right now.

If you want

political power,

you cast your lot

with Rome.

And so,

if you join Israel

for political power,

you're joining

the wrong country.

Rome

is the world power.

So,

they would ask

as the second

to the last question,

are you aware,

do you understand

that at the present,

we are a defeated,

conquered country,

oppressed by Rome?

And then,

if the person

said yes,

then you ask

the very last question.

And the last question

is,

are you willing

to accept

the yoke

of the Torah?

Are you willing

to accept

the teaching

of the Torah?

what Jesus

is doing here

is paraphrasing

a passage

from a

famous book

called

Ecclesiasticus,

not Ecclesiastes,

Job,

Psalms,

Proverbs,

Ecclesiastes.

It's not that book,

it's another book.

It's a book

on wisdom.

And,

and,

because of that book,

yoke

means teaching.

And so,

Jesus,

take my yoke,

teach my,

take my teaching

and learn.

For I am gentle

and humble

in heart

and you will find

rest for my,

for your souls

because my teaching,

my yoke is easy

and my burden

is light.

Let me say

something very important.

I am not saying

that we shouldn't

come to Jesus

for our problems.

I am not saying that.

I would never say that.

I am as emphatic

as ever

that we should come

to Jesus

for all of our problems

and I can give you

a whole host

of passages

that deal with

going to Jesus

for your problems.

Casting your anxieties

on him

because he cares for you.

Be anxious

for nothing.

1 Peter 5,

7,

Philippians 4,

6.

But in this passage

he is talking

about the yoke

of his teaching.

He is saying

his teaching

is lighter

or easier

than the teaching

of the other teachers

that you shouldn't

go to

because they don't

know anything

about God

to begin with.

Well,

we are only

halfway through

the sermon.

I want you

to look at

chapter 12,

the first

eight verses.

Chapter 12,

the first

eight verses

is an illustration

of what Jesus

has just

finished teaching.

Jesus has made

certain bold

statements

and now we see

them in real life,

in concrete shape,

in form.

So the first

thing that

Jesus said

is that

the Father

has hidden

these things

from the learned

and the wise.

Look at how

chapter 12

begins.

At that time,

Jesus went

through the

grain fields

on the Sabbath.

His disciples

were hungry

and began

to pick

some heads

of grain

to eat them.

when the

Pharisees

saw this,

they said

to him,

Lord,

your disciples

are doing

what is

unlawful

on the

Sabbath.

You know

what they

should have

said?

Your disciples

are doing

what we

think

is unlawful

on the

Sabbath.

Here we

have the

learned and

the wise

passing judgment

on the

meaning of

the Sabbath

and what

is legal

on the

Sabbath

and what

is not.

And what

does Jesus

say?

he has

hidden.

The Father

has hidden

it from

the wise

and the

learned.

And there

are your

wise and

the learned

who don't

get it.

And Jesus

has to

straighten

them out.

In spite

of all

of their

learning,

they don't

see it.

And Jesus

has to

explain it

to them.

Okay.

Jesus

says,

he knows

the Father

and he

can reveal

the

Father.

Let's

look at

this passage

and as

we read

it,

let's

see what

does Jesus

reveal about

the Father.

Aside from

this debate,

should we

harvest or

should we

not harvest?

Is picking up

grains harvest

or not?

Let's see

whether Jesus

tells us

anything about

the Father.

Father.

Starting

with verse

three.

He

answered,

haven't you

read what

David did

when 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 law

that on

the Sabbath,

the priests

in the

temple

desecrate

the day

by cleaning

the temple

which is

working and

yet are

innocent?

I tell

you,

verse six,

don't miss

the point,

verse six,

I tell

you that

one greater

than the

temple is

here.

One

greater than

the temple

is here.

Jesus

is here.

verse

seven,

if you

had known

what those

words mean,

I desire

mercy,

not

sacrifice,

you would

not have

condemned

the innocent,

for the

son of

man is

Lord over

the Sabbath.

Look at

that verse,

I desire

mercy and

not sacrifice.

That is a

quotation from

the Old

Testament.

It's from

Hosea six,

seven,

in which

God says,

I desire

mercy and

not sacrifice.

The word for

mercy is the

word chesed,

that wonderful

Hebrew word.

I desire

mercy,

not sacrifice.

Jesus says,

if you only

understood this

verse,

you wouldn't

be doing all

these foolish

accusations.

Who is

saying,

I desire

mercy?

The father

in Hosea

is saying,

I desire

mercy.

So Jesus

is saying,

let me reveal

to you something

about the

father.

The father

desires mercy,

not sacrifice.

But you

don't think

so.

You think

that the

father is

stuck on

ceremony and

details.

Whether we

can pick up

grain or

whether we

can't pick

up grain.

But the

real issue

is mercy,

not sacrifice.

And furthermore,

in addition to

that, a couple

more things.

Of course,

it's the father

who gave us

the Sabbath.

You only have

to read the

Ten Commandments

to see that

in Exodus 20.

But who

is the

Lord of

the Sabbath?

Is the

Sabbath above

the son of

man or

is the son

of man?

Who is the

Lord of

whom?

The son

of man is

Lord over

the Sabbath.

He is

trying to

help us

understand the

father and

the way the

father ordered

things and

put things

together.

The son

of man is

Lord over

the Sabbath.

He decides

what is

legal and

what's not

legal.

He decides

what's right

and what's

not right.

He decides

what should

be done

or what

should be

done.

Not the

Pharisees with

the wrong

interpretations,

but the

son of man.

And how

does the

son of man

know that?

Because he

knows the

father.

That's how

he knows

that.

And then

Jesus said,

my yoke

is easy

and my

burden

is light.

How are

we seeing

this in

this passage?

Go to

verse 1.

At that

time Jesus

went through

the grain

field on

the Sabbath.

His

disciples were

hungry and

began to

pick some

heads of

grain and

eat them.

When the

Pharisees saw

this, they

said to

him, look,

your disciples

are doing

what is

unlawful on

the Sabbath.

If it

were left

up to

the Pharisees

to decide

what should

or should

not happen,

the Pharisees

would have

said, don't

pick up

grain.

And if

the disciples

don't pick

up grain,

what will

happen to

the disciples?

They will

go hungry.

Jesus

gives them

permission

to pick

up grain.

Which is

more merciful?

which is

an easier

commandment

to carry,

to say to

someone who

is hungry,

don't eat,

or to

say, eat.

Here is

food, it's

okay.

Which is

more merciful?

I don't

know what

you think

you're going

to do when

you encounter

Jesus.

Maybe for

some of

you, for

some teaching

in your youth,

think that he's

the boogeyman,

or some

dreadful character,

or you

know, Jack

the Ripper,

or some

slasher,

and some,

you know,

Friday the

13th.

In

relationship to

his discipleship,

Jesus was

full of

mercy.

The

father

desires

mercy,

I desire

mercy,

not sacrifice,

and what

is Jesus

doing?

Allowing

the merciful

thing to

do.

Who on

earth

understands

the father

better?

The Pharisees

who say

don't,

or Jesus

who says

yes?

So this

passage

is telling

us that

Jesus

knows the

father,

he is

willing to

reveal him,

and don't

waste your

time going

to the

long

teachers.

father,

there are

thousands of

teachers out

there,

thousands.

I mean,

we are in

some ways

protected.

You just

go to

Southern

California,

and it

multiplies by

ten times.

You know,

even words I

can't pronounce,

and I can't

pronounce just

about anything,

but there

are thousands

of people

with crazy

ideas,

and Jesus

says,

no one

knows the

father except

the son.

Don't waste

your time

going to

the wrong

place.

Don't waste

your time

studying with

the wrong

teacher.

Don't waste

your time

joining the

wrong

organization.

If you

want to

know who

the father

is, you

come to

Jesus.

And on

top of

that,

Jesus is

not like

taking

comps for

PhDs,

where they

try to

kill you

before you

even finish

the program.

Jesus'

yoke is

easy,

and his

burden is

light.

It is

filled with

mercy

toward his

people.

That is

what Jesus

wants us

to see

about himself

and about

his word

and the

invitation

to come

to him.

Amen.

Amen.

fed'r