Jesus has been preaching of the coming of the kingdom and has been teaching with authority. Authority only God himself can have. Jesus has also been fulfilling scripture by healing the sick, raising the dead, casting out demons and controlling nature. But the unbelief of those who have seen these works has come home to roost. Jesus pronounced judgment on those who’ve seen and not believed. And yet, our merciful Savior will also offer a wonderful invitation, as well.
If we zoom out to the 10,000 feet view of the Gospel of Matthew, the end of Chapter 11 is a turning point in the ministry of Jesus. The book of Matthew was written to Jews, by a Jew, with the primary purpose of showing them that Jesus was the Messiah that had been foretold in the scriptures. In Matthew five through seven, Jesus preached a full sermon we call the Sermon on the Mount which is all about the Kingdom of God.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus lays out the characteristics of people who will be in the kingdom, the role people will have in the kingdom, and the high standard of living required to enter the kingdom. He sums up that section in Matthew 5:48 by saying “you must be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect”. He then elevates sin from more than outward expression to matters of the heart. He does the same thing with acts of righteousness. He also goes into detail on daily living and how we interact with one another, how we interact with money, and treating others as ourselves. He does all this with authority. This is a message from God!
Matthew 5:17- Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
Matthew 5:17 is a key verse for the Sermon on the Mount, and continues to be a key moving forward toward Matthew 11. Jesus wasn’t coming to “change the system” and make it easier to get to Heaven. The Old Testament Law, as given to Moses, was God’s law. It was the standard by which mankind was to live. And when that standard was not met, either condemnation or atonement was needed. Jesus says in this verse that He was not here to change God’s standard, but rather to completely fulfill it, perfectly!
A HEAVY BURDEN
Reading the Sermon on the Mount, if understood properly, leaves you with an incredibly heavy burden! As you read it, you start to realize, achieving this is impossible. No one can attain this standard. There is no amount of righteous work that can be done to satisfy these requirements.
The Jews however had tried. Over the years, they had added their own interpretations to the Law and had created a system for how to keep this law in the “tradition of the elders”. These rules were arduous and largely superficial. Jesus challenged these traditions and rules throughout His ministry.
But make no mistake, the business of law keeping, the standard of perfection required to enter the kingdom is nothing short of an impossibly heavy burden to bear.
Jesus had preached the Sermon on the Mount in the area of Capernaum, His own hometown. He had also worked the miracles from Matthew 8 and 9 in these areas as well. These people had the great privilege of hearing from the Lord directly and had witnessed the authenticating miracles with their own eyes. What a privilege they had received! We know that some believed and followed. But most did not. Sadly, most had rejected Jesus in unbelief.
WOE TO YOU!
Jesus had a message for the three towns in those areas that had the benefit of hearing from Him and seeing his miracles, yet had rejected Him.
Matthew 11:20-24- Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you Bethsaida!….And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless, I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.
Jesus has seen the rejection and unbelief. An unwillingness to repent and turn to Him despite the fact that He showed them clearly who He was through His miracles! In these verses he pronounces condemnation upon them.
The Word ‘woe’ means something different in a biblical sense than it does in our modern vernacular. Typically, when we use the word “woe” it’s to express amazement or astonishment. But the word ‘woe’ in the bible is referring to a strong message of judgment from God. It carries with it grief, sorrow, anger, regret and grave misfortune. Many times in the scripture, whether in the gospels as Jesus uses the word, or in Revelation as angels use it, to say “Woe to….”, is to say destruction and judgment from God are imminent.
AN INVITATION TO THE WEARY
Matthew 11:25-27 gives us some insight into the relationship between the Father and the Son. He once again articulates that He is of the same essence as God the Father and, in his role as the Son has been given full authority. This message is to the same people on whom he had just pronounced judgment. As usual, the Lord desires that lost people hear His call.
Matthew 11:28-30 Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 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.
Who would be weary and heavy laden? Everyone. In the context of Jesus making this statement, He had just called judgment down upon these people. That would lead to a heavy burden. Even if someone didn’t fully believe, hearing that Sodom had it better than you will would produce a burdened heart. So I think it’s fair to point to this group. He’s giving them one last chance before he moves on to minister to someone who will accept.
Jesus is offering rest to those weary from trying to attain the necessary standard of perfection through their own law keeping. It’s important to remember that Matthew’s audience is a Jewish audience, as was Jesus audience as He speaks these words. They were working daily to achieve the level of law-keeping necessary to enter the kingdom. Jesus told them in Matthew 5, the standard needed to enter the kingdom was perfection. It is impossible. To chase this goal by their own power and in their own achievements is an impossibly heavy burden. Yet here they were, doing just that.
Jesus Himself, is the answer. He said this very thing in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:17, Jesus said that He came to fulfill the law. He accomplished that task! That’s why He became the perfect and unblemished Lamb of God that could take away the sins of the world. That’s why His sacrifice on the cross was once and for all. It is finished!
Jesus literally did all the work. Everything they were trying to achieve in life for God, He did. And Jesus is the only one who ever did. That is why coming to Jesus “gives rest”. That is why His yoke is easy and His burden is light. It’s because He did all the work. Jesus is telling the audience, simply come to Me.
CONCLUSION
What a wonderful invitation! Who doesn’t love rest?! Even the hardest working, busy people love an invitation to the Caribbean to vacation for a week or two on the beach. An invitation to rest is always welcome. Jesus is offering a more significant rest, not rest for a weary body, but rather for a weary soul.
Dr. George Barna of the Cultural Research Center released a study in August of 2020 that shows that 52% of those who identify as Christians believe that “being good or doing good” is the ticket to heaven. The Jews were striving to stack enough “good works” on the scale to tip it in their favor and to earn the kingdom, sadly Christians today are doing the same thing when Jesus himself already fulfilled all the law and accomplished all that was needed!
He freely offers Himself to His audience 2000 years ago and He does the same for you and I today. He offers us the ultimate rest, if we’ll just come to Him in faith.