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25 At that time Jesus said, “I 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. 26 Yes, Father, for this was your good
pleasure.
Clarify: Jesus and his Father are pleased
that the brainboxes of the 21st Century cannot believe in his
existence and yet that children can!
Why? First because the wise build themselves
up by their knowledge. Children simply absorb knowledge.
Second, our brains are limited, so the best
brains are incapable of appreciating the nature of God.
Third, grace is about the underprivileged,
the poor the marginalised receiving what the rich, the celebrities and the
privileged cannot buy, or obtain by right. Jesus skipped
27 “All things have been committed to me
by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the
Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
This is expanded in John’s gospel. It is an
insight into the central relationship of the universe. Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. God exists and the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are in a relationship
for eternity. The only way that we get to know about what that relationship is
about is through Jesus. And Jesus knows about everything because the Father has
committed all things to him. Jesus says much the same thing in Matthew 28:18.
18 Then Jesus came
to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age.”
The reason Jesus causes so much trouble is
because he claims power and authority to himself. We don’t like that. We want
pocket-gods who are more controllable and allow us to think we are ‘gods’.
Jesus claims that everything is committed or handed over to him. Not much room
for our egos to work. But the next statement moves us immediately away from the
power and authority to the relationship. No
one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the Son.
The Big-bang theory, evolution
theory and the like are fascinating but put them aside and concentrate on
relationship rather than mechanism. And get clear in your minds that God
understands Jesus fully. And Jesus understands God fully. The intimacy of God
excludes everything else except for this the most exciting bit of this logic statement
and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal
him.
We can join in this amazing relationship
between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When we turn from our sins and ask Jesus
to be our Saviour and Lord, - which we can only do because he offered himself
freely to die in our place.- When we
turn from our sins and ask Jesus to be our Saviour and Lord we are born of the
Spirit of God which means we join in this relationship. So the way we get to
know God is through our relationship with Jesus. Revelation is not knowledge it
is about having a relationship with God. God has revealed himself as a God who
wants to relate to his people. Whether that was Adam or Noah, or Abraham or
And his invitation is put this way:
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary
and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 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.
30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Jesus offers something completely different. All religions and non-religions are about our struggle to survive, to reach out to God, to gain happiness or contentment. Just staying alive is a struggle for most of the world! And he comes and says.
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary
and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Unlike the rest of us, he does not point to
another, he says come to me. If you want to know God and be known by him, you
must come to me.
The two words weary and burdened are the two sides
of human misery. Weary is the result of
action – tired of hard work and burdened is passive - you are subject to grinding pressures of life.
Whether it is the tax burden or the health
burden or the feeding the family burden or caring for the family burden or the
sin burden or the guilt burden or the loneliness burden or the old-age burden, he
says
28
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you
rest.
6. The underlying concept of the Greek word here translated rest is relief. Jesus is the sin-bearer; he relieves you of the burden of sin. He opens a way to the Father and so relieves the isolation, he sends his Holy Spirit so you are no longer alone. You no longer have to struggle to reach out to God because he has reached out to you. Your survival is not everything because he has promised eternal life in the Spirit. Jesus endows you with spiritual blessings which make you rich, eternal life above physical fitness, everything that wearies you and every burden can be laid down at his feet and together with him you go forward.
This is underlined in the next sentence.
29
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.
The image of a yoke is unfamiliar to us. It
long since we have seen milk carried in buckets hung from a yoke on the
shoulders of the milk-person. Or even a horse pulling a cart with a yoke on its
shoulders secured to the traces so that the weight of the cart is spread evenly
across its shoulders.
But that should not distract us from
understanding what Jesus is saying. In his day, a rabbi or teacher would speak
of his yoke as we would speak of school. So you were under the yoke of a rabbi
when you went to school. So Jesus is talking about his discipleship course.
Join my course, follow me, because I am gentle and humble in heart and you will
find rest for your souls. The Jesus school is more like an apprenticeship than
a university. It is about learning ‘on the job’ developing your spiritual
skills and becoming a master craftsmen in love, joy, peace, gentleness,
humility faithfulness & self-control. We are all called to a lifelong
learning plan. Jesus says to us “Follow me”.
Jesus wants us to know that he is gentle and
humble. These are not the usual characteristics of teachers who are hard task
masters, setting homework, demanding attention, giving out detentions forcing
us to learn things we do not want to know, to pass exams we hate sitting and
then, joining the ranks of the unemployed. Of course that does not apply to
Cherrie, she is exceptional!
Jesus
is also exceptional! His way is the way of the cross. He did not come to judge,
to bully and educate, he came to save. He went willingly to death because you
and I needed a Saviour and he was the only one who could save. And that grace
calls you to follow him. Are you listening for his voice? He is gentle so it is
easy to ignore him. You can find a whole host of things to do before you open
God’s word and pray. And when you pray you can fill the air with petitions. God
loves your petitioning. But he wants to teach you his way. He is humble, so he
washes his disciples’ feet. He is humble so he bows to abuse, scourging and death
without protest because he is Jesus. Jesus does not offer an easy way but he
says :
30
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
It is unfortunate that there is no satisfactory word to translate the word that is translated ‘easy’ here.
It works in comparison to the Pharisees who placed heavy burdens on their followers. “Do this, do that and if you do enough you might on balance get to heaven.” In an exchange with a lawyer Jesus said:
Luke
11: 46 Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down
with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger
to help them.
Compared with that Jesus’ yoke is easy and his burden light,
Jesus says “receive salvation and live!” He calls us to follow him not out of a
sense of duty but as a response of love. Jesus’ yoke is like feathers
to a bird; not loads, but helps them fly. Or in the case of a duck allows them
to float. And the bird or duck constantly preens their feathers so they remain
air-worthy or buoyant. So to you and I need to be constantly learning from our
master so that we are able to be fully alive.
Jesus is the place of rest for your souls. Weary of
the struggle to survive, unable to obtain your salvation by any other means,
Jesus invites you to rest in him. To soar on eagle wings over the mountains of
despair because he gives you wings!
Isaiah 40:28-31
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
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