The older I get, the more I appreciate gentleness, calmness, and restfulness. I used to do things quickly, solve problems immediately, and generally be fast in everything I started. I multi-tasked all the time and prayed earnestly but quickly. I considered my day productive if I attended to my priorities and accomplished at least a little toward completing them. Now, however, I value the time I have to pray and think about things, the gentleness of others, and staying calm no matter what occurs. I even train my dog with these values in mind. After years of trying to get him to stay calm when he is overreactive, I only recently realized that using his own calming behavior would work (“sit, wait”). I am basically more gospel-centered in all I do. David lived a gospel-centered life, and in the Old Testament, his psalms reflect his thinking. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:1-3) Is this not the gospel in Old Testament poetry form? Compare it to Jesus’s gospel invitation in Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Jesus invited His Jewish brothers and sisters to follow him for rest, teaching, gentleness, humility, and a burden-free life with God through His work, not theirs. He would be their Good Shepherd if they abandoned their legalistic, burden-oriented religion. We, who are followers of Christ, enjoy spiritual rest and refreshment increasingly as we learn from Jesus and reject the legalistic, law-oriented struggles of worldly influences.
The Gospel Yoke
“Jewish sources spoke of the yoke of the law and of wisdom. Though the law was God’s good gift to His people, the scribes’ oral traditions and the spiritual disability of sinful humanity turned the law into an unbearable burden. When the law was understood as a way of meriting salvation, it became a ‘yoke of slavery’ (Galatians 5:1). By contrast, the yoke of Jesus, while demanding, is ‘easy’ because it is from one who is ‘gentle and lowly in heart.’ He has fulfilled the law’s righteous demand perfectly for His people, and His Spirit empowers their grateful obedience. Therefore, He alone can provide true rest for the soul.” (1) “The invitation is for everyone. Jesus’ words are for people of all ages, all nationalities, and all temperaments…burdened by sin. The phrase’ weary and burdened’ does not refer to physical weaknesses or to what we might call the burdens of a difficult life, though it may include them. It chiefly refers to a sense of sin’s burden and the need of a Savior…Where discipleship is present, people are sensitive to sin and turn from it. They turn to Jesus, where relief from sin’s dreadful burden can be found…When Jesus called his disciples to ‘follow’ him, he was comparing Christianity to a path in which his followers were to walk, he going ahead of them. When he challenged his disciples to ‘learn from me,’ he was comparing Christianity to a school in which he was to be both the subject matter and the teacher. This is the school in which every true believer has matriculated and in which a lifelong course of study is prescribed. The Authorized Version of Matthew 11:29 translates the words ‘learn from me’ as ‘learn of me,’ thus making Jesus the subject matter of the Christian’s study rather than the teacher…Here the root idea is knowing Christ himself, in the sense of John 17:3, where Jesus prayed, ‘This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.'” (2)
Gospel Rest
“Heavy burdens describes the extrabiblical tradition of the rabbis that was a pillar of the Pharisaic branch of Judaism. It was intended as a means of making the OT relevant to new life situations, but its massive obligations had become burdensome and oppressive.” (3) “The invitation offers rest for tired people. In fact, it offers rest twice. There is a rest that is given: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (v. 28). That rest comes instantly when we first trust in Christ. Then there is a rest that is found: “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” (v. 29). That rest comes as we increasingly learn to follow Jesus in our daily lives. Turn from all inferior teachers to the one who alone can teach true godliness and whose teaching will save your soul.” (4) “The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.” (Mark 6:30-31)
The Gospel is Not Legalistic
“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders.'” (Matthew 23:1-4) “The Pharisees had adopted a popular position that has endured for all time and continues to plague the Christian church. They insisted that a person could effectively save themselves by following laws or rules. This viewpoint contradicts what Jesus calls believers to and what the Spirit empowers us to do. The belief that someone could be a true Christian while that person’s whole lifestyle, value system, speech, and attitude are marked by a stubborn refusal to surrender to Christ as Lord is a notion that shouldn’t even need to be refuted… [Jesus] never once shied away from declaring His authority as sovereign Master. He proclaimed it to disciples, to enemies, and to casual inquirers alike — refusing to tone down the implications of His demand for unconditional surrender…When Jesus called people to follow Him, He was not seeking companions to be His sidekicks or admirers whom He could entertain with miracles. He was calling people to yield completely and unreservedly to His lordship.” (5) We, who are followers of Christ, enjoy spiritual rest and refreshment increasingly as we learn from him and reject the legalistic, law-oriented struggles of worldly influences.
The Gospel is Not Burdensome
“A gracious heart has contentment by getting strength from Jesus Christ; he is able to bear his burden by getting strength from someone else. Now this is a riddle, and it would be counted ridiculous in the schools of the philosophers, to say, If there is a burden on you, you must get strength form someone else. Indeed if you must have another come and stand under the burden, they could understand that; but that you should be strengthened by the strength of someone else, who is not near you as far as you can see, they would think ridiculous. But a Christian finds satisfaction in every circumstance by…bringing the strength of Jesus Christ into his own soul, he is thereby enabled to bear whatever God lays on him…if the burden is doubled, he can have his strength trebled—the burden will not be heavier but lighter than it was before to his natural strength. Indeed, our afflictions may be heavy, and we cry out, Oh, we cannot bear them, we cannot bear such an affliction. Though you cannot tell how to bear it with your own strength, yet how can you tell what you will do with the strength of Jesus Christ?…the Scripture says that the Lord is our strength, God himself is our strength, and Christ is our strength…Christ’s strength is yours, made over to you, so that you may be able to bear whatever lies upon you, and therefore we find…Paul…praying for the saints: ‘That they might be strengthened with all might according unto his glorious power’, unto what? Unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness—‘strengthened with all might, according to the power of God’ [Colossians 1:9]…This is the glorious power of God that strengthens his servants to all long-suffering, and that with joyfulness.” (6) Jesus invites all people to consistently follow him for rest, teaching, gentleness, humility, and a burden-free life with God through His work, not ours.
In his commentary on Numbers, Iain Duguid writes, “Be alert to the compromises that the world presses in on you, and resist its insistence that you live at peace with its standards…Ask God to strengthen your faith and to help you combat your unbelief, so that you may live a fruitful life for him along the way and may enjoy his peace that passes earthly comprehension. Give thanks that your inheritance is won for you by Christ’s goodness and not your own, and rejoice in the reality and certainty of that rest.” (7) “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God…casting all your cares on Him, because He cares about you.” (1 Peter 5:7) “Cast ‘all you cares’…for the present…for the future, for yourselves, for others, for the church, on God. These are burdensome, and often very sinful, when they arise from unbelief and distrust, when they torture and distract the mind, unfit us for duties, and hinder our delight in the service of God. The remedy is, to cast our care upon God, and leave every event to his wise and gracious disposal. Firm belief that the Divine will and counsels are right, calms the spirit of a man. Truly the godly too often forget this, and fret themselves to no purpose.” (8) “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5) You may say that I am calmer because I am retired; but I say, I am calmer because Christ has sanctified my mind, attitude, and heart by his gospel, unhindered from yielding to him, to take on new ventures and service.
Related Scripture: Genesis 27:39-40; Proverbs 9:1-5; Isaiah 10:24-27; Hosea 11:3-4; Jeremiah 6:16; Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 12:17-21; 23:1-4; Acts 15:10; Romans 8:1-4.
Notes:
1. The Reformation Study Bible, Matthew 11:28-3, Reformation Trust Publishing (Ligonier Ministries), Sanford, Fl., 2015.
2. Boice, James, Boice Expositional Commentary Series, Matthew 11:28-30, Baker Books, Software version, 1998.
3. English Standard Version Study Bible Notes, Matthew 23:4, (digital edition), Crossway, 2008.
4. Boice, Ibid.
5. MacArthur, John F., The Gospel According to Jesus, Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
6. Burroughs, Jeremiah, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, Fig Books, Kindle Version, 2010.
7. Duguid, Iain M., Numbers—God’s Presence in the Wilderness, Numbers 33-34, Crossway Books, 2006.
8. Henry, Matthew, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Bible, 1 Peter 5:5-9, http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mhn/1-peter-5.html
March 7, 2024
Divine Wisdom for Daily Living by Joanne Colvin 