MATTHEW 11:28-30 – Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
THEME OF THE DAY. THE APPROACHABILITY OF THE LORD JESUS. Did we know that today’s scripture is the only place in the Gospel accounts where Jesus tells us about His heart? In the eighty-nine chapters that cover Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, this is the one place God describes His heart. Dane Ortlund in his book Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers wrote, “We learn much in the four Gospels about Christ’s teaching. We read of His birth, His ministry, and His disciples. We are told of His travels and prayer habits. We find lengthy speeches and repeated objections by His hearers, prompting further teaching. We learn of the way He understood Himself to fulfill the whole Old Testament. And we learn in all four accounts of His unjust arrest and shameful death and astonishing resurrection. Consider the thousands of pages that have been written by theologians over the past two thousand years on all these things. But in only one place – perhaps the most wonderful words ever uttered by human lips – do we hear Jesus Himself open up to us His very heart.” That one place is today’s scripture.
As we read and ponder today’s scripture, what is the most impactful portion to us? Well, there are three options. First, the command – “Come to Me.” Here is the holy, holy, holy God who will someday look at unrepentant sinners and say, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23), but now, today, He says with deep and pleading compassion, “Come to Me.” What an amazing truth! God welcomes sinners. God commands sinners to come and experience His rest.
A second impactful statement Jesus makes is His promise – “I will give you rest.” This is what we were created for – rest in the Lord. This is what we long for – rest in the Lord. This is what the Lord graciously offers – rest in Him. What makes this promise so amazing is what we deserve, His wrath, we don’t get. What we don’t deserve, we do get – His promised rest.
The final impactful statement made by our Lord and what makes the first two “work” so to speak is the description Jesus gives of His heart – “I am gentle and lowly.” If the Lord isn’t gentle and lowly, He rejects us immediately and there is no command to come to Him. And if the Lord lacks humility and gentleness, the promise of soul rest doesn’t exist! But He is humble and gentle so we may come and embrace the promise.
So, what is really behind this description of Jesus’ heart? His approachability. He welcomes us with open arms, so we need not fear rejection. The lowly broken sinner and the emotionally bruised saint may boldly come to Him with the assurance of acceptance. Why? Jesus is gentle and lowly which defines Him as approachable. Never listen to the lies of the devil saying, “He won’t accept you. You are such a sinner” or to the Christian when he whispers, “You have exhausted the Lord’s patience. He won’t forgive you for the umpteenth time.” Jesus will never reject the lowly person who comes to Him for the rest He only provides. He is approachable and that is what makes His amazing grace, well, amazing!
PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for giving me Your Son that opens the door for me to know You.”
QUOTE: “Approachable is a word that is to characterize God’s people for it characterized their Savior.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim