Mat 11:25-27, Christ’s Yoke Is His Christian Academy.
length: 59:25 - taught on Jan, 30 2025
Class Outline:
Thursday January 30, 2025
Main idea: The childlike believer comes to Christ, takes His yoke / school upon him, and finds rest.
Interpreting the passage:
MAT 11:28-30 is only in Matthew, a special treasure in his Gospel.
Come to Me and take My yoke upon you - volition.
Labor (present tense), who are burdened (perfect tense) = You are laboring and have been excessively burdened and still are.
He does not just take it away, they have to come to Him and take it.
Learn from Me: Curriculum of the school is Him.
I will give you rest: rather than giving you a couch, He gives you a yoke to bear and a syllabus (learn from Me).
You are given a yoke and a syllabus.
Will it be heavy? Will I flunk out?
I am meek and lowly in heart (all the time).
He doesn’t guarantee that you won’t fall or that you won’t quit the Academy. He tells you something far better.
You will find rest (repeated).
Yoke and coursework = rest for the laboring and burdened.
Further explanation of yoke: kindly and light.
Christ uses a second word as a synonym: burden. He wants us to see that it is a burden we are carrying. Make no mistake about it.
“easy” or “kindly”? Chrestos: pertaining to that which causes no discomfort, easy; pertaining to being morally good and benevolent, kind.
I prefer the translation kindly (as do others) because the yoke is not always going to be easy, at least not in the sense that some might hope.
Looking into the passage:
Come to Me - volition.
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
"Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all."
You take the yoke. He does not force it on you like an animal.
Yoke and learning point us to a schoolmaster.
There have been many a cruel schoolmaster in the history of schools. Jesus is careful to point out that as a Master, he is meek (Other uses of this word: blessed are the meek, Mat 5; He is meek and on a donkey at His triumphant entry into Jerusalem) and lowly in heart.
The rabbis used yoke for school as many pupils find it now a yoke. But never was there a Rabbi as meek and humble as ours.
A yoke that is a burden: the Law.
"Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 "But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are."
Christ’s yoke:
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
The Master cleansed us, and if / when we take His yoke upon us, and we learn from Him, we will learn love.
For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
“You will find rest for your souls (lives).”
Repeat of verb: I will give you rest / you will find rest.
Jesus is taking a yoke and handing it to us, and we fear that we will not be able to bear it, or perhaps we can for a while, but it is a long hike, this life, and we imagine that we might get worn out. Wouldn’t it be easier to have no yoke at all?
Other uses of “kindly” or “easy”
"But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. 36 "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
We are commanded to be kind to one another and that all the saved have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
Other uses of “burden.”
Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; 3 therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. 4 "They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. 5 "But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. 6 "They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.
Christ towers above all men as He challenges us. "I will refresh you" Far more than mere rest, rejuvenation.
Jesus offers refreshment in his school and promises to make the burden light, for he is a meek and humble teacher.
“I will give you rest.”
This was stated by God to Israel through the prophet Jeremiah. God begged them to see their error and to repent. Jesus is here begging Israel in real time as their God, fulfilling the prophecy.
Thus says the Lord,
"Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths,
Where the good way is, and walk in it;
And you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'
The Pharisees made their own yokes and they were heavy and burdensome. They put them on others and wouldn’t carry them. Our Lord carried His cross for us - He is our humble Schoolmaster.
Application:
Do not fear to take His authority and His lessons upon you.
Once you enter, they are your responsibility. Do not fear them.
The Master is meek and humble - it’s going to be your best life by far.
The yoke (school) is kindly and light - you are going to succeed and love and have the grandest memories.
Don’t fear the burden and the coursework.