Since its release in 2020, Dane Ortlund’s book Gentle and Lowly has brought Matthew 11:28-30 to the forefront of many Christian minds. My own soul was nourished by Ortlund’s thorough reflection on the heart of the Savior, who offers rest for the weary.
Last semester, however, was anything but restful. Constantly feeling exhausted can press us to re-evaluate many things…priorities, purpose, and responsibilities. How do we strive for the kingdom’s advance and also live at rest?
When your days are filled with study and ministry work, what’s the difference between godly kingdom busy-ness and ungodly drivenness?
What does it mean to labor with energy as Christ works in us (Co 1:29)? How do we wage war on sin within and rest in the victory of Jesus (Col 3:5; Rom 8:13)?
The Spirit is faithful to reveal hidden motives and idols of our hearts when we submit to His searching, and there’s much I could write about those questions. Maybe another time.
But somewhere in the process of enquiry (which I anticipate will continue for the rest of my life), I found myself meditating on familiar words.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30
Jesus calls the burdened laborers to come to Him and promises rest. He will exchange our heavy yoke for His light one. When we learn from Him, Whose heart is gentle and lowly, we find soul rest.
Beautiful. We ought to pause often and read those words again…and again…and again.
And we ought to note the context. Matthew’s Gospel is highly structured, stitching together selections of Jesus’s teaching and snapshots of His interactions to tell a story of King and kingdom. Chapter 10 contains Jesus’s sermon on kingdom mission: He commissions His ambassadors to preach His message and prepares them for both persecution. Some people will hate the kingdom and rage against its ambassadors. Others will receive it and them, even though kingdom people are like little children in worldly estimation.
In chapter 11, the post-sermon snapshots focus on this theme: the proud reject the kingdom. The kingdom was unfolding before their eyes, but they were offended by it. They rejected austere John as demon-possessed; they rejected jovial Jesus as a gluttonous drunkard. Proud Capernaum scorned the mighty works that would have wrecked Tyre and Sodom to repentance.
Matthew 11:25 shifts to the scene of our text. Jesus turns to prayer, thanking God for His gracious reversal of expectations: the most perceptive people do not see, yet the little children are blessed with revelation. Prayer becomes proposition in verse 27. The Father gave the Son the work of revealing the kingdom…but what does that mean?
Only the Father knows the Son, and only the Son knows the Father. From eternity past, the Persons of the triune God have perfectly known each other.
Only the Son knows the Father…but the next words are shocking.
Also, anyone to whom the Son reveals the Father can know Him.
So on the basis of this prayer and promise, Jesus speaks His well-loved call to the weary: “Come to me…and I will give you rest.”
What is this rest, and how does He give it? Well, what does He promise to do in verse 27?
Jesus reveals the Father.
What is it that we learn from Him?
Jesus reveals the Father.
What is the rest our souls need?
Jesus reveals the Father.
Maybe we are weary and burdened because we are seeking a kingdom of our own making. We endlessly strive to self-justify, to do enough and be enough to be sure that we’ll come out okay in the end. We’ll never find rest at the end of such striving.
But “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 10:7). The ones who press into this kingdom, through threat of sword and cross, receive promised rest IN the seeking and the finding (Matt 10:34-39). To be in the kingdom is to know the King.
So come. Don’t be like the proud who rejected John’s message and Jesus’s miracles. The kingdom is before you – the King has come. Become like a little child: humble yourself and come to the Son. His gentle and lowly heart reveals the Father’s heart.
And to know the Father is to find rest.