The Eternal Son Reveals the Father’s Love
Text: Matthew 11:25-30 Speaker: Pastor Matthew Ude Festival: Trinity Passages: Matthew 11:25-30; Revelation 3:20
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Matthew 11:25-30
Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest (Listen)
25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.1 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 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.”
Footnotes
[1] 11:26
(ESV)
Is the soul the same as the spirit? There is an old theological discussion concerning this topic. I think a careful reading of scripture shows that whereas the “pneuma” that is the spirit is a type of spiritual body, the “psyuchae” that is the soul is the inner being. The word “psuchae” has come over into English as “psyche.”
In our text Jesus promises you will have peace in your soul, your inner life, you psyche.
What is it that Jesus promises here? It is not an easy life. He makes it clear elsewhere that we will not have an easy life. It isn’t freedom from pain and suffering. It isn’t freedom from hard work, pressure, or even stress. Some of you might even have bi-polar disorder or something like it, and maybe you think, I am never at peace. That also is not what Jesus is promising here, what he does promise is that you will be at peace before the Father.
I’m sure that you have all at some time felt the pressure of something or some task or some lie hanging over you. Your sin no longer hangs over you, God’s wrath no longer hangs over you, and before God your psyche has peace and rest.
But there is no peace without Christ. We see this clearly in our text, first with reference to the wise and intelligent people of this world.
Jesus begins with this prayer of thanks to the Father that He has hidden these things from the wise and intelligent.
“What things?”
In the verses just before these here, Jesus condemns the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum for their unbelief. He points out that if the miracles that were done there had been done in Sodom and Gomorrah they would have repented. In the context then the “thing which are hidden from the wise” is the need for repentance and the truth about who Jesus is.
“Why?” Why would it be a good thing that these things are hidden from the wise?
To put it simply, because if it were not so no one would be saved. Imagine if God instead of giving us the collection of stories we know as the Bible, had instead sent down a detailed discussion of who he was, the nature of the universe, how photons work, etc. In short something that would satisfy the wise and intelligent. Such a document would be such a hopeless mess of unintelligible information that no one would ever be able to figure out anything. We would have piles and piles and piles of information and we wouldn’t understand any of it.
Instead God says, “Just trust me. I know what I am talking about.”
Here is something every child hates to hear “because I said so” and yet every parent uses it because we simply cannot always explain to our children why we say no. God is doing the same thing here. He cannot possible explain it all to us, so instead he says just trust me.
He keeps it simple and in that simplicity the salvation is available to you and me. In that salvation peace before God is available to you and me. A peace which the world cannot understand and cannot give.
Peace does not come from the intelligence or wisdom of this world. The so called wise of this world seem to grow in anger and vehemence even as they get more and more their own ways. What did the psalmist say, “the nations rage against the Lord.” They cannot stand the idea that anyone would ever oppose them or disagree with them. There is no peace in their psyche.
But we know that we are nothing and that we do not know everything and that we are probably wrong about many things. But that is ok we have all eternity to learn and grow in the Lord. For now it is enough that He is our loving Father and we have forgiveness in the name of Jesus.
This is why Jesus continues, “no one knows the Son except the Father.”
“No one understands me.” Does that sounds like the whining of a teenager girl? The difference of course is that Jesus isn’t whining he isn’t throwing himself on the floor in a fit of theatrics.
Did you notice that He used the title “the Son”? In the context that name is clearly a reference to his divinity. He is the eternal God. Of course no one other than the Father has the faintest idea who is really is. And no one other than He has the faintest clue who the Father is.
We can either accept what Jesus tells us or we can reject Christ and build gods of our own imagination. These are the only two options because of course there is no possibility of us ascending to heaven in order to measure, study and learn who God is on our own.
Who is this God whom Jesus reveals to us?
He is our good and gracious and loving Father. For this reason Jesus says “Come, come and I will give you rest.” It is not possible to find this God through our own efforts or our own wisdom, therefore Christ says “Come.” It is Christ alone who can reveal Him to us, therefore Christ says, “Come.”
Revelation 3:20 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
This is such a wonderful passage when we correctly understand it. This is not a passage which speaks about coming to faith. This is about one who is already a believer, a friend, a brother. The Lord comes because he is his friend. He knocks wishing to dine with his friend. Is there anything more pleasant in this life than to sit with your friends, your family, and your loved ones in the evening, to eat with them, to laugh with them.
This is what Jesus wants. He wants to be with you. He says to you come and I will reveal the Father to you, a Father full of grace and truth. He stands at your door knocking. He wants to come in and be a part of your life
And yet all too often we think we don’t have time to make Jesus a part of our life. I speak especially to you fathers, for to you especially God has given the responsibility to make Jesus a central part of your daily life. Turn the TV off, sit around the table as a family, and don’t leave until you have sung a hymn, or read devotion together as a family. Let Jesus come in and sit with you.
Do you see now why Jesus gives thanks to the Father that these things are revealed to the simple? In the simplicity of the Gospel salvation comes to the simple. In the humbleness of Christ He comes to be a part of our lives.
We don’t have to understand all the things of God, it is enough to know that He is our good and gracious Father, who has redeemed us, and in His forgiveness we have peace. Amen
THE PEACE OF GOD THAT SURPASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING SHALL KEEP YOUR HEARTS AND MINDS IN CHRIST JESUS.