Rest in Jesus
Matthew 11:25-301) When You’re Weary and Burdened
2) When You’re Wearing the Wrong Yoke
There’s a certain kind of rest that only comes from God. As one of your pastors, I get to regularly see it. When your pastors visit a homebound member, we get to catch up, share a devotion, and distribute the sacrament. While they enjoy the chitchat, it’s the devotion and sacrament that brings them a restful smile. When your pastors visit someone in the hospital, there’s usually a sour mood. Yet when God’s Word is shared, a certain kind of rest comes upon in the room. When your pastors assure a sinner that their sins are forgiven by God himself, there’s rest in their hearts whether it’s a public setting like today or a private meeting. When communicant members come to the table and receive Christ’s body and blood together, with, and under the bread and wine, there’s rest in the eating and drinking.
As we continue to define who a Christian is, we learn that a Christians finds their rest in Jesus as we’re told in Matthew chapter 11. When we’re weary and burdened, we rest in Jesus because he alone will give us God’s unique and lasting rest. And when we’re wearing the wrong yoke that makes our Christian life a heavy burden, we rest in Jesus who gently and humbly fits us with the correct yoke of his blessings and promises and make our burden light.
When You’re Weary and Burdened
There are lots of ways we can feel weary and burdened. Just look to the struggles, troubles, and stresses we go through living in a sinful world surrounded by fellow sinful people. We don’t always get along or make the best choices. Within each of us, there’s that nagging feeling that we haven’t done enough. We need to keep up appearances so we’re not silently shamed. Our conscience is never satisfied. Perhaps you saw yourself in our Second Reading when the Apostle Paul said, “The desire to do good is present with me, but I am not able to carry it out. So I fail to do the good I want to do. Instead, the evil I do not want to do, that is what I keep doing.” (Romans 7:18-19 EHV) There’s a constant fight between our sinful nature and our desire to live as a child of God. That fight wears us out and feels like a burden.
When we’re feeling weary and burdened, where do we turn for rest? The quiet of home, a relaxing vacation, a fun hobby? Those are fine sources of R&R, but they won’t last us. We’ll soon end up where we were before: feeling weary and burdened. Do we then do what many others do and turn to sinful vices, short-term fixes with long-term consequences? The bottom of a bottle, the arms of someone who isn’t our spouse, coping mechanisms that are dysfunctional? Where’s God in all of this? Does he show up at all? Or are we absent from him because we don’t think he will or can help us at all?
When we’re weary and when we’re burdened, we find our best rest in Jesus. Jesus invites us to do this in saying, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 EHV) And the rest that Jesus gives is unique. Unlike our sinful vices that will only create additional problems, God’s rest doesn’t have a trade-off. It is entirely for our benefit. God’s protection watches over our every step and protects us from dangers we never knew existed. God’s loving hand provides for our daily needs, even if we don’t know how he will do so in the future. God’s complete forgiveness washes us of all our sins and continually does so.
Jesus’ rest is also lasting. It won’t go away when we go back to our routine It’s always yours because God is always with you. As told to us in our First Reading, God would daily show his Presence to Moses and the Israelites as they journeyed from Mt. Sinai to the Promised Land of Israel. That visible sign was undoubtedly a source of rest and encouragement during their wearying and burdening travels. Though God’s Presence is not visible to us, he is certainly with us in the same way. Where you go, your Lord goes. And where he goes, so does his unique and lasting rest for you.
That’s why we rest in Jesus when we’re weary and burdened, because he will give you God’s unique and lasting rest. When you’re weary from the struggles, troubles, and stresses of life, find your rest in Jesus who will take care of you, work all things for your eternal good, and always be with you. When your conscience burdens you with saying, “You need to do more!” know that Jesus did it all for you. When you echo Paul’s endless battle between his sinful nature and new self, look to the eternal rest in heaven and an eternity free from feeling weary and burdened.
When You’re Wearing the Wrong Yoke
As a Christian finds their rest in Jesus when weary and burdened from life, so we do when we’re wearing the wrong yoke. Before we discuss what Jesus means, let’s clarify how a yoke helps you bear a burden. A yoke is a harness you wear that helps you carry a load by distributing its weight across multiple muscles groups. We typically think of animals wearing a yoke on the farm or dragging wagons across the Wild West. The yoke that Jesus is talking about is a shoulder yoke Think of a pole you place across your shoulders with a notch for your neck. On both ends of the pole, you would hang your load to carry and to balance yourself out. These were often used by milkmaids, fishermen, and merchants. Though we don’t use shoulder yokes today, we find the same premise with heavy backpacks strapped over a person’s arms, hips, and chest. Because if you have the correct yoke, your burden is light.
So what does Jesus mean in saying, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”? (Matthew 11:29-30 EHV) Jesus’ yoke is what we learn from him, his blessings and promises as recorded in the Bible. We’ve already talked about some of them with his unique and lasting rest. But there’s also his grace, love, and mercy that prompted him to live, die, and rise for you and much more. Given how who Jesus is, what he has done, and what he has promised us, his yoke is indeed an easy one to wear.
And with his yoke, our burden is light, the “burden” of living as a child of God. With gladsome hearts, we live for the one who has blessed us in every way. With eager ears, we listen to God’s commands so we know how to say “thank you” with our thoughts, words, and actions. With ample opportunities, we live for our Lord and share his blessed news so others can wear Jesus’ easy yoke of forgiveness, life, and salvation.
As you carry your burden of living as a child of God, would you say it’s light? Or does it weigh you down? Might our burden be heavy because we’re wearing the wrong yoke? Perhaps it’s the yoke of deaf ears that do not want to learn from Jesus. Sure we’ve heard about his blessings and promises and once greatly appreciated them, but now they’re blasé, nothing special. If we’re deaf to the one who makes our burden light, should it surprise us that our burden is now heavy? Maybe we wear the yoke of wrong motives. Why do you live as a child of God? Is it because of obligation, a guilt trip, or to boost your self-image? If so, no wonder it’s heavy because you have to, not because you want to.
How do we make this burden light again? By wearing the correct yoke, Jesus’ easy yoke, by learning from him his blessings and promises in the Word. And you know what? It’s here that we find rest in Jesus again. Because he gentle and humble in heart, he fits us again with his yoke and provides rest for our souls. Because Jesus is gentle, he won’t first punish us or make us suffer our just deserts before helping us. He’s quick to receive us with open arms whenever we come to him in repentance. Because Jesus is humble in heart, he puts us first and gives us what we need: his blessings and promises in full measure. That is where we find our rest for our souls. For we are forgiven of our sins, loved by God, and reassured of our place in God’s holy family.
With Jesus’ yoke firmly fitted on us again, our burden of Christian living is now light. We are freed to live as children of God! Jesus has made us eternally right with God and left nothing for us to do. Through our faith in Jesus, we receive that blessed status of “not guilty” since Christ’s righteousness covers us and heaven is our happily ever after. Everything we think, say, and do is now an opportunity to say “Thank you!” to God.
Our burden is also light because we know how to live as children of God. Read the Ten Commandments and “What Does This Mean?” and you’ll be busy for life Follow the summary of God’s law – love God and love your neighbor – to fill in any missing holes. Study your Bible to see what other specifics he has in his Word. And know that as you wear Jesus’ easy yoke to carry his light burden, it’s with rest for your soul because he is gentle and humble in heart.
Closing Encouragements
There’s a certain kind of rest that comes from God. As Christians, we regularly receive this rest by finding it in Jesus. When we’re weary and burdened, we rest in Jesus. For the rest he gives is unique, lasting, and ours whenever we come to him and learn from him. When we’re wearing the wrong yoke and find our burden of Christian living a heavy load, we again rest in Jesus. For his gentleness and humility in heart quickly restores us with his promises and blessings so we may again wear Jesus’ easy yoke and joyfully say “Thank you!” to God with our thoughts, words, and actions.
So go to Jesus, find your rest in him, and know that you’re simply carrying out what it means to be a Christian. Amen.