Take, Learn, Rest.

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; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 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. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:25-30 ESV

This is one of the most famous and beautiful speeches of Jesus. Matthew places it immediately after His commissioning of the 12, His response to John the Baptist’s questions, and His denunciation of the cities that rejected Him despite the miracles He performed there. After noting the lack of wise and powerful followers, He proclaims with great clarity who He is, the Son of God. Then comes perhaps the greatest altar call of all time.

Jesus’ offer of rest to anyone who is weighed down and wearied by the burdens of life is a promise that’s hard to resist. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Matthew follows this with two stories about religious attitudes toward Sabbath rest. Moses commanded the Jewish Sabbath to commemorate God’s completion of creation (Exodus 20:8-11) and to honor their own deliverance from Egyptian bondage (Deuteronomy 5:12-15). The idea was great, but the implementation had become a legalistic mess.

Matthew first shows us the Pharisee’s objections to the disciples eating grain from the stalk as they walked with Jesus on the Sabbath. No harvesting allowed! Then he describes their anger when Jesus healed a withered hand on the Sabbath. No healing. Holy day. Stay sick! Jesus responded with some teaching about the true meaning of the Sabbath and His part in it.

• I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” Matthew 12:6-8
• And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him. He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. Matthew 12:10-13

The Sabbath is not about keeping the rules. It’s about glorifying God for His goodness to us and receiving the grace that has only one requirement: “Come!” Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath – He is our rest. When we come to Him, He doesn’t keep a Santa Claus list of naughty and nice. He is the Lord of rest.  He offers to set us free, then to walk with us, then to teach us to walk with Him. All we have to do is change yokes.

The yoke was usually a symbol of slavery or oppression, such as the “yoke” of captivity in Egypt (Lev. 26:13). The apostles used “yoke” to refer to bondage to the Law of Moses (Acts 15:10; Galatians 5:1). Jesus is saying that His yoke is quite different. Indeed it is. If we yoke ourselves to Him, He will bear the brunt of the weight of daily life. He will teach us how to find rest for our souls.

The first purpose of the Sabbath was to take time to appreciate all that God had done for them. The second purpose was to do good to His people who needed a day of rest. On that day, they were to cease their usual activities aimed at “making a living” and spend the day in rest and contemplation, trusting in the One who gave them life and sustenance. As Mark recorded, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28).

Jesus declared that all who come to Him will find rest. Our New Creation Sabbath is a person, not a day. Sure, we still need to take time to rest, contemplate, and marvel at His goodness, but we have a New Creation grace that makes rest our default position. We have a daily Sabbath that flows from being connected to Him. Let’s celebrate Sabbath rest with our local family of believers and expect peace, provision, and physical healing to flow from the Lord of the Sabbath.