Bulletins - Hope Church's Church

O Church Arise
It Was Finished Upon That Cross
Intro
Today, we look at a text, that one individual says is one of the most remarkable texts in all of scripture for many reason. We see the sovereignty of God, we see Christology, we see election and human choice, but most importantly, this is the one text in all of the gospels, that Jesus tells us about his heart.
This section is a balance of great judgement, and also grace.
There are some sermons where I will talk to Mike and Richard and ask “Where is the grace in this passage?” And to other passages “Where is the law in this passage?” But in this section, we see the balance of Law and Grace given to us.
What we see in this section is that the message of Jesus either does one of two things. It either brings greater blessing to your life, or it brings greater condemnation to your life. Your life after you learn of Jesus is no longer neutral.
Think about the way the sun affects objects. After the sun hits an object, it is permanently changed. And maybe two specific objects. Wax and Clay. If the sun hits wax, what happens? It softens to the light of the sun. It is humbled, if you will, under the light of the sun. It is moldable and able to take a different shape. And guess what, you can heat it by the sun again and allow it to take a different shape. But also consider the clay. Clay after it is exposed to the sun, hardens. Permanently. Hardened by the sun in a way that it will never be reshaped.
If we change S-U-N to S-O-N, think about how we are changed by the light of the Son, Jesus Christ. In todays text, we see the example of the ones changed to be hardened to the light of Jesus, or softened by the light of Jesus.
We have heart Jesus’s teachings, the light of the gospel, what are we now going to do with it? One path leads to a hardened judgement, one path leads to being softened for grace.
The Main Point: Because Jesus graciously welcomes us, we should yoke to him.
I. Condemned by Jesus v20-24
First today, lets look at condemned by Jesus. We are going to start with the bad news before we get to the good news and one of the most gracious passages in the NT.
This section starts with Jesus denouncing or condemning the cities around him.
Just as reminder of where we are, last week, we saw John the baptist questioning Jesus and working through doubt. We saw Jesus defend him. Then he turns to the crowd to tell them that their opportunity with the gospel is even greater than Jesus’s. He tells them that wisdom will be known by her deeds.
This verse about wisdom is the transition verse into our section today.
That wisdom is not known by your intellectual smarts, how much you can show off your knowledge, how much you have studied. Your wisdom is shown in the simple truth of being humble enough to understand Jesus is the Messiah and then live in light of that truth.
The cities Jesus mentions in verses 20-24 are an example of the opposite of wisdom. They have seen the great and mighty deeds of Jesus, and did not repent.
Remember that when we first get introduced to Jesus’s message in after his commissioning by God, and after his victory over satan, we learn his message is this:
Matthew 4:17 “17 From that time Jesus began to preach this message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!.””
Jesus was calling for change even from the initial call to live as his disciples in the kingdom.
They know he is the Messiah based on his works, He announced the kingdom to them, called them to faith and repentance, and how did they respond? They responded with amazement, astonishment, the claim to have never seen anything like him, initial belief, but did not want to truly follow him and repent.
What of Tyre and Sidon? These are gentile cities that get spoken of negatively in the Old Testament. And there is a parellel to Chorazin and Bethsaida. Jesus was doing his work in the Galillee region, and did work in Chorazin and Bethsaida. Tyre and Sidon should have repented with the hope of the coming messiah, but Chorazin and Bethsaida had the messiah, they weren’t hoping for him.
Woe is a traditional prophetic language used against those who do not align in their actions or attitudes with God.
Think of Woe as being the opposite of the beatitude blessings.
Blessed is the one who...Woe to the one who...
And what is Jesus saying here? He is saying that even Old Testament condemned sinners, these pagan gentiles would have repented if they had what you had, the light of Christ.
-can talk about Ninivah
We also see degrees of judgement. Look at verse 22. That the judgement given to the ones who have had the opportunity for Christ and did nothing, have a harder time bearing their judgement.
And then we see the other comparison to Capernaum and Sodom. Capernaum was kind of Jesus’s home base for his ministry. These people would have known Jesus the best at this time.
This comment about Sodom would have been extremely offensive. Sodom, the worst of worst sinners, would have repented if they had Jesus?
Sodom received great judgement. Fire and brimstone raining down from heaven, now covered by the dead sea. They are remembered for their great sin against God.
But here, Jesus is saying that the sin of unrepentance is greater than whatever Sodom did, and will receive worse judgement than Sodom.
We think God hates all sin equally. Yes, God is equally offended by all sin, but we see throughout scripture that certain sins receive different degrees of punishment.
And remember, the great offense is not rejection, the great offense here is inaction, doing nothing in light of the message of Christ.
Repentance and Faith are two sides of the same coin. Repentance happens in light of Faith, and Faith leads to repentance. True faith is not just claiming to know Jesus, it is followed up with action that admits Jesus’s ways are right, and my ways need to align with his.
Repentance is giving up what I think is best for my life, and changing my life based on what Jesus told me is best for my life.
Repentance is a turning away from sin, and a turning toward Christ.
Repentance will not make you see Christ, but to see Christ will give you repentance. All Of Grace, Page 72
Charles Spurgeon
AW Pink described repentance not as us calling out to get the attention of God, but rather a gift from God being offered to his creatures.
Their response is not to act. They see Jesus, are amazed, and then continue on living their lives as though nothing has happened.
Remember that doubt and questioning Jesus is patient to work with like John’s questioning, but no response receives a harsh judgement from Jesus.
Jesus does not condemn their opposition, but their inaction.
Their superficial enthusiasm is not life-changing repentance.
Jim and I were reflecting on maritime incidents this week together and he was reminding me of Pearl Harbor. On the morning of December 7th, 1941, the America’s new radar system was detecting a large number of aircrafts approaching from the north. This info was brought to the Lieutenant on duty. He dismissed the info. What has become one of the most tragic mistakes and a pinnacle example of being presented with truth, but no acting on it. Had he acted, the outcome of Pearl Harbor could have been drastically different as the US would have had time to get defenses into place to avoid some of the devastating loss of human life on American Soil.
The events of Pearl Harbor are an example to us of being presented with truth, and doing nothing in light of the truth.
Sometimes, our hearts can be like this also. We know the truth about Jesus, we know what we should change in our lives, but we are unwilling when it really comes down to it.
It isn’t enough to just love Jesus or be excited about Jesus or have positive vibes about Jesus. Or say we have faith in Jesus. Jesus calls us to repentance.
If we say we know Jesus or have faith in Jesus, and our lives are unchanged by the gospel, we are more condemned than the city of Sodom.
Let that sit for a moment.
If we say we know Jesus or acknowledge him, and our lives are unchanged by the gospel, we are more condemned than the city of Sodom.
...
Does knowing who Jesus is cause us to want to leave our sin behind? And not just a desire, but are we removing sin from our lives?
Does knowing Christ turn us away the pop ups and ads that we ought not look at?
Does knowing Christ cause us to leave lies behind and speak truth even if it hurts us?
Does knowing Christ cause us to leave gossip behind?
Does knowing Christ stop the pursuit of yourself and your own ambition and make decisions that will impact Christ’s kingdom?
II. Accepted by Jesus v25-30
And now, Grace. That was the law, there comes the grace as we get to the rest of the chapter and see Accepted by Jesus. Accepted by Jesus is the next point.
And we see this acceptance in three points in the last 6 verses here.
A. Revealed of the Father v25-26
First, revealed by the father. Our acceptance is only by the father revealing to us.
Look at verses 25-26.
We find Grace in what the father has hidden and what he reveals. Why would i say that?
Wise and intelligent do not have to be degrading terms. But here, they mean giving up human cleverness, or the ways we think we are better than God to have divine truth. This is living out the wisdom of God.
Because he doesn’t reveal the wisdom of Christ and the gospel to the ones who earn it, deserve it, are smart enough for it, are educated enough for it, or think they ought to have it.
We find grace that God revealing the gospel of Jesus is not to those, people, but to the little children.
Why little children? Because they have to realize they don’t have it all put together and need help. I know this isn’t true for all children at all times. But generally, children in wisdom do not rely on their own knowledge and resources, but are open to receive revelation and help from adults.
Accepting truth like a child does not mean you have to have everything put together and all of it figured out. It’s realizing that Jesus is who he says he is, and starting down the path of faith and repentance. I don’t know what all that means, or where my life will be in 10 years because of following Jesus, but I’m willing.
These are the ones who receive from the father.
I was talking to a believer in our town that works with immigration and asylum seekers. He is an immigrant himself. He works with new people coming to maine to translate and help them integrate into society as he has done. He helps them with big tasks of medical issues and court hearings, and also with small issues of paying tolls and how to work an instapot. He helps integrate them into American culture to help them thrive and gain citizenship. He was saying that the ones who make it, are the ones who are humble and willing to receive instruction. The ones who do not, think of themselves as wise or their own customs and way of life as better. He said the ones that make it are the ones who are willing to realize the kingdom they live in and change their lives to live in it. Not to give up their heritage and traditions, but the aspects of their culture that will not work in the kingdom of America. He said the ones who make it to citizenship are the ones who are open to receiving truth and changing in light of the truth.
So it with the Father. The ones who think they are wise in understanding their own kingdom the father hides truth from them. But the ones who come to him like a dependent child, who are willing to live a part of his kingdom and give up their own, have life revealed to them.
Divine revelation comes to those who are open to receive it, and divine revelation finds no response with those who think they know better.
And look at what Jesus does here. He is praising the father for revealing to some and hiding from others.
For God to conceal truth is not him being a meany in the sky, and humans are not neutral. Our default position from birth is rebellion, unbelief, and sin. (quote from mike) He is dealing with sinful humans to which he owes nothing to them. Sinful humans, like all of us, who have seen God, been presented with him through natural and general revelation, and then choose to sin anyway.
God concealing is not injustice, but justice judgement.
Self-sufficiency is opposed to the gospel of Jesus.
If i asked you to give the key defining characteristic of a mainer, what would you say?
When I ask people what defines a mainer, many say independence, which i believe can be another way to say “self sufficient.” It is fine to be independent in certain aspects of your life. In fact, we want to instill this into our children as we raise them. But not in all aspects of life. In your work, your pursuits, how you clear snow out of your drive way, but when it comes to your spiritual life, it is counter-intuitive to grace and opposed to the gospel of Jesus.
Self-sufficiency is the enemy to the gospel of Jesus. If you think you can get to God on your own, or that you are making effort to find Jesus, Jesus will be hidden from you. But if you realize your dependence like a child, the father will reveal the truth of Jesus to you.
Look at verse 26, Yes father, for this was your gracious will.
While we might be taken aback by God’s revealing and concealing, Jesus delights in it. Praises the father for it.
God’s will is to save the humble souls who are willing to believe and follow him.
God’s will is that the ones who have self-reliance receive nothing and remain in darkness.
DA Carson says
“God’s sovereignty in election is not mitigated by man’s stubbornness and sin, while man’s responsibility is in no way diminished by God’s “good pleasure” that sovereignly reveals and conceals.” -D.A. Carson
We are not meant to think that those who are like children have happened upon the truth of the Gospel while more able self sufficient people have missed the mark, and that God then accepted what happened. Jesus is saying that the Father planned things this way, and is praised for how he has worked in judgement and salvation.
If Jesus’s response is to praise the father for how he works in revealing and concealing, then we also ought to praise God for how he works.
B. Chosen by the Son v27
Next, we are accepted because we are chosen by the son. Chosen by the son is the next blank.
I believe this passage is a reference to Daniel 7. If you remember, we have reflected on this text together a few times now. Jesus is receiving authority of the Father, showing that he is equal with God. Here, the son has sovereignty in election and salvation.
This is an enormous amount of authority given to Jesus to determine who and who will not be revealed to.
We see Jesus being the intermediary between the little children and God. Jesus is the MEANS by which God reveals the gospel.
After saying that God does the revealing, Jesus will then be the agent of this revealing. Jesus takes on this role to reveal to children.
We might really want to consider the language of “knowing” in this verse. Knowing is not a intelectual term done by the smart ones who know facts about God. Even the demons believe in God. Knowing in a biblical way goes beyond a intelectual thinking and involved a relational heart connection.
And what we see is that this knowledge or knowing of God is a special gift, not something we earn.
So you think you can do it on your own?
Look at verse 27. Salvation and your relationship with God is dependent upon the choosing of the Son of God.
The only ones who know God are the ones Jesus has revealed God to.
This passage is completely exclusive and also inclusive at the same time. It is for anyone, all the needy, come to me, but only for the ones that the Son chooses to reveal the father to.
The relationship or world between the father and the son is exclusive. It is their exclusive relationship. But because of Jesus, it is being opening up this relationship to us, we are chosen to be invited by his grace.
C. Received by Us v28-30
Last, we see received by us.
The acceptance of Jesus into which we are received.
Jesus message for a lot of this chapter, especially verses 20-24, have been very harsh, offensive, even through we are not supposed to be offended by it.
If you are willing to take Jesus’s blessing, blessed is the one who is not offended by me, the reward is great.
We see it in verse 28.
Matthew 11:28–30 NET 2nd ed.
28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.”
I don’t think i have said from the pulpit that we should memorize scripture though it is a great practice, these three verses we should commit to memory.
Who is this message for? Jesus is calling for the all the ones who the he has chosen to invite into this relationship with the father.
Jesus alone has access to the father and has willed to reveal it to the heavy burdened and wearing. Come as the only access you have is through Jesus’s choosing.
All the ones who are weary and burdened. These two words show laboring, and carrying burdens. The ones who continually work actively and the ones who passively carry burdens. Jesus said both of these things can be relieved in him, the hard labor, and the carrying of burdens. He has come to give rest to us.
The willingness in “come here to me” is meant to feel open ended and not restrictive. The invitation being issued is “ALL. None of the troubled who Jesus has willed are excluded.
The bar is set low for us, he welcomes the all who are open and humble to receive him.
Hopefully you have some questions as you read this. What is the rest, what is the yoke, what is Jesus’s heart?
If you are thinking “i don’t even know what a yoke is. There are two types of Yokes, and it’s hard to say which one Jesus has in mind.
One is a shoulder yoke that would be used to carry objects of weight for greater distribution across ones shoulders.
The other would be a yoke that would join two animals for pulling.
I’m good with either of these yokes. Either the buckets of your yoke are the heavy law, or you as the first animal are being yoked to the other animal of the law.
Yokes are meant to be oppressive and feel oppressive. They are unwanted and something anyone or any animal would be glad to be relieved of. It is an unwanted burden or slavery.
This toil and yoke concept is given in the law. Often times, both the new and the old testament describe the Law of God as a yoke. But more so, is the extra laws and efforts that the teachers made up. We see it in Isaiah that we already read today.
Even Jesus later in the gospels will discuss the heavy Yoke of the law and extra laws that the Pharisees put on the people.
Almost always, the OT yoke is negative. Jews would see their obedience as being yoked to the law of God or the Laws being the heavy weight of the yoke.
In Acts 15, Peter tells the Jews to stop putting on the unnecessary yoke of the law to new gentile believers.
The laws of the Pharisees added to the laws of God. And continually added to the laws of God. More law and more laws and more laws. To lighten the load would have been to break or overthrow the entire system!
Which is exactly what Jesus came to do.
Did you know this is not the first time this type of language has been used?
Jesus Ben Sirach, a Jewish Rabi who lived before Jesus’s time would communicate a very similar message.
Sirach 51:23–27 NRSV
23 Draw near to me, you who are uneducated, and lodge in the house of instruction. 24 Why do you say you are lacking in these things, and why do you endure such great thirst? 25 I opened my mouth and said, Acquire wisdom for yourselves without money. 26 Put your neck under her yoke, and let your souls receive instruction; it is to be found close by. 27 See with your own eyes that I have labored but little and found for myself much serenity.
Do you see all the similarities to our text? Some say it is coincidence, but surely Jesus would have known of this teaching at his time.
Here, you are yoking up to wisdom. This is still human effort that we cannot obtain. Ben Sirach states that we must be yoked to wisdom. This “Wisdom” becomes an intermediary between God and man.
But Jesus comes to announce an alternative, that he is our wisdom to be yoked to.
Jesus says “give me your law keeping efforts and your own work to maintain a relationship with God, I’m going to do it for you.”
We can throw down the burden of trying to earn a relationship with God, and instead, embrace Jesus as our way to God through his law keeping. We attach ourselves to the only one who could keep God’s laws.
The sermon on the mount starts and ends this way. Jesus tells us he didn’t come to do away with the law, but rather to accomplish it in our place. He accomplished what we could not, he kept the law perfectly. He carried the heavy load of the law and now invites us to join him.
We don’t keep the law to earn grace, we keep the law now because we have been given grace. Submission to God and his ways now because the way to know God, rather than earn God. Jesus revealed how we can know God.
Notice that the rest is not earned, it is given to us. The learning from the law teachers would end in weariness. But the learning that comes from Jesus ends in “rest.”
The rest that Jesus is offering is not a complete end of work. God created the first humans for work, and has recreated us in salvation unto good works. So rest is not and end to all work, but a renewal of you found in God’s ways so that you can now work in Jesus’s new way. A way that will be refreshing and hopeful and renewed vigor. Not because you have to, but because you get to in response to what Jesus has done for you.
Jesus doesn’t say “come to me and sit in my lazy boy” he says come and take my yoke, so you can do what you have been created to do.
Remember Jesus in the sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:20 telling us that he will enable us to keep the law in a new and refreshed way, even beyond what the pharisees could.
We want to be careful not to turn Jesus’s yoke into a burden of religious obligation. Rather, it is an intimate relationship with the one who says “come to me.”
Someone said that the yoke of Jesus is like a life preserver thrown to a person who is drowning. The person drowning might say “this work is hard enough! I don’t need another burden!”
But Jesus says “Stop trying to keep yourself afloat and accept what i am offering to you.”
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If you were asked to say one thing about Jesus, you would be honoring what Jesus wants us to know about him by saying he is “gentle and lowly.”
Meekness and lowliness seem incompatible with all of the authority language that Jesus has. But his authority is not used to be a harsh task master who mistreats his subjects and only looks out for himself. His heart is different.
Jesus’s heart is not just emotion and feeling. In the Bible, the heart is the core of your being, your true self, your inner self, it is what is behind your motivation and who you really are.
After hearing so much of Jesus talking about kingdom living, and pleasing the father, and repentance and faith, he says to us, want to know my heart? My heart is gentle and kind towards you. What I am doing is for you.
You might think that Jesus is angry with you, or maybe you have been told this. Because you haven’t kept up to the standard that someone else had for you, or how you have upheld the Bible.
Sometimes our minds play tricks on us or Satan works in our mind accusing us of sin and throwing guilt on us. We can think to ourselves, “there is no way that Jesus would want me.”
To that, Jesus says “my heart is gentle towards you, come to me.”
This is why we need the scriptures and why we study it together and why I will forever to you tell you to soak and bath yourself in the word of God. We might feel wounded, dirty, icky, beyond help, and lie to ourselves that Jesus must be so disappointed when he looks at us.
We need to be reminded of the words of Jesus given to us here “come to me, my heart is for you.”
Jesus is not pointing a finger of judgement at you, he is welcoming you into his arms.
Beyond the Walls (Grace and Growth)
You have heard Christ preached, what will you do with it? Will you be like the cities he mentions? Not reject it, but do nothing of faith and repentance? Taking no action is accepting Jesus’s condemnation and judgement.
Jesus is offering you his yoke.
Or will you embrace the life he is inviting you into?
You who do not yet know if you believe in Jesus or do not know if you should. You might be held back by your guilt, your insecurities, your doubts, your anxieties, your failures, but to all of that, Jesus says to you, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.”
Let’s take a moment to respond to the text together. Let’s bow our heads and close our eyes.
Father, we praise you for how you have concealed truth and revealed truth.
Jesus, thank you for having a heart to welcome me, a sinner, into your arms.
Spirit, enable me this week to walk with Jesus in his easy yoke and live in repentance of my sin.
The Cup Was Not Removed
All Glory Be To Christ

Intro

I. Condemned by Jesus v20-24

II. Accepted by Jesus v25-30

A. Revealed of the Father v25-26

B. Chosen by the Son v27

C. Received by Us v28-30

Beyond the Walls (Grace and Growth)