Real Life Selkirk
**April 19** Rest For Your Soul (Matthew 11:20-30)
  • House Of The Lord
  • Build My Life
  • Finished Work Of Christ
  • We Fall Down
  • Illustration: Get a backpack and a bunch of heavy things to put in the backpack

    Sermon

    Key Passage

    Matthew 11:20–30 NIV
    Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

    Pray

    Celebrate

    Vision-
    We exist to reach the world for Jesus, one person at a time
    Time for some baptisms?

    Introduction

    We are entering something of a dark section in the book of Matthew
    This middle section of the book starts with Jesus demonstrating His authority.
    Authority over:
    Nature
    Sin
    Satan/demons
    Law
    Sickness
    Once that authority was seen, there was a response by those who represented certain aspects of their religious authority.
    Jesus had just walked into the middle of their religious traditions and said, “I’m the boss”
    If someone walked onto your worksite and said, “I’m the boss” I think some of you would at least question that person. Others might violently respond. Typically those people would be the people who currently held the positions of authority.
    Their authority was personally challenged
    So as Jesus did this, people questioned His authority, His qualifications, His connection with the Father, and even the words and acts that He did.
    We saw this last week, and will continue to see these challenges to His authority in the upcoming weeks.
    Last week, we saw the doubt of JTB. JTB didn’t rebel, but he didn’t understand Jesus’ authority because it didn’t match up with what He thought it should look like.
    We used this definition of doubt last week.
    Doubt is the tension we feel when what we believe about God collides with what we are experiencing in life.
    JTB’s experiences in life were not in line with what he thought the Messiah would allow.
    So he sent some disciples to ask Jesus.
    JTB wasn’t angry. JTB didn’t deny Jesus.
    But he didn’t know, so he asked.
    Is it ok to ask when we don’t understand? Absolutely!
    Did it meant that JTB got out of prison? No.
    If that doesn’t make sense, I encourage you to go watch last weeks sermon.
    Today, we will meet a new group of people who approach doubt in a different way.
    Their circumstances also collide with what they thought the Messiah should do.
    However, their response is much less honorable than John.

    Preaching Intro

    Life is hard
    I don’t think life is easy for anyone, but it does certainly seem harder for some more than others.
    I think we all know people who are sick, who are going through hard relational times, or financial difficulties.
    We rightfully pray for these people and these situations.
    Living with difficulties like this in life are so hard. It is exhausting just getting up in the morning and having to assess the world around us.
    Life is Hard
    88% of U.S. adults report experiencing some form of financial stress entering 2026.
    78% report losing sleep due to financial worries
    Life is Hard
    19% of U.S. adults have been diagnosed with depression
    29% of high school students report poor mental health in the last 30 days
    Life is Hard
    Over 40 million ER visits last year (2025)
    10-12% of Americans currently either have diagnosed heart disease or diagnosed cancer at this moment.
    Life was hard during the time of Jesus as well.
    Imagine being a blind man during the time of Jesus.
    There was no state disability program.
    You would have to make your way to a populated area and beg for the mercy and generosity of the people around you.
    Day in and day out, living with the struggle of blindness.
    If someone were to ask that blind man, what would be the best thing that could happen in your life, he would say, “I wish someone would take away my blindness so I could see.”
    The blind man would likely see his biggest problem as blindness
    His ailment of being blind was his identity.
    This is where I would like to pick up our text today:
    Matthew 11:20 NIV
    Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent.
    Matthew gives us the snapshot of what was happening here
    From this passage, it appears that much of Jesus ministry had happened in three towns in northern Israel.
    Jesus had been going through those towns preaching the Good News!
    He also performed many miracles in these towns.
    But why do you think that Jesus did the miracles?
    Jesus didn’t do the miracles so their physical lives would be more convenient and comfortable
    Jesus didn’t do the miracles because He was a nice guy and wanted to convince people to follow Him
    Jesus didn’t do the miracles so that people would be amazed and get more crowds
    Jesus was frustrated with the people. He began to denounce them.
    I want to talk about the word “denounce”. I think this is a churched up word for what Jesus did here.
    The greek word is really long. Usually I like to read the word to you. It begins with “O” and ends in “izo”.
    It means “insulted” or “heaped insults on”
    When Jesus went to the cross, they heaped insults on him.
    This is the exact same word.
    Jesus was frustrated with these people.
    He was doing miracles. They were seeing the power of God in their midst, but they were missing the point and Jesus was getting frustrated.
    Jesus did miracles to validate His message.
    And what was Jesus’ message?
    Matthew 4:17 NIV
    From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
    Repentance was Jesus desired outcome for the miracles.
    We can see that Jesus was frustrated by this reality.
    I want you to understand this, so I’m going to share a story.
    When we began as a church, we came up from Real Life in Post Falls.
    Understand that this was nearly 20 years ago. The names of this story have been changed to protect the guilty. LOL.
    One of the things Post Falls had established at that time was a benevolence ministry...
    So people began coming into my office asking for help with their power bill, or house bill, or gasoline, or one person even wanted extra money because they were spending money on their game apps on their phone.
    I would listen to the struggles and problems of these people. Share the Gospel. Invite to church.
    Then I would submit their request to the proper authorities and they would pay the bill.
    Do you know how many of these people responded to the Gospel? Or the invitation to church?
    Literally none.
    So, do you want to know my attitude as people began walking in the door?
    I became pretty cynical. In fact, the next words out of Jesus mouth started to make sense to me.
    Woe to you people of Newport. If I would have helped people in Cambodia like this, they would have changed their attitude and heart.
    But here you are getting help and leaving like you didn’t even just receive a blessing from the Body of Christ.
    Why do churches do a benevolence ministry?
    Because, there are needs in this world. That is not wrong.
    But, it also has the intended outcome of serving as a bridge to present the Gospel and meet a need much larger than their power bill.
    Do you understand the frustration of Jesus at that time?
    It is so easy to miss the big point because our eyes are focused on the wrong thing.
    Matthew 11:21–24 NIV
    “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
    CHORAZIN, BETHSAIDA, CAPERNAUM MAP
    Jesus compares Charazin and Bethsaida to Tyre and Sidon.
    These were pagan cities north of Israel.
    Then He compares Capernaum with Sodom
    This is the OT city that was known for its atrocious sin. It was destroyed by God as a just judgment for their sin.
    Jesus expresses His frustration with these cities, and expresses why He is frustrated
    He says, “It will be more bearable for these pagan cities than for you on judgment day.
    I want us to understand this:
    First of all, he wasn’t frustrated by doing the miracle
    He was frustrated that all they wanted was issues in this world to be fixed and didn’t care at all for issues of eternity.
    Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom were pagan cities.
    Their judgment is just
    But the cities that Jesus was in.
    These people literally had God in the flesh walking amongst them, speaking the truth to them, and doing miraculous deeds for them.
    And still, they did not repent.
    Judgment day is real. Judgment day is coming.
    We will talk more about that in a few moments.
    The bottom line is that Jesus walked among them and revealed the authority of God.
    They only wanted what would be convenient for them in that moment.
    I look at my circumstances and the things that I pray to God about.
    Am I looking for a God who will fix my temporary problems? Or am I looking for eternity, and His nature?
    Our temporary problems are exhausting and consuming.
    They impact our relationships, our decisions, our finances, and every part of life that we live to see.
    It’s a hard question. But Jesus is saying that there are things that are more important than miraculous solutions to temporary problems.
    Matthew 11:25–26 NIV
    At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
    Jesus then praises the Father
    He gives honor and glory. He says, “Good Job, Dad! You’ve done this right.”
    Why?
    Because God had hidden the eternal, the need for repentance, the need for dependence from the wise and learned.
    But He had revealed these things to the little children.
    So the wise and learned missed it. The little children didn’t
    Jesus is not talking in literal terms here. He didn’t just develop children’s ministry in this moment.
    I believe Jesus invokes the name “Father” here as he talks about the response of little children.
    In fact, Jesus mentions the Father 6 times in a three verse span.
    Another way of saying this is that some people have the faith of a child.
    I used to work at the elementary school. I remember one kid, and I knew his dad. This dad was something of a story teller.
    The fish he caught would get bigger every story.
    The football stories became more outrageous.
    He was the kind of guy that would often say, “You know what, someone came up to me and said...” and it would be the most outrageous thing about how great he was and how dumb everyone else was.
    This guy’s kid picked up on these stories, so he started telling the, “my dad” stories to all of his friends.
    This kid believed every audacious word his dad said because he trusted his dad.
    He was amazed by his dad. His dad was a neat guy.
    Now, in this story, Jesus was doing and saying some pretty audacious things.
    Some people were watching Jesus and saying, “Wow!” They would hang on every word. Celebrate every action. He could do no wrong.
    Then there were others who were like me on the playground. Wise and learned.
    I didn’t believe what this kid was saying.
    I knew better. The stories were too big to be true.
    Even if they were true, I wouldn’t believe anyways.
    “Faith of a Child” is a faith that believes anything and everything their Father says is true.
    It was to these people who approached Jesus in this way “these things” were given to them.
    You might be asking, “What things?”
    Jesus actually answers that next.
    Matthew 11:27 NIV
    “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
    This verse is massive!
    A couple of months ago, we preached a sermon about discipleship.
    We have a definition of discipleship that is rooted in Jesus call to His disciples
    Follow me
    I will make you
    Fishers of men
    This is great for the process of discipleship. But what is the purpose?
    So we would know the Father, not become better law followers
    Knowing the Father changes our lives. Then the Father can be seen through us
    Sanctification
    The purpose of discipleship is to reveal the Father to those who follow Jesus.
    John 14:6 NIV
    Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
    John 17:6 NIV
    “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.
    John 17:20–21 NIV
    “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
    We see this very point laid out in our passage today.
    Jesus was doing all of these miracles but was frustrated with the people because they did not repent.
    But Jesus wasn’t asking them to just sin less.
    Their sicknesses, problems, and issues were a bridge for Jesus to reveal the authority God had given Him.
    This authority was given to Jesus so they would follow Him, believe Him and what do we see here?
    Matthew 11:27 NIV
    “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
    Experience the revelation of the Father.
    What is this? What does this mean?
    At this point, I don’t think any of these people knew the answer to that question.
    But, Jesus had just pointed to a huge reality.
    There will be a judgment day. A day that will not assess how much sickness you have. How much wealth or comfort you have been able to afford yourself.
    There will be a Judgment Day that will answer the question, “Did you know the Father?”
    And Jesus just said that the only ones who know the Father are the ones Jesus reveals the Father to.
    It is a journey that we must ask ourselves, “Do we trust our dad? Or are we too “wise and learned”?
    Jesus gives us direction for this by painting a picture for us.
    Matthew 11:28 NIV
    “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
    I’ve always interpreted this verse from a sense that this verse stands alone.
    This is the verse that I need whenever I am tired after a long day of work.
    But the context to this passage gives us a rich and meaningful understanding of this statement.
    We know what it means to be weary and burdened.
    We live in a world of worry and burden.
    My wife and I have started trying to get into some hiking as a hobby.
    One of the things that we are supposed to do to train is load up our backpacks with more and more weight.
    Did you know that if you dump a bunch of weight into your backpack then try to climb a hill, that it makes you REALLY tired?
    Guys, this life is full of hills
    The hills are steep. They are difficult. If it was only the hills and mountains, that would be really difficult.
    We strive to find the right paths up the mountains. Sometimes it feels like we are making progress other times, what we thought was a path, ends up being a bunch of trees and bushes and we can’t get across.
    But life keeps dropping weight in our backpacks.
    Pretty soon we are huffing and puffing.
    There are times we cannot keep climbing and we just fall on the side of the path.
    The things in our backpacks are things like:
    Broken relationships
    Financial problems
    Scheduling obligations
    Work stress
    Depression
    Cancer/sickness
    Grief/Pain
    We know what it is to be weary and heavy burdened.
    Jesus says, “Come to me and I will give you rest”
    There is the promise.
    So we come to Jesus and say, “Take my sickness”, then we are GTG.
    If you can just take a few things out of my bag, then as I continue my climb, I won’t get so tired.
    Then Jesus says the next verse:
    Matthew 11:29–30 NIV
    Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
    In reading this, I always thought of this as a “Plowing the field” metaphor from Jesus. But it isn’t
    There are a few words we need to define so we can understand what Jesus is saying here
    Yoke-
    Stable gear that joins two draft animals together at the neck so they can work together as a team.
    I love this because we are not asked to tote a backpack anymore. Jesus puts a cart behind us and says you take one side and I’ll take the other.
    A single draft horse can pull 8,000 lbs
    A pair of untrained draft horses can pull 24,000 lbs (3 times as much!)
    A pair of trained draft horses can pull 32,000 lbs (4 times as much!)
    Jesus invites us into His yoke. Lay down your backpack and pick up His yoke.
    Everything in the backpack are things that are living for this world.
    The exhaustion of that backpack might be exactly what I needed to lay it down and start to walk with Jesus.
    If I put my head in the yoke and look over, do you know who is pulling with me?
    Jesus.
    Do you remember what He said to His disciples at the end of the Great Commission? “I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.”
    If it is Jesus’ yoke, we are no longer climbing the mountains where I think is best. It is His yoke.
    He leads, He guides.
    When we surrender to Him we find that His yoke is:
    Easy- Greek: Chrestos
    Soft, mild, pleasant or kind. Not harsh, stern or severe
    You’ve been struggling in this life for so long. You’ve been working so hard. But now, when you give up the struggle and surrender to Jesus, you find that this path is pleasant. It isn’t harsh and severe.
    We came to him because we were exhausted with harsh and severe.
    This world is harsh and severe.
    Jesus is Kind. He is love.
    So we begin walking down the path with Jesus beside us and I ask, “So when do we pick up our luggage? When does it become difficult?”
    He says:
    Burden- Greek: Phortion
    A quantity that can be transported at one time, usually understood as being heavy.
    Light- Greek: Elaphros
    Weighing little, or insignificant
    You may hear Jesus saying, “life will be easy if you just come to me.” I’ll take away all of your struggles and everything will be great.
    If we read this passage through the lens of the people who received miracles and didn’t repent, this is what we will hear.
    But if we read this passage as a child who just wants to hear from their Dad, we can hear Jesus say, “This is an eternal peace. A peace with Your Father.”
    Jesus made a statement a few weeks ago
    Matthew 10:28 NIV
    Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
    This world can only kill your body.
    If we come to Jesus as a child. Surrender our path to Him. Join Him in His work, we have eternal life.
    There are no amounts of rocks this world can put into our backpacks that will take away what we have with Jesus.
    Our soul finds rest.
    Here is why the path with the backpack is exhausting:
    As human beings we were created in the image of God. We were created to be in perfect and holy relationship with an all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present God.
    Because of sin, we are separated from this God.
    So we strive to be all-knowing, all-powerful, and ever-present in our lives.
    But we aren’t these things. It’ll kill us with exhaustion.
    It’s time to stop trying to be God or god-like in our lives.
    It’s time to lay down the need to know everything, to control everything, to be everything to everyone. Stop. Rest.
    Allow God to be God.
    What we lose
    You no longer choose your path
    You lose the illusion of control
    What we gain
    The Father
    Conclusion
    This is not therapy talk for church.
    This is a matter of eternal consequence.
    Jesus brought the phrase “Judgement Day” into the discussion.
    If we hold ourselves, we lose eternity.
    If we surrender ourselves, we gain eternity.
    (Bring the backpack back out)
    You’ve felt the weight of this all morning. Every rock we named—stress, sickness, pressure, expectations—it adds up. And some of you walked in here today already exhausted… already halfway up the hill… already wondering how much longer you can carry it.
    And here’s the tension Jesus exposes:
    The problem isn’t that the backpack is heavy. The problem is that we keep choosing it.
    Jesus didn’t look at those cities and say, “You’re too burdened.” He said, “You won’t repent.”
    They saw His power. They experienced His goodness. But they refused to surrender.
    And if we’re honest… we do the same thing.
    We don’t mind Jesus helping us carry the backpack. We just don’t want to put it down.

    Application #1: Stop asking Jesus to fix your load—start surrendering your life

    Some of you have been praying: “Jesus, take this stress.” “Jesus, fix this situation.” “Jesus, make this easier.”
    And Jesus is saying: “I didn’t come to manage your backpack. I came to replace it.”
    The invitation is not: “Let me lighten your current life.”
    The invitation is: “Come to me.”
    That means repentance. That means surrender. That means saying:
    “I’m done trying to control everything.” “I’m done trying to be everything.” “I’m done choosing my own path.”
    You don’t need a lighter load. You need a different life.

    Application #2: Trade independence for intimacy—take His yoke daily

    This isn’t a one-time moment. This is a daily decision.
    Every morning you wake up, there’s a choice:
    Backpack… or yoke.
    Will I carry this on my own? Or will I walk with Jesus?
    Taking His yoke means:
    I trust His direction over mine
    I value knowing the Father over fixing my circumstances
    I stay close enough to Jesus that I actually learn from Him
    Because the promise isn’t that life gets easy…
    The promise is that you won’t walk it alone—and your soul will finally rest.

    Final Thought

    One day, every one of us will stand before God.
    And the question won’t be: “How heavy was your backpack?” “How hard was your life?” “How much did you accomplish?”
    The question will be:
    “Did you come to me?”
    Not admire Him. Not analyze Him. Not use Him.
    Did you come to Him… like a child… and trust your Father?
    So here’s the moment:
    (gesture to the backpack)
    You can walk out of here today… pick this back up… and keep climbing the same mountain.
    Or…
    You can lay it down.
    And step into the yoke with Jesus.
    Not just for relief…
    But for rest, relationship, and eternity.

      • Matthew 11:20–30NIV2011

      • Matthew 11:20NIV2011

      • Matthew 4:17NIV2011

      • Matthew 11:21–24NIV2011

      • Matthew 11:25–26NIV2011

      • Matthew 11:27NIV2011

      • John 14:6NIV2011

      • John 17:6NIV2011

      • John 17:20–21NIV2011

      • Matthew 11:27NIV2011

      • Matthew 11:28NIV2011

      • Matthew 11:29–30NIV2011

      • Matthew 11:29ESV

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Real Life Selkirk
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