People miss great opportunities

Matthew 11:20–30

Many people heard the good news. But they chose to not to believe it. Jesus felt very sad about this. He gave a gentle invitation. It is for all people who need to rest.

Jesus’ work was to teach and to heal. He did most of this work in Galilee. Jesus mentioned three towns here. They were Korazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. They were all in the district of Galilee. Capernaum was the centre for Jesus’ work.

Tyre and Sidon were two ports. They were on the Mediterranean Sea. Now, the ports are in Lebanon. Then, they were in Phoenicia. They were not Jewish. The OT prophets had often spoken of these two towns. To them, the people who lived there seemed especially wicked. (Read Isaiah 23; Ezekiel 26–28; Amos 1:9 and Joel 3:6.)

We first hear about Sodom in Genesis 19. Later in the OT, the word Sodom described very wicked men. Matthew 11:23 repeated some words from the OT. Some of the words are in Isaiah 14:12–14. There, we read about the king of Babylon. OT writers sometimes used the name Babylon as a sign. It was a sign of the great enemy of God. Here, Jesus applied those words to Capernaum.

Matthew 11:21 mentioned ‘sackcloth’. It was a black piece of clothing. People would wear it when someone died. There was another tradition in the ancient world. People would put ashes on their heads. This was a sign that they were very sad.

These facts may help us to understand Jesus’ words. He could see that certain events were happening. He felt very sad about it all. Perhaps he was appealing to the people too. They were refusing to accept him. His great desire was that they should accept him.

These people had heard Jesus speak many times. They had seen the great things that he did. They had had many chances to accept him. Instead, most of them refused to accept him. Jesus described some difficult children. Jesus said that the people were like them. (Read Matthew 11:16-17.) The people had many benefits. But these meant that they had a responsibility. They must believe in him. But they failed to do this. They did not care about Jesus’ words. Jesus made claims on them. But they did nothing about them.

Here, Jesus especially mentioned his miracles. Maybe his words were not enough. But, surely, his miracles were enough. They should have made the people aware of their need. They needed to repent. But they refused to change their attitude. They were as bad as some people who were in the OT. Jesus spoke about the people in Sodom. They were terrible sinners. Everyone knew about their evil ways. Also, there were the men in Tyre and Sidon. Everyone knew that these people were very cruel. But these groups of men had not seen the same miracles. Jesus said something interesting about this. If they had seen the miracles, then they would have repented.

Come and welcome Jesus! (Matthew 11:25–30)

There is much truth to learn about Jesus. Often, clever people just cannot understand it. But God shows his truth to those who are like children. (Read Matthew 11:25–26.) Events affect older people. Ideas affect them. Clever arguments can affect them too. But young children can usually judge a person correctly. So, people who are ‘like children’ receive from God. Other people cannot receive from God.

Matthew 11:27 is a most important truth. Jesus had just taught the way to salvation. To receive this salvation, people must accept him. They must have the same sort of trust that a child has. Jesus can supply what the sinner needs. Men and women need to know God. Jesus said that the person who had seen him had seen God. This was because Jesus is the Son of God. There is still no other way for anyone to know God. (Read John 14:6 and Acts 4:12.)

The chapter ends with a great invitation. (Read Matthew 11:28–30.) They are the gentle words of a kind Saviour. (This means ‘someone who saves’.) Jesus wants to save everyone.

Jesus described the people who were listening to him. They were ‘tired’. They were like people who are carrying ‘heavy weights’. Maybe Jesus was thinking about Genesis 3:16–19. There we read about the results of sin. These things can be like heavy weights. We live in a world that is God’s world. But sin has affected it. So, we have much trouble. There are many things to make us sad too.

But Jesus may have been thinking about something else too. All the Jewish rules and laws could seem like a heavy weight. To know God seemed to be very difficult. The Jews thought that this must be true. So, they made it hard for everyone! Many religions are like this today.

Jesus spoke to these people. He said, ‘I will give you rest.’ Rest would mean two things to the Jews who lived in Jesus’ time. First, it would mean life as God meant it to be. Second, it would mean spiritual rest. (This is to be at peace with God. It would result in peace of mind and heart.) This is the good news that Jesus still offers!

With Jesus, we can enjoy a great quality of life. This makes our life without Jesus seem very dull. With Jesus, one day we will enjoy even more. Our lives will be free from every ‘weight’ of sin. (Read Revelation 21:1–4.) But even now, we can be free. We are not trying to make God like us. This can cause great worry to men and women. When we belong to Jesus, we can be sure about God’s love. We can be at peace in our minds!

We can have this great experience. Jesus does not have any hard standards. He does not ask us to do anything. He only asks us to come to him (Matthew 11:28). He wants us to come as we are. Then he asks us to obey him. We are sinners. But he is ‘gentle and humble’. He is so kind. His mercy is so great.

Jesus seemed to be thinking about Isaiah 42:3. The verse has a lovely picture in words. It described the Person who was coming. He would not be angry with anyone who was weak. Someone’s faith in him may be very small. But Jesus will not send that person away. People in the world can be very unkind. They can behave in a cruel way. But Jesus is not like that. He is a gentle Saviour (someone who saves).

Jesus now encouraged those who listened to him even more. He asked them to accept him. He wanted them to learn from him. He did not ask them to do something that was difficult. It was ‘easy’. Religions that come from men are not like this. These religions often have strict methods. Their rules seem like heavy loads. But to obey Jesus is very different. He says, ‘The load that I give you to carry is not heavy.’

Then Jesus gave them a promise. He said, ‘You will find rest.’ That promise is for us too. We can find ‘rest’ in Christ. This means that our consciences will be at peace. We will know that God forgives our sin. We do not have to feel guilty. We will be ‘at rest’ in ourselves. This is because we have peace with God. Even this is not all. Also, we have the certain hope that this rest will last for ever.

Questions

• What do you imagine God to be like? Is he like someone who has a big stick? Do you feel that he will hit you if you do anything wrong? Or, do you think that he is a Father who loves you? How can you change wrong ideas about God? What might you learn from this passage?
• Think about your church. Is religion like a weight to its members? Do they feel that they could never obey all its rules? What could you do about it?
• What Jesus asks us to do is ‘easy’. But the Christian life can be very hard. We may have to refuse things that we want. We may have to suffer too. (Read Matthew 16:24–26.) So, what does Jesus mean in Matthew 11:30?