Introduction

Modern people are living in a fiercely competitive society. They are constantly exhausted from the extreme stresses due to intense competition from workplace or school. Therefore, people have strong desire to seek “rest” and satisfaction in temporal things. Activities that are related to eating and traveling are gaining popularity on television program. Restaurant’s businesses are booming every year. Travel agencies are introducing varieties of travel plans on the pretext of helping people find temporal “rest.” This seems to be a common trend reflecting people’s desire to find “rest” in temporal material things.

 

Ironically, although people are eager to seek comfort or avenues to relieve their stress, they often do not find “rest” in them. An example can be found in a certain rich man recorded in Luke 12:16-21. The ground of the rich man brought forth plentifully. Because of that, he had to pull down the existing barn and build a bigger barn as he had no place to store the fruits of his crops. With the bountiful fruits and goods he had, he said to himself, “thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.”(v19) The wealthy people in Jesus’s time were the high priest and his family, the members of Herod’s family and their loyal followers, and Jewish noblemen. There were also merchants who obtained their wealth through commerce and trade. Except source of wealth of merchants were from the agriculture. Whenever they could, they would widen their land for more production. They were wealthier and wealthier through cheap labor force obtained from peasants and lowly slaves. The rich man in the parable became wealthy through the production of his land. This rich man did not care about his poor neighbors nor desire in his heart to help them. It was against the Law.(Leviticus25:35). In this parable, we can clearly see this certain rich man was seeking “rest” through his material wealth “eat, drink and be merry.” His life had nothing to do with God. So, no matter how rich he was, or how he tried to enjoy himself, his conscience would not rest because of what he had done to his neighbours. he could not escape from the fear of God’s judgement. This rich rest physically but failed to rest spiritually. Unfortunately, many people seek “rest” in the same manner as the rich mand did. As a result, people do not enjoy true rest that is of their souls.

 

We should not make the same mistake as this rich man. To prevent this mistake, we need to know what are God’s promises given to us in Matthew11:28-30. In this passage, we are going to find out what is true rest from the text. Therefore, the title of my message today is

 

Find Rest In Jesus

 

1. Prerequisite to rest: We have to be Born Again

Look at verse 28, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Most of the people in Jesus' time “laboured” for a living, such as labour in the vineyards or fields. They worried about their daily needs such as what to eat and drink or what to wear. The word“ labour” in this verse means “to labour until worn-out, depleted or exhausted.” This word "heavy laden" came from keeping the Law. They were heavy burdens imposed by the Pharisees and scribes. They were threatened that if they failed to keep the Lord, they would not be saved. Jesus, the Messiah came to the world to redeem them from their sins and give them eternal life. “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.”(Matthew 11:5) The people in Jesus’s time believed and accepted Jesus as the Messiah (i.e. Christ) who was promised to come in the Old Testament. Jesus Christ gave them rest from the burden of sins by dying on the cross and fulfilling the Law.

 

In order to receive this rest from Jesus Christ, we need to be “Born Again.” This is liken to the Christian in The Pilgrim's Progress, who laid down his burden of sins before the cross. We have to be born again in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. Then the spiritual rest will be granted to us.

 

2. After Regeneration: We have to find “Rest.”

Look at verse 29. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls“. The Lord promises that we will find rest, if we take His yoke and learn of Him. The “rest” in verse 29 requires our responsibility. This rest will be given to those who are regenerated. In order to find “rest” unto our souls, we have to take the yoke of Jesus and learn of him.

 

Firstly, we must take the yoke of Jesus

What does “to take my yoke” mean?

What does it mean to take up the yoke of Jesus? It means to be walking closely with Jesus. Luke15:1-7 tells us the story of the Shepherd looking for his lost sheep. The main theme of the parable is that God is looking for the lost sheep. It is interesting to imagine how anxious or “unrest” is the lost sheep. How was the sheep lost? Let’s try to imagine the situation with this lost sheep. The lost sheep was one of the sheep in shepherd’s flock as the word “lost” implies so. In the beginning, the “lost sheep” was obediently led by the shepherd, keeping together with the rest of the flock and constantly checking it’s distant from his shepherd. As time passed by, the “lost sheep” became more comfortable in his surrounding, happily eating his grass and moving his distant further and further away from his shepherd. As the distance of the sheep and the shepherd getting further, the sheep may be thinking that it could catch up with the shepherd, if it decided to move now. When he finally raised its head to look around, the shepherd and other sheep were nowhere at sight. Then the lost sheep cried desperately, looking for its shepherd. It wandered in the wildness, gotten injured multiple times, falling into the bush, falling off from the hill, and so on. The lost sheep could also be in danger by falling prey to the hungry beasts. The only way the lost sheep could have “rest”　is to be found by the shepherd. The lost sheep will have great comfort and relief, when it was found by shepherd. See Psalm23, it expresses the joy of a sheep that is taken care by a good shepherd. "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want." (Psalm 23:1).

 

When we take the yoke of Jesus, our soul could rest. This is because we will feel secured when our Lord is walking with us. When we take Jesus’ yoke, we can assure that my Lord is with us. When we assure that God is with us, our souls will rest. This is the rest that the Lord gives unto our souls.

 

Realise our responsibility that is given by the Lord respectively.

"My yoke" can be literally interpreted as "the yoke that is given or supplied by me". Our “yoke” can be different from one and another. This “yoke” is the responsibility or task given to each of us. Genesis 1:28 "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” God gave Adam and Eve the responsibility to rule the earth and to multiply on earth. Ephesians 2:10 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” We are “re-created” in Christ Jesus. God gave Adam and Eve the responsibility. God also gives each one of us responsibility on earth. We have to do our best to fulfill the responsibilities that are given to each one of us.

 

God gives us responsibility according to the talents He has entrusted to us. With the talent of healing, someone can become a doctor. With the talent of teaching, someone can become a teacher. According to the different talents, someone can be an engineer, a farmer, or a musician. A mother is called to nurture her children. This is all very important responsibilities given by God. There is nothing that is not important from God’s perspective. It does not matter what profession we are doing but it does matter how we do our work or live before God. As a believer, we must know our worldly responsibilities given to us. We ought to be a shining light and good witness for the Lord. We must seek to know God’s will in our life. We ought to be a channel of blessing in our respective field by living a holy and exemplary life.

 

God also called us to serve in the church. God gives mission to the church. A church member who joins a church is to fulfill the church’s mission according to the spiritual gifts that he or she has received from the Lord. The Lord has given True Life BP church the special mission and that is to fight for the Truth. She has been firmly standing on VPI and VPP doctrines. She has not compromised on doctrinal issue, such as Charismatic movement and Ecumenical movement. True Life BP church has been supporting FEBC in training God’s servants. For the purpose of her mission, You have been serving in the church according to your spiritual gifts. This is what it means to take up the yoke of Jesus.

 

We must be willing to take the yoke of Jesus

The Greek word “take” is not “λαμβάνω; lambanō”, which generally means “to take.” On the other hand “αἴρω;airō”, means “to lift up” or “to take up.” This involves our will in lifting up the yoke of Jesus. This is not passive but active act and is voluntary one. We must take up Jesus’s yoke in such manner.

 

Secondly, we must learn of Jesus

Look at verse 29 again, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.“ In order to have rest in the Lord, we must know and learn what is the characteristic of our Lord Jesus Christ. V29 says to be” meek“ and ”lowly“ at heart.“

 

What does “learn” mean?

In order to understand the meaning of “learn”, we need to first understand the Israel’s agricultural way of using yoke. During the time of Jesus, farmers in the Philistia would fasten a yoke to their livestock for plowing, which is also the same today. Plowing is found to be more efficient, when two of their livestock are yoked. A yoke is a wooden bar that joins two oxen to each other. There are some important factors needed to take into consideration before yoking the animals: a) type, b) size, c) strength and d) experience. The farmer will not yoke a male and a female animal nor an oxen and a donkey together. This is because the strength to plow is different between these two animals. The Apostle Paul said, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers"(2 Corinthians 6:14). An “unequally yoke could means this team of paired animals have one stronger ox paired with a weaker ox, or one taller ox and one shorter ox. The weaker or shorter ox will impair the efficiency of the stronger or taller ox by slowing down the given task. Thus, the work cannot be properly carried out. Lastly, experience is also an important factor for a farmer to yoke the two animals. The farmer will choose the one which has the ability to understand his instruction and the other is one who is inexperienced or not trained. For example, farmer trains a young ox to plow by partnering it with a more mature and trained ox. The job of the younger ox is simply to follow direction and keep pace with the trained ox. The older ox did most of the work since he understood the commands of the farmer. As long as the young ox followed the older ox, everything would be fine. But if the younger ox decides to work faster or slower, either ways the work will be impaired. Only by keeping pace with the older ox then could the younger ox complete the work without collapsing. They had to move step by step at an equal pace and through this the younger ox could learn by experience what to do and how to do.

 

What does “meek and lowly” mean?

The word “meek” should not be misunderstood as “weak.” It should rather be understood as, despite having power, one could subject oneself voluntarily under other’s authority. “Meek” is an act of putting oneself under the power and control of God. We place ourselves in the responsibility the Lord has entrusted us. The word “lowly” means humble mind. A lowly person will not depend on his or her understanding and strength, but he or she will depend on the Lord. Yoked animals are under the authority and control of its farmer. Similarly, we acknowledge that Jesus Christ is our Lord, therefore we must wait upon His direction and guidance. Our Lord is meek and lowly. He will direct and guide our life step by step.

 

How will rest be given to us?

When we learn of Jesus’ “meekness” and “humility”, we can rest. This is explained in verse 30. "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." "Easy" means "useful", or "serviceable." It is liken to a pair of soccer shoes worn by a soccer player, it should be not be too big nor small but just the right size. It is like placing the right tool is in the hand of a blacksmith. The responsibility Jesus gives us is easy. It is suitable for us and not a task we cannot accomplish. The word" light" means "light in weight". Why is the yoke given by the Lord is light? It is because the Lord is also carrying the yoke together with us. It is the same principle when two persons are carrying a heavy item down the staircase, the person in front naturally has more load than the person behind. The Lord is the leading yoke, we just need to follow Him step by step. This is the reason why the Lord’s yoke is light. This also applies to our faith, it will too heavy for us to take on all the responsibility alone without our Lord God in the life. However, you commit the responsibility to the Lord and follow the His leading, it will come as light and easy. When we leave our burdens to our Lord, praying to the Him, rest will be granted unto our souls. Trusting the Lord is rest itself.

 

The Lord commands us with urgency and solemnity

Matt 11:29 - Greek tense of “take” and “learn” in the verse is Aorist Imperative. The voice of Aorist Imperative is much stronger than Present Imperative. Aorist Imperative is sounded like the command that must never failed. Therefore, we should read it with urgency and solemnity like this: “take my yoke and learn of me”

 

Application

We need to change our thinking on “rest” from the world perspective to biblical perspective.

The Greek people thinks that to rest is to do nothing. Therefore, they do not work nor have any activities while resting. We also tend to understand the word “rest” as such. However, in Hebrew it is different, “rest” is to move forward. Try to imagine riding a bicycle. One will keep peddling for the bicycle to advance, this is the meaning of “rest” in the Hebrew. Walking step by step towards a certain destination is “to rest.” When we take on Jesus’ yoke and learn of him, we will find rest unto our souls. The Lord also cares about our physical rest.The Lord gave physical rest to His disciples who came back from their evangelistic mission “And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat (Mark 6:31).” There will be a time when we no longer need to take Jesus’ yoke and learn of him. It is when we have departed from our physical body go to heaven. Prior to that, we have to realise our responsibility and fulfill them. When we are still living in this present life, we can find rest unto our souls by taking up the yoke and learn of Jesus.

 

Conclusion

Now, we have learnt what is rest which the Lord has promised us. It is the res after we have laid down our sins before Christ, our Lord. When we are born again, we are rested from the burden of sin. We have learnt also the kind of rest we have to find. It is the rest that provide security. When we yoke together with the Lord, we will be secured in Him. When we learn of meekness and humility from the Lord, we can trust Him. When we trust Him to help us fulfill our responsibilities, we will find rest unto our souls.