AFTER JESUS HAD finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.
2When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”
4Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”
7As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10This is the one about whom it is written:
“ ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’
11I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. 13For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15He who has ears, let him hear.
16“To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
17“ ‘We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not mourn.’
18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” “But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”
20Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. 21“Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! 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. 22But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
25At 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. 26Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
27“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.
28“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Original Meaning
ALTHOUGH JESUS GAVE authority to his disciples to go to Israel (10:1–7) and later to all nations (10:16–23; 28:18–20), he has not yet transferred his work to them completely. He now himself goes to Israel to teach and preach. He still confines his ministry to “the towns of Galilee” (11:1), but soon the populace will have had their opportunity to hear the gospel message (cf. 4:13–17; 11:20–24). Then Jesus will expand his ministry throughout the surrounding cities of Israel and the Gentile regions (15:21–34). Restrained resistance to Jesus’ ministry has appeared occasionally (9:3–4), but now overt opposition begins. The altercation begins innocently enough through questions from John the Baptist (11:2–19), but it quickly escalates into opposition and hostility from the Jewish religious leaders (12:1–45).
John the Baptist Questions Jesus (11:1–6)
TRANSITION (11:1). THE conclusion to the Mission Discourse is signaled by the stylized formula, “After Jesus had finished” (11:1; cf. 7:28; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1). This formula also serves as a transition to the next section of narrative (chs. 11–12). Matthew says nothing about the Twelve’s actual mission (cf., by contrast, Mark 6:30; Luke 9:10). The next time the disciples appear in this Gospel, they are accompanying Jesus on his short trip.
John questions Jesus through his disciples (11:2–3). Early in the narrative Matthew noted the arrest of John the Baptist as the impulse for Jesus to begin his Galilean ministry (4:12). John had been imprisoned by Herod Antipas at the fortress Machaerus,1 where ultimately he was put to death (see 14:1–14). As he awaited his fate, John heard about “the deeds of the Messiah” (11:2; NIV “what Christ was doing”), presumably the teaching (chs. 5–7), miracles (chs. 8–9) and mission (ch. 10) in Galilee. Matthew uses the title “the Christ” or “the Messiah” (ho Christos) for the first time since his opening chapters (see 1:1, 16, 17, 18, 2:4), making explicit that John wanted clarification about Jesus’ identity and ministry as the Messiah.
John sends some of his disciples to Jesus. These disciples were committed followers who had gathered around him to assist him in his ministry as the prophet preparing the way for the Messiah, who would usher in the messianic age (John 1:35–42; 3:22–4:3; see comments on Matt. 9:14). They apparently stayed as close to John as they could while he was in prison, and evidently John was able to communicate with them.
Along with John they were becoming increasingly alarmed as to the future of the messianic program. Earlier they had questioned Jesus about the incongruity of their own practice of fasting with Jesus’ disciples lack of participation in that activity (see comments on 9:14–17). Armed with John’s question, they travel from the fortress Machaerus north through Perea alongside the Jordan River, crossing into Galilee near Capernaum (where Jesus was ministering)—nearly a hundred miles on foot.
John instructed his disciples to ask of Jesus, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” The expression “the one who was to come” is an allusion to the Messiah, the Coming One, the expression John used to refer to Jesus at the beginning of the public ministry (3:11). This phrase draws on expressions such as “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD” in Psalm 118:26 and recalls Zechariah’s prophecy, “See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zech. 9:9)—the prophecy Jesus fulfilled at his entry to Jerusalem (Matt. 21:4).
John’s question seems out of character with his earlier bold and courageous declaration of Jesus as the Coming One (cf. 3:1–14). Some commentators have explained John’s question as intended not for himself but for his disciples’ clarification. But Jesus directs his answer back to John himself. Others suggest that John’s question reflects a state of depression that has come on him from being imprisoned. But the question implies more concern for the arrival of Messiah than for his own condition. Most likely, John is concerned because his present experience does not match the message he gave about the Coming One’s arrival, which promised blessing on those who repent and judgment on those who do not.
It is natural for John to experience perplexity as he languishes in prison, much as had earlier prophets such as Elijah (e.g., 1 Kings 19:1–18) when their human experience did not fully correspond with God’s message through them. John rightly expected the Messiah to be a judging figure, so events are not unfolding as he anticipated. The divine judgment and time of messianic blessing do not seem to have arrived as he projected. Jesus is not carrying out judgment; rather, he seems to be concentrating on healing and helping. John needs to have his understanding of the messianic program reconfirmed.2
Jesus responds to John’s questions (11:4–6). Jesus reiterates to John’s disciples that the way his ministry has unfolded (chs. 8–9) is in line with the prophetic promises. In Jesus’ ministry are fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecies that described the coming messianic ministry in these very terms: The blind receive sight (9:27–32; Isa. 29:18; 35:5), the lame walk (Matt. 15:30–31; cf. Isa. 35:6), those who have leprosy are cured (Matt. 8:1–4; cf. Isa. 53:4), the deaf hear (Mark 7:32–37; cf. Isa. 29:18–19; 35:5), the dead are raised (Matt. 10:8; cf. Isa. 26:18–19), and the good news is preached to the poor (Matt. 5:3; cf. Isa. 61:1).3
Therefore Jesus explicitly confirms that in his ministry the messianic age of blessing has arrived. But the implications are even more profound because the miracles accomplished by Jesus fulfill expectations previously associated with God and the eschatological Day of the Lord. Jesus indicates that he has come in the place of God performing the work of God.4
So Jesus confirms for John that the blessings of the messianic age have arrived with his ministry. But Jesus likewise mildly rebukes John and his disciples by calling them to see the bigger picture in his ministry: “Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” This beatitude (see comments on 5:3) functions as both a warning and a challenge. It is a warning to those who fail to understand correctly Jesus’ identity and ministry and so fall away from faith in his saving activity. It is a challenge to those with eyes of faith to stand firm in what God has revealed about Jesus in John’s own message and in Jesus’ ministry.
John and his disciples need to see the bigger picture of God’s timing and manifestation of blessing and judgment in Jesus’ messianic ministry. On the one hand, the Old Testament prophets often telescoped near and far events in God’s program, so that future events appear alongside of present events. John and his disciples should look for God’s timing of the complete fulfillment of blessing and judgment in Jesus’ present and future ministry (cf. 24:36–42). On the other hand, each of the prophecies to which Jesus alludes as being fulfilled in his ministry includes in the immediate context references to both blessing and judgment (Isa. 35:4–6; 61:1–2). John and his disciples must use eyes of faith to recognize both blessing and judgment. Jesus has brought the blessing of healing and good news to the poor and oppressed (11:4–5), yet those who reject his ministry and message face certain judgment, which even now is pronounced by Jesus (11:20–24; cf. John 3:31–36; 5:25–35).5
Jesus’ Tribute to John the Baptist (11:7–19)
AFTER MILDLY REBUKING John for not seeing with eyes of faith the full picture of his messianic program, Jesus speaks to the crowds about John, giving a glowing tribute to this greatest of those born of women (11:11–15). He then rebukes the crowds and the religious leaders for not responding to John’s ministry as well as his own (11:16–19).
John is more than a prophet (11:7–10). John was immensely influential among the people of Israel (3:1–6). The crowds may have heard of his questions about Jesus’ messianic identity, and if John was experiencing doubt, they may be following his lead and be experiencing doubt as well. So Jesus compels them to recall the tremendous impact that John’s ministry had originally had among them.
He begins his tribute by inducing the crowds to specify correctly John’s identity and mission, which in turn will lead them to an accurate understanding of Jesus’ own identity and mission. Jesus asks, “What did you go out into the desert to see?” John’s call to repentance was extraordinary, as throngs of people continually went out to him (3:5). Through three rhetorical questions Jesus gives the crowds contrasting options about John, which will force them to acknowledge his true identity and mission.
(1) Was John a “reed swayed by the wind?” The metaphor of tall reed grasses growing along the shores of the Jordan suggests weakness and vacillation with every changing wind of opportunity or challenge. John, by contrast, languishes in prison because of the strength of his resolve to confront every challenge and speak the truth.
(2) Was John “a man dressed in fine clothes?” The expected answer is “Of course not!” John consistently lived an ascetic lifestyle in keeping with his call for repentance. John’s question about Jesus did not come from materialistic opportunism.
(3) The crowds should recall that they went to the desert to see the first prophet sent from God in four centuries. John was like the Old Testament prophets because he was God’s spokesperson who called the nation to repentance and declared God’s program of salvation.
But John was more than any prophet of the Old Testament because he was the one about whom a prophecy had been given—the prophet who would announce the arrival of the Messiah and the inbreaking of the kingdom of heaven. Because Malachi 3:1 refers to preparing God’s way, Jesus dramatically implies his own divine status, although it is doubtful that the crowds or even Jesus’ disciples understand that distinction at this point in his ministry.6
John’s greatness and the greatness of the messianic kingdom (11:11). Jesus continues to defend John by pointing to the greatness of his ministry, yet he gives a surprising twist by pointing to the greatness of those in the kingdom of heaven: “I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” The phrase “among those born of women” contrasts ordinary human birth (Job 14:1; 15:14; 25:4) with the birth of those born anew into the kingdom of heaven. The contrast is not between human accomplishments but between eras. The arrival of the kingdom of heaven ushers in an incomparably greater era than any preceding it.
John is a transitional figure who has prepared the way for the Coming One, but Jesus implies here that John will not live to see the full arrival of the kingdom.7 Jesus’ institution of the new covenant in his blood is a dividing line. The complex of events including the cross, resurrection, ascension, and sending of the Spirit at Pentecost brings the arrival of the kingdom’s redemptive life, by which time John was executed. John is the greatest of those born during the Old Testament era because of his crucial role in preparing the way for the Messiah and his kingdom. His mission was great because of the greatness of the One he introduced. But those in the kingdom are greater because of their privilege actually to have entered it.
Violence and the kingdom of heaven (11:12). Jesus continues his tribute to John by harking back to the beginning stages of his announcement that the kingdom of heaven will soon arrive in the ministry of the Coming One: “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.” This saying of Jesus has been widely debated, with the difficulty arising primarily because the verb biazo (NIV “forcefully advancing”) and the noun biastes (NIV “forceful men”) can be taken in either a positive or a negative way.8
The interpretations come down to whether the two clauses are to be interpreted positively, or negatively, or a combination of both. (1) On the positive side, some suggest that Jesus is pointing to the powerful advance of the kingdom and the zeal and courage of those who dare to accept the invitation to enter.9 (2) On the negative side, others contend that Jesus is pointing to the violence that the kingdom of heaven has suffered at the hands of evil, violent men.10 (3) Still others suggest that Jesus is pointing to a combination of positive and negative features—the kingdom is advancing powerfully, but evil men are attacking it violently.11
View (2) is supported by the fact that the noun biastes is normally, if not always, rendered in a negative way to designate “violent men.” Since the verb biazo and the noun biastes are related, Matthew intends them to reflect a parallel expression by Jesus, meaning that both clauses should be interpreted more naturally with the same force. Thus, in the light of the negative circumstances of John the Baptist and the rising opposition to his own ministry, Jesus points to the ongoing opposition that the kingdom of heaven has encountered since the days of John the Baptist. The first clause probably indicates opposition from the religious establishment generally, while the second clause probably points to the forces of specific evil people, such as Herod Antipas, who has even now imprisoned John. The saying foreshadows the gathering opposition to Jesus, which will come to a climax in his arrest, trial, and execution by the Jewish high priest, Caiaphas, and the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate.
John and Elijah (11:13–15). Jesus’ tribute to John peaks with a powerful testimony to the role John has played. Jesus used the expression “Law and the Prophets” to refer to the entire Old Testament revelation (5:17); now he reverses their order, perhaps emphasizing the prophetic role of both the Old Testament and John himself: “For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.” John is the culmination of a long history of prophecy that looked forward to the arrival of the messianic kingdom. That prophetic hope has been realized in John’s preparation for Jesus’ inauguration of the kingdom of heaven.
Thus, Jesus turns to the crowds and announces, “And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.” Malachi prophesied that Elijah would prepare the way for Messiah (Mal. 3:1; 4:5). Malachi did not imply a reincarnation of Elijah or that Elijah would return to life in a whirlwind the way that he left. Perhaps that is why John earlier had denied that he was Elijah (John 1:21). John fulfilled Malachi’s prophecy in that at his conception he was designated as the one who would minister in the “spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17). For those who receive John’s ministry, he is the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy (see Matt. 17:10–13).
Therefore, Jesus summons the crowds to exercise faith in both John’s preparatory message and Jesus’ identity as the messianic deliverer: “He who has ears, let him hear.” This phrase calls for a response from the crowd and, at the same time, introduces Jesus’ rebuke of Israel generally for rejecting John’s role of preparing for Jesus Messiah and the establishment of the kingdom of heaven. This call to recognize John as the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy is even more dramatic when we recall that Elijah would prepare for the coming of the Lord himself in the great and terrible day of the Lord (cf. Mal. 3:1; 4:5–6). Jesus equates his ministry as Messiah with God’s own arrival, another awe-inspiring revelation of his divine identity.12
The discontented generation (11:16–19). Jesus now rebukes the present generation. The expression “this generation” recurs often in Matthew’s Gospel pejoratively to designate the current generation of Israel’s people—including the crowds and the religious leaders—who have rejected John’s and Jesus’ ministries (cf. related expressions, such as “a wicked and adulterous generation”).13 This is not a blanket condemnation of Israel, because Jesus’ own disciples are Jews and large crowds of Jews still follow him around (cf. 14:13–21), but it points sadly to the fact that only a small minority of the current generation will enter the narrow gate to the kingdom by accepting John’s and Jesus’ invitation (7:13–14).
Jesus taps into the current cultural setting by drawing on games that children played in the marketplace. In many villages the marketplace was the regular playground for children while their parents shopped, bartered, and exchanged local news. But Jesus intriguingly compares the innocence of child’s play with the deviousness of this generation of adults who are playing an evil game. The difference is between childlike, which is positive (cf. 18:1–5), and childish, which is essentially selfish, petty, and insistent on having one’s own way.
When children invite other children to join them in playing games, childish children insist on having their own way. The current generation is like such children, who continually want to set the agenda of games. They are like pouting, petulant children who criticize other children because they wouldn’t go along with their agenda. When they announce to everyone by playing a flute that the game they want to play is “wedding,” they become upset when other children don’t go along by dancing. Then when they change the game and announce a funeral game by singing a “dirge,” they are upset when the other children don’t immediately fall in line by putting on a face of mourning. Selfish childishness insists on having its own way.
Likewise, this generation rejects the invitation to the kingdom of heaven because John and Jesus don’t play the game that they want. They rejected John because he did not dance when they wanted to be merry, and they are rejecting Jesus because he does not mourn when they want to fast (e.g., 9:14–17). Like hardhearted sinners, the generation of Jesus’ day expected John and Jesus to conform to their expectations and refused to allow God’s agenda to alter their own.
“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ ” The expression “neither eating nor drinking” contrasts everyday, carefree indulgence with John’s rigorous personalization of his message of repentance in the light of the soon-arriving kingdom of heaven (see comments on 3:1–11). Those who rejected John’s message interpreted his rugged appearance and ascetic desert habits as proof that he was demon-possessed, like the demoniacs who chose to live in tombs or in the desert (8:28; 12:43). The same people will also accuse Jesus of being demon-possessed when he exorcises a demon on the Sabbath, bringing him into conflict with their Sabbath rulings (12:24). It is the way of those with hardened hearts to try to rationalize their decision to reject the message by falsely accusing the messenger.
Reversing the accusation, when Jesus came eating and drinking, they accused him of being “a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and ‘sinners’ ” (11:19). By referring to himself once again as the “Son of Man” Jesus gives another reference to his unique messianic identity as the great physician who sought out those who needed his healing touch of salvation from sin (see comments on 8:20). It is a hardhearted generation that distorts Jesus’ salvific association with those who need spiritual healing (see comments on 5:46; 9:9–13) into an accusation of him being a rapacious and inebriated party animal.
But, as Jesus, says, “wisdom is proved right by her actions.” Wisdom (sophia) was often personified in Judaism as a woman giving her children practical guidance in everyday affairs (Prov. 8; cf. Wisd. Sol. 7–8; Sir. 51:13–30). The personification exemplified the way in which those who are guided by God’s practical approach to life make right decisions. The saying here appears to be proverbial. Some interpret it to be Christological, with Jesus identified as Wisdom incarnate.14 Elsewhere in the New Testament Jesus is referred to as “the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24, 30), and the message of the gospel is “God’s wisdom” (1 Cor. 2:7), which has become reality through Jesus’ death on the cross (1 Cor. 2:8).15 In this view, as Wisdom incarnate, Jesus’ deeds, including those criticized by his opponents, will ultimately vindicate him.
However, since the emphasis in the passage is not primarily Christological but salvation-historically attuned to the developing ministries of John and Jesus, it is better to understand “wisdom” here in its more usual sense in association with God’s wisdom. God’s wisdom will be “proved right” (or “vindicated”) by her actions in the ministries and lifestyles of John and Jesus. Wisdom is the application of knowledge to life in such a way that a person’s activities are a concrete example of a life lived well in God’s presence. If this generation had taken John the Baptist and Jesus for who they said they were, the knowledge of them as forerunner and Messiah would have been proved right by their actions, as seemingly opposite as were their lifestyles. This interpretation appears to explain best its occurrence in this context.16
Judgment and Invitation (11:20–30)
HAVING REBUKED THE crowds and the religious leaders for not responding to his ministry and that of John, Jesus speaks words of judgment on those who do not repent (11:20–24). He goes on, however, to give one of the warmest invitations to the crowds to become his disciples and find rest in relationship with him (11:25–30).
The privileged unrepentant cities (11:20–24). Jesus turns up the heat by “denouncing” the cities who have rejected his gospel message. Capernaum, Korazin (or Chorazin), and Bethsaida—what some call the “Evangelical Triangle”—were the cities in which most of Jesus’ miracles had been performed (11:20).17 They have rejected Jesus’ mission, so on them each are pronounced a series of “woes” (see comments on 23:13). Tyre and Sidon were Gentile cities in northwest Philistia/Phoenicia. In the Old Testament they became proverbial for pagan peoples, often linked as the object of condemnation from Old Testament prophets for their Baal worship and arrogant pride in their power and wealth.18
The privilege of witnessing Jesus’ miraculous ministry should have moved the people within the Evangelical Triangle to repent and accept the invitation to the kingdom of heaven. Repentance was the appropriate response to Jesus’ miracles, which validated his message of the kingdom (cf. 4:23; 9:35). “Sackcloth and ashes” were familiar symbols of repentance (cf. Est. 4:1–3; Jonah 3:5–8).
The contrast is heightened when Jesus refers to Capernaum, his own city (9:1, 9; cf. 4:13), which was privileged to be the headquarters of his Galilean ministry. Its prideful self-exaltation will result in its being condemned to “Hades” (NIV “depths”; cf. Isa. 14:12–15).
Sodom was the consummately proverbial city of sin.19 Yet Sodom too, had it been privileged with the revelation of Jesus’ miracles, would have been gripped by the reality of the gospel of the kingdom and would have repented. The gradation of punishment for Sodom in comparison to Capernaum indicates that the punishment given will accord with the light of revelation received (cf. 11:22, 24).
A prayer of praise to the Father (11:25–26). The intimacy of Jesus’ relationship with God is again revealed as he addresses him as “Father” (6:9; cf. Sir. 51:10). In the context of question, rejection, and judgment (cf. “at that time”), Jesus praises the Father for his wise plan of redemption. The expression “Lord of heaven and earth” is a title of sovereignty that brings comfort and security, as is expressed in Jewish literature, “Take courage, my daughter; the Lord of heaven grant you joy in place of your sorrow” (Tobit 7:16).
Jesus praises his Father “because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” The things that are both hidden and revealed are presumably the activities of the good news of the presence of the kingdom of heaven that required humble eyes of faith to see God’s hand in them. These things are “what Christ was doing” (11:2) that John and his disciples should have recognized as pointing to Jesus’ identity as the “one who was to come” (11:3–5)—things for which the present generation is being judged (11:16–24). The “wise and learned” are not academic specialists but those who stubbornly refuse to repent and learn from Jesus the true way to God (i.e., the current generation in Capernaum, Korazin, and Bethsaida; cf. also 23:25–28). “Little children” are those who innocently (not naively) receive Jesus’ revelation from the Father (cf. 18:1–5). The Father’s divine sovereignty and the respondents’ responsibility are thus held in perfect balance.
The contrast is between those whose pride and self-sufficiency have caused them to reject Jesus’ message and those whose humility and recognition of their own neediness allow them to be open to God’s unqualified care through Jesus’ announcement of the arrival of the kingdom. Jesus will use his teaching in parables as a way to test the hearts of the people, so that those who are spiritually responsive will learn more while those who refuse to repent will have their hearts and ears closed (cf. 13:10–16). Jesus praises the Father’s sovereignty and wise plan of redemption, but also the Father’s motivation behind it, which was his “good pleasure” (11:26). It is the Father’s will that all receive his care in the same way, as humble and repentant children.
The unique relationship between Father and Son (11:27). Jesus follows his brief prayer with an astonishing statement of his relationship to the Father—a statement that has been called “the most important passage for the study of Synoptic Christology”:20 “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.” Jesus has a profound divine self-consciousness. He was validated at the baptism as the Son (3:17), tested as the Son of God (4:2–10), worshiped as the Son of God (14:33), confessed as the Son of the living God (16:16), validated at the Transfiguration as the Son (17:5), alludes to himself as the Son in the parables of the landowner and wedding banquet (21:23–46; 22:1–14), refers to himself as the Son of the Father (24:36), emphasized as Son of God strongly in the trial and crucifixion (cf. 26:39, 63; 27:43, 54), and associated with the Father and Holy Spirit in the baptism of new disciples (28:18–20). The Son theme is one of the high points of Matthew’s Christology as well as Synoptic Christology generally.21
In both his incarnate and eternal state as Son, Jesus and the Father know each other in an exclusive way, which in biblical language means that they enjoy an exclusive relationship. For Jesus as Son, the Father is “my Father.”22 They enjoy a direct, intuitive, and immediate knowledge that is grounded in their divine relationship as Father and Son. As such, what the Father and Son share stands apart from all human relationships and all human knowledge.23 Thus, Jesus’ sonship involves more than a unique filial consciousness; it involves an exclusive essential relationship between Father and Son.24
In his incarnate state, Jesus received from the Father the exclusive authority to reveal the Father, which does not imply the Son’s inferiority to the Father but the process of revelation.25 Humans can know the Father only through the sovereign will of the Son’s revelation. Therefore, a crucial element of Jesus’ messianic mission is to impart to people a mediated knowledge of God, which indicates that sonship and messiahship are not the same. Sonship precedes messiahship and is the basis for the entire messianic mission. God’s program of salvation history derives from the unique, divine relationship of Father and Son.
An invitation to the weary and burdened (11:28–30). With an invitation found only in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus, who alone reveals the Father and the divine plan of redemption, calls out, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Jesus had called Peter and Andrew with a similar expression (4:19), but there it was (lit.) “Come after me,” while here it is “Come to me,” a tender call to intimacy with him for all those who are weary and burdened. “Weary” evokes the image of persons exhausted from their work or journey, while “burdened” indicates persons weighted down with heavy loads. They are like the crowds whom Jesus said earlier are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (9:36).
In the light of the following statements, the scribes and Pharisees seem once again to be the target of Jesus’ criticism (cf. 5:20; 6:1–18). Jesus will later condemn outright the Jewish leaders for the burden that their legalistic traditions has put on the people (23:4), so this is an invitation to the crowds to become his disciples and find a rest in him that cannot be found in the legal casuistry of the Pharisees.
He extends the invitation by saying, “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.” The “yoke” (zygos) was the wooden frame joining two animals (usually oxen) for pulling heavy loads; this image was used metaphorically to describe one individual’s subjection to another. In that latter sense, the yoke is a common metaphor in Judaism for the law: “He that takes upon himself the yoke of the Law, from him shall be taken away the yoke of the kingdom [troubles from those in power] and the yoke of worldly care; but he that throws off the yoke of the Law, upon him shall be laid the yoke of the kingdom and the yoke of worldly care.”26
Sirach invited people to the yoke of studying Torah through personified wisdom: “Acquire wisdom for yourselves without money. Put your neck under her yoke, and let your souls receive instruction; it is to be found close by” (Sir. 51:25–26; cf. 6:23–31). The Sirach passage is often cited as the background for Jesus’ statement and recently has generated much discussion about Jesus claiming to be Wisdom incarnate.27 But the contrast between Sirach and Jesus’ saying is distinct. Sirach invites his readers to the “house of instruction” for the study of Torah (Sir. 51:23). The developing rabbinic tradition understood discipleship to entail learning from Pharisaic authorities and carrying out scrupulous observance of the oral law.28 Because the oral law was considered to be of divine origin, its massive obligations became far more burdensome than Scripture itself, and with the passing of years and the addition of more and more prescriptions, the rabbis could not lessen the burden without overthrowing the whole system.
In addition, the yoke is also a familiar metaphor in the Old Testament to describe Israel’s subjection to foreign oppression: “With a yoke on our necks we are hard driven; we are weary, we are given no rest” (Lam. 5:5 RSV). Israel’s return from the Egyptian captivity is described as release from the heavy yoke of servitude: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high” (Lev. 26:13; cf. Ex. 6:6–8). And the prophets promised a time when God would break off the yoke of foreign oppression and give rest to the people of Israel when they repented and were restored to the land (e.g., Isa. 14:25; Jer. 2:20; 5:5; 30:8; Ezek. 34:27).29
Jesus’ invitation is in stark contrast to the religious burden of Pharaisism or the militaristic burden of foreign oppressors. His yoke—a metaphor for discipleship to him—promises rest from the weariness and burden of religious regulation and human oppression, because it is none other than commitment to him. His disciples learn directly from him. As the messianic inaugurator of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus offers rest in himself for their souls through his authoritative understanding of God’s truth. His yoke will bring true learning, which takes us back to the Sermon on the Mount, where he declares that has come to fulfill the Law. To learn from Jesus is to learn from his revelation of what the Law truly intends (cf. 5:17–48).
The yoke of discipleship brings rest because (hoti; NIV “for”) Jesus is “gentle and humble in heart” (11:29). Jesus exemplifies the very characteristics his disciples will display as members of the kingdom of heaven—gentleness (5:5) and humility (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). He has castigated the scribes and the Pharisees for their hypocritical self-righteousness (5:20; 6:1–18) and will condemn them for their prideful religious regalia, places of privilege, and elitist titles (23:5–7). But Jesus does not need to strut his authority. He has come gently, preaching and teaching the good news of the arrival of the kingdom of heaven, and in humble human form he has brought healing to sin-sick humanity. This is the true eschatological rest for which Israel has long hoped, “a realization of a deep existential peace, a shalom, or sense of ultimate well-being with regard to one’s relationship to God and his commandments.”30 Jesus’ teaching is the true fulfillment of the Law, and those who come to him will enter into a discipleship that produces rest for the soul (cf. Jer. 6:16).
While discipleship to Jesus brings relief from the burden of Pharisaic regulations, it is not lawlessness. He goes on to say, “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” These two clauses are in synonymous parallelism to emphasize Jesus’ way of discipleship. His discipleship is an easy or serviceable yoke because his teaching equips us most effectively to live out God’s will in the way life was designed to be lived. Furthermore, his discipleship is not the oppressive burden of Pharisaic legalism (23:4) but instead turns the load of life into one that is manageable (cf. Gal. 6:5). Jesus does not release his disciples from burdens, just as he did not escape the burdens of human life in his Incarnation. Illness and calamity and tragedy remain a part of this fallen world until the final renewal, but for those in the kingdom of heaven there is a promise of Jesus’ sustaining help as we carry his yoke of discipleship.
In fact, in Jesus’ interpretation of the Law the challenge of following him may be seen as even more demanding than the Pharisees, because he calls us to fulfill the Law from the obedience of the heart, not simply through external obedience (5:21–47), and he calls his disciples to be perfect, as their heavenly Father is perfect (5:48). But Jesus’ demands are still a yoke that is easy to bear and a burden that is light to carry, because in the coming of the kingdom and the inauguration of the new covenant, his Spirit provides the same strength to carry the load that Jesus himself relied upon to carry his own load of redemptive service to humanity.31
However, in the quest to learn from Jesus how to live God’s truth, it is critical to remember that Jesus’ disciples can also turn his yoke into an unbearable burden unless we consciously recognize that discipleship to Jesus is not essentially a religious obligation. Rather, ours is an intimate relationship with the One who calls, “Come to me” and “learn from me.” As complicated as life may become, discipleship is at heart simply walking with Jesus in the real world and having him teach us moment by moment how to live life his way.
Bridging Contexts
WITH JESUS’ MESSIANIC message (chs. 5–7) and miraculous ministry (chs. 8–9) established and the disciples’ mission to Israel commissioned (ch. 10), Matthew tracks a change. Crowds still follow, but the mood is different. There is a beginning dissatisfaction with Jesus, which is an ominous harbinger of a swing to reject Jesus as Israel’s Messiah. In chapter 11 we find a number of questions raised about Jesus’ identity and mission, while in chapter 12 we find outright opposition. Israel has been privileged to be given the first opportunity in salvation history to receive Messiah, and Jesus will continue to give them further opportunity to acknowledge him as their Messiah, but the time is drawing near for accountability to their decision, either for or against him. Privilege and responsibility are two paramount themes throughout chapter 11.
The incomparable privilege of bearing witness to Jesus Messiah. The culmination of God’s salvation history has occurred in the deeds of the Messiah, with the generation of that time being one of the most, if not the most, privileged in all of history. (1) They were privileged to witness these events unfold. Jesus points to his activities of healing and preaching as explicit confirmation that he is indeed the Messiah (11:4–5). Both the crowds and the religious leaders of the cities that witnessed these miraculous messianic deeds were also among the most privileged (11:20–23).
(2) That generation was the most privileged because they had been honored to witness John the Baptist’s ministry. John should be recognized as a great man in his own right (11:11). He was the first prophet to speak in Israel in hundreds of years. He was an immensely important historical figure, because he was the link between God’s saving activity in the Old Testament and his saving activity in the ministry of Jesus Messiah. The people were privileged to witness this one who was more than a prophet, the one who himself was privileged to fulfill Malachi’s prophecy of Elijah preparing the way for God’s arrival.
(3) The honor that John had was almost nil in comparison to those with the faith and courage to respond to Jesus’ messianic ministry and enter the kingdom of heaven (11:11). It was a great privilege to belong to this era of God’s salvation history. But beyond that privilege was the even greater one of being in relationship to Jesus, to have experienced forgiveness of sins and transformation of regeneration by the Spirit (26:26–29), to belong to the church, the body of Christ (16:18–19), and to be involved in the Great Commission to bring the nations to Jesus as new disciples (28:18–20). Greatness according to Jesus is not primarily related to accomplishment, which is the prevailing yardstick of the world. Jesus measures greatness simply in one’s acquisition of the redemptive work of Jesus and one’s service to others in advancing the cause of the kingdom (cf. 18:1–4; 20:20–28). Privilege in the kingdom of heaven does not come from jockeying for positions of greatness but by being a member of the new order that Jesus brings and bearing witness to him. Jesus offers privilege to all who receive it.
(4) This generation was honored to be the first witnesses of the astonishing revelation of the relationship between Father and Son and now to be included in that relationship. Father and Son from eternity had a uniquely transparent knowledge of one another (11:27). They intensely and intuitively knew each other’s essential being and shared each other’s thoughts, emotions, and will. And with the Incarnation, Jesus’ mission was to reveal that relationship to humanity and include in it those who dared to respond to such an astounding revelation. And miracle of miracles, those who enter this relationship will find rest from the human toil of trying to figure this whole thing out on their own. We enter into a discipleship to Jesus in which we learn from him directly. Jeremiah had prophesied of this sort of new covenant life:
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest. (Jer. 31:33–34)
Isaiah too prophesied of a coming day for Israel when they would experience a relationship with God in which he would give direct guidance to their daily lives:
Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. And your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left. (Isa. 30:20–21 NASB)
The Old Testament theme of God with his people finds explicit fulfillment in the relationship of Jesus with those privileged to undertake the easy yoke and light burden of discipleship to him.32
Do we think of discipleship to Jesus in this way? Do we understand how much of a privilege it is to be a part of the kingdom of heaven? I suspect that too often we take for granted our relationship with Jesus, our peace with the Father, and the reality of the church as the body of Christ. We may even forget that it was out of God’s voluntary great love and sacrifice that our current spiritual existence is even possible, and that the nature of this existence is greater than any that came before Jesus.
This information should encourage us to take the most advantage of the benefits of kingdom discipleship to Jesus by fully realizing who we were meant to be as human beings—those who fully love and serve God and others out of a renewed and loving spirit, not from compulsion (cf. chs. 5–7). This should also energize us to pursue intentionally our spiritual development.
The unavoidable responsibility that accompanies privilege. The second major theme of this chapter is that with privilege and opportunity come unavoidable responsibility. When we witness the acts of the Messiah, our responsibility is to respond humbly in belief. John and his disciples were privileged to prepare the way for Jesus, but that privilege brought personal responsibility to continue humbly to believe in Jesus Messiah’s mission, even when things weren’t going as they anticipated. But it also brought them a wider responsibility, because if they did not in faith continue to hail Jesus as Messiah, they would lead others astray.
With the advantage of witnessing John’s and Jesus’ ministries came the unavoidable responsibility to exercise one’s will (11:14), to open’s one’s ears to hear (11:15), and to respond to the message that John fulfilled the prophecy about Elijah coming to prepare for God’s arrival and the Day of the Lord (cf. 11:10; Mal. 3:1; 4:5–6). But instead, that generation childishly demanded their own agenda, refusing both John’s and Jesus’ message and libelously condemning both messengers (11:16–19). But God’s wisdom in salvation history will prove this wicked generation wrong, and they will bear the full responsibility for rejecting God’s messengers.
The privilege of the people in the cities of Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum to have witnessed Jesus’ messianic deeds had an accompanying responsibility to repent and acknowledge Jesus as Messiah. Instead, their privilege led them to self-exaltation so that they rejected Jesus. Their privilege and abandonment of the accompanying responsibility now leads to greater culpability, and their judgment will be greater than the most infamously sinful cities in the ancient world (11:20–24).
And with the benefit of receiving the revelation of the knowledge of the relationship between the Father and Son (11:25–27) comes the responsibility not to dishonor the sacredness of that relationship. To reject that knowledge is to commit blasphemy against God, but to receive that knowledge from Jesus is to humbly receive the yoke of discipleship to him and to bear with dignity the honor of serving him. With the words of Jesus so accessible to us, as we now daily learn from him (11:29), we have a greater responsibility to know exactly what it is to be his disciple—what he calls us to do and who he calls us to be. To neglect this responsibility is to fail to be a faithful follower.
Thus, for us as Jesus’ disciples, privilege is balanced with responsibility. The more we know, the more we are responsible, both to be obedient to that knowledge and to share that knowledge with others. However, in all of our privilege and responsibility, we should never forget that Jesus says that our yoke is easy and our burden is light. Why? Primarily because Jesus shares the yoke and burden with us. Doug Webster comments on both the challenge and the promise of the easy yoke and light burden that Jesus extends to us:
His easy yoke is neither cheap nor convenient. The surprising promise of the easy yoke was meant to free us from a self-serving, meritorious, performance-based religion. It is easy in that it frees us from the burden of self-centeredness; liberates us from the load of self-righteousness; and frees us to live in the way that God intended us to live. . . . The easy yoke sounds like an oxymoron. Plowing a field or pulling a load is hard work! And nowhere does Jesus promise soft ground for tilling or level paths for bearing the load. What he does promise is a relationship with Himself. The demands are great but the relationship with Jesus makes the burden light.33
REST. Of the many different types of people who gather together in Christian worship each week, one group deserves special attention: those who come to the Lord with a questioning heart in need of rest. It may be a person who suffers at work under an uncaring boss; it may be a person in a marriage with an uncaring or cheating spouse; it may be a faithful parent with a spiritually wayward child; or it may be a young person who has lost a friend in a tragic death. Oftentimes these kinds of people will come into a worship setting to question—sometimes respectfully, other times not—the Lord’s control of life. They are seeking some kind of resolution in their heart to a big question in their lives for which they have no answer and for which they may even doubt that God has an answer. What they need is rest.
It is the wise pastor or youth worker or Sunday school teacher who recognizes how many people come to church with this need of rest. Jesus extends the same invitation to rest to each, though not all will respond to him in the same way.
(1) Experience and expectations. Some come with questions because their experience does not match up with how they expect God’s will to be carried out. As God’s prophet preparing the way for the Messiah, John the Baptist had special revelation about Jesus’ messianic identity. However, his present experience of being in prison awaiting execution did not jive with his expectations of the judgment that the Messiah’s arrival would bring. Jesus’ reply forced John to look at the facts of his ministry and adjust his expectations to fit God’s activity (11:1–6).
Many people can relate to John’s situation. The young mother of three children whose husband is diagnosed with terminal cancer may plead with God to understand how he could leave her with this unexpected, lonely burden. The youth pastor who is unexpectedly forced out of the church by the new senior pastor may question what it really means to follow God’s leading. The veteran missionary couple who have sacrificed throughout their lives to spread God’s message only to discover that their denominational retirement fund has unexpectedly been dissolved may question their own wisdom and God’s provision. These are just three real-life situations that come to mind; each of us can think of dozens of others where our own experience does not match what we expected from following God’s leading. From Jesus’ reply to John’s question we may infer three guidelines to such questions.
(a) Jesus’ reply displays compassion for John’s circumstances and suffering, which is always a necessary element to be included in any of our responses to those whose questions stem from suffering. The young wife and mother whose husband died of cancer needed years of compassionate care by our community of faith, which gave her the strength to trust God’s wisdom even in the most difficult circumstances.
(b) Jesus did not allow John’s current climate of questioning to cancel out John’s prior, lifetime courageous ministry. Jesus’ tribute to John may have been the reminder he needed to call himself back to the message that he had preached for so long. The youth pastor ousted from his former position needed to be reminded that even if he is not appreciated by one person, that does not cancel out the thousands of lives that he touched throughout his years of ministry. He needs to learn from this difficult experience, but not allow it to cancel out the memory of the effectiveness of his past ministry or deter him from future ministry.
(c) Perhaps most important, Jesus pointed to the fulfillment of Scripture in his healing and preaching ministry. John’s expectations must continually be guided by the reality of God’s Word. The retired missionary couple had leaned on God’s Word throughout their career, and it is what brought them back to a realistic understanding of God’s purposes in their lives. Even though humans failed them, God’s Word promised that he would be faithful to them, and they found remarkable peace in the middle of their dilemma. As a result, the Christian community responded with an outpouring of love and support for them, by which God was proven once again to be faithful in their lives.
I should add one additional element that jolts me as I read this passage. On the one hand, John’s question reassures us that if this great prophet has questions, it’s all right for us to have questions as well. I need to be honest when I encounter situations that tax my faith or my understanding and be able to express when my experience baffles my expectations. This is where it is especially important to have colleagues and confidants who understand and can help us through situations that we may not have encountered before and which catch us unexpectedly off-guard. Jesus acted as a stalwart friend to John in this situation.
But, on the other hand, we may have the potential to lead others astray with our questions. John mildly rebukes John for not seeing clearly the fulfillment of Scripture in his ministry (11:6). If John continues to allow his circumstances to take his eyes off of the reality of God’s activity in Jesus’ ministry, he will not only stumble himself but will almost certainly continue to lead his own disciples astray and the crowds who venerated him as God’s prophet. There are times when we may need to endure silently our circumstances and trust God’s leading. I’ve seen Christian leaders virtually destroy their ministries because they bring home every detail of their ministry to their spouse, needing a sympathetic ear to whom they can ventilate their struggles. One friend did this so regularly that he and his wife came to despise the people of their ministry because they only spoke of the bad, virtually never sharing together the good. They repeated this in their last two callings and are now out of that ministry.
Our present experiences exert a powerful influence on the way we view God’s activities in our lives and in the lives of others. We will find the fortitude to endure when we experience compassion, respect, and a clear understanding of God’s will according to his Word.
(2) Agendas and motives. There are also those whose personal agenda for God’s work causes them to question and to distort the motives of God’s messengers. Jesus compares the current generation to children who stubbornly demand that other children play the game they want, and when they won’t go along, they slander their character. There was no way of pleasing that generation, because ultimately they did not want to submit their own religious agendas to God’s plan of salvation. John was too ascetically religious, and Jesus was not pious enough.
The response of this generation suggests a couple of points. (a) As convinced as we may be about our own agendas for what we believe to be the right way of doing God’s work, having a healthy personal humility allows room for God to adjust our agendas. The religious leaders and even the crowds missed, and even distorted, the message of both John and Jesus because of their stubborn refusal to hear God’s voice in their messages.
One of my colleagues has been a leader in evangelical academia and scholarship for over forty years, and he is firm in his doctrine and his understanding of the way in which ministry and academia should be conducted. It would be quite an undertaking for someone to try to change his views of the kingdom or how leadership within the church and school should be accomplished. Yet what keeps him continually alert to grow in his understanding of God’s Word and work is his deep-seated humility. He would rather ask my opinion on an issue than demand that I hear his. This does not suggest that we cannot have a healthy skepticism about suggestions or have a healthy confidence in what God has taught us. But it does suggest that we need to have hearts that are soft enough to be receptive to Jesus and the ministry he brings to us through others.
(b) In Jesus words, “But wisdom is proved right by her actions” (11:19), he gives the comforting assurance of being vindicated in the midst of rejection. Jesus and John were both rejected, and those who follow Jesus now may experience rejection. Jesus continually lays out the hardship of those who follow him. However, there is a level of vindication that will become self-evident in the deeds of the individual, and ultimately in the hands of a just God, that should give us strength and confidence. When we are confident of the truth of God’s Word and follow that truth, the truth itself will vindicate our actions. Obviously this needs to be tempered with the points above, that we must be careful of prideful attachment to our own agendas. But when lived out with healthy humility, we can find confidence in contending for the truth of God’s Word.
(3) Smugness and a hardened heart. The self-serving agenda of those who question the motives of the messengers eventually leads them to reject Jesus, and the smugness of their hardened heart leads them to impending eternal judgment. This was the fate of people in Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum (11:20–24), and it is the fate of those today whose privileged position leads them to question Jesus’ identity and message. This is the sad story often found within liberal Christian academia, where scholars may have been raised in churches where they confessed Jesus as Savior but whose increasing secularism leads them into a profound skepticism about Jesus.
New Testament scholar Robert Funk, founder of the infamous Jesus Seminar, tells of his own journey, which led him from a youth where he confessed Jesus as his personal Savior, to the point where in his early adulthood he rejected a life of ministry and later ultimately rejected Jesus as any kind of divine Savior. He prefers instead to create a picture of Jesus that conforms more comfortably with his modernist agenda, smugly contending that those who continue to believe in the Jesus of the New Testament and the creeds of the church are “compliant, mindless adherents of the received tradition.”34 His is a sad commentary.
A very different New Testament scholar, Dale Bruner, warns all who have had the privilege of experiencing the risen Christ’s miraculous presence to see whether we have given him his rightful place in our lives. Capernaum seems to have had a sort of town motto based on Isaiah 14:13, “lifted up to the skies” (11:23), indicating perhaps a sense of civic pride in having Jesus’ ministry based in their city, but they smugly rejected him as their Messiah. In the same way, modern countries that have been privileged to experience Jesus’ miraculous presence through the work of the church and Word and who may even boast, “In God We Trust,” as we do in America, are called to account for what we have done with Jesus. Bruner writes:
Christian countries are in special trouble on judgment day, not because Jesus has not really been in their communities but because he has. Jesus’ presence, without change, can lead to a damnation deeper than Sodom’s. . . . Capernaum stands for all self-conscious Christianity, for all Christianity smug in its possession of Jesus, in its being the center of Jesus’ work. . . . Jesus is not always impressed. It is going to go better in the judgment day for notorious pagans than for self-satisfied saints. The sum of the matter is this: Christians should take Jesus seriously. When they do, they escape judgment; when they do not, they invite it.35
These are serious words, but no less serious than Jesus’ warning to the cities that had been privileged to witness his ministry but then rejected him out of their own smugness and hardened heart.
(4) Weariness and rest. Finally, there are those who have eagerly desired an intimate relationship with God, but by following the practices of the self-righteous religious leaders, they have only become weary and increasingly burdened. Jesus invites them to know true rest, for their weariness and burdens can only be released by rest in Jesus’ yoke of discipleship (11:28–30). Ironically, we find ultimate rest in the easy yoke and light burden of discipleship. There seems to be something counterintuitive to finding rest in a way of discipleship that demands the highest commitment imaginable, where seeking the kingdom of heaven is to be placed before personal comfort and where we are guaranteed rejection by those whose hearts are hardened to the message of the kingdom. However, this yoke is what Jesus offers to us as being the greatest privilege imaginable.
Why is that? It is easy to find comfort in places other than Jesus himself, whether it be television, alcohol, escapist vacations, pornography, or a myriad of other things that dull us to the pain of life. We can find peace in that reality, not in other things that masquerade as true life. Much of what we use to dull the pain of life really does exactly the opposite, giving us fleeting pleasure and leaving us empty in the end. But this is exactly what Jesus offers us—true life (John 10:10), one that forms us from the inside out (see comments on Matt. 5:20) and makes us into the kinds of people who love and serve God from a renewed nature under his easy yoke of discipleship. Webster concludes his study of the easy yoke with these penetrating words:
Apart from the grace of Christ and the saving work of the Cross, it would be impossible to convince people that the easy yoke is doable, let alone easy. But for those who live under the yoke there is absolutely no other way to live. Who in their right mind would go back to the gods of Self, Money, Lust and Power? Who would return on bended knee to the shrines of pious performance and judgmentalism? Is not love better than hate, purity better than lust, reconciliation better than retaliation? And is not “better” really “easier” when measured in character rather than convenience, rest for the soul rather than selfish pride?36
Such is the rest that comes with Jesus’ easy yoke of discipleship.