(Credit – Dane Ortlund’s book – ‘Gentle and Lowly; The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers’)
Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,
I am sure you have all received an invitation before. Perhaps it was for a wedding or a birthday or a work function. And on the invitation it said that so-and-so invites you to attend their function, to be held at X location at Whatever pm. And there are usually RSVP details, which is how you let the inviter know if you are attending or not.
Well, the invitation we are going to consider today is a Gospel Invitation. And it also comes with an RSVP; we have to respond, one way or another, to this invitation. But while most of us will not look at a typical invitation once the event has passed, for those who have heard this gospel invitation and have come to Jesus, this invitation never loses its wonderfulness! In fact, it gets better every time you read it!
And I don’t know if any of you have noticed this, but this text is what I use as our call to worship every Lord’s Supper Sunday. So, as part of our preparations to come to the Lord’s Supper but also just for the shear joy of being able to think about these amazing words together, today we will consider this Invitation to His Restful School from a Gentle Saviour. And we will unpack that together as we consider the Invitation, the Inviter, the Invited, and finally the Incentive offered in the invitation.
But before we get into the four parts of this invitation, we need to note a very important difference between this invitation and the ones that you and I send. You see, when you and I send out invitations, we can only hope that people will come to our event. Whether or not they come is entirely their business. But that is not how it is with Jesus and this invitation. You see, Jesus has an essential role also in the response to this invitation. In the verse before our text, Jesus said, “No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” Many people have heard and will hear this invitation. But those who respond are those whom Jesus chooses to reveal the Father to. John 10 speaks about this also. There Jesus described Himself as the Good Shepherd and His people as sheep; He said, “He calls His own sheep by name … and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice.” So when Jesus calls or invites His own sheep by name, they come! And this is the doctrine known as irresistible grace – those whom God has chosen in Christ will come to faith. And so, when we speak about our text as an invitation, we must remember that Jesus is involved not only in the issuing of the invitation but also in the accepting of the invitation.
- So let’s begin with the actual Invitation.
- And the first part of the invitation is the first three words of verse 28: “Come to me…”
- And technically, these words mean believe in me as Saviour and Lord. Again and again in the Gospels, Jesus either explicitly says or His words add up to believe in me.
- In John 6:35, for example, Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
- And who can forget perhaps the most well known verse in the whole Bible, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life”?
- So the invitation of Jesus is to believe in Him; to believe that He is the Son of God and that He died and rise again for the forgiveness of our sins.
- And yet, while Jesus could have used the words “believe in me” here, He did not; He said, “Come to me.” And because of what Jesus goes on to say in this passage, it is clear that the words “Come to me” are meant as an invitation that expresses caring and warmth and safety.
- Think of a parent who is dealing with an upset or scared or hurt child, and who says to them, “Come here… it’s OK…”
- Or think of a loving husband who says to his upset or hurt wife, “Come to me… I’ve got you…”
- In Dane Ortlund’s book, he makes the observation that we often project onto Jesus our warped human instincts. With humans, the wealthier a person is, the more he or she will look down on the poor. And the more beautiful a person is, the more they will despise the ugly. And so, because Jesus is the risen and exalted Lord of all glory, well, we think that if we draw near to Him, He will hold His nose, as it were, and not want to get too close to us as miserable sinners. You get the picture? But Jesus provided us with a parable that exposes just how wrong that idea is. Can you guess which parable I am talking about? It is the parable of the Prodigal Son. When the son realized that he had been a complete idiot, he decided to go home and offer to be a servant. But do you remember what happened? “He … came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” That is the Jesus who makes this invitation in Matthew 11. He wants to run to you and embrace you and kiss you, if you accept this arms-wide-open invitation and go to Him; believe in Him.
- And technically, these words mean believe in me as Saviour and Lord. Again and again in the Gospels, Jesus either explicitly says or His words add up to believe in me.
- And the second part of the actual invitation is why we have described this as an invitation to the ‘school of Christ’; it is the opening words of verse 29: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.”
- Did you notice that there are no conditions in this invitation? There is nothing that you have to do, there is no state that you have to achieve, to deserve being received by Jesus. He just says, come to me as you are, with all your sins, and submit yourself like a little child to my teaching – “Learn from me.”
- Now, it is clear from the context and from our earlier reading in Ezekiel 34 that religious life as a Jewish person in Old Testament times was a very heavy burden. There were many man-made and oppressive rules that the Jewish religious leaders imposed on the people. And what made this so bad was that they taught that you had to earn your salvation through obeying all the rules.
- But as we have seen in the last couple of afternoon sermons, as human beings we are not basically good people and we cannot keep God’s law, perfectly. “We all fall short of the glory of God” and “the wages of sin is death.” So trying to earn salvation is an impossible burden.
- But there stood Jesus, simply saying to His audience, and to us, “Come to me!” Learn that what you cannot do, I have done. And what you cannot pay, I have paid. So believe in me and then spend the rest of your life learning from me and about me as a part of my church – the restful school of Christ.
- And we see more about what life is like in the restful school of Jesus as we turn our attention, secondly, to the Inviter. And our focus here is the second half of verse 29: “For I am gentle and lowly in heart.”
- Many commentators have observed that this is the only place in the Bible where Jesus talks about His heart. A lot of attention is given to what Jesus taught, and His miracles, and, of course, to His death and resurrection. But only here does Jesus speak about His heart. And when the Bible speaks about the heart it has in view the central animating centre of all that we are and all that we do. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Guard your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” So your heart is who you are. So how did Jesus describe His own heart? When He wanted to pull back the curtains and let us see the core of His being, what did He identify about His heart? “Gentle” and “lowly.” Let’s look at both of these words:
- “Gentle.” The Greek word that Jesus used here is only found three other times in the New Testament. One of them is a place we looked at recently – the third beatitude, “Blessed are the meek.” Another place is in Matthew 21 where Jesus quotes an Old Testament prophet who spoke of a Coming King who would be “humble.” So the heart of Jesus is gentle, meek, and humble.
- Dane Ortlund says, “Jesus is not trigger happy. Not harsh, reactionary, easily exasperated. He is the most understanding person in the universe. The posture most natural to Him is not a pointed finger but open arms.” Isn’t that beautiful!
- “Lowly.” The Greek word that Jesus used here generally translates as humble in the Bible. But if it were humility as a virtue that was in view, it would basically be the same as “gentle.” So what is in view here is being of humble or low circumstances. For example, when Mary was told that she was pregnant with Jesus, she praised God who exalts those “of humble estate.” Same word. You see, Mary was a poor, young, nobody. In Jesus’ day, the Jewish religious leaders liked nothing more than to be associated with people of position and prestige and power. They avoided and had nothing at all to do with prostitutes and tax-collectors and the diseased and dirty; in other words, people of low circumstances. But as Jesus exposed His heart, He said, I am not like those leaders, I am like you. I am not the life of the party; I am the person that causes the host to cringe when I arrive. So this word, lowly, is about accessibility. Yes, Jesus is God’s royal King. His glory and holiness is magnificent! But no one who came to Jesus found Him to be like their religious leaders – aloof and unapproachable and looking down their noses at others; instead, they found Him lowly, approachable, and welcoming.
- And it is this Jesus who stands before you today and says, “Come to me … I am gentle and lowly in heart.”
- “Gentle.” The Greek word that Jesus used here is only found three other times in the New Testament. One of them is a place we looked at recently – the third beatitude, “Blessed are the meek.” Another place is in Matthew 21 where Jesus quotes an Old Testament prophet who spoke of a Coming King who would be “humble.” So the heart of Jesus is gentle, meek, and humble.
- Now, we need to add one clarification to what has just been said so that we understand this Invitation and the Inviter properly. And we do that with our third point, which is the Invited. And our focus here is the middle part of verse 28: “All who labour and are heavy laden.”
- And we could devote a whole sermon just to this point but I will try and keep this brief. First off, it is an invitation to everyone. It is a universal invitation. Earlier I mentioned those chosen by God and irresistible grace. And we need to know and believe that God is a God of election; it is a wonderfully comforting doctrine. But that doctrine is really about God’s perspective. Down here, at our level, it is as simple as this: Anyone who hears this invitation and believes will be saved. If this invitation was published on Facebook, the settings would not be private but public!
- But notice how Jesus focuses the invitation – “Come to me all who labour and are heavy laden.”
- You see, standing in front of Jesus that day were Jewish religious leaders and lowly Jewish people. And it is very clear that Jesus had the lowly people in view; they were the ones who laboured and were heavy laden. They were the ones who were physically and emotionally and spiritually weary with life’s burdens. They were the ones who lacked any assurance of salvation.
- Have you ever tried to run up a down escalator? It is impossibly hard work. Well, for the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, life was like running down a down escalator; it was easy! They had wealth and power and slaves to do all their dirty work, so life was comfortable. And they had God’s commandments under control (at least that’s what they thought). But for the lowly Jewish people, life was like trying to run up a down escalator; it was a wearying slog in every way.
- And this is not to say that the Gospel is only for the poor and not for the rich. Anyone who is rich but realizes their need of Jesus will be received by Him. But do you remember what Jesus said about the rich? He said, “Only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven … it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” And that is simply because, generally speaking, wealth and power insulates a person from the weariness of life and so they do not have the sense of needing God. But when you are poor and homeless and abused and addicted and burdened with guilt, then your need of God is acute.
- So how is it with you today friend? Or are you a person with a load on your heart? Perhaps a load of sin and guilt? Perhaps a load of sorrow or suffering? Perhaps a load of anxiety or remorse or regret? If this is you, you are ready for Jesus. You don’t need to fix yourself or unburden yourself and then come to Jesus. It is your burden that qualifies you to come! So just “come to Jesus … He is gentle and lowly of heart … His yoke is easy and His burden is light.”
- Now, we need to say here that Jesus is not gentle and lowly to those who stubbornly refuse and reject Him. If you look back to verses 20-24, Jesus pronounced woe on the people of several Jewish cities who rejected Him. On Judgment Day, He won’t be the arms-open-wide, gentle Jesus inviting them to the restful school of salvation; He will be the finger pointing holy Judge who banishes them to eternal fire and darkness. So again, I beg you, today, to heed Jesus’ invitation. Know Him now as your gentle and lowly Saviour so that you do not have to experience Him then as your righteous judge.
- And that brings us to the fourth and last point, which is the Incentive offered in this invitation. And it is spelled out at the end of verse 28 and the end of verse 29, “I will give you rest … and you will find rest for your souls.”
- And I am sure that I don’t need to explain unrest to any of you. Unrest is everywhere, isn’t it. Life is hectically busy. We are often in a hurry. There is anxiety, failure, and disappointment. We sleep (or try to), get up, go to work, come home, sleep, get up, go to work, etc. It never ends. And work is hard – we sweat and we toil. And there is the unrest of disease and death, which can be so devastating. And relationships are hard work. And while I have described the church as the restful school of Christ, life in church can be very hard work, because we are all sinners. So to those who know unrest, Jesus says, “Come to me… and you will find rest for your souls.” Oh what a delightful promise!
- On Monday we had Auckland Anniversary day, and tomorrow we have Waitangi Day. Two holidays from work. Two opportunities to rest.
- But Jesus isn’t saying, Come to me and I will give you a day off. And He isn’t saying that work and relationship and church will become easy, and you won’t get sick anymore. For note what He promises: “you will find rest for your souls.” Work will still be hard and repetitive. There will still be conflict and disease and eventually death. But in Romans 5:1, we read, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The rest that Jesus offers is peace with God; rest of conscience, rest of heart, rest built on the forgiveness of sins. It is the rest of knowing God as your Father through Christ. And knowing that He will give you all that you need. It is discovering the beautiful and precious gift that is the Lord’s Day – the day of resting from your labours and resting in Christ’s finished work in worship and fellowship with His people.
- And as if all that were not enough, the rest that Christ promises is also the sure and certain knowledge that at the end of this wearying life, what awaits us is eternal rest. 1 Peter 1:3-5 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”
- You boys and girls will remember that after the world-wide flood, Noah’s ark landed on the side of Mt. Ararat. And Noah watched the waters abate and eventually he sent out a dove to see if the ground was ready for human and animal habitation. But we read that “the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark.” Seven days later Noah sent the dove out again and this time it came back with a “freshly plucked olive leaf” in its mouth. So seven days later Noah sent the dove out again, “and she did not return anymore.” Why? Because she had found a place to rest.
And for you and me, Jesus is the place of rest. Only in Him is there peace with God. Only in Him is there the right perspective to face life and all of its struggles. And only in Him is there the certainty of eternal rest.
And you can’t see Him with your eyes, but He stands before you today with His arms wide open – “Come to me … and I will give you rest.” Have you RSVPed? Have you humbled yourself before Him in repentance and believed in Him for the forgiveness of your sins? Have you joined the restful school of Christ? I hope you have. But if you have not, please do so today.