Philip Melancthon, the great Reformation theologian, once said to his friend and mentor, Martin Luther, “Today you and I will discuss the governance of the universe.” It’s reported that Luther calmly responded: “Today we’ll go fishing and leave the governance of the universe to God.” That’s a picture of resting in the Almighty! And, Lord knows, our world could use some of that today, couldn’t it? We all desire a respite from doubts and fears, weariness and loneliness, stressors and frustrations, burdens and obligations. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to just “leave it all to God”?
Today we’re going to be reminded by Jesus that that type of “divine holiday” is very much available to us all. But we’re also going to notice the realization and experience and enjoyment of that rest necessitates humility. The reality is, pride robs us of rest while humility sends us fishing.
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Philip Melancthon, the great Reformation theologian, once said to his friend, Martin Luther, “Today you and I will discuss the governance of the universe.” Luther reportedly responded: “Today we’ll go fishing and leave the governance of the universe to God.”
That’s resting in the Almighty. And, Lord knows, we could all use some of that today, couldn’t we? We’d all like a break from doubt and fear, weariness and loneliness, stressors and frustrations, burdens and obligations. Wouldn’t it be nice to just “leave it all to God” and “go fishing” or something?
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.Come, behold the works of the Lord, who has wrought desolations in the earth.
Psalm 46:1–3, 8–11
He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire.
“Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
As we return to Matthew 11 today, we’re going to be invited to cease striving and remember the God we serve. But we’re also going to see that the realization and the experience and the enjoyment of that rest that we need and that long for, it necessitates humility. In fact, we’ll see that pride robs us of rest; humility sends us fishing.
Responding in PRIDE
The passage begins negatively in verse 20, illustrating what happens when we respond to Jesus, not in humility, but in pride. In other words, Matthew gives us an example of how not to find rest.
Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”
Matthew 11:20–24
Jesus is chastising a representative group of first-century Jewish cities—Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum—because they had been provided with all the evidence needed to respond to Jesus rightly, but they didn’t. Verse 20 says that of all the miracles Jesus performed, most of them were done in these places.
And let’s remember, we’re not talking corny slight-of-hand tricks or untestable, unobservable “healings” the likes of which characterize many modern ministries. We’re talking about bonafide, public, reversing-the-laws-of-nature, that-guy-has-never-walked-before-in-his-life-and-now-he’s-doing-jumping-jacks type miracles (see 11:5 for a summary!).
These miraculous signs served as proof that Jesus was who he said he was—the long-awaited Messiah, the davidic king—and that he could actually do what he was claiming to do—inaugurate the long-awaited, eternal kingdom of peace. And the cities rejected him anyway. Imagine the head-shaking frustration of Jesus!
It would be like trying to come back into the country after traveling abroad and being refused entry because the customs agent doesn’t believe you are who you say you are. And even though you provide your passport, drivers licence, health card, recent tax forms, character references, and photo evidence of your citizenship, they remain convinced that you’re an imposter. There comes a point when their disbelief becomes unbelievable.
That’s what Jesus’s facing. The proof-of-identity he’d provided was overwhelming, so much so that Jesus says even notoriously depraved Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom would have repented dramatically had they seen what these cities got to see.
Ultimately, it’s because first-century Israel had been given so much evidence and still refused to believe that their judgement would be so severe. “Woe to you! Woe to you!” Consider the modern-day charges of manslaughter and murder. Both are serious and deserve punishment but murder’s worse because of its intentionality. Cities like Sodom are charged with manslaughter and will be judged. But cities like Chorazin and Bethsaida are murderers because their rejection of Jesus was willful and fuelled by pride.
According to Jesus, while they think they deserve exaltation (11:23a) these proud cities will receive humiliation instead (11:23b).
Pride’s a killer, blinding and binding its often-willing victims. Pride caused Satan to fall as he wanted to rule like God (see Isaiah 14:12–15 and Ezekiel 28:13–19). Pride caused humanity to fall as Adam and Eve wanted to be like God (see Genesis 3:4–6). Pride causes each of us to fall as we wrestle between thinking we are gods (see Romans 1:25) and rejecting our need of the true God (see Psalm 14:1).
Pride is what keeps the unbeliever in unbelief. They claim the evidence isn’t convincing or they demand God tailor his self-disclosure to their insatiable demands. And this prideful unbelief manifests itself in many different ways: self-sufficiency, self-love, self-importance, self-medication, self-hatred, self-loathing, self-pity, self-aggrandizement, self-righteousness, self-justification. You’ll notice a key-word: Self. Pride is what keeps the unbeliever in unbelief. They see the evidence but, like first-century Israel, refuse to respond rightly.
But pride is also what what robs the believer of maturity. Though we’ve been freed from such self-centredness, pride can entice back once in a while and, when we do, as Christians, we are giving up the rest the only a life of faith can provide. Instead of leaving the governance of the universe to God, we take things upon ourselves we’re not built to bear.
Responding in HUMILITY
Pride’s a killer that needs to be killed. Instead of responding to Jesus with pride, we need to do the opposite: We want to respond in humility. And that’s where Matthew goes next in our passage.
At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.”
Matthew 11:25–26
According to Jesus, what brings praise and pleasure to God the Father, the universal Sovereign? That it’s not the wise and intelligent that understand, but infants. That it’s not the proud and accomplished that grasp the Jesus’s message but the lowly children. It’s not the pharisaical-type but the common-type that get it.
The contrast continues between pride and humility, the know-it-alls and the know-nothings, the well-respected and the not-respected. And, while the world believes its the former that can figure out the meaning of life and who blaze a path toward fulfillment and meaning via intellectual impressiveness, Jesus celebrates the fact that God has decided, in his perfect wisdom and grace, to make it such that only the humble grasp these saving truths.
All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
Matthew 11:27
No one can know the Father but through the Son. John, in his gospel, makes similar claims (see John 1:18; 6:46).
Knowing God the Father comes through knowing God the Son. And the authority has been given by the Father to the Son to decide who’s privy to that knowledge. If a friend tells you a secret and instructs you to “only share this with those you think need to know.” You’re now the keeper of that information and get to spread it to those you decide are worthy of hearing it.
Jesus is given authority to reveal the Father to those he chooses. A follow-up question has to be, Who does he choose? We’ve already been told that, actually (v. 25). Infants! The humble!
The proud, like Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, they don’t get to know the Father because they weren’t humble enough to accept the Son. It pleases the Father and it’s the prerogative of the Son to reward humility with knowledge of the Almighty.
For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.
1 Corinthians 1:26–29
While pride’s a killer, humility’s the key that opens the door to truth. And the final verses of our text give us a beautiful invitation from Jesus to experience that truth, through humility, and find rest.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28
While national Israel is in the process of rejecting their Messiah, Jesus here turns to members of that nation and invites them, as individuals, to come to him anyway. All who are tired of toiling under the burden of the Mosaic law and the regulatory traditions of the Pharisees, come to Jesus for relief. All who are fatigued by the uncertainty of your status before God, all who are sick of working toward meriting God’s favour, come!
How will he offer them relief?
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Matthew 11:29–30
Notice that, even after coming to Jesus, there’s still a burden to carry and work to be done, it just gets lighter and easier with him.
The yoke was, literally, a wooden bar joining two or more animals, usually oxen, so they could work together, plowing soil or pulling heavy loads. The yoke had also become a symbol for abusive bondage (Leviticus 26:13), the likes of which Messiah was said to finally rid God’s people of enduring (Isaiah 9:4).
Jesus invites the people to come out from under the knee-buckling burden of the Pharisees and take upon themselves the King’s work, a service characterized by total rest because the King’s character is gentle and humble in heart. There’s still work to be done, there’s still a burden to carry, but serving Jesus is unique in that it flows from gratitude not guilt; from love not legalism; from a place of peace with God and not in pursuit of peace with God.
Jesus claimed to be Israel’s Messiah. Those who responded in prideful rejection are promised judgement. Those who respond in humble acceptance are promised rest.
Come Lowly to CHRIST
And those terms continue to this day. Jesus claims to be the Messiah, the Deliverer, not just of Israel but of all who would come to him for salvation, believing in his person and work. If we respond in pride—whatever brand of unbelief it comes in—there is no rest. But, if we come lowly to Christ, if we accept his claims as the humble infants we are, that’s what we’re promised. Not retirement, not freedom from service, but a light, easy burden and rest for our souls. All this if we come lowly to Christ.
C. S. Lewis once commented, “We’re taller when we bow.” He’s right. When we humble ourselves before God, that’s when we stand strongest, most well-rested, and peace-filled. It’s then that we can “go fishing” and leave things like the governance of the universe to God. We must come lowly to Christ!
A former pastor of mine once shared this story from his life I want to now share with you as we close our time together this morning.
Years ago, my oldest son and I were lingering in a local gift shop. Our eyes fell upon a row of large posters framed and stacked together. We laughed at some of the nutty ones, nodded at some of the serious ones, and then meditated on one of them. …
It was a picture of a misty morning on a calm lake. In a little skiff were a father and a son looking at the two corks floating at the ends of their fishing lines. The sun was tipping its hat over the mountains in the distance. Stretching across the scene were peace, refreshment, and easygoing small talk. Two wistful words beneath the border of the image appropriately summed up a message everybody needs to hear today: Take time.
In my younger years, I would have been irritated by that message. Like many young people gearing up to make their mark on the world, I would have preferred the image of a speedboat cutting through the waves at 80-miles per hour. My preferred caption would have been: Don’t waste your time!
At the same time, I would have been nagged by the seemingly incomprehensible words of that old, well-worn hymn by William Longstaff: “Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord …. Take time to be holy, The world rushes on.”
Now, decades later, with children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and many miles and mistakes behind me, those words of Longstaff make a lot of sense. Through years of striving to rush through life at my own fast pace, I began to understand the chastising whisper of the Lord in Psalm 46:10: “Cease striving and know that I am God.” Likewise, Jesus’ counsel in Matthew 11:28 makes so much sense after having tried to outpace the One with whom I am yoked: “Come to me … and I will give you rest.”
Swindoll, Matthew 1–15, p. 227
Josiah has served the Oakridge Bible Chapel family as one of its elders and one of its pastoral staff members since September 2018, before which he ministered as an associate pastor to a local congregation in the Canadian prairies. Josiah's desire is to be used by God to help equip the church for ministry, both while gathered (edification) and while scattered (evangelization). He is married to Patricia, and together they have five children—Jonah, Henry, Nathaniel, Josephine, and Benjamin.
