Week 3:
Matthew 11:20-30
20 Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For 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. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.[e] For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
25 At 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. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
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. 29 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.30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Reflection
Come to Jesus as you pray
What’s God’s attitude to us when we pray?
Is he dismissive? (To be fair to God, he might be - we do pray absolute nonsense sometimes!)
Is he impatient? (And who could blame him - we have prayed these prayers over and over again, and here we are… again! We haven’t exactly helped ourselves, so why should he help us?!)
Is he angry? (Let’s be honest - sometimes we deserve it. We do muck things up for ourselves, and for him… time and time again!)
Is that what God is like when we pray to him?
No.
He’s gentle and humble.
When Philip asks Jesus to show them the father, Jesus replies “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?” (John 14:9). If Jesus is gentle and humble, as we read in today’s text, God is gentle and humble.
Think about this. God is humble. He has no pride. The only person in the universe who could justify his pride… has no pride! Being humble, there’s nothing in him that bristles when we pray, nothing that gets irritated, fed up or impatient. His face is towards us, he’s all ears. He wants to hear us, and he is delighted in us as we come to him - he’s not worried about the quality of our prayers (re-read last week’s reflections if you’re still not convinced by this).
So he promises us many things when we come to him in prayer. He promises us rest. This isn’t just a breather - better sleep and less pressure. The old testament prophets use the words ‘weary and burdened’ many times - and every time they do so, they’re referring to the burden of serving others gods, and the weariness that comes with following other ways of living than God’s good way for all of us. So when Jesus promises rest, his first century Jewish hearers would have understood exactly what he meant - he meant freedom from captivity, a return to the promised land from the land of exile.
That’s what he means by “an easy yoke and a light burden”. He’ll give them a new way of living, in tandem with him - a life of freedom to replace the life of captivity.
And Jesus promises us this. Whatever binds us, and holds us captive, we can be free from. He doesn’t judge our prayers as inadequate or undeserving - as we come to him in prayer he promises us freedom from all that binds us, and life in place of death. He invites us to walk with him, carrying only his light burden.
But hang on. What about what Jesus said to Chorazin, Bethsaida, Tyre and Sidon, and Capernaum? Doesn’t that sound like impatience and anger? Isn’t God dismissing them?
Jesus is humble, and holds out life to everyone, but those who continue to choose the burden of other gods and the weariness of a futile life will reap what they sow. He is humble and will not impose his easy yoke on anyone. He is gentle, and will not put his light burden on anyone against their will. That’s why he invites us to “Come to me…”. We have to come to him.
As you pray this week, consciously ask Jesus for his easy yoke and his light burden. Give him your burdens, give him your weariness. He is humble and will take it upon himself on the cross, and will give us the life of heaven in return.
I once spoke with someone who was devastated by their own sin and wasted life. He cried out as he realised he had nothing good to offer Jesus. We prayed about this, and Jesus’ answer was “Give me your sin, your weakness, your ineptitude and your unfaithfulness. These are the gifts I desire”. These are to Jesus more precious than all our good works, all our abilities and achievements (perhaps that’s why the wise and the learned have not understood these things - they think they have better gifts to give God than the gifts he desires). These are what our humble God desires from us - so that he can take them all on the cross with him, and in their place give us a life of peace, purpose and power.
This week as you pray, dare to look at the parts of you that you are least proud of, and give them to your father, who has no pride, and in exchange take on his easy yoke. Give him also your wisdom and your learning, all that you are most proud of, and ask instead for his light burden.