Sermon26-14 Mt11 Guide

Matthew 11:25-30 theme verse Mt 11:29-30

The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.

In this nineth Sunday of the year 2026, I pray that His grace of the application of all the benefits which Jesus earned for our salvation and the glorious ministry of the proclamation of His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit may be full in our life. Last week, through John 15, we learned that we could live in love and truth by abiding in Him. Yet, this week, we would like to learn few lessons through Matthew 11 that we can enjoy all the benefits He earned for us, when we come to Him, taking His yoke and learning His humility and gentleness.

1)    The Gospel of Matthew that we read together today is structured, as you can see in the screen, with five major discourses of Jesus which are placed between six narratives.

I mean, first, in chapters 1 through 4, Matthew introduced Jesus Christ as the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament - the Anointed One as King, Prophet, and High Priest. He was the Son of King David who was the greatest king of Israel. His name was Immanuel, Jesus Christ which mean, “God with us,” the Savior who will deliver His people from their sins, the Anointed One. Matthew began with the account of the Magi from the East who came to worship Him who was born as the King of the Jews. Then he recorded how Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit and began His public ministry. And then in the second narrative of the chapters 8 and 9, Matthew told us of the miracles Jesus performed and of His calling of the disciples. Then in chapters 11 and 12, we could see the growing rejection of Jesus by the Jewish people. And then in chapters 14 through 17, we read of the disciples’ confession and acceptance of Jesus and in chapters 19 through 22, Matthew presented several stories of confrontations, I mean, how the people responded to the question “Will you receive Him as the Messiah, or reject Him?” Then Finally, in chapters 26 through 28, he concluded with Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection account with His final command before His ascension: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age therefore go and make disciples of all nations.”

Between these six narratives, Matthew carefully arranged five major sermons of Jesus, I mean, first, the sermon on the coming of the Kingdom of God and the eight blessings granted to those who belong to that Kingdom. Second, the sermon concerning the mission of the disciples and the suffering they would face. Third, the sermon on the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. Fourth, the sermon about the life of the disciples’ community and how they have to live within that community. And finally, the sermon concerning the completion and consummation of the Kingdom of God.

2)    Now, in chapter 11 & 12, Matthew wrote the rejection of the people and leaders to the messages of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.

Especially in chapter 11, in verses 2–19, John the Baptist who publicly rebuked Herod Antipas, the tetrarch, had remarried Herodias, who was both the wife of his half-brother Philip and his own niece was imprisoned. Yet Jewish leader did not help him because John the Baptist had proclaimed Jesus as the King of Israel, as their ancestors had done before.

And also in verses 20–24, Matthew wrote another story that Jesus rebukes the cities where most of His mighty works had been performed—the so-called “gospel triangle” of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum—because they did not repent even though they had witnessed His power and heard His teaching.

Jesus explains that the reason they failed to receive the gospel was because they considered themselves wise and understanding so that they could grasp truth by their own intellect and accomplish righteousness by their own effort and deeds. But Jesus clearly announced that those who rely on their own wisdom and ability cannot perceive the mystery of God’s gospel. In contrast, those who acknowledge their weakness and insufficiency like little children can come to the Father in humility and hear the gospel, believe it, and enter into its joy.

And then our Lord invites them to the Gospel again, saying, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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.”

3)    In today’s text, I hope we could learn few lessons, as meditating on several important points together.

First, it’s regarding who we are. I mean, our Lord defines human beings as those who labor and are heavy laden. By the way, this view that humanity is in a state of suffering is not unique to Christianity. Across all ages and cultures, it has been almost a universal language shared by all religions and philosophies.

The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, in his book Thus Spoke Zarathustra, said that the human spirit grows through three stages: the camel, the lion, and the child. We begin as the camel, which endures the heavy suffering imposed by God; then grows to the lion, which resists such fate; and finally becomes the child, who accepts the world as it is and elevates the life given to him into a kind of play and a work of art.

And also Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, said, “Life is suffering.” Birth, aging, sickness, and death are all suffering. So he taught that through the Noble Eightfold right Path, one can be detached from attachment, attain liberation to reach Nirvana.

In this way, while almost all religions and philosophies acknowledge that life is suffering, yet they provide different solutions. Yet, broadly speaking, there are two answers. I mean, one group holds that human beings can free themselves from the suffering of life through their own enlightenment or personal effort. But, the other maintains that such liberation is impossible by human effort so that only grace from God can save them from this suffering.

To elaborate it more, Buddhism teaches that one can escape suffering and attain liberation through enlightenment, or that by accumulating good karma, that is, good deeds, one can ultimately cease being reborn into this world of suffering. And similarly, Greek philosophy teaches that through awakening to wisdom, we can cast off our imperfect body and our spirits can ascend to the world of IDEA. As such, although their solutions may appear somewhat different, they agree in believing that salvation can be attained through human enlightenment or effort.

Yet today, our Lord presents a different solution to our suffering. Jesus clearly acknowledges that because of sin, guilt, and the resulting curse, humanity bears the burden of sin and lives in suffering. However, He teaches that legalism, that is, seeking salvation by keeping the law or asceticism, that is, trying to gain enlightenment by suppressing one’s desires or bodies, only places a heavier burden on us, since human beings, on their own, cannot awaken themselves or gain freedom from this heavy burden through their own efforts.

4)    Instead, Jesus says to those who bear such heavy burdens and labor in vain, “Come to Me, take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me,” and He promises that then they will find rest.

Here, this command to come to the Lord means to trust Him—that is, to believe in Him, differently the Pharisees who “tied up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders,” told them to “do” and forced them to follow the traditions of Moses, yet in reality, they themselves could neither bear those burdens nor were they willing to carry them, as Jesus says in Matthew 23:4.

Because although the Law is good and holy, as Romans 7:18 teaches, even born-again Christians do not have the ability in themselves to live perfectly according to the Law, as Romans 3:20 declares clearly that no one can be justified before God by the works of the Law; rather, through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

5)    And then the Lord tells us to take His yoke upon us. In those days, to take someone’s yoke meant to become his disciple. So through this commandment, He is calling us to become His disciples and follow Him.

Here, His yoke can be understood as faith in the truth and life of Gospel, specially according to His commandment to love one another.

But, since both faith and love are His gifts as Eph 2:8 says ‘by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” and also Rom 5:5 says that “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit”, we can bear His yoke of faith and love, as the Lord even says that this yoke is easy and light.

6)    However, sometimes even the Lord’s easy and light can feel burdensome since although the Lord has given us faith and love, we try to practice them by our own strength.

That is why the Lord told us to take His yoke upon ourselves and learn His character, I mean, gentleness and humility. These characters of humility and gentleness are the fundamental standard and model of all virtues, as the Greek word translated as “humility,” tapeinos (ταπεινός), refers to the character of total dependence on God recognizing that we can do nothing by our own strength, fully trusting God, and relying entirely upon Him. And also the Greek word translated as “gentleness,” praus (πραΰς), refers to the character of total obedience after one does not resist yet is ready to be instructed by the Word of God.

Therefore, in response to the Lord’s command to love one another, we have to come before Him with a heart of obedience. Yet after we acknowledge that we cannot love by our own strength and instead live by relying on the love that the Lord pours out upon us. Then when we do so, we will be able to rise up on the Lord’s wings and live loving one another.

7)    In this way, when we come to the Lord by faith, take His yoke, and learn from Him, we come to enjoy deep rest and peace that arise from submission and obedience.

First, we can experience reconciliation with God, and second, we enjoy the peace of God.

I mean, we can be forgiven of our sins and reconciled to God, becoming His beloved children, as Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

And second, as it is written in Philippians 4:6–7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus,” we can enjoy the peace of God, no matter what difficulties or trials may come.

8)    But, here there is a very important point that we need to understand. I mean, as the Lord said in verses 25–27, God the Father, the Lord of heaven and earth, has hidden the truth of the gospel from those who consider themselves wise and understanding, and has revealed it to little children. Although the Father has entrusted all things to the Son, 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.

This passage clearly teaches us that while we have the responsibility to respond to the gospel in faith with a humble heart like that of a little child, yet the cultivation of this faith is ultimately God’s sovereign work and it comes by His grace.

To elaborate it, human beings are spiritually dead. Therefore, when the truth of the gospel is proclaimed, we cannot understand its mystery nor believe it on our own. So when the message of the gospel is preached by the messengers whom God sent, God enables us to receive it by faith as the Holy Spirit helps us and opens our hearts. This is the result of God’s sovereign work.

Yet anyhow those who hear this gospel have to respond in faith. This is the responsibility of human beings.

Therefore, even believers who have responded in faith often find this mystery difficult to understand. Yet as we continue to grow in faith and come to know more of the mystery of God’s gospel, we realize that all of the salvation from the beginning to the end comes from God’s great grace, looking back to the time of our faith journey so that we humbly confess to God that “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty,” as Luke 17:10 says.

That’s why Jude verse 3 says that “Beloved, contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints,” I mean, God gives faith according to His sovereignty, yet at the same time, from the human side, we are exhorted to strive earnestly for the faith.

9)    Yet, the article 1 & 2 of the 5^th main point of the Canons of Dort says that even “the regenerate are not entirely free from sin” so that “Hence daily sins of weakness arise, they have to humble themselves before God, put the flesh to death more and more and strain toward the goal of perfection, until they are freed from this body of death.”

So sisters and brothers! Every time, we have to ask for His grace, after learning humility and gentleness before the Lord, when we slip away due to our weakness, as we live as His disciples. Therefore, I pray that this year, after proceeding to our Lord in faith, when following Him with taking His yoke, even when slipping away due to our weakness, we may learn His humility and gentleness to rely more and more onto Him and obey to His leading to have true rest in Him.

Key Questions as Small Group Activity

Q1 Through today’s text, our Lord teaches that we human beings can have rest if we come to the Lord in faith and become His disciples and learn from Him when we live as those who labor and are heavy laden. So, after reflecting our life and checking what we learn from Him as His disciples, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Q2 And also, iin the life as His disciples, we have to learn His humility and gentleness. So after reflecting our life and checking where we arrived in our humility and gentleness, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Love you. Thank you. God bless you.

Prayer Note

Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!

Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or  even during the week )

Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!

Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),

please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized   ).

I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon                                    )

Please help me to live in that (  learned way of life                                                )

I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.