Matthew 11:30 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Matthew 11:30

Comments

Sin is a hard task master and brings many disappointments, many miseries, many setbacks. Christ’s yoke is ‘easy’, kindly, gracious, pleasant. Have you ever heard of service that is pleasant? But the service of Christ is infinitely greater than anything you ever give up in leaving the world. It is service that truly brings gain, and that gain is everlasting. Christ does not reward his servants with things that are passing away, but with what lasts for ever, a reward they can never deserve. Imagine being paid for what you enjoy doing most. Leave behind your luxuries and pleasures; leave glamour and sensuality of life. When you come to Christ you give up shallow, costly, and injurious things. The majority of people are full of doubt, hesitation, resentment towards God, but when we respond to his invitation what we find is far more wonderful than we ever thought. The gospel must not be preached in a way that encourages people to come for benefits. We urge people to repent and trust in Christ because they are in rebellion against God, because Christ is Lord and all should recognise him and bow before him, because God commands all men everywhere to repent. We are perishing and our need is very great; only Christ can help us, so we must come to him. But the service we enter into is not hard service. The Christian life is a life of fulfilment, of joy and anticipation, of discovery of the glorious person of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. His service is its own reward. Christ’s hearers had not heard words like this: such gracious words, such sympathetic and kindly words.

Application

Christ has a yoke for us to wear. For this reason many people refuse to come to him. They don’t want his lordship, his government, his rule over them. But we must be ready to put aside the barricades that I have erected against God. If I want salvation, I must be ready to be under his lordship. That means getting rid of deep desires for sin and putting them to death. It means setting aside our pride. It means being willing to be under the government of God.

You get into a modern car and start going round a corner, and you expect it to be hard, but the car has power steering and you find it easy to turn. If you have come to Christ and pray for help, you find that he strengthens you and you are able not to commit sins which previously held you in bondage. Touch it and it goes where you want. It does the work for you.

You realise it will be impossible to bring people under the yoke of Christ. If John the Baptist and Christ could not change them, how can we? Others want credit for all they understand. Only the Holy Spirit can bring about this change in the heart.

You don’t have to do anything hard in order to be saved. You don’t have to fast or endure pain as some sort of compensation for salvation. Luther punished himself in an attempt to find God. He went without sleep, wore uncomfortable clothing or inadequate clothing to keep himself warm, and beat himself. We don’t have to endure misery, attending services at 5 AM to make them especially hard. We must repent of our sin, not to atone for it, but to come in submission to God. You hand over your life to Christ, and trust in him. You say, ‘Lord, forgive me; save me.’ We must be genuine. The Lord does all the work. He went to Calvary. to do everything necessary for our debt to God to be paid. I seek him. He deals with my heart and puts better desires in me. I fight sin, and he enables me to turn from it. I serve him and he gives understanding. Tell him your shame, your sin, and that you want to be forgiven. But you must mean it with all your heart. If you do, he will make you a true Christian.

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Matthew 11:30 Commentary and Bible Study