Matthew 11,25-30. Cantate

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Matthew 11,25-30. Luke 10,21-22 2615

Kantate (4. Sonntag nach Ostern) 39 weiß 

The Discovery of the Cross by Helena in 329  

3. Mai 2015 

1. O Jesus Christ, our Good and Gracious God, we sing praises to You, for we trust in You and we know that You perform great wonders in our midst so that we may remain safe in Your Providential Hands. (VELKD, Prayer for Kantate § 1).  Amen. 

2. »At that time Jesus declared: „I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was Your gracious will. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. Draw near to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me that I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your lives. For My yoke is pleasant, and My burden is light.“  

3. What greater news is there than to hear Jesus declare: »All things have been handed over to Me by My Father.«? Our American culture prides itself on handling things on our own, relying on our personal rugged individualism and romanticizing the Manifest Destiny attitude that tamed much of this land, particularly the Wild West. We are loathe to admit it, but there are many situations in our lives that are just beyond our control. We cannot not resolve them by the ingenuity of our hands. We become tossed to and fro by the various storms that batter our lives. We are labored and heavy laden. Jesus has received these situations, and much more, into His hands.  

4. What are some things in our hands that are beyond our control? Sickness and illness often spiral out of our control when a simple ailment suddenly becomes serious or life-threatening. Financial and economic downturns can become serious hardships. Different religious beliefs can degenerate into persecution and martyrdom of Christians. There are times when our sins overwhelm us, weigh down upon us and lead us to utter despair. Our yokes are heavy and burdensome. 

5. Into these and many other situations Jesus offers: »Draw near to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.« Jesus is gentle and humble in heart. Jesus takes our heavy yoke of guilt and sin. In return, He gives us His yoke which is light and restful. The way to find rest is to trade the heavy burden of sin and failure for Jesus’ own yoke (Gibbs 590), for His yoke is pleasant and His burden is light. 

6. But what is Jesus’ yoke? A: His yoke is nothing other than to become a disciple of Jesus (Gibbs 590). The Gospel according to Matthew tells us many things about being Jesus’ disciple. Jesus preached: »Repent, for the reign of heaven is at hand« (Matthew 4,17). »Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who  built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods rose and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock« (Matthew 7,24-25). »The reign of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field« (Matthew 13,44). »Simon Peter confessed: „You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go up to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, be killed and on the third day be raised« (Matthew 16,16.21). »Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for My Name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life« (Matthew 19,29). 

7. The yoke of Christian discipleship may seem daunting but it is far lighter and more pleasant that the weight of our sins and the guilty conscience that attends them. The joy of Jesus’ yoke is that it is His yoke and a yoke that He Himself gives us from His gracious and loving heart. There are no demands to earn salvation by racking up points by doing good works. There is no probation when a prodigal returns home. Jesus’ yoke is the weightlessness of grace. »God the Father shows the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus, for by grace we have been saved through faith, and this is not our own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast, for we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God the Father prepared beforehand so that we should walk in them« (Ephesians 2,7-10). »But while the prodigal son was still a long way off, his Father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. The Father then said to His servants: „Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate, for this My son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.“« (Luke 15,20.22-24). 

8. Christ’s yoke is less like a collar of servanthood and more like a ring of sonship. St. Paul tells us: »If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to promise. You are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God« (Galatians 3,29.4,7). 

9. The symbol we often use of Christ’s yoke is the cross or the crucifix. This reminds us of the burden Christ took from us and bore upon Himself. »Jesus was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities; and with His wounds we are healed. Yahweh has placed upon Him the iniquity of us all« (Isaiah 53,5.6). All things have been handed over to Jesus by His Father, and we are the beneficiaries of that grace and mercy. Our sins are forgiven. Our debts have been paid in full. We never face a trial or tribulation alone, for Jesus is by our side often carrying us through it when we can no longer walk. If we wander away, then He welcomes us home as His son or daughter. Jesus’ yoke is pleasant and light, for it is a yoke of grace and mercy.  Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, our Burden-bearer, we shout for joy to God, sing the Glory of Your Name, for You have risen from the grave and in doing so have made us heirs of Your resurrection unto everlasting life.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Soli Deo Gloria

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.  

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2013 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

Gibbs, Jeffrey A. Matthew 11:2 – 20:34. Copyright © 2010 Concordia Publishing House. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2013 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.