1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,370 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, 2 00:00:02,530 --> 00:00:06,400 and of the Holy Spirit. In many ways, the 3 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:09,500 gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is the 4 00:00:09,500 --> 00:00:13,700 most ironic and counterintuitive thing on 5 00:00:13,700 --> 00:00:15,870 earth. Something that no man could 6 00:00:15,870 --> 00:00:18,070 possibly figure out from his own wisdom. 7 00:00:18,570 --> 00:00:22,170 If you want to live, you must first die to 8 00:00:22,170 --> 00:00:24,570 yourself. If you want to see the treasures 9 00:00:24,570 --> 00:00:27,330 of heaven, first see your spiritual 10 00:00:27,330 --> 00:00:30,070 poverty. And as we heard in our reading 11 00:00:30,070 --> 00:00:33,770 from Matthew this morning. If you want the 12 00:00:33,770 --> 00:00:37,200 yoke of suffering removed from your neck, 13 00:00:37,430 --> 00:00:41,430 take on another yoke. If you want the 14 00:00:41,430 --> 00:00:45,500 weight of sorrow to become lighter, take 15 00:00:45,500 --> 00:00:49,070 on more weight. Jesus begins our text 16 00:00:49,070 --> 00:00:52,130 today by saying, I thank you, Father, Lord 17 00:00:52,130 --> 00:00:54,330 of heaven and earth, that you have hidden 18 00:00:54,330 --> 00:00:56,800 these things from the wise and 19 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:59,270 understanding and revealed them to little 20 00:00:59,270 --> 00:01:02,430 children. And if you want to know what 21 00:01:02,430 --> 00:01:05,000 things he's talking about, we have to go 22 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:07,270 back to the beginning of Matthew chapter 23 00:01:07,270 --> 00:01:09,770 11 here. That's where the crowds are 24 00:01:09,770 --> 00:01:12,970 scandalized. When Jesus ultimately tells 25 00:01:12,970 --> 00:01:15,570 the messengers of John the Baptist that 26 00:01:15,570 --> 00:01:17,300 he's not going to free John from prison. 27 00:01:17,300 --> 00:01:20,970 Now, freeing John is, of course, precisely 28 00:01:20,970 --> 00:01:22,730 the kind of thing that the people want 29 00:01:22,730 --> 00:01:25,530 from Jesus. What better way for him to 30 00:01:25,530 --> 00:01:28,970 establish his kingdom than by freeing the 31 00:01:28,970 --> 00:01:32,530 prophet wrongly imprisoned by the imposter 32 00:01:32,530 --> 00:01:36,570 king? They want a Messiah who will remove 33 00:01:36,570 --> 00:01:39,070 the yoke of temporal suffering from both 34 00:01:39,070 --> 00:01:42,270 John and themselves. But Jesus tells them 35 00:01:42,270 --> 00:01:45,200 quite plainly that he won't do it. That 36 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:47,470 his miracles are serving a different 37 00:01:47,470 --> 00:01:49,870 purpose. That he has come for a different 38 00:01:49,870 --> 00:01:53,030 reason. And the people are scandalized by 39 00:01:53,030 --> 00:01:55,700 this, something that Jesus laments. Then, 40 00:01:55,700 --> 00:01:58,530 Jesus laments the unbelief of Chorazin and 41 00:01:58,530 --> 00:02:01,270 Bethsaida. Noting that the cities of the 42 00:02:01,270 --> 00:02:04,070 idolaters would have turned from their 43 00:02:04,070 --> 00:02:06,170 unbelief if they had seen the works that 44 00:02:06,170 --> 00:02:09,170 our Lord gave to his own people. The 45 00:02:09,170 --> 00:02:10,870 little children, the little pagan 46 00:02:10,870 --> 00:02:13,830 children, are able to recognize that Jesus 47 00:02:13,830 --> 00:02:16,500 is the Christ. But those who should be 48 00:02:16,500 --> 00:02:19,330 mature adults who have the scriptures and 49 00:02:19,330 --> 00:02:23,030 have seen the signs won't believe. And 50 00:02:23,030 --> 00:02:25,330 this is ultimately for the same reason 51 00:02:25,330 --> 00:02:27,800 why, this is ultimately the same reason 52 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:30,270 why so many of our Lord's people won't 53 00:02:30,270 --> 00:02:33,200 believe. Why we won't believe. They all 54 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:35,030 want the yoke of temporal suffering 55 00:02:35,030 --> 00:02:37,600 removed. The yoke of the Romans, the yoke 56 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,070 of struggling to buy bread removed. And 57 00:02:40,070 --> 00:02:43,530 Jesus won't remove it. So why believe in 58 00:02:43,530 --> 00:02:46,870 Him? And in the end, this is the source of 59 00:02:46,870 --> 00:02:50,930 so much unbelief and anger at God today. 60 00:02:51,770 --> 00:02:54,970 We feel this in our own hearts. When the 61 00:02:54,970 --> 00:02:57,570 yoke of suffering and hardship weighs us 62 00:02:57,570 --> 00:03:01,900 down and wears us out. So we cry out for 63 00:03:01,900 --> 00:03:04,930 it to be removed. But Jesus seems 64 00:03:04,930 --> 00:03:09,100 unbothered. Uninterested in coming to our 65 00:03:09,100 --> 00:03:12,000 aid. Those of you gentlemen who are 66 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:13,830 seeking the office of the ministry will 67 00:03:13,830 --> 00:03:16,930 most certainly see this. In your days in 68 00:03:16,930 --> 00:03:18,970 the parish from time to time where people 69 00:03:18,970 --> 00:03:20,430 will come in and they'll come to your 70 00:03:20,430 --> 00:03:22,270 church and they'll give you lots of 71 00:03:22,270 --> 00:03:24,430 compliments on how great your preaching is 72 00:03:24,430 --> 00:03:26,230 and how you're so much better than all the 73 00:03:26,230 --> 00:03:28,070 other congregations that have failed them. 74 00:03:28,500 --> 00:03:30,970 And then, when you can't fix their failing 75 00:03:30,970 --> 00:03:33,570 marriage, or you can't make their children 76 00:03:33,570 --> 00:03:36,430 more obedient, or when you can't bring 77 00:03:36,430 --> 00:03:38,630 peace to their minds that are troubled by 78 00:03:38,630 --> 00:03:41,330 something, then they will depart and 79 00:03:41,330 --> 00:03:43,400 inform you that you have utterly failed 80 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:46,230 them. This is the same thing that we feel 81 00:03:46,230 --> 00:03:48,000 in our own hearts when we can't seem to 82 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:52,130 get rid of the weight of suffering. Why 83 00:03:52,130 --> 00:03:55,730 does God permit evil, we ask? Why do good 84 00:03:55,730 --> 00:03:58,470 things happen to bad people? If God has 85 00:03:58,470 --> 00:04:01,730 the power to end all suffering, but won't 86 00:04:01,730 --> 00:04:06,330 do it, how could he be all loving? These 87 00:04:06,330 --> 00:04:08,530 are the things that people often ask 88 00:04:08,530 --> 00:04:11,830 ourselves when we're crumbling under the 89 00:04:11,830 --> 00:04:14,170 weight of suffering. These questions about 90 00:04:14,170 --> 00:04:16,430 the problem of evil that we ask when our 91 00:04:16,430 --> 00:04:19,230 families or our bodies are falling apart, 92 00:04:19,230 --> 00:04:22,030 when we're haunted by depression and 93 00:04:22,030 --> 00:04:24,930 anxiety that we can't seem to drive out of 94 00:04:24,930 --> 00:04:27,300 our hearts. And when we ask these 95 00:04:27,300 --> 00:04:29,870 questions, we often present them as though 96 00:04:29,870 --> 00:04:34,830 they are deep theological inquiries. But 97 00:04:34,830 --> 00:04:37,530 the truth is that far more often than not, 98 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:41,630 these aren't really questions. They're 99 00:04:41,630 --> 00:04:45,930 grunts, groans. They are utterances that 100 00:04:45,930 --> 00:04:50,230 we drape in philosophical attire so that 101 00:04:50,230 --> 00:04:53,670 we can safely distance ourselves from 102 00:04:53,670 --> 00:04:56,370 admitting the prideful notion that's 103 00:04:56,370 --> 00:04:59,900 behind those utterances. That belief that 104 00:04:59,900 --> 00:05:03,900 we don't deserve this. We are owed 105 00:05:03,900 --> 00:05:06,000 something better from God. There's been 106 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,400 some kind of mistake and he has weighed us 107 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:12,470 down with this yoke of suffering that we 108 00:05:12,470 --> 00:05:15,730 didn't earn. So why isn't God fixing 109 00:05:15,730 --> 00:05:19,070 everything and making everything right? We 110 00:05:19,070 --> 00:05:22,170 feel the weight of temporal sorrow and are 111 00:05:22,170 --> 00:05:24,270 convinced that the only way for that 112 00:05:24,270 --> 00:05:28,630 weight to go away is for Jesus to take the 113 00:05:28,630 --> 00:05:32,530 suffering away. And so that brings us back 114 00:05:32,530 --> 00:05:34,100 to the words of our text for today. 115 00:05:34,470 --> 00:05:37,400 Grieved as he is by the unbelief of His 116 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:40,570 people, Jesus still thanks His Father that 117 00:05:40,570 --> 00:05:43,700 He has blinded those people, that He has 118 00:05:43,700 --> 00:05:45,770 hidden from them the truth because through 119 00:05:45,770 --> 00:05:47,870 their rejection of Him, that will 120 00:05:47,870 --> 00:05:50,970 ultimately lead Him to the cross where He 121 00:05:50,970 --> 00:05:54,170 will unite the wise and understanding yet 122 00:05:54,170 --> 00:05:57,300 unbelieving Jews with the ignorant yet 123 00:05:57,300 --> 00:06:00,000 believing Gentile nations, their very 124 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,930 children. And how will Jesus do that? 125 00:06:03,970 --> 00:06:08,200 Through the yoke he bears. Through the 126 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:11,530 burden he carries. Jesus will wear the 127 00:06:11,530 --> 00:06:14,130 Savior's yoke to the cross. He will carry 128 00:06:14,130 --> 00:06:16,770 the impossible burden, the burden that we 129 00:06:16,770 --> 00:06:18,800 never could have carried, the burden of 130 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:21,470 perfectly obeying the law of His Father 131 00:06:21,470 --> 00:06:24,470 and then giving us His perfect obedience 132 00:06:24,470 --> 00:06:28,270 through His dying breath. Jesus will carry 133 00:06:28,270 --> 00:06:31,930 the unimaginable weight of your sins upon 134 00:06:31,930 --> 00:06:34,570 His head as He is pierced for your 135 00:06:34,570 --> 00:06:38,430 transgressions, as He washes you clean of 136 00:06:38,430 --> 00:06:41,100 your pride, your arrogance, and every 137 00:06:41,100 --> 00:06:44,670 other iniquity. Jesus will bear the most 138 00:06:44,670 --> 00:06:47,830 oppressive of yokes and the heaviest of 139 00:06:47,830 --> 00:06:52,170 burdens, and then He will bleed them out 140 00:06:52,170 --> 00:06:57,170 upon you. And when He does, when He adds 141 00:06:57,170 --> 00:07:00,570 more weight to the weight you can't carry, 142 00:07:00,730 --> 00:07:03,330 the weight of His blood, when He pours out 143 00:07:03,330 --> 00:07:06,870 His yoke and His burden upon you, this 144 00:07:06,870 --> 00:07:10,070 will actually make your yoke and your 145 00:07:10,070 --> 00:07:14,070 burden lighter. When you think that Jesus 146 00:07:14,070 --> 00:07:16,670 is denying you the rest that you deserve, 147 00:07:17,170 --> 00:07:19,970 the Son of God who rested in the tomb 148 00:07:19,970 --> 00:07:23,030 after He died the death that you deserved, 149 00:07:23,330 --> 00:07:26,470 He will show you otherwise. He will show 150 00:07:26,470 --> 00:07:29,170 you that when you drag your weighed-down 151 00:07:29,170 --> 00:07:33,130 bones to His cross, he will take away your 152 00:07:33,130 --> 00:07:36,730 weight with His weight. When your family 153 00:07:36,730 --> 00:07:39,130 is broken, when your body is broken, when 154 00:07:39,130 --> 00:07:42,200 your heart and mind are broken, and all of 155 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:45,830 that shattered glass of sorrow is pressing 156 00:07:45,830 --> 00:07:49,930 down upon you and piercing into you, go to 157 00:07:49,930 --> 00:07:53,200 the cross. Look upon the face of your 158 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:57,170 Savior as He destroys your sins with His 159 00:07:57,170 --> 00:08:00,230 blood. And when you see that, His yoke 160 00:08:00,230 --> 00:08:03,200 will lighten yours. In the weight of His 161 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,370 cross, you will see that you can forgive 162 00:08:05,370 --> 00:08:08,000 the husband, the wife, the children who 163 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:10,400 have sinned against you because Jesus 164 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:13,400 forgave you and gave you peace with God. 165 00:08:13,570 --> 00:08:16,570 In the weight of his cross, you will see 166 00:08:16,570 --> 00:08:19,570 that you can endure one more day of agony 167 00:08:19,570 --> 00:08:22,300 and pain piercing through your flesh 168 00:08:22,300 --> 00:08:25,600 because your Savior has purchased for you 169 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:29,070 with His own pierced flesh an eternity 170 00:08:29,070 --> 00:08:32,800 where you will never know agony again. In 171 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:35,530 the weight of the cross, you will feel the 172 00:08:35,530 --> 00:08:39,230 weight of Jesus press down upon you. But 173 00:08:39,230 --> 00:08:42,300 it won't press down upon you to increase 174 00:08:42,300 --> 00:08:46,130 your suffering. It will press down upon 175 00:08:46,130 --> 00:08:49,430 you as a glorious reminder, like the 176 00:08:49,430 --> 00:08:52,330 embrace of your mother or your father, as 177 00:08:52,330 --> 00:08:54,900 a glorious reminder that Jesus will one 178 00:08:54,900 --> 00:09:00,170 day smother your despair to death. When He 179 00:09:00,170 --> 00:09:02,430 returns, He will press His righteousness 180 00:09:02,430 --> 00:09:05,430 down upon you, kill every ounce of your 181 00:09:05,430 --> 00:09:08,870 doubt and depression and anxiety, and you 182 00:09:08,870 --> 00:09:12,630 will never feel them again. The yoke and 183 00:09:12,630 --> 00:09:15,530 burden that Jesus carried to Calvary were 184 00:09:15,530 --> 00:09:17,530 heavier than anything you could have 185 00:09:17,530 --> 00:09:20,800 carried. But when Jesus pours out the 186 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:23,230 weight of His yoke and His burden upon 187 00:09:23,230 --> 00:09:26,630 you, you will not find more sorrow and 188 00:09:26,630 --> 00:09:29,370 suffering. You will find that every word 189 00:09:29,370 --> 00:09:33,270 He spoke to you is true. His yoke is easy. 190 00:09:33,570 --> 00:09:36,870 His burden is light. And every time you 191 00:09:36,870 --> 00:09:39,630 look to Him in faith, you will find 192 00:09:39,630 --> 00:09:43,730 eternal rest for your weary bones. In this 193 00:09:43,730 --> 00:09:47,570 beautiful, strange irony, every time you 194 00:09:47,570 --> 00:09:51,100 look to him in faith, you will take more 195 00:09:51,100 --> 00:09:55,700 weight upon yourself. And in doing so, you 196 00:09:55,700 --> 00:09:57,970 will feel the weight that grieves you the 197 00:09:57,970 --> 00:10:01,630 most melt away. In the name of the Father, 198 00:10:01,830 --> 00:10:03,670 and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 199 00:10:03,870 --> 00:10:04,630 Amen.