April 15, 2020 - At the end of Matthew chapter 11 we find Christ promising the goods, that is, the Gospel. Before that he talks to the crowds and criticizes them for their unbelief. As the text reads, he was denouncing the cities where his mighty works had been done but they did not repent. Christ is laying down the Law and that leads us to verses 25-30. In verse 27, Jesus makes the declarative statement that all things have been handed over to him by his Father which is a reference to one of three persons of the Trinity, God the Father. What do we read next? Do the next few verses record Christ becoming a tyrant, describing his power and telling the entire crowd to start acting right? Does he start detailing a gospel of works, saying he has the power to save but we need to earn it?
Folks, by no means! Christ says in verse 28, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Christ says come to him! Rest in him. There is a rest that is found in Christ. He says to take his yoke upon yourself which might be weird after hearing all this talk about rest. To be yoked to Christ is not a message of unrest. We being yoked to Christ is similar to a big ox being yoked to a sickly ox. The big ox is doing all the work. There is no way we the sick ox can carry the load. What is even better is that our sin is covered by the sinlessness of Christ. That is why we can have rest in Christ who is the Lord of the Sabbath. Christ is the Lord of rest and through him we are forgiven.
Wynter is an Elder at Mariposa Reformed Baptist Church. Find out more at MariposaChurch.org or email him at wynter@mariposachurch.org. Visit Mariposa Reformed Baptist Church on Facebook.
Pastor’s Corner is a column from Pastor Wynter Sturtevant III of the Mariposa Reformed Baptist Church.
The Church has moved locations, services are now held at the Bootjack Stompers Hall (located at 4662 Morman Bar Crossing) across from the Mariposa County Fairgrounds.
Time of service is at 10:00 A.M. on Sunday.
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