Effortless and Free

I’m currently in the research phase of writing my next book. That means I’m doing a lot of reading and studying and thinking about the topic before I eventually sit down to put my own thoughts down on paper.

This weekend as I was immersed in this process, I discovered something new and I had to share it with all of you here on my blog.

Many of us are familiar with Jesus’ statement :

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Now, I’ve always read that verse as if Jesus was saying, “Are you tired? Are you stressed out? Come to me and I’ll give you the peace you’re searching for.”

While this is still a valid reading of that verse, I discovered something even deeper was going on that I wasn’t aware of until now.

Jesus had a lot to say about the teachers of the Law, and almost none of it was good. His main criticism of them was this:

"(The teachers of the law) tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them." (Matthew 23:4)

"Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them" (Luke 11:46)

See, Jesus was pointing out that the teachers of the Law burdened people with endless rules and added pressure to perform in order to be accepted by God. Keep in mind that these same teachers of the Law were unable to keep these rules themselves, and they also refused to help anyone else keep the Law.

So, when Jesus turns and says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”, He is contrasting the Law of Moses with His Law (the Law of Christ).

This is significant for several reasons. One, because Jesus is giving people a choice. They can continue to try and follow the Law of Moses – which no one can keep. Or, they can take off that yoke and put on the one He offers which is easy and light.

This is a radical teaching. Jesus is offering people an opportunity to find peace, and to please God, without jumping through the hoops imposed by the Law of Moses. The Apostles expressed this same idea when they said:

"Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear?" (Acts 15:10)

But we’re not done yet. The second thing I realized was that Jesus’ offer to take on His yoke is not about following an easier set of rules. In fact, if anything, the Law of Christ is even more difficult to keep. Why? Because Jesus raised the bar on the Law of Moses by declaring that even our thoughts about sinful actions were equal to committing those acts.

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.” (Matthew 5:21-22)

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contrasts the Law of Moses (“thou shalt not murder”) with His Law which says, “If you are angry with your brother you will be judged.” He also says that if you look at a woman to lust after her it’s the same as committing adultery with her, and so on. Yet, Jesus still maintains that His yoke is easier, not harder, than the yoke of Moses. How can this be?

Here’s the key. Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says something that, at first, sounds like bad news:

"For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:20)

Wait…what? My righteousness must be greater than those Pharisees? How can that make things easier for me? That sounds more than impossible, especially if those guys can’t even keep the Law themselves.

And that’s the point. See, while the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law placed burdens on people that they themselves couldn’t carry, Jesus only expects us to do the things that He has already done demonstrated are possible to accomplish, (i.e. – Loving our enemies, turning the other cheek, forgiving those who persecute us, etc.). And while the Pharisees wouldn’t lift a finger to help people keep the Law of Moses, Jesus promises us that if we will remain in Him, He will empower us to bear good fruit and keep His Law of Love.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

See, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were victims of a grave misunderstanding. They thought, “If we do enough righteous things, we will become righteous.” That’s insane. Jesus pointed this out by saying:

“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." (Luke 6:43-45)

In essence, the idea is this: Trying to produce good fruit will never make you a good tree. But, if you are a good tree you will naturally bear good fruit.

This is the major difference between the Law of Moses and the Law of Christ: Jesus makes us into “Good Trees” that naturally bear good fruit. That’s why it’s so easy to keep His Law of Love. As long as we remain in Christ, who is Love, then we will be filled with His Love and we will bear good fruit that pleases Him.

I’ll end with one more verse, this time from the Apostle John who said:

"And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister." - (1 John 4:21)

"In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome..." (1 John 5:3)

Keep in mind, the commands John refers to here are not the commands of the Old Covenant, but the New Command of Jesus that we love another. This command, unlike the Law of Moses, is “not burdensome” because Jesus is the vine and divine love flows through him like rivers of living water. All that matters is being grafted into that vine of life and endless love. The rest, is easy.

 

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WILL WORK FOR REST

“Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:11)

The author of Hebrews makes reference to another paradoxical Kingdom concept in this passage when he says that we who have received the promise of God and heard the Good News of the Gospel need to work as hard as we can at entering into God’s rest.

At first blush, it seems strange to emphasize the need to work hard, or to “strive” (as some translations render this word), in order to receive God’s promised Sabbath rest. But, from a Kingdom standpoint it really does make sense. Let me try to explain.

This specific verse comes after a series of thoughts that originate in chapter 3 about how the sins of disbelief and disobedience keep us from entering into God’s promised rest. But there are two additional concepts that the author introduces in chapter 4. One is that we need to rest from our own works, (as God rested from His works on the seventh day), and that we should rest in His finished work (which was accomplished by Christ as our Messiah upon the cross). Or, as he says:

“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.” (Hebrews 4:9-1)

So, there are probably about three kinds of rest being discussed here; the rest of God on the seventh day of creation, the rest from our own works to achieve salvation, and the rest that is accomplished by Christ for those who place their trust in Him. Or, if you will, for those who are resting in His finished work upon the cross.

So, why is it that we are encouraged in verse 11 to “make every effort to enter that rest” if the whole point is to rest from our own works and to enter into the Sabbath rest of God?

Perhaps what the writer is trying to tell us is that it’s hard work to remain in this place of resting on God’s finished work. Most of us are very accustomed to doing stuff for God. It’s very difficult for us not to define our Christianity by all the things we do for God, i.e. - “Didn’t we cast out demons in your name?”, etc.

When Jesus went to the home of Martha and started to teach his disciples, Martha’s sister Mary famously stayed in the living room with the men and sat at the feet of Jesus instead of helping out in the kitchen. When Martha eventually complained about this, Jesus responded by saying that Mary had chosen the best and most necessary thing by sitting at his feet and listening.

Now, taking this passage in Hebrews into consideration we can see that Mary was working very hard to remain at the feet of Jesus. Think about how difficult it was to stay there with Jesus when she knew that a woman’s place (especially in that male dominated Jewish culture) was in the kitchen. Imagine how hard it was to ignore the clash of dishes and the exasperated sighs of frustration coming from her sister in the next room? When you reflect on all of these factors, you can see how hard it was for Mary to strive to remain at rest near the feet of Jesus rather than to get up and go to work in the kitchen with her sister Martha.

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)

So, while we need to rest in the finished work of Jesus, we also need to strive to resist the temptation to work for things that are already accomplished for us by Christ.

As if that weren’t hard enough, (or perhaps it’s simple, depending on your perspective), the writer of Hebrews ties all of this together with the concepts of being obedient to Christ and how putting our faith into action is part of what qualifies us to receive this promised rest. At the beginning of chapter 4 he begins by saying:

“For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter that rest…” (v.2-3)

And he concludes in verse 6 that:

“…those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience…”

So, to put it all together, we should obey the Lord Jesus (which sounds like working, I know) in order to enter the Sabbath rest of God which is all about giving up on our efforts and work in order to rest in Christ and His finished work.

Got it? Probably not.

See, I believe this is actually a seemingly paradoxical Kingdom principle, one where we obey Jesus by resting in His indwelling presence, and we enter into His rest by resting in Him. Or, to flip it around, we do not make the mistake of working hard to gain something that Jesus has already given to us.

It’s disobedient for us to continue working for God’s approval or favor when He’s already declared it finished. We don’t keep trying to drive nails into a house that’s finished. We don’t keep trying to paint a masterpiece once it’s hanging in the gallery. That’s foolishness, and it’s technically vandalism.

We need to trust that Jesus really does love us, and that He really does live within us, and that we have already received the promised rest because of what was done before we ever even knew His name.

What’s really hard work for most of us is to hang on to that perspective and not allow anyone to take it away from us. We are already loved. We are already filled with God’s presence. We are already the children of God. We are already resting in the finished work of Christ.

Let’s rest in Him and take upon ourselves that easy yoke and that light burden that is offered to those who trust in Him. Let’s remember that without Him we can do nothing.

-kg