Introduction:
A student might be attending school because mom and dad are forcing the student to go; it is not because that student wants to go to school. Or a student might be attending school so they can hang around with their friends all day. Some students attend school because unfortunately they get more attention at school from the faculty and staff than they do from their parents.
But the right reason a student should be attending school is to learn. A student goes to school because there are things that he or she do not know or there are things he or she cannot yet do and so they go to school to learn those things.
The premise of school is simple. The student does not know, and he or she must learn what they do not know to be successful. There is someone who knows those things that the student lacks and can teach them. In the case of school, the person is called the teacher.
Well, in our passage of Scripture today, Jesus says something interesting to each one of us. Jesus tells us that there are some things that we do not know, and we need to learn them. And Jesus volunteers to be our teacher.
Let's look at our Scripture from Matthew 11:29.
Scripture:
Matthew 11:29 (NKJV) 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Background Information:
Look at that seventh word "learn". It says to each one of us that we have a deficiency that we need to be instructed by Jesus to master it. Where is our deficiency? Gentleness and lowly in heart. I can hear those wheels turning in your brain. Isn't that one of the fruits of the Spirit? And yes, you are right. Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV) 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Ever since I have been a Christian, I have heard preachers say and on one or more occasions, I have even heard Bro Greg say from this pulpit: "Christians make up the only army that kill their wounded." I have heard Christians saying about other Christians that he or she has thrown me under the bus. We have the fruit of the Spirit as Christians, but obviously we don't know how to use that fruit, so Jesus says, "let Me teach you before I go back to the Father."
So, we want to find out today what Jesus wants to teach us about being gentle.
Point #1
Jesus' defined gentleness by the way He lived His life. Time after time, we knew that Jesus had the strength to do whatever He wanted in any given situation, but He chose to offer grace. And that is gentleness. I have the strength to do something, but I allow grace to work.
John 10:30-33 (NKJV) then 3930 I and My Father are one." 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?" 33 The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."
John 10:39 (NKJV) 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.
In this passage of Scripture Jesus is attending the Festival of Dedication also called Hanukkah. The festival brought Him to the Temple and as He is walking in Solomon's Court when several Jews came up to Hiim and said" "if you are the Messiah tell us plainly."
And that is when this interaction we just read from John takes place. Now you and I both know that when these Jews picked up those stones, Jesus had the strength to do something about that situation. If He wanted to, He could have turned those stones into water and that water would fall from their hands harmlessly. Or, He could have destroyed those men right there where they stood. Jesus had the strength to do whatever He wanted.
What Jesus did was escaped out of their hands. He exercised grace in this situation. Now that is gentleness.
If you want to think about another example, let me take you to the cross. Jesus is hanging on the cross and the in Luke 23:36-37 it says:36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, "If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself."
You and I both know that Jesus near death hanging from the cross had the strength to do something about the Roman soldiers mocking Him. We also know that Jesus had the strength to take Himself off the cross. But Jesus did neither. He stayed on that cross and died so that by grace through faith we can be saved.
The cross was an example of gentleness on the part of Jesus. He had the strength to do something about the situation He was in but chose to exercise grace to offer us the gift of eternal life.
Let me ask you about your life today. Do you exercise gentleness? Think about in your home. There are times that you have every right to do something, and you have the strength to do something but instead you exercise grace.
What about at work, especially if you are over people? Employees can drive you crazy. They can do some of the dumbest things at times. And you have the right and the strength to do something about it, but do you exercise grace.
What about at the church house? Someone makes an uncalled-for negative statement about you to other church members. You have the right and the strength to do something about it and you chose to let it slide. That is gentleness!
Point #2
The second thing Jesus teaches us about gentleness is that it can only be learned by staying close to the Lord. Move away from the Lord and you move away from gentleness.
Matthew 11:29 (NKJV) 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me...
When you think about a yoke, you are generally thinking about two animals connected by some instrument so that they can work in tandem as one team. But that is not what Jesus is talking about here. Jesus is not talking about a yoke you put on animals, but one you put on humans. He says it very plainly: take my yoke upon you. So, it is a yoke that connects you to Jesus.
The people in that day would get that picture because the poor people in the land of Israel would bring their goods to sell in the marketplace by putting something very similar looking to an animal's yoke on themselves. The yoke was in very close proximity to the man's neck and from each side hung the goods. Move the yoke away from the man's neck and it did not work as well. The yoke only worked best when connected with the neck.
You are only going to exercise gentleness by being in close proximity to Jesus. Now think about America today. It seems everyone is on edge and short fused. Employees daily encounter customers who are rude; you almost afraid to go to a sport event with a large crowd because fights might break out or even worse gunshots may ring out. So, answer this question: Is American moving away from Jesus? Answer yes. And gentleness is being left behind.
Think about someone you know that has been close to the Lord, but then started drifting away. Not only were they drifting away from the Lord, but you will also notice a change in their personality. They will no longer be other focused but become more me focused on themselves and getting what they want.
Move away from God, and gentleness will depart. and that is always a danger. Paul in Ephesians had to exhort the believers to check their gentleness.
Ephesians 4:1-3 (NKJV) 1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
When you go home this afternoon ask your spouse, how is my gentleness? You teenagers ask your parents, or your sibling how is my gentleness? In doing so, you will also find out about your relationship with Jesus.
Point #3
The third thing Jesus teaches us about gentleness is that even if other people do not appreciate my gentleness toward them, I still win because I find rest for my soul.
Matthew 11:29 (NKJV) 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
I can remember when I was in school taking classes, wondering how is this course going to help me in life? It was hard to get myself psyche up to study the material, if I could not see any need for it other than busywork. And school does have a lot of busywork.
Jesus says let me tell you something exercising gentleness is always the best thing to do. If all it did was show you the connection that you have with Jesus that would have been more than enough. But Jesus never does just a little; He always does abundantly more than we ask. And so, He says you show gentleness, and you will find rest for your soul.
Jesus does not say if the person accepts your gentleness, you will find rest for your soul. If the person rejects your gentleness, you still will find rest for your soul. You win no matter what the other person does.
And I know how much I like physical rest; how much greater is spiritual rest. To be at rest with God and to be at rest with others- priceless.
Conclusion
Who is signing up for class with Jesus today?
