Matthew 11
v.4-6
Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”
That is, happy is he who shall not take offence at my poverty and lowliness of life, so as to reject me and my doctrine. Happy is the one who can, notwithstanding that poverty and obscurity, see the evidence that I am the Messiah, and follow me.
v.12
From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
The “violent” are men of eager, impetuous zeal, who grasp the kingdom of heaven—i.e., its peace, and pardon, and blessedness—with as much eagerness as men would snatch and carry off as their own the spoil of a conquered city. Their new life is, in the prophet’s language, “given them as a prey” (Jeremiah 21:9; Jeremiah 45:5). There is no thought of hostile purpose in the words.
v.19
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” ’ But wisdom is proved right by her actions.
Nothing pleases you. So, said Christ, is this generation of people. “John” came one way, “neither eating nor drinking,” abstaining as a Nazarite, and you were not pleased with him. I, the Son of man, have come in a different manner, “eating and drinking;” not practicing any austerity, but living like other people, and you are equally dissatisfied - nay, you are less pleased. You calumniate him, and abuse me for not doing the very thing which displeased you in John. Nothing pleases you. You are fickle, changeable, inconstant, and abusive.
v.20
Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent.
for he sought not his own glory, but their good: all he did was, in order to bring men to repentance of their sins, and faith in himself, that they might be saved.
v.22
But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgement than for you.
v.28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
As the old mystics used to say, Christ’s burden carries him that carries it. It may add a little weight, but it gives power to soar, and it gives power to progress. It is like the wings of a bird, it is like the sails of a ship.
One must find rest in Jesus himself (v.28) before attempting to obey the law as Jesus expounds it (“Take my yoke upon you,” v. 29). Otherwise law keeping becomes a terrible bondage. Many whom Jesus addresses because are weary and burdened precisely because of their efforts to keep the Law (cf. Acts 15:10). Jesus grants rest to his people by giving them his law (vv. 28-29)! In fact, the subject of the very next passage is that God revealed the fourth commandment to grant rest (the meaning of the word sabbath). Jesus’ yoke is easy (for “his commands are not burdensome” [1 John 5:3]), and his burden is light (v. 30; unlike others, he helps his followers bear the load; see 23:4).
If Jesus is not offering the yoke of the law, neither is he offering freedom from all constraints. The “yoke” is Jesus’ yoke; discipleship must be to him… The marvelous feature of this invitation is that out of the overwhelming authority (v.27) Jesus encourages the burdened to come to him because he is “gentle [GK 4558] and humble [GK 5424] in heart.” Matthew stresses Jesus’ gentleness (18:1-10; 19:13-15). Apparently the theme is connected with the messianic servant language (Isa 42:2-3; 53:1-2) that recurs in 12:15-21. The words “and you will find rest for your souls” (cf. v.28) are directly quoted from Jer 6:16. The entire verse is steeped in OT language; most likely this is a fulfillment passage, where Jesus is saying that the “ancient paths” and “the good way” of Jer 6:16 lie in taking on his yoke, because he is the one to whom OT Scriptures point… There is also irony here: Jesus offers real rest, while his opponents cannot do more than impose misguided standards of Sabbath rest (12:1ff.).