Matthew 11:25-30

THE REVELATION OF THE GOSPEL

‘At that time Jesus answered and said … My burden is light.’

Matthew 11:25

Let us look at this remarkable passage sentence by sentence.

I. To whom the Gospel was revealed.—First, the Lord gave open thanks to His Father because of the class of persons to whom the Gospel was revealed. They had something which no book-learning could give. They believed in Jesus as their Lord and Master, and trusted Him implicitly.

II. A further truth.—Secondly, the Lord announces a further and perhaps a grander truth. The dignity of His position, and the glory of his office, are set forth in the words that follow—

(a) ‘All things are committed unto Me by My Father.’ What a far-reaching utterance! The Being Who had just been addressed as ‘the Lord (or possessor) of heaven and earth’—words which take us back to the days of Melchizedek—commits all things to the Son.

(b) But the Lord proceeds, ‘No one fully knoweth the Son but the Father.’ All full clear knowledge of the Lord Jesus is a matter of revelation from the Spirit of God to the spirit of man.

(c) ‘Neither doth any one fully know the Father, except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooseth to reveal Him.’ The light of Christ in the soul opens the eye to the glory of God, to His wonderful love, and to His eternal purposes. How little we should know of Him were it not for the manifestation of Himself in His only-begotten Son.

III. The comfortable words.—Did any one imagine from the strong words just uttered that ordinary human beings were debarred from coming into contact with this wonderful Being who was the Delegate of the Most High? Then, let them listen a little longer. The Lord speaks again, and he speaks for all time. ‘Come unto Me.’

The class of person specially aimed at in this invitation is thus described—‘All that toil, and all that are burdened.’ The voice of Jesus still rings out calm and clear, tender and strong. These words need very little exposition; what they really need is to be listened to and acted upon.

—Canon R. B. Girdlestone.