HEARING AND RESPONDING TO MAGNIFICENT MEEKNESS
A GUEST POST BY KRISTI WALSH OF YWAM FURNACE NEW ZEALAND
Matthew 11 is a profoundly deep yet somewhat perplexing chapter of the Bible. In the first several verses, Matthew records a conversation that Jesus has with the disciples of John the Baptist. When Jesus finishes answering their questions, He turns to the crowds and begins speaking to them about John; about who he was and what he was called to do, comparing him to the prophet Elijah of old. He provokes the people to lay hold of the kingdom of God with intentionality, courage, and “spiritual violence,” pushing past any obstacle standing in the way. His words are inspiring, true, and cutting to the heart.
His preaching continues as He then proclaims a short riddle-yea-parable, which, at first glance, appears to be completely obscure and somewhat off the subject of all that He has been talking about thus far.
But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying:
“We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; We mourned to you, and you did not lament.”
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon.” The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” But wisdom is justified by her children.[1]
Why, all of a sudden, does Jesus launch into an exhortation about kids and flutes and dances and mourning? And what does all that have to do with John the Baptist? And Himself?
Jesus is comparing the generation to which he came as being like children who wanted to play “wedding” with their friends, but their friends didn’t want to go along with it and dance and celebrate and be joyful. “We’re not in the mood to be happy,” they might have said. To which their friends would have replied, “Well okay, if you don’t want to play wedding, then let’s be sad and play funeral.” But they didn’t want to do that either. They didn’t want to play happy games, and they didn’t want to play sad games.
Just like those proverbial children, the generation of Jesus’ day didn’t want to acknowledge the joy, freedom, and miracles that He brought. But they also didn’t want to answer John the Baptist’s intense call to repentance. Of course, there were many at that time who did. But to put it simply, Jesus was rebuking the majority of the generation for not responding.
Jesus doesn’t end the conversation there and move on to the rest of the chapter, however. He continues the same train of thought in verse 20:
Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty words had been done, because they did not repent…[2]
The cities didn’t repent. In other words, they didn’t respond. Jesus Himself lived and worked miracles amongst them. He offered freedom to the oppressed and healing to the sick and salvation to the lost. But they didn’t turn their hearts, forsake their evil ways, and choose to follow this Man. Jesus’ rebuke is stern! In the following four verses, He certainly doesn’t hold back from clearly laying out the consequences for their refusal. Jesus’ work amongst them was an invitation that demanded a response, and unfortunately these cities failed to choose rightly.
He concludes His rebuke in verse 24, and then takes time to pray, like many preachers do when they have finished their message. He thanks the Father for revealing these truths even to the ones who may not appear to be the most smart or educated. (In other words, you don’t have to be a Bible scholar to get this. His invitation always includes the weak ones.) He finishes praying, but then suddenly in verse 28, Jesus goes back to addressing the crowd again, speaking some of the most well-known and often-quoted verses from the Gospels:
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. 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. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.[3]
Why is this famous inspirational verse found in the context of Jesus’ exhortation related to John the Baptist, taking the kingdom of God by force, responding to Jesus in both joy and in lament, and the consequences for not acknowledging Him? What does coming to Jesus when we’re tired have to do with all of that?
It has everything to do with that. These words were applicable to the generation alive on the earth at Jesus’ first coming, but He also knew they would be so relevant to the generation on the earth before His second coming. The intensity of the dynamics present on the earth leading up to His return can often result in people feeling exhausted and overwhelmed, perhaps more mentally than physically. Is anyone out there feeling tired going on three years into this Covid pandemic? And the magnitude of the disruption coming to planet earth is only going to increase in the years to come. A lot of times, we want to respond to Jesus with wholeheartedness in what He is saying and doing, but often we just feel so weak, and we then disqualify ourselves from wholehearted pursuit.
Jesus’ “altar call” after His sermon on “responding to Him” couldn’t be more applicable to the generation in which we live: Come to Me. Respond to Me. It doesn’t matter if you’re tired and weary; come to Me and find rest. I will strengthen you to respond to Me when you join yourself to Me and learn from Me.
These verses are reminiscent of the words of the prophet Isaiah in chapter 55 of his book:
Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat…[4]
The same invitation of Matthew 11 is given here, for the thirsty to come, to buy and to eat and to drink of the living water that will always satisfy– even for those who don’t have ‘money’ to afford it. Even for the weak. Even for the tired.
Jesus’ letter to the church of Laodicea in Revelation chapter three carries the exact same theme: you are lukewarm (not responding to Me), so come to Me and buy all that you need to live in wholeheartedness.
Jesus is so kind and so merciful and so good. He remembers that we are dust and He knows that we are weak, yet still He gives so much in exchange for our weakness. All that He requires of us is that we respond to Him and come. A weak “yes” when brought to Jesus still counts as a real “yes” when we lean into Him for strength.
Maranatha.
Kristi Walsh is a worship leader and teacher. She and her husband, Aaron, established the Tauranga House of Prayer in New Zealand in 2006. She continues to serve at YWAM Furnace New Zealand, a missional community centered around prayer and worship, as they train and equip disciples to be sent into the nations. Learn more at ywamfurnace.nz
[1] Ephesians 4:13, Berean Standard
[2] Galatians 3:24
[3] John 17:21
