Matthew 11-14

Matthew 11:4-6

The blind see, lame walk, lepers are cleansed, deaf hear, dead are raised, wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side*

*cr Isaiah 29:18, Isaiah 42:18,

Matthew 11:28-30

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me-- watch how I do it. Learn the unforced thythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly (the Message)”

I was just speaking with my husband about how I’ve been worn out and struggle with the idea of a “Sabbath” and how to do it. I don’t want to be legalistic and say I must rest from all work at least one day out of every seven, but then I tend to get sick if I don’t rest enough. Immediately after that conversation I sat down to read this. How does He keep doing this to me? Its like he’s speaking directly to me! Yes I’m tired and worn out and to be honest a little burnt out on religion! Jesus is saying to look at him and and watch the way he rests. Then the next paragraph gives an example of he and his disciples on the Sabbath:

Matthew 12:1 “One Sabbath, Jesus was strolling with his disciples through a field of ripe grain. Hungry, the disciples were pulling off the heads of grain and munching on them.” And then I was thinking about how throughout the gospels, Jesus is often getting away with his best friends for rest but he is also often healing on the Sabbath! It seems like he is pretty balanced. I’m not sure I know how to do this perfectly yet but its comforting to know that Matthew 11:28-30 promises that if I come to him he’ll give me rest! Whoo!

*Matthew 13:1 Jesus sits by himself
*Mark 6:31 Jesus gets away with his closest friends
*Luke 13:14, John 5:9 Jesus heals on the Sabbath

Matthew 12:31-32 “If you refect th eSon of Man out of some misunderstanding, the Holy Spirit can forgive you,” Really? Could this mean that Jews that don’t understand Jesus could be forgiven as long as the accept the Holy Spirit?

Matthew 13:1 Jesus left the house and sat on the beach

Matthew 13:53-57 “returned to his hometown, and gave a lecture in the meetinghouse. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. ‘We had no idea he was this good!’ they said. ‘How did he get so wise, get such ability?’ But in the the next breath they were cutting him down: ‘We’ve known him since he was a kid; he’s the carpenter’s son. We know his mother, Mary. We know his brothers James and Joseph, Simon and Judas. All his sisters live here. Who does he think he is?’

Often, when we try to do something great, those the closest to us can be the most discouraging. We can’t let that hinder us from doing what we are called to do.


A couple years ago while living in China, I got to taste “15 minutes of fame” as they say. I was a contestant on their version of American Idol and made it to the top 20 before I decided to drop out. I kid you not, reporters were following me into the toilet stall trying to get an interview. Folks were snapping pics of me with their cell phones. Coming up to me in the mall. It was surreal. I wanted to pull my hair out! In the midst of that situation I read this passage in Matthew 14:13-14

When Jesus heard the news that his cousin John the Baptist had been killed, he tried to slip away by himself. But people saw him and followed him! When he saw them coming, he was overcome with compassion and healed them. Then he fed them! Wow! I couldn’t handle fame at all! Here was Jesus going through one of the most painful things a person could experience and when the crowds wouldn’t leave him alone, he had compassion for them! It really humbled me to contrast it to my own tolerance for people wanting some of my time.

Matthew 14:22-23 After the meal was finished he went up the mountain by himself to pray late into the night. This is a principle I think we all need to remember when we’re faced with crisis. Even Jesus spent large amounts of time in prayer when he was going through the death of his cousin. We need to follow this example.