Woe on Unrepentant Cities - Matthew 11:20-24
Because Jesus is God's herald and agent of the kingdom of heaven and because he performed many clear signs, Jesus said that anyone who did not repent (Matt. 3:2; 4:17) was worse than the Gentile cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom (cf. Matt. 10:15). See
WCF 3.2;
WLC 151;
BC 37;
CD 1.IX.
Lord of heaven and earth – Matthew 11:25
Father,
Lord of
heaven and
earth. Jesus affirmed that his Father is the true God and Lord of all creation.
Concealed from the wise – Matthew 11:25
You
concealed these things from the
wise and
understanding. Religious position or education does not put anyone in greater standing with God. Apart from God revealing himself to people, no one can understand him (1 Cor. 2:1-16). See
BC 27.
All things have been – Matthew 11:27
All things have been
entrusted to me. Jesus is the unique Son of God in whom all the fullness of God dwells (Matt. 3:17; 17:5) and who alone has God's full authority on earth (Matt. 7:24,29; 8:27; 9:6; 11:27; 26:64; 28:18).
Take my yoke – Matthew 11:29
take my
yoke on you and
learn from
me. The image comes from the practice of putting a yoke on an ox to guide him, thus it is an image of submission to someone else. The rabbis taught disciples to take the yoke of the kingdom on themselves. Jesus showed that to do this means that people submit to him as the Son of God who brings about the kingdom. The Christian life is a life of humble submission to follow and learn from Jesus as the Lord.
My burden is light – Matthew 11:30
My
yoke is
easy and my
burden is
light. Unlike the Pharisees and rabbis of Jesus' day who burdened people with external commands in the name of religious piety (Matt. 23:1-28), Jesus offers people true life through following him.
The Turning Point in Opposition to Jesus - Matthew 12:1-14
Opposition to Jesus has been building in the story. With these two accounts of conflict with the Pharisees regarding the Sabbath, this conflict reached the point where Jesus' enemies decided they must kill him to stop his ministry (Matt. 12:14). After this decision all of their interactions with Jesus were attempts to trap and discredit him.
Sabbath – Matthew 12:1
The Sabbath was the seventh day of each week (Saturday) according to the Jewish calendar, based on God's creation of the world (Gen. 2:1-3). In the Mosaic covenant God required his people to not work on the Sabbath because God himself rested (Exod. 20:8-11). Over time the Jewish people developed an elaborate set of rules to make sure that they did not accidentally do any kind of work on the Sabbath.
Jerusalem, Bethpage, Mount of Olives – Matthew 21:1
Jerusalem …
Bethpage …
Mount of
Olives. Each of these locations are very important for Jesus' story. Jerusalem is the City of David, the royal and religious capitol of the Jewish people. Bethpage means "house of unripe figs" and stands as a symbol for God's judgment on the Jewish leadership for their failure to produce righteous fruit (see Matt. 3:8-10; 21:18-20). The Mount of Olives is mentioned several times in the Old Testament, including connections with King David (2 Sam. 15:30) as well as the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 14:4). It is also an important place in the last week of Jesus' life — the place where he taught the "Olivet Discourse" (Matt 24–25), where he wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44), and where the Garden of Gethsemane was located at the base (Matt. 26:30, 36). The Book of Acts records that Jesus ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:9-12).
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