Summary Highlights:
Chapter 11 gives a beautiful message to Israel, which is sort of a pleading from Yeshua for the children of the Most High to follow him. He tells us why and how we should follow him. He explains that we must become one with him, learn from him, and carry the load with him. He infers that when we do things together with him, our burdens become light and our walk becomes useful and good.
Recommended Resources:
- Matthew 11 Study Guideon PDF (Complete Digital Printable Lesson)
- Blue Letter Bible Phone App or Blue Letter Bible online
- Bible Hub Interlinear
- King James Version Print Bible
Instructions: Read Matthew Chapter 11 in the King James Version to avoid confusion, since this is the version used for these lessons.
Video Lesson: This is a video originally created for a private bible study group. It summarizes the information below. It is recommended that you also read through the entire lesson so that you do not miss anything.
Instructions: See Matthew 11 Study Guide for complete lesson content.
Final Thoughts:
We have been taught many follies in Christianity and American culture. However, when we get to a certain level of spiritual growth we come to accept this fact and repent – correcting our course.
This chapter enlightens us about what we must do to be saved. If we take nothing else from this chapter, we must accept that, to be saved we must first connect ourselves to Yeshua, than learn from him.
He is pleading with us to show us that we belong to the Father and we do not have to go through this life and carry out our God-given purpose alone. He assures us that if we listen to him, we will be much better off.
It is in our fallen nature to want to learn things the hard way. Our parents told us that boy or girl wasn’t good for us, but we had to see for ourselves. They told us, “Lying will get you in a heap of trouble”, but we lied anyway than wondered with brokenness why bad things always happen to us.
Yeshua is telling us that we must obey God’s law. He is demonstrating that what God set before us 1000’s of years ago still stands, if we obey him, we will be blessed and if we disobey him we will face trouble.
God is our Father, and he is telling us how to avoid strife and live in His presence, peace, favor, and blessings. The first five books of the bible tells us exactly what to do to remain under the protection of our Father and Yeshua teaches us this in Matthew as well.
As we continue our spiritual journey, we learn to elevate to the place where God wants us to be. Wherever you are in your journey, chapter 11 is a good reminder that we must become one with Yeshua, learn from him, and never become self-righteous or righteous according to our own wisdom. Most importantly, we must be yoked to him, taking every step as he takes it, going every place that he goes, being everything that he is.
The keys to the kingdom of heaven, is obedience to God’s law. His law is not one sided. Like the law of gravity, what goes up must come down. God receives glory through your obedience to Him and gives to you His glory in the form of increase, which in turn gives Him greater glory. He gives you even greater glory than the last glory you sent up to Him and, again, He sends down even more… it goes on and on and on. This is the kingdom of heaven – to glorify him with your obedience that He may increase you and receive increased glory.
What is glory? Glory is increase; specifically the Hebrew word for glory actually means heavy, abundance, wealth, honor, importance, or respect. You increase God’s presence on earth by living a right life as He instructs us to and in return, He increases us that we may increase His kingdom all the more. Several parables that we will learn in Matthew will confirm this.
See, God’s law, as we have been taught it, is just a bunch of rules that we must obey or go to hell. But, as you can see there is so much more to it than that. We must obey Him in order to become a prosperous people and show the world that being right in the eyes of the Father brings increase and the ways of the unrighteous are a lie and a deception by the devil. This is the light we have been charged to be to the world.
Besides, is a father who does not teach his children to be protected and separate from those who seek to kill them, a good father?
It is time we see the bigger picture and destroy the devil’s lies, by being what God created us to be – both righteous and prosperous. He is our creator, provider, our redeemer, our savior, and the lover of our souls.
No one else can ever love us the way he does, so why don’t we trust him with that which he has given us? If a man generously gives you $100, would you than be afraid to allow him to keep it for you? Why haven’t we put our lives back into His hands?
Who is deceiving us to believe that they can do a better job at fathering God’s children than He can? Did your money create you and set you apart as a chosen person? Did your family bring you into this world to serve a divine purpose? Maybe your job delivered your ancestors out of Egypt 5000 years ago and will deliver you out of bondage again now?
When you heart is broken and you feel the world has abandoned you, will you turn to the world for comfort?
When one whom you love is laying on their deathbed and the doctors have given up, in whom will you trust to deliver them or to give you comfort as you mourn? Will it be your boss, your family, the doctor, your money, your friends, Facebook or Instagram, television, your education? Who else can give you comfort in your hour of fear or grief?
So, why then do we turn to all these things first and to our Father last or not at all? Why don’t we just obey Him and avoid all the terrible things this world has to offer?
He loves you and wants to redeem you from your blindness and from your dependency on this world. Let Him, by being obedient to His Word and will!
~Rev. D
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