In His Own Words--Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Jesus Gives Rest

God Stills the Storms

God commanded Jonah to go and preach to Nineveh. This was highly displeasing to the prophet because Nineveh was the capitol city of Israel’s fierce enemy, Assyria. Jonah was afraid that Nineveh would repent and thus escape God’s judgment for a time. (That is exactly what happened.)

When Jonah boarded a ship to flee from the presence of the Lord and to escape his prophetic responsibility,

The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up (Jonah 1:4).

The frightened sailors drew lots to see on whose account this fearful storm had come. The lot fell on Jonah, who confessed his rebellion against Yahweh. When he told the sailors to cast him overboard, they initially refused, but finally they yielded.

Then they called on the Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.” So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows (Jonah 1:14-16).

This may be the only occasion in history when tossing a man overboard resulted in several conversions. It’s probably not a good evangelistic strategy for our imitation.

Jonah did not still the storm. Yahweh did, so the men feared Yahweh and offered a sacrifice to Him. Throughout the Old Testament God is the one who raises storms and who stills them.

O Lord God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty Lord? Your faithfulness also surrounds You.  You rule the swelling of the sea; when its waves rise, You still them (Psalm 89:8-9).

Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters; they have seen the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They rose up to the heavens, they went down to the depths; their soul melted away in their misery. They reeled and staggered like a drunken man, and were at their wits' end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distresses. He caused the storm to be still, so that the waves of the sea were hushed (Psalm 107:23-29).

Notice now the parallels between these passages and the account of Jesus stilling a storm on the Sea of Galilee.

On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” (Mark 4:35-41).

As in Psalm 107 and Jonah 1, the storm was so fierce that the boat was in danger of sinking. Like the sailors in Jonah, the disciples feared Him who stilled the storm more than they feared the wind and the waves. The stilling of the storm by Jesus was more than a nature miracle. The narrative parallels Him to the storm-stilling God of the Old Testament. Jesus did not say to the waves and the wind, “The Lord rebuke you,” as an Old Testament prophet might have done. He rebuked the elements on His own authority.

Jesus Gives Rest

In the gospels, Jesus gives rest and peace to troubled souls as well as stilling the troubled sea.

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).

Rest of soul! How desirable and yet how difficult to obtain! Apart from Jesus we can find nothing better than a superficial rest, a rest that ignores the underlying restlessness of sin.

But the wicked are like the tossing sea, for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up refuse and mud. There is no peace," says my God, “for the wicked” (Isaiah 57:20-21).

What is the source of true rest and peace? In the Old Testament it is clearly Yahweh.

“I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and to his mourners, creating the praise of the lips. Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near,” Says the Lord, "and I will heal him” (Isaiah 57:18-19).

And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest" (Exodus 33:14).

Thus says the Lord, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it’” (Jeremiah 6:16).

When Jesus used the phrase, “you will find rest for your souls,” He was clearly quoting from Jeremiah, and He was claiming that He could give the rest that Yahweh had promised. His promises of peace are no less striking.

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful (John 14:27).

These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world (Jn. 16:33).

The peace Jesus gives is His personal peace, and we find it only in union with Him. It is assured because He is victor over all the unsettling forces of the world that attack our souls.  The phrase “My peace” is significant because peace is not a commodity that Jesus may give us without giving us Himself. True peace is only in Him.

God accused the false prophets of Jeremiah’s day, saying, “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14). The Lord, however, offers something much better: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you (Isaiah 26:3, ESV). “Perfect peace” is literally, shalōm, shalōm. The word for peace is repeated, which is the Hebrew equivalent of underlining, italicizing, and capitalizing a word.

How to Have Peace and Rest

How then can we have the true peace and rest that Jesus offers? Let’s return to Matthew 11:28-30.

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).

The way to have Christ’s rest is to take His yoke in place of the heavy, wearying burden you are bearing. Picture in your mind two oxen yoked together with a heavy, wooden bar over their necks. They are attached to a wagon overloaded with immense boulders. The wheels of the wagon are stuck axle-deep in mire while the driver is lacerating the backs of the oxen with a whip tipped with bits of steel. The poor beasts are straining with all their might, but they cannot budge the wagon. That is the plight of suffering men and women laden with their sins and the cares of life, beaten down by the world and the devil.

Now look off to the other side of the road. Another wagon headed the opposite way stands ready with an empty yoke. The driver, Jesus, says, “Come pull My load. It is easy and light.” The load looks heavier, if possible than the one the oxen are already attempting to pull. The first large lump on Jesus’ wagon is labeled “repentance.” The second is labeled “trust.” The third is labeled “obedience to God’s will.” “Come,” says Jesus, “I will not whip you. I will not score your back lacerations.”

One of the poor, beaten beasts bows its head and moans out its acceptance of Jesus as its new master. The Lord takes the blows of the tyrant on His own back as He releases the ox and puts it under His own yoke. As he fastens the lines, He passes His hands across the bleeding back of the animal. The ox lifts its head and lows in gratitude because the sting of the lash has been eased and its wounds have begun to heal.

Finally, the most amazing thing happens. The Lord Jesus takes on the form of a powerful ox, fits Himself under the other side of the yoke and begins to pull. The great weight of the wagon falls on His shoulders and his new yoke-mate pulls with easy pleasure beside his new master.

When Jesus releases us from slavery to the world, the flesh and the devil, He doesn’t set us loose to wander where we will. He brings us under His yoke. The way to find the rest and peace in Jesus is not to thrash around in the yoke trying to escape it, but rather to submit to it, to lean into it, and to experience the relief that comes when Jesus begins to pull.