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.
