Matthew 11:25 – 30

25 At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.

26 Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.

27 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Jesus is thankful for the attitude of the regular ordinary people of Israel who are willing to listen to His teachings of the truth Jesus offers to them, He refers to them as “babes” because they are as willing as a child who listens to its parent and trusts the parent to learn from it.

On the other hand, the ones who had the most knowledge of God's law were the ones who ignored Christ's teachings and even plotted to do away with Him and tried to discredit Him whenever possible. They were the ones who were referred to as “wise and prudent.” God did not actually hide the teaching from them but their attitude was one of having superior wisdom, they were scholars while this man Jesus had no formal learning and was the son of a carpenter

Jesus thanked God the Father for the good attitude of the everyday ordinary people and everything He taught them was approved of by His Father.

Everything given to Jesus was given to Him by His Father, The Father approved of Jesus' mission on earth and His teaching. And no one knows it like the Father.

And no one knows the Father and His will and desires like the Son, Jesus. This authority which is passed down from God the Father to God the Son, Jesus will be passed on to the apostles in (Matthew 28:18) but no person can benefit from the intimacy which exist between Father and Son except the person who Jesus reveals it to, and then if the person accepts the Son.

Jesus willingness to share of the aforementioned blessing with others is shown in the rest of the chapter.

To labor means to be distressed with the hardships of life, particularly those brought about by sin.

Jesus will explain what the rest from the result of sin will be like.

The word “yoke” is used as an illustration of the obligation one must accept as a co-worker with Jesus in the service of righteousness.

Jesus says when you accept this yoke from Jesus, you must know about Jesus, He is the one we are teamed with during this obligation, not other members of the church, but being teamed with Jesus. (We are working and teamed with others, but that will be covered in other studies.) Jesus is sharing the yoke with us, so we must know Him like two oxen or horses must know each other in order to work together successfully.

Jesus is a gentle and lowly yoke mate meaning he is humble and cares for the welfare of the unfortunate ones who are on earth.

The rest for the soul does not mean a Christian will be on vacation or involved in recreation, but it means that while a disciple of Christ is busy with the responsibilities of being a servant of Jesus, our inner man will have peace, rest, and contentment in knowing the promise Jesus gives us.

(2 Corinthians 4:16 – 18[16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.])

The yoke is a tool made to fit on the neck of the animal, it has to fit properly, the word “easy” means the yoke which Jesus has for us is made to fit us personally so it will not gall or cause any injury to us, it is made so that whatever burden Jesus has for us to move will be moved with little difficulty. Our yoke will be adapted to our needs and abilities, it is easy to bear.