The Prayer Life of Jesus: Submission (Matt. 11:25-30)

The Prayer Life of Jesus: Submission
Matthew 11:25-30

INTRODUCTION:
In order to submit, we have to make a conscious effort to lower our expectations or interests to the expectations or interests of someone else. You cannot make someone else submit. You can force someone to do what you want them to do, but that’s not submission.

Submission begins in the heart. We will not submit until our hearts are humbled toward the other person.

In our monthly study this year on the “Prayer Life of Jesus,” I am going to be talking about submission in our marriage. We will begin by looking at a prayer of Jesus which is actually recorded. This is the first prayer of Jesus we have looked at this year where the words are given to us. And I want to emphasize how important it is for us to pray for submission.

Wives are to submit to their husbands; we know that. In surveys of Christian women, the majority of wives say that they want to submit to their husbands. Often times, a wife is afraid to submit to her husband because:

1) The husband too frequently uses “submission” as a weapon of manipulation.
2) The husband himself is not submissive to Jesus Christ.

To look at those two points backwards, when a husband is submissive to Jesus Christ, he knows what submission looks like. When he loves his wife as Christ loves the church, it compels her to submit to him because she knows that he has her best interests at heart.

Let’s take a look at a prayer from Jesus, Matthew 11:25-30, and make some practical applications for ourselves…

THE BACKGROUND:
The chapter begins with John imprisoned and sending to Jesus to ask if He is, in fact, the Messiah or if John should keep looking (11:2-6). Jesus turned to His audience after answering John’s disciples, and He tells them that John is Elijah who was promised to come by the prophet Malachi (11:14; see Malachi 4:5). He rebukes His audience for being fickle when it comes to both John and to Jesus (11:16-19), but eventually the audience will see that both John and Jesus were telling the truth: “wisdom is vindicated by her deeds” (11:19).

Following that, Jesus rebukes Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum because He did miracles there, but they largely refused to believe and to repent of their sins (11:20-24).

That brings us to our prayer by Jesus, which includes thoughts directed at His disciples. Let’s take a look at the prayer:

GOD REVEALS HIS WILL TO “INFANTS” - 11:25-26:
The opening phrase “in that time,” suggests this instruction came around the timeframe of the chapter’s events, but it is not necessarily chronological. Yet at this time, Jesus praised the Father, thanking Him for His discretion in revealing heavenly truths to those who were “babies” in their humility. Those who are wise and intelligent by the world’s standards do not easily submit their intellect to the will of God. The humble - the “infants” - are those who will seek God and the will of the Son. This was the good will of the Father, to build the church on the simple trust of the humble in heart.

Dennis Prager is a conservative who has a podcast; he has also written commentaries on the books of Genesis and Exodus. He is a conservative Jew. He was in a debate with Alan Dershowitz, a liberal Jew who taught Constitutional law at Harvard. In his commentary on Exodus, Prager stated that if Dershowitz was reading the Bible and came across something that he did not understand, he would assume that he was right and the Bible was wrong. Prager said that when he comes across something in the Bible he didn’t understand, he would assume the Bible was right and he was wrong.

We all probably think that Prager has the proper approach to the Scriptures. Submission to the teachings from the mouth of God.

NO ONE KNOWS THE FATHER - 11:27:
Verse 27 is a very strong affirmation of the intimate relationship between the Son and the Father. The idea that only Jesus knows and can reveal the nature of the Father shows a relationship that has not been seen in biblical times since the creation of humanity. Just as John 14:6 rules out as intellectually and spiritually unsatisfactory all non-Christian religions, such as Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, so this verse does the same for Matthew’s gospel. No one knows the true nature of the Father except the Son and only He can reveal the Father. In the same way, if anyone desires to know the Son, to have a relationship with the Son, he can only do so by obeying the will of the Father.

WE KNOW THE FATHER THROUGH HIS YOKE - 11:28-30:
A “yoke” was a metaphor for a burden to be carried: Deut. 28:48; Jer. 27; Lam. 1:14. The term is a designation for the Law of Moses in the NT and, in fact, Jews tended to use the word for the Law of Moses: Acts 15:10; Gal. 5:1.

Speaking of the will of the Father, Jesus calls on any with humility to come to Him and learn His teaching. Those laboring to be saved under the teachings of men and those who have been burdened by the traditions and doctrines of men need to come to Christ to receive rest. The expression “weary” is a present-tense participle while “heavy-laden” is a perfect-tense participle suggesting someone who has picked up a burden in the past and can not put it down. They are still “heavy-laden.”

The “yoke” is reflected in the NT teaching that Christians are slaves of Christ: Rom. 1:1; Gal. 1:10. Paul will say in 2 Cor. 4:16-17 that the burden we carry in this life does not compare with the weight of glory that waits.

Jesus says they need to throw off the yoke of man’s teachings and carry the burden of the doctrine from Christ and about Christ. When they do that, they will find rest from their sins and eternal rest in heaven. The idea of Christ’s yoke reflects accepting responsibility to listen to and to obey His teachings. The yoke of Christ is not hard to bear; it is not difficult to fulfill (1 John 5:3).

Paul will teach that the Holy Spirit, who knows the Father, can and does reveal Him through the teachings of the apostles (1 Cor. 2:6-14). Why do we need to submit to what the NT teaches? Because it is Christ’s yoke, which is given to us to lead us to Christ, who reveals the Father to us and how to get to the Father.

RETURNING TO INTER-PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS:
Before a wife submits to her husband, she basically has to ask herself, “if I submit, will I be walked over?” The answer to that question will depend on a man’s response to Jesus’ teachings here. Does the husband submit to Jesus Christ?

If a wife does not believe her husband’s heart is submissive to Christ, then she might have a hard time submitting to him because she doesn’t feel she can trust him. And, of course, if he refuses to consider her thoughts, feelings, and insights on a subject, then he is not reflecting the humility that Christ requires of us. Certainly, also, if trust has been violated in the past, perhaps in a prior relationship, then it can also be challenging to submit.

If a husband demands submission from his wife - which is not true submission but conformity - it quickly becomes intimidating and oppressive. This creates resentment in the wife. Neither of these responses are healthy for a marriage. If a husband is more interested in his wife’s submission to him than he is in his own submission to Jesus Christ, then we’ve got a problem. Submission then hurts and destroys a marriage rather than strengthening it and making it endure.

WHAT TO PRAY FOR:
Pray that you will seek the guidance of God and be submissive to His teachings.
Pray you will understand what submission really is.
Pray you will submit to your wife’s needs in an appropriate way.
Pray that your wife will submit to you as she needs.
Pray you will trust God as He works in you.
Pray you (husbands) will accept your position as spiritual leader.
Pray your wife will trust you to be the head of the family.
Pray that submission will not be a point of contention in your marriage.

LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF THE LORD:
Ephesians 5:22-27 - “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”

Matthew 10:39 - “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”

Romans 12:16 - “Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.”

Take home message: Pray for your own submission and for the submission of your spouse in their proper, respective sphere.