Note: The following devotional is an excerpt from a sermon I preached on Matthew 11:28–30. You can watch or listen to that sermon here.
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In his wonderful book Gentle and Lowly, Dane Ortlund points out that Matthew 11:29 is the only place in the four Gospel accounts (89 chapters and over 3,700 verses) where Jesus pulls back the curtain and tells us what his heart is like.
And of all the things Jesus could’ve told us about his heart—of all the things he could’ve emphasized to his people—he picked two words: gentle and lowly.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. (Matthew 11:28–29)
Jesus is Gentle
Jesus is gentle, meaning not harsh. Not demanding. Not flying off the handle. Not quick to assume the worst in you. Not quick to snap at you. Not constantly disappointed in you. He doesn’t have wrinkles permanently etched into his forehead from frowning at you so much.
Think about the most compassion and gentleness you have ever felt—perhaps toward a 3-year-old who falls down or a loved one suffering—and that’s just a drop in the ocean of Christ’s gentleness and compassion toward you.
As Puritan Richard Sibbes put it, “Shall we think there is more mercy in the stream than there is in the spring?”
In other words, whatever mercy and gentleness you have in you is just a small trickle from the infinite spring of Christ’s heart.
Jesus is more gentle and tender toward you than you are toward yourself.
He is more merciful toward you than you are toward the people you love the most.
Aren’t you so thankful that we have a gentle Savior in our struggles with sin and suffering?
But Jesus adds one more description of his heart: lowly.
Jesus is Lowly
When Jesus describes himself as lowly, he is highlighting his supreme approachability. Like a father getting down on his hands and knees to be at eye level with his child, Jesus lowers himself to the lowest depths to be with his people. Ortlund explains:
The point in saying that Jesus is lowly is that he is accessible. For all his resplendent glory and dazzling holiness, his supreme uniqueness and otherness, no one in human history has ever been more approachable than Jesus Christ.
Jesus is not like a stern interviewer standing with a clipboard and a red pen, waiting to see how much you sin before deciding whether to embrace you.
Jesus is not turned away by your neediness, as we are so often tempted to turn away when approached by a needy person.
Rather, as Samuel Rutherford put it, “Christ is kindest in His love, when we are at our weakest.”
Jesus is not so high up that you must climb to him.
Jesus is so lowly that all you must do to get into his presence is collapse.
Even today, Jesus is inviting you to collapse into his presence.
Even if you are at rock bottom, you can rest knowing that your lowly Savior is there with you—and he wants to give you rest.
Will you come to Jesus afresh today?
Watch or listen to the rest of this sermon here.
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Blake Glosson (MDiv, Reformed Theological Seminary) is an assistant campus pastor at Chapelstreet Church in Geneva, Illinois. He has been published and/or republished or referred by:
- The Gospel Coalition
- Life Bible
- Crosswalk
- Eternal Perspective Ministries (Randy Alcorn)
- Challies.com/Tim Challies (here, here and here)
- Ann Voskamp
- DashHouse (Darryl Dash)
- Moody Radio (here, here, and here)
- The JOY FM (here and here)
- ChurchLeaders.com
- Monergism.com
- The Aquila Report (here, here, here, and here)
Previously, Blake served as the director of young adults at New Covenant Bible Church in St. Charles, Illinois.
Watch or listen to more of Blake’s sermons here.
Watch or listen to “How to Delight in Discipleship” here.
Read, watch, or listen to “What Jesus Does with Your Tears” here.
Read “Why Does God Say No to Good Things?” here.