The I Am Teachings Of Jesus
Or
Learning From Jesus – Lesson 1
Scripture To Consider:
“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. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 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.’”
“Come to Me, all you 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. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11.25-30
Something To Consider:
When considering the I am teachings of Jesus, the list usually contains the seven [7] I am sayings of Jesus from the gospel of John. And yet this I am teaching is actually found in Matthew’s gospel.
Matthew begins chapter 11 with Jesus making an end of commanding His disciples and then departing from one place to another, where He began to preach and to teach in the surrounding cities. John the Baptist, having been placed into prison by Herod, sent some of His disciples to Jesus to ask Him if He was the One to come, or should they look for another.
Then Jesus proceeded in verses 5-6 of Matthew chapter 11, to remind John through his disciples, saying; “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he [or she] who shall not be offended in Me [or because of Me].”
And as the disciples of John departed, most probably extremely satisfied with Jesus’ answer and recap of miracles thus far in chapters 1-10 of Matthew’s gospel; Jesus began speaking very highly of John the Baptist who would soon be beheaded for his enduring to the end steadfast faith in God!
John was willing to take the yoke of Jesus upon himself, and thereby learned from Jesus what it truly meant to be a child of God, and to be gentle and lowly in heart, even in a palace prison awaiting his execution. And yes, John finally found rest for his soul through his cruel earthly death while enduring to the end.
What about us? Have we faced enduring to the end circumstances in our own lives? If we remain alive to the end of this age, for sure we will face very difficult and perilous times. Are we prepared spiritually and physically to endure to the end as did John the Baptist? And if so, do not be deceived by the false teachings of the many false prophets of the Your OK, I’m OK, we’re all OK feel good disinformation campaign created by the enemy of our souls and promoted by undiscerning wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Something Else To Consider:
Therefore, our first I am teaching of Jesus is located in the first gospel of Matthew in verse 29 of Matthew chapter 11, as revealed in our Scripture to consider. “Take My yoke [a symbol of surrender and service] upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Jesus is speaking to a group of people and uses the plural term souls. And yet, Jesus is also as pictured in Revelation 3.20, standing at the individual door of every heart, seeking entrance for personal and individual fellowship. Have we heard Jesus gently knocking upon the door of our own heart recently? What has been our response?
Have we willingly taken His yoke upon us in our surrendering to His will and serving His agenda rather than our own or worse, someone else’s evil agenda? Jesus also proclaimed, “For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
How many of us know by experience of the heavy task master style burden of the world and of Satan? How many of us are able to understand the bondage of a heavy burden of sin, shame, and guilt that accompanies all lives without Christ and without the earthly and eternal blessings of God’s Word?
Something More To Consider:
Maybe that is why Jesus began His I am teaching here in Matthew chapter 11 with these words; “Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy ladened [or heavy burdened], and I will give you rest.” The world is seeking rest and yet, it is looking in all the wrong places!
Have we come to a place in our lives where we desire to learn the many good news biblical lessons of a lifetime from Jesus? Have we come to a place of needing deliverance from a most difficult earthly burdensome yoke of bondage to sin or earthly weights that so easily ensnare us?
If so, Jesus declared with all the compassion of His willingness to endure an old rugged cross, “Come unto Me”. He also instructs everyone heavy burdened by life’s inequality, and the earth’s evil sense of humor, by proclaiming, “Take My yoke upon you”. And finally, “Learn from Me”.
In other words, we can trust Jesus when in His closing remarks, He promised; “For My yoke is easy [unlike the world’s yoke of bondage], and My burden is light”. Are we truly following Jesus? If so, is our burden light or is it heavy? Is the yoke we employ difficult or is it easy as Jesus promised His yoke would be?
A Few Final Words:
Learning from Jesus for some 43 years now, has greatly lessened the burdens of this earthly life for me, and I give God all the credit. Learning from Jesus over the decades has certainly been an earthly blessing by my firsthand realizing the yoke of God’s perfect will is easy beyond compare!
Next week we will venture into the gospel of John to continue our discovery of seven more I am teachings of Jesus. For now, what have we learned from this I am teaching of Jesus? What will we take away from this learning from Jesus’ lesson #1?
Let’s Pray:
Our Father in heaven, give us a great desire to seek first the kingdom of God and Christ’s righteousness, while seeking all we can learn from Jesus’ I am teachings. Therefore, Lord, create in each of us a willingness to open the door to our hearts when Jesus graciously and gently knocks. In Him Always, Amen!
According to Jesus 