Exodus 33:14: And He said: “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to Me, all you 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 shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
By the time Jesus began His public ministry, he had not only received the typical training of a Jewish man of the day but most likely spent years studying under one of the most outstanding rabbis in Galilee. He appears on the scene as respected rabbi himself. Lacking the sophisticated methods of mass communication that we have today an itinerant rabbi was the norm and there were probably hundreds or thousands of such rabbis who circulated in the Land of Israel during the first century. They would travel to the smallest villages or remote parts of the country and would hold classes in synagogues, homes, and the town square or under a tree. They were prohibited from charging a fee for their teaching and were usually dependent upon the hospitality of the communities they served. Often the rabbis and his disciples who followed him had skills, such as a baker, leather worker, or sandal maker and they would use these skills in the communities to cover their expenses. We know Paul was a maker of prayer shawls, Jesus was a carpenter etc. Their stay in a community would last from a few days, to weeks or months. The story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10-38-42 offers a good example of this hospitality. Most disciples were unmarried, but if married they had to receive their wives permission to travel with a rabbi if for more than a month. Although rabbis were expected to be married, they would often postpone marriage until the age of 40 so as to not interfere with their field work at the age of 30. The life span of a Jewish man in Jesus day followed this pattern. 3 – 5 Study Hebrew, 5-10 – Study/memorize written Scripture (Torah), 10-15 Study/memorize Mishnah, 15-20 learn a trade. 20- 30 study as a disciple if chosen by a rabbi, At 30 years one was considered at the peak of his strength and if given the title of rabbi he would travel as a teacher. At 40 he settles down and becomes a man of wisdom, At 50 he is able to give counsel.
It took 20 scrolls to make up the Torah and although every household had some portions of Scripture, written material was expensive as all written material had to be hand copied by trained scribes. Few people had access to the entire Torah so learning involved heavy memorization. One requirement to be a rabbi was to have memorized the whole Torah and Mishnah, and much of oral tradition.
All this is to say that one’s life in the Jewish community was work and study with a lot of competition as to who would achieve rabbinical status. For many this was an extreme burden and the pressure to achieve status in the religious community was about as great as the pressure to achieve financial security, an education, career or just the American dream today. As in that day many got weary under this burden, many cracked under the load as they do today. For the most part you just get weary of trying to fulfill all the expectations placed upon you.
That is why Jesus spoke so much about rest. The word in Hebrew is nucha this is identical to the Aramaic word used in Matthew 11:30 which is nacha and means relaxing, peaceful repose, quiet, to be content, to refresh and to cease. Exodus 33:14 tells us that this relaxation does not come from the hand of God but from his pani or face. This is a reference to His presence. It is not God’s purpose that we get stressed out over this life He has given us. He offers His presence free of charge, we do not have to earn it, achieve, memorize so many Scripture passages, and it is there by taking His yoke, which is easy. His presence causes us to nacha to cease from all our labors of trying to achieve goodness, trying to live a righteous life. His presence refreshes us and brings us a sense of contentment in a crazy confusing world.
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