At the beginning of these studies I wrote that there is a fatal flaw in the professing church today, a lack of true discipleship. Discipleship is talked about, of course. There are scores of books about it, particularly about what is called "discipling" other people. Words are not the problem. It is the lack of the thing itself. But what are we to say about this next theme of the need for self-denial, expressed as taking up the cross? In this area it is not only the thing that is lacking; it is an area about which we do not even speak.
When we think of being harnessed together with others in Christ’s school it is possible to be discouraged, especially if we reflect that the work is hard and the course of instruction is unending. It is like entering upon a work study program in which there are no holidays and no summer vacations. Perhaps the Lord sensed this as He spoke, for He appended three powerful inducements to His call.
We must be careful to explain what we mean when we speak of knowing God in a saving way, however. For this is no mere intellectual knowledge of God, any more than saving faith is mere intellectual assent to certain truths. Knowing God is a complex matter. England’s J. I. Packer says, “Knowing God involves, first, listening to God’s word and receiving it as the Holy Spirit interprets it, in application to oneself; second, noting God’s nature and character, as his word and works reveal it; third, accepting his invitations, and doing what he commands; fourth, recognizing, and rejoicing in, the love that he has shown in thus approaching one and drawing one into this divine fellowship.”2
But notice: it is for those who know themselves to be burdened. This does not refer to mere physical weakness or to what we would call the burdens of a hard life, though it may include them. Chiefly it refers to a sense of sin’s burden and the need of a Savior. The context of Matthew 11 makes this clear, for the earlier part of the chapter contains an account of the rejection of John the Baptist and Jesus by the Jewish masses, followed by a denunciation of Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum for their failure to repent at Jesus’ preaching.
