25. At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
26. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
27. “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
29. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Look to Jesus. He is telling us that he is easy & light, that you can rest from your striving, that even brand new babes in Christ can easily understand him. It's not rocket science. Jesus is practical. He is shouldering our burden, like a father leading children along.
The latter is worse than the first just means that if you fall back into your old ways, life can get more difficult than before. No duh! That's a no-brainer. A secular counselor can tell you that.
I used to drink before I got saved. When I came to Christ, I willingly put that down. But when a serious trial came into my life, I grew weak and turned back to drinking... after I was saved. And it was impossible for me to extricate myself! I could not willingly put it down.
So the latter was worse than the first. Jesus not only did not leave or forsake me, he showed me I had no power of myself to stop. What happened after that, I can't explain. One moment I realized I was 100% powerless, the next I just stopped even thinking about drinking. My belief was changed. It was miracle. It was God's grace. In the midst of my weakness, Jesus shined. I didn't need to get victory over sin, I only needed to see the Victor. Jesus himself proved to me that it isn't about me obeying, but believing he can make me obey. Now I believe his grace is sufficient. Nobody can ever tell me otherwise.
So many religious people with their preaching of "take heeds" and "he shall die’s" make it sound like it’s coming from a God of wrath and anger. Just like the lost son in Luke 15 thought of his father. “Maybe he’ll have mercy and take me as a servant if I crawl back to him in repentance.”
Is that the father Jesus portrayed? Nope. The father restored the son’s faith in him with love and mercy. He showed the son that he never stopped believing he’d come to his senses and return. God’s love never fails.
And isn't' it interesting that even though the son was living in the flesh for a time, Jesus still referred to him as a son? The young man never stopped being a son. He was lost, dead (walking in the flesh, living carnally, like me when I was an alcoholic), but he was still the father's son. He never got forsaken. The father never rebuked, threatened or abandoned him to his spiritual unbelief. And when the son crawled back crying that he repented of his sin, Jesus said, "BUT...." ("but" is a conjunction that indicates the next clause will contradict the previous one.). The father didn't validate any sinfulness in his son. He said, "Put a royal robe on him & let's celebrate! My son was walking like a dead man but I am restoring him!" He was dead (believed he was a shameful sinner) and then was alive (a holy son).
When Jesus says, “Woe unto you…”, do you know what woe means? It is an exclamation of grief. Jesus grieves when we don’t believe him. His heart hurts when we don’t trust him. When we keep trying to make ourselves good enough.
And by the way, the candlestick that is removed is a church. Any church that preaches anything contrary to what Jesus said will be ineffective and dead, because they are hindering people from seeing Christ. They keep telling people to look at themselves. To make themselves obedient servants. Most churches today are telling people to do for themselves, to be like holy specimens in a religious museum. They’re filled with pride and self-sufficiency and self-righteousness. They are modern day pharisees. They are putting heavy burdens on weak & hurting people while they pride themselves about their own obedience. They are not humble and they won’t give God glory. That is a dead church, a candlestick removed. No light of God for the world to see.
Anyone who makes God out to be an angry father threatening to take his love and grace away does not really know God. For love is of God and everyone who loves like God is born of him and knows him. Love never fails. Love heals and changes people into the image of Christ. Following strict laws out of fear does not change a man’s heart. And everyone who knows Christ Jesus intimately and who has had their heart changed and their mind renewed will testify that it is Christ alone who makes a man free.