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[0:00] what is our Lord Jesus really like? Or to put the same question in another way, what is the heart of Jesus really like?

[0:16] I was talking to someone recently, and what was said really kind of struck me. This is what was said. Someone said that they had lived their whole life knowing that Jesus is the Son of God, knowing that Jesus died for them, knowing that Jesus was their Savior, knowing that they were saved, yet they said, it's only now that I can truly see what Jesus is really like.

[0:49] It's only now that I can truly see what Jesus' heart is really like. And then it was said with tears in their eyes, and what a blessing it is, they said, to finally see.

[1:06] And this really, really struck me. And I think that it can be true. I think that it can be entirely possible to know Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

[1:17] It can be entirely possible to know that he died for us, and he rose from the grave for us. I think it's possible to know these things, to rely on these things, and to be totally saved, and yet somehow not truly see his heart for us.

[1:35] And it just strikes me that we don't want to live our Christian lives somehow missing out on what Jesus' heart for us really is.

[1:52] Well, the encouraging thing is, and the great thing is, we don't have to be left guessing in relation to what Jesus' heart is really like, because Jesus himself tells us.

[2:05] Matthew chapter 11, verses 28 to 30. These are the words of Jesus. Jesus said, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

[2:19] 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, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

[2:35] Now, we could look at these verses, and we could look at them in several different ways, but I want to focus this morning on these words in verse 29, for I am gentle and humble in heart.

[2:49] And I have to say, it was in a book that I was reading, kind of about this, that it was pointed out that this is the only time in Scripture where Jesus himself actually describes his own heart to us.

[3:08] This is the only time in all of the Gospels where Jesus himself tells us about his own heart. That's all four Gospels, 89 chapters, 3,770 verses of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

[3:25] Only once does Jesus open up and tell us about his own heart. And this is what he said. He said, I am gentle and humble in heart.

[3:37] Some translations say gentle and lowly in heart. This is who Jesus is from his own lips. This is not his disciples talking about him.

[3:50] This is not somebody else talking about him. This is Jesus' own claim about his own heart. And if we think about it, of all the things that he could have said, other things would be true as well.

[4:05] But he said, I am gentle and humble in heart. This is who Jesus really is. He is gentle and humble. And it just strikes me that if we don't know Jesus as believers, as gentle and humble, as gentle and lowly, we are in danger of missing out in the real blessing of truly seeing who he is and what he is like.

[4:34] And I think that that would be such a pity. So this morning, briefly, we're going to look at these two words. We're going to look at gentle and humble. And it's my prayer that as we look at these two words, that these words will either continue to shape or reshape our view of who Jesus is and what he is like.

[4:58] So first, let's look together at this word gentle. Jesus said, I am gentle in heart. Now this word for gentle can also mean meek or mild.

[5:14] Well, I think in our day, or at least with some of my friends, these words gentle, meek, and mild, they kind of are a bit weak, aren't they?

[5:25] You know, in our aggressive kind of world, I think these words gentle, mild, and meek can often be looked at as being a little bit soft or maybe spineless.

[5:40] But being gentle does not mean that you don't have strength or power or conviction. Rather, gentle points to being in control of your strength and power.

[5:56] And it's very interesting, this is in Greek, well, the Greeks defined gentleness as power under control. And they often actually used the example of a tamed horse as something that was gentle because a tamed horse was power under control.

[6:17] To be gentle is to remain calm and kind in control of your power, especially when things happen to you that might disappoint you or test you or anger you.

[6:37] And I just love the story that I heard of this metal worker, this blacksmith. And this particular gentleman was an extremely strong, powerful man.

[6:52] It was said he had tree, he had, let me get this right, he had arms like tree trunks, he had hands like shovels and his fingers were like vice grips.

[7:04] Maybe a bit like Dave Shannon. But anyway, this one time this blacksmith was working on this metal wind vane and it's, he spent two weeks working on this wind vane.

[7:20] There was a couple hours of work left on it so he decided that he would leave it up on his bench and the next day he would finish it. But he left it up on his bench next to this large smoldering pot that he used to melt down metal.

[7:38] Well later that evening his young boy went in to look for his father and he couldn't find his father but what he found was the wind vane. So the young boy started to play with the wind vane and as he was playing with it he knocked the wind vane into the smoldering pot and it began to melt down into nothing.

[8:02] Well then the little boy with tears in his eyes needed to face the music so he went to tell his father what had happened and as soon as his father heard what had happened the father raised his big powerful hand and he reached forward to wipe the tears off the cheek of his son and he said my boy it is okay I will make another one and the next one I make will be even better than the first.

[8:33] That is gentleness. Gentleness is power under control. Well that is the heart of Jesus. Jesus is always gentle in heart towards us his children and to all who come to him when we as his children when we mess up when we make mistakes our Lord never raises his mighty hand to condemn us to crush us to cast us aside no his heart is always to gently and kindly restore us and lift us up despite our weaknesses and mistakes and we see this right throughout the gospels we see Jesus' gentle heart in action right throughout the gospels to those who came to him to those who he encountered to those who came across his path we could look at every page in the gospels and we could see Jesus' gentle heart in action but just one example when Jesus encountered the woman who was caught in adultery in John chapter 8 you know all of the people were gathered around her and they were picking up stones and they were ready to condemn her they were ready to cast her aside they were ready to crush her to death but not

[10:00] Jesus you know the heart of Jesus could not be more the opposite Jesus knew that she was guilty and obviously he did not approve of her actions but he had compassion on her and what he saw was someone who needed to be restored someone who needed to be lifted up and he gently and kindly restored her and lifted her up he said if anyone here who has not sinned cast the first stone and of course not one stone was was fired at her Jesus saw a person who needed to be restored and lifted up and with gentleness he did just that this is the heart of Jesus as his children he will never cast us aside he will never condemn us he will never crush us instead he will gently hold on to us he will kindly encourage us he will tenderly be there for us and he will securely keep us as his children let us not think that Jesus is is harsh or or cold or condemning let us not think that he's kind of waiting around for us to make a mistake so he can just then come down on top of us saying there you go again look at you you failure that is not the heart of

[11:41] Jesus no the heart of Jesus is this even in our worst moments he delights in us as his children yes there is judgment for those who don't come to him but for those who come to him as his children even in our worst moments he delights in us he might not always like what we're doing but in our worst moments because we are in him because we are in Christ what a life-giving truth it is that he's always gentle kind caring in heart towards all who come to him well to add to this word gentle the other word that Jesus uses to describe his own heart is of course humble or lowly so what does this word tell us about the heart of

[12:49] Jesus well Jesus is God the son in human flesh he is the mighty creator of all things he is sitting at the right hand of his father in glory he could well not want to put up with and deal with messy people like us but such is the humility of Jesus his heart he is totally approachable and accessible for each one of us who come to him despite our weaknesses and mistakes he is the king of kings and he is the lord of lords yet he is the most approachable accessible nearby selfless person in the universe Jesus is gentle and humble in heart and you know at times

[13:51] I think there can be a danger that we maybe can feel like we might be running a little bit spiritually dry you know sometimes it can feel whether it's the time of the year you know there's a lot of sickness at the moment the weather is not not great sometimes we can maybe feel a little bit like we're running on empty or as someone said to me the other day we're kind of limping along we're on limp home mode but I think it's it's truths like this that Jesus is gentle and humble in heart this truth and others like it I think can be like soothing ointment to our soul you know it can be refreshment to our soul it can be like feeding and filling to our soul because I think that the encouragement there is in seeing more and more who Jesus is and what he is really like can be such an encouragement and a blessing to us our Lord

[14:58]  Jesus is not a finger pointer he's not harsh he's not condemning to us his children no he tells us himself that he is gentle and humble in heart and he does not say when you have everything together then I will be gentle and humble in heart no he said I am as in right now I am gentle and humble in heart Jesus is gentle and humble in heart to all who come to him just want to encourage us to to take these two words on board as much as we can and let these two words shape our view of who our savior is of of what his heart is like because I believe that the depths of blessing that there is in really seeing his heart for us is absolutely unmeasured we will never get to the to the bottom of it let's pray together and then we'll sing praises to our lord together lord we thank you for your word we thank you that your word tells us who you are and what you are like and just thank you for these verses here where you yourself tell us that you are gentle and humble in heart and lord i just pray that as we know you as our savior as we know you as the king of kings and the lord of lords help us to also know your heart for us help us know just how much you love us just how much you care for us just how much you delight in us as your children and lord it's our prayer that that many many more people would come to know you as their savior and would come to know you as gentle and lowly in heart so lord help us just to respond now help us to thank you for for who you are as we sing praises to you together in jesus name amen to