Call to Discipleship - (Matthew 11:25-30 NASB)
(Matthew 11:25-30 NASB)
Come to Me
25 ?a?At that ?1?time Jesus said, "I praise You, ?b?Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, that ?c?You have hidden these things from the wise
and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.
26 "Yes, ?a?Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.
27 "?a?All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no
one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father
?b?except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
28 "?a?Come to Me, all ?1?who are weary and heavy-laden, and I
will give you rest.
29 "Take My yoke upon you and ?a?learn from Me, for I am gentle
and humble in heart, and ?b?you will find rest for your souls.
30 "For ?a?My yoke is ?1?easy and My burden is light."
[1]
The Savior's Reaction to Rejection (11:25-30)
11:25, 26 The three cities of Galilee had neither eyes to see nor heart to love
the Christ of God. He knew their attitude was but a foretaste of rejection on
a wider scale. How did He react to their impenitance? Not with bitterness,
cynicism, or vindictiveness. Rather He lifted His voice in thanks to God that
nothing could frustrate His sovereign purposes. "I thank You, Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise
and prudent and have revealed them to babes."
We should avoid two possible misunderstandings. First, Jesus was not
expressing pleasure in the inevitable judgment of the Galilean cities.
Secondly, He did not imply that God had high-handedly withheld the light
from the wise and prudent.
The cities had every chance to welcome the Lord Jesus. They deliberately
refused to submit to Him. When they refused the light, God withheld the light
from them. But God's plans will not fail. If the intelligentsia will not believe,
then God will reveal Him to humble hearts. He fills the hungry with good
things and sends the rich away empty (Luke 1:53).
Those who consider themselves too wise and understanding to need Christ
become afflicted with judicial blindness. But those who admit their lack of
wisdom receive a revelation of Him "in whom are hidden all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3). Jesus thanked the Father for ordaining
that if some would not have Him, others would. In the face of titanic unbelief
He found consolation in the overruling plan and purpose of God.
11:27 All things had been delivered to Christ by His Father. This would be a
presumptuous claim from anyone else, but from the Lord Jesus it is a simple
statement of truth. At that moment, with opposition mounting, it did not
appear that He was in control; nonetheless it was true. The program of His
life was moving irresistibly toward eventual glorious triumph. "No one knows
the Son except the Father." There is incomprehensible mystery about the
Person of Christ. The union of deity and humanity in one Person raises
problems that boggle the human mind. For instance, there is the problem of
death. God cannot die. Yet Jesus is God and Jesus died. And yet His divine
and human natures are inseparable. So although we can know Him and love
Him and trust Him, there is a sense in which only the Father can truly
understand Him.
But the high myst'ries of Thy Name
The creature's grasp transcend;
The Father only (glorious claim!)
The Son can comprehend.
Worthy, O Lamb of God, art Thou,
That every knee to Thee should bow!
-Josiah Conder
"Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son and he to whom the Son
wills to reveal Him." The Father, too, is inscrutable. Ultimately, only God is
great enough to understand God. Man cannot know Him by his own strength
or intellect. But the Lord Jesus can and does reveal the Father to those
whom He chooses. Whoever comes to know the Son comes to know the
Father also (John 14:7).
Yet, after saying all this, we must confess that in seeking to explain verse 27,
we are dealing with truths too high for us. We see in a mirror dimly. Not
even in eternity will our finite minds be able to fully appreciate the greatness
of God or understand the mystery of the Incarnation. When we read that the
Father is revealed only to those whom the Son chooses, we might be
tempted to think of an arbitrary selection of a favored few. The following
verse guards against such an interpretation. The Lord Jesus issues a universal
invitation to all who are weary and heavy laden to come to Him for rest. In
other words, the ones to whom He chooses to reveal the Father are those
who trust Him as Lord and Savior. As we examine this invitation of infinite
tenderness, let us remember that it was issued after the blatant rejection of
Jesus by the favored cities of Galilee. Man's hate and obstinacy could not
extinguish His love and grace. A. J. McClain said:
Although the nation of Israel is moving toward the ordeal of divine judgment,
the King in His final word throws open wide the door of personal salvation.
And thus He proves that He is a God of grace, even on the threshold of
judgment.? 19
11:28 Come. To come means to believe (Acts 16:31); to receive (John
1:12); to eat (John 6:35); to drink (John 7:37); to look (Isa. 45:22); to
confess (1 Jn. 4:2); to hear (John 5:24, 25); to enter a door (John 10:9); to
open a door (Rev. 3:20); to touch the hem of His garment (Matt. 9:20, 21);
and to accept the gift of eternal life through Christ our Lord (Rom. 6:23).
to Me. The object of faith is not a church, a creed, or a clergyman, but the
living Christ. Salvation is in a Person. Those who have Jesus are as saved as
God can make them.
all you who labor and are heavy laden. In order to truly come to Jesus, a
person must admit that he is burdened with the weight of sin. Only those who
acknowledge they are lost can be saved. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is
preceded by repentance toward God.
and I will give you rest. Notice that rest here is a gift; it is unearned and
unmerited. This is the rest of salvation that comes from realizing that Christ
finished the work of redemption on Calvary's cross. It is the rest of
conscience that follows the realization that the penalty of one's sins has been
paid once for all and that God will not demand payment twice.
11:29 In verses 29 and 30, the invitation changes from salvation to service.
Take My yoke upon you. This means to enter into submission to His will, to
turn over control of one's life to Him (Rom. 12:1, 2).
and learn from Me. As we acknowledge His lordship in every area of our
lives, He trains us in His ways.
for I am gentle and lowly in heart. In contrast to the Pharisees who were
harsh and proud, the true Teacher is meek and lowly. Those who take His
yoke will learn to take the lowest place.
and you will find rest for your souls. Here it is not the rest of conscience but
the rest of heart that is found by taking the lowest place before God and
man. It is also the rest that one experiences in the service of Christ when he
stops trying to be great.
11:30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Again there is a
striking contrast with the Pharisees. Jesus said of them, "For they bind heavy
burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves
will not move them with one of their fingers" (Matt. 23:4). Jesus' yoke is
easy; it does not chafe. Someone has suggested that if Jesus had had a sign
outside His carpenter's shop, it would have read, "My yokes fit well."
His burden is light. This does not mean that there are no problems, trials,
labor, or heartaches in the Christian life. But it does mean that we do not
have to bear them alone. We are yoked with One who gives sufficient grace
for every time of need. To serve Him is not bondage but perfect freedom. J.
H. Jowett says:
The fatal mistake for the believer is to seek to bear life's load in a single
collar. God never intended a man to carry his burden alone. Christ therefore
deals only in yokes! A yoke is a neck harness for two, and the Lord himself
pleads to be One of the two. He wants to share the labor of any galling task.
The secret of peace and victory in the Christian life is found in putting off the
taxing collar of "self" and accepting the Master's relaxing "yoke."? 20
[2]
To men who were burdened and distressed under the weight and curse of
sin and the law, the Lord Jesus Christ came to give freedom and rest. The
first word spoken to those who became disciples were the words, "Follow
me." And throughout our Lord's life He traveled the highways and byways
of the land of Palestine inviting men to come to Him. In Matthew 11:28-30
our Lord summarizes the invitation to discipleship that characterized His
earthly ministry: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek
and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy
and my burden is light."
To understand our Lord's invitation, we must understand that those to whom
our Lord was speaking were crushed beneath the weight of the Mosaic law.
Our Lord was addressing men who numbered themselves among the
disciples of Moses and who were the disciples of the Pharisees. Neither
Moses nor the Pharisees could give rest from the pressing burden or release
from the oppressive load that the law and Judaism placed upon men.
Recognizing that there was no other course to rest and peace than that to be
found through submission to Himself, Christ came to invite men out of their
old discipleship to a new discipleship.
The law was given by Moses (John 1:17 ). Men submitted themselves to the
law and, by submitting themselves to the law, became disciples of the law or
disciples of the lawgiver, that is, disciples of Moses. This fact is attested by
John 9:28 where, in response to the testimony of the man born blind, the
leaders in Israel said, "Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples."
Those who recognized an obligation to the law and submitted themselves to
rule by the law were called the disciples of the law. They became disciples of
the law or disciples of Moses by submitting to the authority of Moses and
the Mosaic law.
The Pharisees had devised a system in which they had codified the Mosaic
law into some 365 prohibitions and 250 commandments. They required
those who followed them to submit to their interpretations of this law.
Because the Pharisees considered themselves the official interpreters of the
law, they promoted themselves to a position of authority in Israel. In
Matthew 23:2, Christ referred to the Scribes and the Pharisees as men who
"sit in Moses' seat." Claiming the authority of Moses as interpreters and
teachers of the law, they demanded that all in Israel who submitted to Moses
also submit themselves to them. They demanded that men by submission
become disciples of the Pharisees, and that individuals in Israel recognize
themselves not only as disciples of Moses but also as disciples of the
Pharisees. This is seen in a passage such as Mark 2:18 where Christ is
asked the question, "The disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast:
and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the
Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?" This shows us that those who
submitted themselves to the Pharisees were disciples of the Pharisees. They
became disciples by voluntarily submitting themselves to the rule of the
Pharisees over them.
When the law was imposed on a man, it did not bring liberty. It brought
bondage. Rather than freedom, it brought oppression. Instead of a sense of
release, it brought a sense of guilt and failure. The leaders of the Pharisees
made no effort to bring freedom and liberty and release to those who were
their disciples. The system of the Pharisees, according to Matthew 23:4,
imposed heavy burdens that were grievous to be borne; for our Lord,
characterizing the Pharisees, said, "They bind heavy burdens and grievous to
be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not
move them with one of their fingers." Our Lord looked at a nation of men
who had become disciples of Moses and disciples of the Pharisees by a
voluntary submission to their authority. He saw that nation as under a heavy
burden, a burden that was grievous to be borne, a burden that the Pharisees
made no effort to lift from those who were crushed beneath its load. Our
Lord came to say, "Come unto me . and I will give you rest."
Those who were under the Mosaic law were said to be yoked to Moses.
Those who were under the authority of the Pharisees were said to be yoked
to the Pharisees. This is evidenced when we turn to Acts 15 where we have
recorded the word of Peter after the Day of Pentecost as he discusses the
question as to whether Gentiles who were being saved should be compelled
to be circumcised. That was another way of asking whether believers in the
new era would have to submit to the authority of the law or would have to
be yoked with Moses. In verse 7 we read, "Men and brethren, ye know
how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by
my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which
knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as
he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their
hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the
neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?"
Notice the words in verse 10. When they considered imposing the law, the
Mosaic system, on believers in Jesus Christ, men who had been saved by
faith, Peter said that would be imposing a yoke on them that neither they nor
their fathers were able to bear.
When Christ in Matthew 11:29 is talking about a yoke from which He will
deliver men, He is talking about the yoke of the law, the yoke of Pharisaism
that put a heavy burden, too grievous to be borne, upon the necks of men.
Christ, coming to those who were so crushed, offers them release, liberty,
freedom, rest. Notice our Lord's invitation, in Matthew 11:28 when He says
to this oppressed multitude, "Come unto me." Moses offered the children of
Israel the law at Mount Sinai. According to Exodus 19:8 Israel said, "All that
the Lord hath spoken we will do." They voluntarily submitted themselves to
the law and were yoked to the law. The Pharisees imposed authority over
the nation of Israel and the nation voluntarily submitted to the authority of the
Pharisees. They had done the bidding of the Pharisees when the Pharisees
had said, "Come unto me." Now our Lord stands and says to an oppressed,
burdened people, "Come unto me."
This is the same invitation our Lord had given to the first apostles. In Mark
1:16, 17 we read that Christ saw "Simon and Andrew his brother casting a
net into the sea: for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, Come ye
after me." And in verse 19, "He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John
his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. And straightway he
called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired
servants, and went after him." Peter and Andrew and James and John
became disciples by heeding our Lord's invitation when He said, "Follow
me. Come unto me".
In John 1:37 Jesus again is inviting men to Himself, "And the two disciples
heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." In verse 38 they asked, "Rabbi,
where dwellest thou?" He said unto them, "Come and see. They came and
saw. . " Again in verse 43, Jesus "findeth Philip and saith unto him, Follow
me." And Philip followed. Here the number of disciples was expanded from
the original four because Christ presented Himself to them and said, "Follow
me." And they submitted to Him and followed. Now in Matthew 11:28 and
much later in His ministry after He had completed the call of the original
twelve, Christ stood and said, "Come unto me." He was not calling them to
a system. This was not calling them to a religion. Nor was He calling them to
a table of stone or to the traditions of men, asking men to submit to those.
He was calling men to a Person, to Himself. Discipleship is the response of
an individual to a Person who stands before believers and says, "Come unto
me."
You will notice the universality of this invitation, "Come unto me, all ye that
labour and are heavy laden." In Israel there could not be found one who had
found rest through the Levitical system, who had found rest through
Pharisaism, who had found rest through the multiplied works in which he was
involved. Through the multitude of sacrifices which he offered on Jewish
altars, not one had found rest. All were burdened, all guilty, all condemned.
Christ opened the invitation to all the burdened and oppressed, none
excluded. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden." And the
verse concludes with Christ's promise, "I will give you rest."
Rest for the oxen who had been laboring in the yoke all day was found only
when the owner took the ox to the stable and removed the yoke so that the
ox might feed and drink. As long as the ox was in the yoke, he was under
the burden of the yoke. The removal of the yoke meant rest.
There could be no rest to the burdened and the oppressed until Christ lifted
the weight of the yoke of the law and the yoke of Pharisaism from them.
Christ could give no release to men until He delivered them from the
bondage to which they had submitted themselves when they became
disciples of Moses and disciples of the Pharisees. "Come unto me, all ye that
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
How could Christ give rest? The strange contradiction is that Christ
exchanges the yoke of Mosaism, the yoke of Pharisaism, for another yoke.
"Take my yoke upon you" is the means by which men find rest. The
questioner might well ask, "If I must bear a yoke, what difference does it
really make whether it be the yoke of Mosaism or Pharisaism or the yoke of
Christ? After all, a yoke is a yoke." Christ did not say unto the distressed,
"Come unto Me, and I will remove all yokes from you and give you rest."
His invitation and the condition upon which man would experience the results
were found in taking "my yoke upon you." To take Christ's yoke means to
submit yourself to the authority of Christ. It means to put yourself under His
rule, to join yourself together with Him. He is inviting men to put their
shoulders into a new yoke, a new yoke in which He is the yoke mate. And
He promises that, as they submit to His authority and are yoked with Him,
they will find rest unto their souls.
The reason men find rest by taking Christ's yoke is that His yoke is a
different kind of yoke. The yoke of the Pharisees was an obligation to
observe the traditions of men. The yoke of the law was to observe all that
the law commanded, and refrain from all it prohibited. But Christ said He
was offering them a new kind of yoke and His yoke is easy and His burden
is light. As one is bound in this new kind of yoke, Christ could promise that
"Ye shall find rest unto your souls." The yoke to which Christ invited men,
when borne as a co-laborer with Jesus Christ, is no burden at all. It is a
source of rest, satisfaction, enjoyment and contentment. The Christian life,
the life of a disciple, is not a life of passivity or inactivity. It is a life of activity
because the life of Christ works itself out through the true disciple of Jesus
Christ. Christ is our life and He is our strength. As one is yoked to Jesus
Christ that which is performed is the joy of the true disciple.
Back in my college days I observed an incident that made this Scripture very
clear to me. On Sunday afternoons I used to go out to a little rural Sunday
school to teach. One afternoon the superintendent of the Sunday school, a
farmer, and I were visiting in the community. There was an old farmer
plowing with a team of oxen. As I saw this team I was somewhat amazed,
for one was a huge ox and the other a very small bullock. That ox towered
over the little bullock that was sharing the work with him. I was amazed and
perplexed to see a farmer trying to plow with two such unequal animals in
the yoke and commented on the inequality to the man with whom I was
riding. He stopped his car and said, "I want you to notice something. See the
way those traces are hooked to the yoke? You will observe that the large ox
is pulling all the weight. That little bullock is being broken into the yoke but
he is not actually pulling any weight." My mind instinctively came to this
passage of Scripture where our Lord said, "Take my yoke upon you, and
learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your
souls." In the normal yoke, the load is equally distributed between the two
that are yoked together, but when we are yoked with Jesus Christ, He bears
the load and we who are yoked with Him share in the joy and the
accomplishment of the labor but without the burden of the yoke. The tragedy
is that some of us have never been broken in to the yoke.
How could a man submit to Christ's yoke? How can he take Christ's yoke
upon him? The explanation is in the little words, "Learn of me." We may
paraphrase it: let Me teach you what you need to know. Let Me guide you
and direct you in your activities. Let Me set the direction of your life. "Learn
of me." The Jews to whom our Lord spoke had been taught by the
Pharisees who themselves transmitted the traditions of men, and they were
bound by the traditions that they had learned from the Pharisees. They had
learned from their masters. These Jews were so burdened by the law that
they would not step across a grassy plot on the Sabbath Day. Do you know
why? The law said, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. . in it
thou shalt not do any work." That meant a man could not sow in his field.
They had so interpreted the law that, if a man stepped upon a plot of grass
and knocked some ripe seed from the seedpod onto the ground, he was
guilty of sowing upon the Sabbath Day. Pharisaism taught that it was wrong
for a man who wore false teeth six days a week to wear them on the seventh
day, for that was bearing a burden and was a violation of the Sabbath Day.
The Pharisees taught that it was wrong to use any internal medication for
healing on the Sabbath Day. If a man broke his arm, you could put it into a
splint; that was external. Or if he had a severe toothache, you could give him
a sip of wine to deaden the pain as long as he spit out the wine and washed
his mouth out. If he did not wash his mouth out, he might inadvertently
swallow a bit of that wine, which became internal medication and that made
him a Sabbath violator.
The disciples of the Pharisees had learned the burden that the law imposed.
Now Christ said they were going to have to unlearn all they had learned. Let
Me teach you. If you follow the gospel record you will find that from this
point on in our Lord's life He concentrates, not on performing miracles, but
on teaching men the truth that they needed to know about the Father, about
Himself, about the way of life and about the way of salvation. Man must
make a choice. Men must make a decision whether they will continue as
disciples of the Pharisees or whether they will submit to His Word, submit to
His teaching, submit themselves to His authority and become His disciples.
Beloved of God, who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, this word
is directed to you. We affirm again that it is possible for a man to be saved
without being a disciple of Jesus Christ. A believer becomes a disciple of
Jesus Christ when he submits to the authority of Christ's word and
acknowledges Christ's right to rule over him, puts himself totally and
completely at the disposal of Jesus Christ. An ox does not accidentally slip
into a yoke. He has to submit to it. You will not somehow fall into
discipleship. You become a disciple when you before God register a
decision of your will in which you declare you are submitting yourself to
Jesus Christ, you are putting yourself under the authority and control of His
Word, and you accept His Word as the law of your life, and by the Spirit's
power live by it.
Many of us have no right to call ourselves disciples. When Christ said,
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest," we have responded and have come to Him. But when He prepares to
slip a yoke around our necks to join us to Himself, we resist, we fight, we
back off. We refuse to be brought under bondage to anyone, not even to
Jesus Christ. Until you become yoked to Jesus Christ in the sweetest
bondage that heaven or earth knows, you cannot be a disciple. "Take my
yoke upon you" means learn of Me, submit to My Word, acknowledge the
authority of My Person, and when you do that, and only when you do that,
"ye shall find rest unto your souls."
Are you restless, child of God? Disturbed? Often distraught, discouraged?
Perchance at the edge of despair? Put your shoulder into His yoke in order
that He might bear the burden. Learn to walk yoked to Jesus Christ, and you
shall find rest for your soul. This is His promise.
[3]
A WORD TO THE WEARY
A Topical Study of MATTHEW 11:28-30
Although it took place in the 1930s, it remains one of the most mystifying
missing person cases in FBI files. After spending an evening eating out with
friends, a forty-five-year-old New York judge hailed a taxi and was never
seen or heard from again. The FBI immediately became involved. They
suspected a kidnapping by someone who held a judicial grudge against him.
But that didn't seem to pan out. They then suspected Mafia activity because
he was an outspoken enemy of the Mafia. But again, that led nowhere. To
this day, there is only one clue that remains. When his wife returned to their
apartment the evening her husband disappeared, there on the table was a
check for a large sum of money made out to her and a note attached to it in
her husband's handwriting which simply said,
I am very, very tired. Love, Joe
The question remains-were those words merely a comment made at the
end of a particularly trying day? Or was his note saying, "I'm tired; I'm
fatigued; I'm weary; I give up"? To this day, we can't be sure. For lack of
further evidence, it is presently believed he rode off in a taxicab to an
unknown destination where he took his own life because weariness had
weighted his soul. I think all of us from time to time can relate to that kind of
weariness. I'm not speaking of physical fatigue-the kind of fatigue you feel
after mowing the lawn or playing a set of tennis. No, I'm speaking of the
weariness which comes from life itself.
If you are of average weight and height, here is what you will go through in
an average twenty-four-hour period: Your heart will beat 103,689 times.
Your blood will travel 168 million miles as your heart pumps approximately
4 ounces per beat. You will breathe 23,040 times, inhaling 438 cubic feet of
air. Your stomach will take in three and a half pounds of food and 2.9 quarts
of liquid. You will lose seven eighths of a pound of waste. If you are a man,
you will speak 4,800 words, and if you are a woman, you will speak close
to 7,000 words. You will move 750 muscles and exercise 7 million brain
cells.
No wonder we're tired! But there is a weariness much more draining than
physical fatigue. It's the kind of weariness you feel when you just don't
know if you can go on another day. It's the weariness a father feels when his
child is doing wrong, the weariness a friend feels who has been abandoned
or misunderstood, and the weariness a wife feels whose husband has
rejected her. It's the weariness that can take a toll on even the most
seemingly successful individual-even on a successful judge.
There is One, however, who said, "Come to me, all you who are weary."
(see Matthew 11:28). How I appreciate that! The Lord of the universe
invited anyone who is weary to come to Him. If I were the Lord, I don't
know if I would make that kind of invitation. Keep in mind that at this point
in Matthew's Gospel, Israel is rejecting His invitation to make Him King.
Consequently, no longer is Jesus speaking to a nation corporately, saying,
"Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
No, now He is speaking to individuals personally, saying, "Come to Me, any
who are weary, any who are laboring." Would you have called this group of
people? I'm not sure I would. If I were giving an invitation, I don't think I
would have said, "Come unto me all you who are laboring and
weary-feeling as though you're depressed to the point of death, despairing
because of divorce or disease, death or discouragement."
No, I think I would say, "Come unto me, all you who are happy-let's
celebrate life together! Let's lift each other's spirits!" Or maybe I would
have said, "Come unto me, all you who are wealthy. Come and share your
prosperity!" Or maybe, "Come unto me all you who are wise. Let's dialogue
and philosophize and interact intellectually." But the personal invitation Jesus
extended to people individually as the nation rebelled against Him
corporately was: "Anyone who is weary, come to Me. Those are My
people-the weary ones."
Come unto me.
Jesus didn't say, "Run to Me." So often in my weariness, I can't run. I can
only stumble to Him or crawl before Him. But that's okay. He just said
"Come" any way we can.
Come unto me.
He didn't say, "Go to church." He didn't say, "Listen to a sermon." He
didn't say, "Get some counseling." He didn't say, "Read a book." He said,
"Come to Me."
Come unto me, all ye that labour.
What causes us to be weary in our labor? I believe the answer is found in
Exodus 5.
The people of Israel were in Egypt. Four hundred years previously, they left
the Land of Promise due to famine and headed south to Egypt where there
was plenty to eat. They lived there for a while, enjoying the abundance and
prosperity. But suddenly the situation changed when a new Pharaoh came on
the scene, looked at the Jewish people, and said, "We've got to control
these people. How? We'll enslave them." So for hundreds of years, the
people of God were enslaved by the Egyptians, baking bricks in the
blistering, burning sun for the construction of Pharaoh's monuments. It has
been documented that the Israelites baked enough bricks to build a wall ten
feet high and five feet thick from LA to New York City. When Moses said,
"Let my people go," Pharaoh answered,
Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let
them go and gather straw for themselves. And the tale of the bricks, which
they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought
thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to
our God. Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour
therein; and let them not regard vain words. Exodus 5:7-9
The Hebrew word translated "labour" in verse 9 has the same meaning as
the Greek word translated "labour" Jesus used in Matthew 11. Do you
sometimes feel like you're stuck in Egypt, endlessly making bricks for
Pharaoh under the blistering sun? Maybe you've said, "I'm going to Egypt.
I'm going to labor to get ahead in my career," or, "I'm going to work hard
for this material thing." And for a while, it seemed enjoyable. But then, just
like Pharaoh, it turned against you, and the very thing you thought would be
wonderful is now a taskmaster-cracking the whip and enslaving you.
"Come to Me," the Lord says. "All you who are weary from labor, all you
who have realized Pharaoh is a fake and Egypt is a rip off, come to Me."
We have a tendency to think, I'm going to be so happy when I accomplish
this task, when I reach that goal, when I get this business or that toy.
And we labor and labor until we finally say, "This isn't working out the way I
thought it could, the way the commercials promised it would. I'm miserable.
I'm tired. I'm weary."
Come unto Me, all ye that labour and
are heavy laden.
What does it mean to be heavy laden?
Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children
that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the
Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should
ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is
sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head
there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores:
they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
Isaiah 1:4-6
The Lord says to His people, Israel, "You're beat up and bruised and
hurting and desolate and destroyed because you have been laden, loaded
with iniquity." You see, Pharaoh makes us labor, but sin makes us heavy
laden. Sin weighs us down.
David went through a season of sin on more than one occasion. During one
such time, he wrote,
There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any
rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over mine
head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and
are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down
greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a
loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and
sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.
Psalm 38:3-8
Sin will make you tired. What does Jesus say? He says, "Whether you've
been seduced and sucked in by Pharaoh's mentality-working for the world
and finding it to be nothing but bricks and weariness-or whether you've
been heavy laden with iniquity, come unto Me."
Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
How?
Take my yoke upon you.
The Greek word translated "carpenter" used in Matthew 13 to describe
Joseph refers to a finish carpenter rather than for a framer. Tradition has it
that the carpenter shop where Jesus worked with His father, Joseph,
specialized in making yokes. To yoke two oxen together, the skilled
carpenter designed the yoke to fit each ox individually. Since there was
always a lead ox yoked together with one who would follow, the yoke was
designed in such a way that the lead ox would pull the greater weight. The
follower, or assistant ox, was just to go with the flow.
Take My yoke upon you.
Jesus used an analogy well known to the people who listened to Him when
He said not only, "Come unto Me," but, "Yoke with Me. Let Me be the
lead ox. Go with My flow. Don't try to figure out or change My direction.
Let Me lead you."
The story is told of a battleship cruising the Atlantic, off the northern coast of
Maine. One stormy evening, the commander was notified, "Sir, there's a
light ahead. Oncoming vessel."
"Signal the oncoming vessel: change your courses ten degrees to the west."
The message was sent.
But a light flashed back, "Change your course ten degrees to the east."
"Signal again," barked the commander. "Change your course ten degrees to
the west. I am an admiral!"
The light flashed back, "Change your course ten degrees to the east. I am a
Seaman Third Class."
By this time, the admiral was incensed as he thundered, "Signal again:
Change your course ten degrees to the west. I am a battleship."
And the message came back, "Change your course ten degrees to the east. I
am a lighthouse."
So, too, as we impudently and impetuously say to the Lord, "Lord, let's go
my way," He answers, "No. We're going My way."
I am the Lighthouse.
I am the Light of the world,
The Rock of your salvation,
the Creator and Sustainer of your soul.
I am the Alpha and the Omega,
The One who knows the beginning from the end.
Trust Me.
Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in
heart.
This is the only autobiographical statement Jesus ever made.
He didn't say, "Learn of Me because I am majestic and mighty," or "Learn
of Me because I am powerful and prominent." He said, "That which you
discover when you learn of Me will refresh you, for I am meek."
What is meekness? Meekness is strength under control. Picture a big, gentle
Saint Bernard surrounded by yapping, snapping, little Chihuahuas. Now the
Saint Bernard could open his mouth and chomp the Chihuahuas down in one
gulp. He could take his paw and knock them away with one swipe. But the
powerful Saint Bernard patiently puts up with the yappers and snappers at
his feet. That's meekness.
When I study the Scriptures and learn of Jesus, I am always amazed at His
goodness, His grace, His kindness, His gentleness, and His meekness.
Jesus says, "Come to Me-you who have been burned out by Pharaoh, you
who have been wearied by the folly of sin. Yoke with Me-don't try to
maneuver Me, steer Me, or demand of Me. Learn of Me, for I am meek
and lowly."
The result?
..And ye shall find rest unto your souls.
You'll find what your heart is craving: Shabbat. Sabbath. Rest.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
In Acts 15, questions arose concerning Gentile converts and whether or not
they should follow the laws and the rituals and be circumcised. Peter gave
this response:
Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the
disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? Acts 15:10
"My yoke," Jesus said, "is easy." It's not religion-it's relationship. It's not
Judaism-it's Jesus. It's not the law-it's love.
Sometimes I hear people say, "I'm so burdened. It's so tough being a
servant. It's so hard to be a brother, a musician, or a witness."
If it's heavy, it's not His burden because His burden is light. If what I'm
doing is tough and wearisome to me, then I know it's not the Lord who has
placed that burden upon me. His burden is easy. His load is light.
Jesus would say to you today, "Come to Me. Don't labor under the burdens
of Pharaoh. You'll become weary if you do. Don't become heavy laden
under the bondage of sin. It will rob you of your energy. Don't become
enslaved by the laws of the Pharisees. You'll be weighed down. Just come
to Me. Yoke with Me. Learn of Me. And you'll find rest in your souls."
[4]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
a Matt 11:25-27: Luke 10:21, 22
1 Or occasion
b Luke 22:42; 23:34; John 11:41; 12:27, 28
c Ps 8:2; 1 Cor 1:26ff
a Luke 22:42; 23:34; John 11:41; 12:27, 28
a Matt 28:18; John 3:35; 13:3; 17:2
b John 7:29; 10:15; 17:25
a Jer 31:25; John 7:37
1 Or who work to exhaustion
a John 13:15; Eph 4:20; Phil 2:5; 1 Pet 2:21; 1 John 2:6
b Jer 6:16
a 1 John 5:3
1 Or comfortable, or pleasant
[1]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (Mt 11:25-30).
LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
? 19 (11:27) Alva J. Gospel McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom, p.
311.
? 20 (11:30) J. H. Jowett, Quoted in Our Daily Bread.
[2]MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible
Commentary : Old and New Testaments (Mt 11:25). Nashville: Thomas
Nelson.
[3]Pentecost, J. D. (1996). Design for discipleship : Discovering God's
blueprint for the Christian life. Originally published: Grand Rapids, Mich. :
Zondervan Pub. House, 1971. (18). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.
[4]Courson, J. (2003). Jon Courson's Application Commentary (81).
Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.
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