Sunday: “I Will Give You Rest”
Read Matthew 11:20-28, when Jesus says: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (NKJV). What is the context of this statement? How does Jesus give us this rest?
Like all of us, Jesus never spoke without a context. In order to understand Him, we need to grasp the specific context surrounding a particular statement, especially if we want to avoid misunderstanding Jesus.
Image © Rolf Jansson from GoodSalt.com
Matthew 11 marks a turning point in Matthew’s Gospel. The statements denouncing important Galilean cities are the harshest heard so far in the Gospel. Jesus does not curry favors; He puts the finger where it hurts; He associates with the “wrong” people (Matthew 9:9-13); His claim to be able to forgive sins is scandalous in the eyes of the religious leaders (Matthew 9:1-8).
Indeed, Jesus speaks some powerfully condemning words to the people, even comparing them, unfavorably, to Sodom, viewed then (as today) as a place of implacable wickedness. “But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you” (Matthew 11:24).
Tensions are rising — and yet, in the midst of all of this, Jesus changes gear and offers true rest. He can do so because “all things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father” (Matthew 11:27). Jesus’ ability to give rest is based on His divinity and His oneness with the Father.
Before we can come to unload our burdens, we need to understand that we cannot carry them alone. In fact, most of us will not come unless we have recognized our true condition. Jesus’ invitation is need-based.
His statement in Matthew 11:28 begins with an imperative in the Greek original. “Come” is not optional; “come” represents the precondition of finding rest. “Come” means that we need to surrender control. In a time when we can conveniently control many things in our lives via our smartphones, coming to Jesus is not the natural direction. In fact, for most people, surrender is the toughest part of the Christian life.
We love to talk, and rightly so, about all that God does for us in Christ and how we cannot save ourselves and the like. All that is true. But in the end, we still have to make the conscious choice to “come” to Jesus, which means surrender to Him. Here is where the reality of free will becomes front and center in the Christian life.
| What burdens are you carrying? How can you learn to give them to Jesus and experience the rest He offers, and at so great a cost to Himself? |
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If you just read the verses directly associated with this lesson you will probably miss the context. Jesus had spent time in the northern part of Judea working in the cities, healing the sick and helping people. While these folk had been happy to accept the results of the miracles, they had not taken the next step and repented from their sins. Jesus was quite descriptive in his language as he upbraided then.
And then he said:
I think that the gist of what Jesus is saying is that the gospel is not rocket science. It is so simple that even children can understand it. He then holds up the relationship he has with the Father and is offering to us. And then he launches into the texts that we are currently studying.
The invitation is to enjoy the relationship he is offering.
It is not just physical healing, nor an erudite theological dissertation. It is a relationship that is life-changing. The challenge that remains for us is how do we live so that relationship is extended to others. Is it lived in such a way that children can understand it?
I Will Give You Rest.
The story is told of an elderly woman walking along a long road heading for home with a heavy load on her head. Several vehicles passed her by until one vehicle decided to stop to assist her. He asked her to jump into the back seat. She tried to enter the vehicle several times still with the load on her head. After several tries the driver asked her to remove the load then enter the vehicle. She did, and all was well.
The driver glanced back in the rear view mirror just to see the woman in the vehicle with the load on her head once again although she was safe in the vehicle.
Many times we come to Jesus with our load on our head (like the photo) but doesn’t want to leave the load/burden with Jesus. We always thought we can take care of things.
Jesus invitation is need base. We have to sense our need for help before help can come for Jesus.
Jesus' rebuke of those cities blessed with light while choosing to remain in darkness, stands as an admonition to any who remain undecided in their lives concerning the gospel. Each passing day we make choices that reveal whether or not we have accepted Jesus' invitation to come to Him.
We must study the rest of His invitation to understand how He will give this Rest to all those who labor and are heavy laden, and must realize what they are laden with and labor for. The short version of how one finds Rest would be found in Rom 5:1. Also, there will be no rest found for any who do not “labor therefore to enter into [His] Rest”(Heb 4:11).
If we believe and act in faith, we will realize the blessings promised. Again, as we proceed in our study of this passage, the answer to the questions will be discovered by all who "seek" to find them.
Before I delve a bit deeper into Jesus' invitation to us to come unto Him for rest, I would like to try to define labor. Labor is work, toil, strive and struggle. Therefore, it can be defined as the amount of physical, mental and social effort used to produce goods and services in an economy. God Himself instituted labor to help man finds happiness both physical and spiritual. Labor was instituted by God at creation and at creation two labors emerged :
1st labor as found in Genesis 2: 15. The Bible says : And the Lord God took the man , and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress and to keep it.
2nd Labor as found in Genesis 3 : 17 - 19.
The Bible says : And unto Adam He said , Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee , saying , Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee ; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field ; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground ; for out of it wast thou taken : for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
When we compare the above Bible texts we will find that labor one which God gave man before sin was not exhaustive as labor two which became more exhaustive after sin because it involved thorns and thistles and the sweat of face and man's driven from Eden to the field. However, in all of these God's invitation to man to come to Him each day for rest and on the Sabbath to shut Him in and shut the World out was visible. The Spirit of Prophecy says : A portion of their time was to be occupied in the happy employment of dressing the garden and a portion in receiving the visits of Angels listening to their instruction , and in happy meditation. The Story of Redemption page 21. And then to us the Spirit of Prophecy says : The religion you profess makes it as such your duty to employ your time during the six working days as to attend church on the Sabbath. Counsels on Stewardship, page 253. Therefore, we are invited to come to Jesus after each day's labor for rest both physical and spiritual. And on each Sabbath day for a 24 hour relationship with Him ( Jesus ) for rest both physical and spiritual. Let's us remember that God will bring our toils, hardships, sorrows to an end when He makes all things new , a return to our Eden home will be sweet for eternity though we will continue to labor without exhaustion. The Bible says : And the Spirit and the Bride say , Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will let him take the water of life freely. Revelation 22 : 17. May the good Lord help us find the true rest in Jesus.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Matthew 11:21
The BIG QUESTION is why didn't God perform those works in those cities back then if He knew they would have repented?
I think the point is that those who received the "miracles" from Him, failed to share it around and did not bring change to their own lives which others could see and thus failed to draw others into that relationship. Maybe if Lot and his family had had that relationship of which Jesus speaks with the Sodomites, real change could have happened, for it was THEY who were present in Sodom and not the physical Jesus as He was here in the Galilean cities. Speaks volumes to us as to our lifestyles in our physical world spheres I think.
"Come" is a directive, the 1st step in a 2 step process. The 2nd step is the taking of the yoke. The "Rest" will be given IF we take his yoke and learn of him. So often we only focus on the physical rest. I think Jesus primarily focused (desired is probably a better word choice) on the spiritual "rest" that we can have if we come to him. Hence his upbraiding of Chorazin etc. They accepted the physical rest but rejected the spiritual rest. The spiritual rest points us toward home and will be permanent, the physical rest does not take us home. The physical rest can be permanent but only in conjunction with spiritual rest.
Jesus says: “I will give you rest”, and the lesson writer asks: ‘what is the context of this statement and how does He do that’? If we place the emphasis on the first part of his invitation – “come to me” – for the rest you seek, then it will establish the context of Rest. He promises that in Him our being/existence will find ‘rest’.
I understand this rest, experienced/applied by living His Word by faith, will govern our lives in all aspects and lead us to be at peace with ourselves, God, and our fellows. It settles us in the assurance that we are on the right path in life.
“Come to me” for rest, implies that there are other sources to which one could look for rest. There are and they are too numerous to mention.
The ‘Rest’ Christ Jesus gives cannot be supplanted by anything else – it is man’s ultimate destiny, promised to be ours by faith.
Our Rest is founded on the 'Rock of our Salvation' and lived in confidence. We shoulder Christ Jesus' joke as we plow life's rows by faith in the unfailing Word of God; this gives us 'rest'. Once chosen and established, one will not turn away from it. This 'rest' becomes our new nature; the fields of life are ours to plow in confidence and peace.
This is how I see our experience of Christ Jesus' rest - We heard the Gospel, we believed it, and now we live it by faith!
He taught us when we by faith ‘Rest is in Him’ - His Wisdom, His teachings, His forgiveness, His Peace – then He carries our burdens with us and they become lighter.
John14:25-27: - ”These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
The burden of legalism and traditions are truly heavy. Come to Jesus and accept the yoke of love and this yoke of love makes Obedience light. Salvation by works is indeed heavy come to Jesus and accept his salvation by grace and it surely is light not heavy at all.
I concur with Selwyn,many deliberately kept the law hoping that through this they would earn salvation and get spiritual rest however,those that claimed this salvation by works were spiritual leaders,Jesus calls them to find true rest and save their souls ,he opens to them away to reach him unfortunately they ignored him ,and they failed to get this rest the Lord was offering compassionately.
We also need to remember that our response to Jesus is always based on what He has already done for us. "Coming to Jesus" is simply, by faith, accepting what is already ours in Him.