Come To Me

Come To Me

Matthew 11: 25 - 30

Intro: During WWII the US Marines captured the island of Saipan. The Japanese army ordered the inhabitants to kill themselves by jumping off a cliff. Hundreds of feet below that cliff are rocks, water and the beach. It is a very steep drop-off. American translators yelled through bullhorns that if those on the cliff would come to the US troups, they would be spared. Three words were yelled over and over, “COME AND LIVE!” A few did come; but most threw their children off the cliff and then jumped after them. --- There are people today who respond in the same way to the Gospel of Christ Jesus who says, “Come to me!”

I This passage of scripture is so appropriate for today because so many people are “WEARY” not just in our country; but across the world.

A Let’s begin by looking at VS. 28 Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary . . .”

B The word “WEARY” in GK is kop-ee-ah-o (??p???) which is translated as “To work hard, labor, toil, or be wearied.”

C Are you weary of working hard and getting nowhere, of being sick or in pain with no relief in sight, or of all the negativity and discord. Are you weary of the situation in which we live today?

II What is the answer to our weariness? Matthew continues in VS. 28 “. . . I will give you rest.”

A The answer to our weariness is to come to Jesus and receive “rest”

B There are two words in GK for “Rest” anapausis (aapa?s??) which means a pause or cessation from labor.

C The 2nd is the one used here: sabbatismos (saßßatsµ??) which refers to the repose of Christianity, a type of heaven.

III The kind of rest that Jesus offers is not the same as the rest that the world offers.

A We might prefer to stop working because we are weary. We are tired. We are sick and tired! However, we are not promised that the load will be removed.

B Jesus goes on to explain for his followers and for us what this “rest” looks like. See VSS. 29 & 30.

C In these verses, Jesus speaks of HIS YOKE. In the time of Jesus a yoke was a wooden device used by farmers to link together two animals to plow the fields. A common practice was to put together an oxen that had experience in plowing the fields with an oxen that was new to the experience. A yoke is meant for 2; in this case, Jesus and us.

Concl: In 1989 a musician named Bill Withers wrote a song that describes the very essence of this passage. He wrote: “Lean on me, when you’re not strong, and I’ll be your friend, I’ll help you to carry oncv, for it won’t be long, ‘til I’m going to need somebody to lean on.”

This is exactly what Jesus is saying here. We can “lean on” Jesus when we’re not strong. Jesus is our friend and with Him, “His yoke is easy and his burden is light.” Jesus bids us “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gently and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”