COME TO ME
Matt. 11:28-30
We like to be invited to things. Depending on the event, we might get a fancy, overpriced invitation in the mail, requesting our presence at such-and-such. It makes us feel good to be on the guest list. Sometimes we don't want to go to the thing we're invited to but we're glad the person thought of us. I remember talking with someone who was upset they weren't invited to something. I asked, "would you have gone". "No", came the reply. "Then why are you upset?" "I still would've liked to have been invited."
It's important to be asked; it tells you that the person cares about you and wants you to be a part of what they're doing. It's nice to be included. Jesus was invited to various events. His first recorded miracle was at a wedding he had been invited to. Sometimes Jesus was invited somewhere for the purpose of trying to trap him in some way. Then there were times when Jesus gave the invitation. That what our focus will be on today. Let's take a look at his invitation in Matt. 11:28-30.
1) Invitation to rest.
Matt. 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
Jesus gives an invitation to those who are weary and burdened and tells them he will give them rest. That would get my attention. Really, who doesn't feel weary and burdened at one time or another? The Jews would've identified their burden as living under Roman rule and not being free; along with all the other burdens and weariness they were dealing with in their lives.
We can be weary and burdened in various ways: physical, mental, emotional and of course, spiritual. That's the one Jesus is focusing on here since he later specifies-rest for your souls. To have rest for our souls is to have freedom for our souls. So when Jesus said, come to me, he's inviting them to come to him for salvation and to follow him.
Our souls are not at rest before we come to Christ. The Jews had the burden of trying to adhere to the Mosaic law, along with hundreds of extras the religious leaders added to the law. Yet the religious leaders were no help to the people. That's why Jesus said of them in
Matt. 23:4, "They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to help them."
The Jews were weary and burdened and Jesus invited them to be released from the spiritual burden of trying to work their way into God's favor; which was an impossible endeavor. That's why they needed Jesus.
We are under the law of slavery to sin. We are weary and burdened from carrying the weight of our sin. In the book, Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan, the protagonist, Christian, is on a journey to the cross. He's carrying a heavy load on his back which represents sin. When he gets to the cross his burden is released.
"Now I saw in my dream, that the highway up which CHRISTIAN was to go was fenced on either side with a wall; and that wall was called "Salvation". Up this way, therefore, did burdened CHRISTIAN run; but not without great difficulty, because of the load on his back. He ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending; and upon that place stood a Cross, and a little below, in the bottom, a sepulchre.
So I saw in my dream, that just as CHRISTIAN came up to the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble; and so continued to do till it came to the mouth of the sepulchre, where it fell in, and I saw it no more. Then was CHRISTIAN glad and lightsome, and said, with a merry heart, "He hath given me rest by his sorrow, And life by his death."
I've read reports of Marines having to carry 100 pounds of gear on their daily maneuvers. That's a lot of weight. Imagine how good it feels when you're able to let that weight fall off your shoulders. Now think of the relief you have from being able to be released from carrying the weight of your sin!
After the soldiers were able to release their gear, they probably felt like a new person. When we choose to come to Jesus to be released from our sin, we are a new person. But until that happens there will be no rest for our souls. We won't understand how badly our souls are in turmoil until we come to him and start living for him. Then we begin to see the contrast; we see what we had been missing out on.
What's interesting is when our souls are at rest, it helps to take care of the other ways we are weary and burdened. When our souls are troubled we are burdened by guilt and shame, stress and worry, fears and doubts, etc. These can cause us to become mentally and even physically weary; it can all work together to cause some major issues.
But when our soul is at rest we can release all of our burdens over to Jesus. We may suffer the natural effects of being tired after a hard day's work and whatnot, but we can escape the effects of becoming weary and burdened after receiving bad news or going through hardships and sufferings because we know we have Jesus. He is our strength when we are weak; he is there for us to lean on and cling to and hope in.
Ps. 68:19, "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens."
God is able to bear our burdens. When we try to carry them, we're soon depleted and defeated. But if we give them over to the Lord, we will be strengthened. If we're physically tired and we get some rest, we wake up refreshed and ready to go. But when we are spiritually tired and we get some rest for our souls, we are supernaturally empowered.
In my sermon last week I talked about Elijah being fed by an angel when he was exhausted in the desert. After he ate the second time I said he was like Popeye on spinach. He traveled for forty days and nights after eating those angelic meals. This physical example helps us to understand the spiritual reality of being empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit refreshes us when we feel worn out and He lifts us up when we feel weighed down. We come to Jesus to get rest for our souls.
2)Invitation to surrender.
First Jesus invites us to come to him. Then he invites us to do something else.
Vs. 29-30, "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.”
"Take my yoke upon you". In Jesus' day obviously there was no tractors so you used animals to farm the land. A yoke is an apparatus that would go over the necks of a team of oxen so the farmer could control them as he plowed the field. Jesus' audience would've understood the implication. This meant that Jesus is inviting them to come under his control. Hearing this probably turned some of them off.
"You lured me in because I am weary and burdened and you promised me rest. Now you're telling me I need to come under your control? You're not here to give me rest; you're here to make me more weary and give me more burdens! I don't think so; I'm outta here."
This is how people react today when the idea of surrendering to the Lordship of Christ comes up. The idea of being saved and not going to hell is attractive but when you get to the part about making Jesus the Lord of your life that's where things can change.
That's because people look at repentance and giving Jesus control of their lives as a burden not a blessing. They don't see that in order to be released from the weight of sin you need to commit to living your life for Jesus and not yourself. Satan convinces us that we're in control. So the concept of allowing Jesus to tell us how to live and replace our will for his is something we would reject.
Our nature is to rebel against authority: we rebel against our parents, we rebel against the law; any authority. If we don't agree with it our natural reaction will be to rebel and do what we want regardless. 'No one's gonna tell me what to do'. But the irony is we're not free; we're held captive by our sinful nature. And the only way we can be released from that control is to surrender to Jesus.
Satan wants to convince us that doing whatever we want is the only way to live. 'Do what makes you feel good; you only live once so enjoy the ride'. Satan wants us to think being a Christian takes all the fun out of life. But the reality is that living for Jesus takes the shame and guilt out of life-not the fun. I know it sounds like an oxy-moron but the only way we can ever be free is by surrendering to Jesus.
And we don't have to be afraid of that. Jesus invited the people to learn from him; highlighting the fact he was gentle and humble. Jesus typified that throughout his ministry. He spent time with sinners but the religious leaders looked down on him for it. When the religious leaders wanted to stone the woman caught in adultery, Jesus forgave her and told her to leave her life of sin.
The Jews despised the Samaritans but Jesus didn't. The woman at the well was surprised that Jesus was willing to talk with her. He was loving and compassionate to her, even though she had been married five times and was gearing up for number six. Jesus taught and lived humility, gentleness and love. He wanted people to understand that's how he would operate as their master.
If you have an authority figure who is ruthless and arrogant, it's easy to see why you would rebel. When you think of slavery, you don't get a picture of a gentle and humble master; you get a picture of oppression and cruelty. The Jews knew about oppression; they were slaves in Egypt for 400 years and were in captivity in Babylonia and Assyria. And they currently were not a free people being under Roman rule.
But Jesus wanted them to know that they need not fear his authority. He was a master who loved them, cared about them and would bless them; not oppress them. Satan's lie is that being a Christian will oppress; not bless. But it's the opposite. Satan wants us to think that giving up our old ways will ruin our life.
But Peter said in Acts 3:19, "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord." Being refreshed doesn't sound oppressive to me.
He said later in vs. 26, "When God raised up his servant [Jesus], he sent him first to you to bless you by turning you from your wicked ways." The invitation to surrender to Jesus is not a burden. It's not oppressive-it's the opposite-it's a refreshing blessing.
My yoke is easy and my burden is light. If you've been a Christian for a little while you probably know that living for Jesus is not easy. So why would Jesus say this? The Greek word here for easy is Chrestos. While it does mean easy it also means kind, good, better, loving and benevolent. Jesus isn't saying the Christian life is comfortable and relaxed; he's including all those other things with being under his control.
However, living under the control of Christ is easier than living under the control of sin. Jesus' yoke is easier because he is gentle and humble. The yoke of sin has Satan as the authority figure. He hates us and cares nothing about us. He laughs when we suffer the consequences of our sin. Satan's end game is to see us die and spend eternity in hell.
Contrast that with Jesus-who loves us and cares about us. His end game is to see us live the fullness of life-both now and for eternity. Satan wants to destroy us through being a slave to sin. Jesus wants to bless us through being a slave to righteousness.
When we hear words like slave and control we bristle and back away. But when it comes to having Jesus as our master and coming under his control, we have a patient and understanding authority figure who wants nothing but the best for us. What's best for us might not always be enjoyable-but it will always be beneficial.
My burden is light. Again, comparatively speaking, without Christ we are left to try to make it on our own; which is impossible. Living without Christ, having to figure life out on our own, not having the power of God available to help us, not having the peace of God, the joy of God, the wisdom of God, the security of God, all that, is a heavy burden. But when we have all the above, doing God's will is light because he helps us accomplish all the things we're commanded to do.
When Jesus told Paul in 2nd Cor. 12 that his power is made perfect in weakness, Paul rejoiced. The burden is living without that perfect power; the burden is having weakness but no power to counteract it. When we see verses like Phil. 4:13, "I can do all things through him who gives me strength", we understand that living for Jesus is not a burden because whatever he wants us to do is met with the ability to do it.
When we have help doing something the task is not a burden. When the project is over we're glad we didn't have to do it alone. We appreciate the fact that many hands make light work. Likewise, when we're doing the work of the Lord, we know we have the greatest help-Jesus. He equips us and leads us. And when we accomplish something for Christ we rejoice-not only because we did it but also because we know we couldn't have done it without him.
Accepting Jesus' invitation to surrender to his Lordship is the only way to live.
3) Open invitation.
I said in my introduction that we like to be invited. Invitations are typically only for a specific date. That would be a one-time invitation. Then you have the kind of invitation that's open-ended. "Hey, come down and see us whenever you like." That's an open invitation. That's the kind of invitation we have from Jesus.
When Jesus said, come to me, he didn't just mean initially for salvation, he meant on an ongoing basis. There will be times when we'll become weary and burdened. We'll feel drained, discouraged, frustrated, etc. What can we do? Accept that open invitation. I need to continually come to Jesus; I need to continually learn from him. I need to be reminded that Jesus is gentle and humble and that his yoke is easy and his burden is light.
After I come to Christ Satan will try to convince me to go back. After the Hebrews were rescued from Egyptian slavery, it wasn't long before they wanted to go back! They began to glamorize their life in Egypt, thinking of all the nice food they had to eat there; all the while minimizing their pain and suffering. We need to be careful or we'll fall into the same trap.
Gal. 5:1, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."
It doesn't make sense that after experiencing the difference between living under the burden of guilt and shame and then being set free from that burden that I would choose to put myself back under that burden all over again. But it happens or else Paul wouldn't warn us about it. He would say, 'Don't let Satan convince you that you were better off before. Don't glamorize, minimize or rationalize your sin'.
In Heb. 12:1 we're told to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Then we're told to fix our eyes on Jesus. The reason we entertain burdening ourselves again is because we take our eyes off Jesus and put our eyes back on ourselves and our sin.
Just because I've been set free, that doesn't mean I'm home free; I need to stand firm because Satan is going to try to me to get me to go back and grab the yoke of slavery to sin. I need to be self-controlled and alert. I need to keep coming to Christ to get what I need to be rejuvenated and strengthened.
We'll always need to come to Jesus because we'll always need strengthening, encouragement and support. We still need to come to Jesus because we still need rest for our souls. He wants us to come to him and keep coming to him.
Will you accept the invitation to come to Jesus?
