A CALL TO THE WHOSOEVER.
Matthew 11:28-30.
There is a fine line between the Sovereignty of God and human responsibility. God reveals Himself to whomsoever He will, 'for so it seemed good in Thy sight' (cf. Matthew 11:26; cf. Deuteronomy 7:7-8; John 15:16; 1 John 4:19). Yet Jesus calls, “Come unto Me” (MATTHEW 11:28) to the ‘whosoever’ (cf. John 3:16).
To whom comes this call? To those who are burdened down with the rules and regulations of religion (cf. Matthew 23:2-4). We find no peace in man-made religion, and even the perfect law of God becomes a burden to the guilty.
Jesus perfectly fulfils the law in His own Person (cf. Matthew 5:17). He bears away the burden of our sins on the Cross of Calvary. He silences the accusations of our conscience (cf. Hebrews 10:22).
He gives us “rest” (MATTHEW 11:28): that perfect rest which comes from ‘peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ’ (cf. Romans 5:1). He gives us the peace that the world cannot give (cf. John 14:27). Not just pie-in-the-sky when I die, ‘in the sweet bye and bye’ - but perfect peace as a present possession in the here and now.
Yet this is not a call to lawlessness. There is such a thing as ‘the law of Christ’ (cf. Galatians 6:2). There is a yoke to be borne (MATTHEW 11:29): but the Carpenter of Nazareth has so fashioned that yoke that, when we are yoked to Him, the trials of life are easily borne (MATTHEW 11:30).
