The Great Invitation

25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.

27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 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.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

This passage of scripture is probably one of the greatest passages of scripture, which is a quotation of Jesus. Sometimes, we refer to this as the “Great Invitation”. In this passage, Jesus is inviting people to come to Him. In this study, I want to give you a few short thoughts about this invitation to come to Christ.

Up to this point, in the Gospels, the command had always been “repent and be baptized for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” This was a call for nations to come under the authority of Jesus Christ who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In this passage of chapter 11, John the Baptist was being rejected because of his call to repentance. Jesus own generation was rejecting Him. In verses 20 through 24, there is the rejection of the Nations. There were three lands, Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernum. They were rejecting the message of Christ. All through chapter 11, to this point, the command has been “repent and be baptized for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” God was dealing with lands and nations. Now, Jesus extends an invitation. He makes this an invitation for people and individuals to come to Him.

In verses 25 through 27, Jesus is praying a prayer to God the Father. In this prayer, He thanks the Father because he is the Lord of Heaven and of earth. You see there is nothing that goes on in this world without the consent and the knowledge of God the Father because He is Lord over it.

Yesterday at the nursing home, I shared with them from the “Model Prayer”. You will remember that in this prayer, Jesus taught us to pray “Thine will be done in earth as it is in Heaven.” Why? Because God the Father is the Lord over Heaven and earth. His will that is going to be accomplished here in earth begins in Heaven. So, Jesus here praying to the Father once again acknowledges that God the Father is the Lord over Heaven and earth. Notice He says, “You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes.” May I remind you that the Gospel message is so simple that many times the wisest man has the hardest time understanding it. Because they feel that there must be something more than just faith. There must be something more than just believing and trusting in Christ because of His sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection from the dead.

Jesus acknowledges in His prayer that God has hidden this from the wise and prudent and revealed it to babes, that is those of simple understanding. Those of a simple mind. God has revealed this unto them. In verse 26, an interesting verse because it is such a simple statement. “Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.” Jesus Christ was now placing himself into the will of the Father. What He was saying to God is “Father if that is the way that you want it to be, and it is good in your sight to do it that way, even so. Let it be.

In verse 27, this prayer reveals to us that there is an intimate relationship between God, the Father and Jesus Christ the son. There are things that God the Father gave to the Son that no man knows except the Son because the Son knows the Father. There are things that people did not know about the Son except the Father. Look at the end of verse 27, “save (or except) the Son, and whomsoever the Son will reveal him.” There were some things that God was going to reveal to selected people through Jesus Christ. Then follows the “Great Invitation.” “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” When we talk about those who are labouring, we are not talking about going to work and labouring at work, or labouring at home as a homemaker, or at the church. We are talking about those who are under the guilt and weight of sin in their lives.