"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will
4. REST
"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 gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28–30). Many know these encouraging words by heart, but like the promises examined in the previous chapters of this book, the words of Jesus we will look at here contain a world of meaning that is easy to miss if we do not look at them closely. First, notice the double aspects of this promise: two groups are addressed – the weary and burdened; two invitations are made – to come to Christ and to take his yoke; and two promises of rest are made – "I will give you rest" and "you will find rest." We will look at these double aspects of Jesus' promise individually. Come and Take Jesus issues a dual summons to us with this promise – "come to me" and "take my yoke." The first may seem obvious enough in its meaning, but we should note that the word "come" (Greek deute) used in this passage conveys a sense of "positive immediacy." It is somewhere between an invitation and a command – perhaps best described as an urging. But it is not an urging to do something morally or otherwise necessary, rather, it is an urging to do something that would be beneficial to us. The expression also has a sense of urging action now as opposed to at some undetermined time (see, for example, Matthew 21:38; 28:6). We are urged not to hesitate, but to go quickly to claim this promise of help rather than waiting until we are discouraged or overly exhausted. Christ then tells us that we should come to him to "take my yoke upon you, and learn from me." Although a yoke is a wooden collar or crosspiece placed over the necks of two animals to enable them
to pull a plow or a cart, Jesus does not mean that we must take on an extra burden. A yoke allows two animals to share a load and thus pull more easily together, so Jesus humbly offers to help us pull our "load" – which is why he next says "for I am gentle and humble in heart." Sometimes people misunderstand this aspect of what Jesus said to mean that if we are humble we will somehow have rest. But the only aspect of our humility involved here is the humility we must show by going to Christ to ask for his help. It is then Christ's humility that is involved in stooping to help us, to give us rest. There is also another aspect of taking Christ's yoke upon us that we should remember. To take a yoke upon ourselves can also mean to submit our wills to someone's authority. Although many may be willing to "come to Jesus," far fewer are willing to truly submit their wills to him. Yet it is sometimes to the degree that we willingly submit to Christ that our inner conflicts and struggles are resolved and we do receive rest from them. Weary and Burdened There is a great deal of encouragement in the fact that these words are broad enough to include every form of human toil and care. The first word is active and the second passive – in other words, "weary" covers the effects of every kind of work and activity, and "burdened" includes all the externally-caused sorrows, fears, and every other mental and emotional burden which may weigh on us. Regarding work, it is often said that toil is curse, but work is a blessing. Work may certainly be a blessing and a source of great joy to us when our hearts are in it, but every form of work leads eventually to a feeling of toil and exhaustion if it is not moderated. And of course, the realities of our everyday lives mean that our work so often does become tiring (Genesis 3:17). The Gospels show that even the Son of God grew weary and needed rest and sleep. Jesus likewise urged his disciples to find rest when they needed it, and the old story of the preacher who playfully paraphrased the King James
Bible wording of Mark 6:31 "Come ... apart ... and rest a while" as "Rest a while ... or come apart!" was not far from the truth. We all need rest, of course, and sometimes the need is almost crushing and this is what Jesus understood, At such times he urges us to look to him for the deep rest that he can give. As the book of Psalms says: "God gives rest to his loved ones" (Psalm 127:2 NLT) and the Son of God offers that to all who look to him. In the same way, for many people – and perhaps for all of us at times – the psychological and emotional cares of this life can become burdens that are difficult to carry. These may be worries regarding the health and well being of our loved ones and friends, as well as concerns regarding our own situation. Psychologists know that such cares can have an ongoing and cumulative negative effect on us, but the words of Christ offer us help in this situation. We may know that Paul instructed us: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6). And we may routinely do this, but the words of Jesus remind us of the love of God that invites us – personally – to let Christ help us carry the burden of our problems. This is what the apostle Peter had in mind when he wrote "Casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you" (1 Peter 5:7 CSB). Giving and Receiving The final double aspect of what Jesus offered in this promise is that he said both "I will give you rest" and "you will find rest." These are not different types of rest, but different aspects of the same rest he offers us. In the Old Testament we read that God told Moses "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest" (Exodus 33:14), and in Jesus' words "I will give you rest," the "I" is emphasized in the Greek in which the New Testament is written. Christ stressed that he would give us something no one else can give. This is especially true of the rest he gives from the burden of sin that we all have come under. Not only is that burden lifted from us by Christ
because: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross" (1 Peter 2:24), but also because through Christ we are given help to live without the burden of ongoing sin (John 8:34; 1 John 3:6; etc.). But Christ's offer to give us rest applies to any burden we may bear in this life, whether physical or spiritual. It applies as much to burdens of poverty, health, or other physical difficulties as it does to guilt, anxiety, and the misguided pursuit of self-righteousness. While Christ's words "I will give you rest" stress his giving, his added expression "you will find rest" emphasizes our receiving of the rest he offers us. It is, as it were, an additional guarantee that he gives us of his promised rest. It is a noticeable aspect of Jesus' teaching that he repeated expressions when he wished to emphasize something – just as he often said "truly, truly, I tell you ..." For example, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you" (John 16:23 ESV). It is in that sense that he tells us he will give us rest and we will find it – the repetition of the idea emphasizes the sure nature of the promise he gives. Sometimes, this promise of Jesus is spiritualized by those who say it applies mainly to our future rest in God, but the context and the words Christ used show that it applies to the present life of every one of us in the here and now. The Son of God who was also the Son of Man shared both the weariness and the weakness we experience in our lives and offers – in his infinite compassion and infinite strength – to help us find the rest we need if we will simply heed his words to come to him to ask for it.