In Matthew 11, we have one of the warmest passages in the scriptures. Jesus calls those who are weary and heavy laden to come to him. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mt 11:28–30).
What does it mean to find rest in Jesus, and what kind of rest does he provide?
Jesus calls those who labor to come to him. Labor of any kind makes us tired, it wearies us. Jesus is calling the exhausted to come to him. Whether that exhaustion is from the labor of life, or the grief that comes from living in a groaning creation (Rom. 8:22-23), Jesus promises to give us rest. But weariness and exhaustion are not the only reasons we turn to Jesus. Those who are weary from bearing heavy loads are called to turn to Jesus. We can be spiritually heavy laden from legalistic burdens we place upon ourselves and from the awareness of our own sin and failures.
Jesus promises to give rest through our yoking ourselves to him. A yoke is designed to ease a burden. Picture two oxen yoked together to pull a plow. The two working together lightens the burden on both. In the scriptures, the yoke is often used in spiritual terms describing burdens placed on a person (Matt. 23:4; Acts 15:10; Gal. 5:1). The yoke of law keeping apart from the Spirit, or guilt over sin without understanding forgiveness, causes them to feel as if they must bear that burden on their own, to see themselves as the source of strength and power for bearing their burdens.
Jesus bids us come.
Looking forward to Jesus, the prophet Isaiah wrote: “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Is 55:1). To the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again” (Jn 4:13–14).
So for you and I, what do we do? First, come to Jesus for you see your burdens and you are wearied by them. Recognize you cannot bear them on your own. Secondly, learn from Jesus as you are teamed up with him. Jesus’ yoke does come with demands. Puritan Matthew Poole wrote, “The members of Christ are not without a yoke, a law and rule by which they are obliged to walk; and though the service of God be a perfect freedom, yet to flesh and blood it is a yoke, grating upon our sensitive appetite, and restraining our natural motions and inclinations.” What this means is, you can’t be yoked with Jesus and run out ahead of him, or drag behind. As we’re yoked with Jesus, we learn from him. Jesus’ yoke is the best yoke. He is a gentle teacher whose yoke is light. Finally, know that in Jesus alone will you find rest. Bearing burdens ourselves is our attempt to find rest, but bearing your own burden will never bring you rest.
As we prepare to gather this Lord’s day, everyone of us, for many reasons, can identify with feeling weary and heavy laden. We come into the gathering with labors and burdens of all sorts. Knowledge and sense of those burdens should drive us to Jesus and the means whereby he helps us.
Know that one of Jesus’ designs in the local church is that through the ministry of the local church, his people enjoy the rest Jesus has promised for their souls, a rest that can be experienced now (Rom. 5:1-2). This happens through the ministry of the Spirit of Christ, whereby he illuminates to us his Word, and we see the wonder and gentleness of Jesus. Jesus brings rest to our souls as we sing, read the scriptures and pray together. Through these communal activities, we remind one another of the rest found in Jesus alone. Finally, Jesus brings rest to our souls through the fellowship of the saints. Our warm, intentional, thoughtful presence and engagement with our brothers and sisters in Christ, the Spirit uses to strengthen and encourage the weary and heavy laden.