Come To Me

The Invitation of Jesus in Matthew 11:28–30

Matthew 11, we'll begin in verse 25. At that time, Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.

Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal 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 light.

You may be seated. God, I ask that you would bless the preaching of your word this morning, that you would use Pastor Wiley, and that you would open our ears and open our eyes. God, I pray that we would praise your name for the wonderful truths that you have for us here in this word.

In Jesus' name, amen. Pastor Wiley is a pastor at Grace Baptist Church up in Fremont. If you haven't met him already, then yeah, please meet him at some point later. Come on, yeah. Well, good afternoon, everyone.

Good to see you. It's a sleepy hour, right? I hope not. I hope I don't put you to sleep. After lunch. All right, well, our text. Thank you for reading the text. Matthew 11, 28. It's one of the best known and best loved statements in the Bible.

Every Christian knows this verse. It's an invitation from the lips of Jesus. Come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest. It's the clearest, most direct, most personal, practical invite from the Lord Jesus.

And it penetrates right where we are. It reveals his heart to us. And it's exactly what we need to hear from him every day. And the only problem is that we're so used to hearing it. Word becomes routine.

It's easy to look past it. But all of us, when we hear it, we're moved and none of us really understand it thoroughly. And worse, we're just so, when we do that, we reduce it to something that is a little sentimental, kind of a spiritual hallmark card or from Jesus making us feel better about our weaknesses and our troubles.

Maybe an emotional pick-me-up when I'm feeling low. But any way you look at it, it's an amazing offer from the Lord. Like I said, it's personal. He says, come to me, it's universal. All who labor and are heavy laden.

And it's just amazing because he offers to give us what we cannot give ourselves. He says, I will give you rest. And when we put this invitation back into the original context, it comes with greater power.

And it just bursts out with this kindness and this truthfulness that I hope that you'll see this afternoon. So when did Jesus say these words? In the context, he makes this invitation right after the Sermon on the Mount.

He says these words after he's done all the miracles and dozens of miracles in those towns around the Lake of Galilee. He did amazing miracles. Miracles of compassion and power. And in verse 20, you see the effect that these miracles had on these people.

The responses and also their response had on him, on Jesus. And it's one of the few times in all the Bible where Jesus tells us what's in his heart. And there's a big contrast between verses 20 to 24 and 25 and 26.

First, Jesus speaks to the towns that have rejected him. And then he prays to God the Father at the same time. And so if you look at verses 20 to 24, it's all addressed to the cities of Galilee here on earth.

And then he turns and he addresses his Father in heaven. So when he's speaking to the cities on earth, he's close to tears. And it's a deep sadness for him. But when he turns to his Father, he's full of peace and submission to the will of the Father.

And this is the context for this gracious invitation from Jesus. He's been totally rejected. And we read in verses 20 to 24 his words, and they're the most severe pronouncements from the lips of Jesus.

Very uncomfortable words. He speaks to those towns where he grew up. When he did those astonishing miracles or mighty works, as the verse says. Capernaum, Chorazin, Bethesda. All the miracles recorded in chapters eight and nine take place in these towns.

And so he begins to denounce these cities because they didn't repent. And you look at what Jesus says in verses 20 to 21. Let me read that. I know we didn't read that. But woe unto you, Chorazin, woe unto you, Bethesda.

For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you.

So he begins to denounce these cities because they didn't repent. And these people in these villages had seen more miracles, more stunning miracles than any other place on the planet since creation. And every miracle that Jesus did was like a burst of spiritual light revealing him to be the son of God and showing the kingdom of God.

And their response was they didn't repent. They had so much light. They had the Sermon on the Mount. They heard it from his own lips. They saw Jesus raise the dead and drive out demons. They had him and the clearest revelation of God standing before them.

And you would think, what a blessing to live and witness all this. The intensity of this spiritual light that Jesus manifested, that he lavished on them. And what was their reaction? Well, some of them were excited, especially when they brought their family members to be healed, they got what they wanted.

We read they were astonished and entertained, but they didn't see the kingdom of heaven and would not repent. And what is the great sin? What's the crime that Jesus charges against these towns? It's that they did nothing.

That was it, they did nothing. There's no evidence that they hated him or persecuted him or mocked him. They weren't angry or antagonistic against the Lord Jesus, but in this blinding light of revelation, they were apathetic, they were indifferent.

And maybe they went to synagogue every week and the rest of the week, they did what they really cared about. They were just like us, people around us, living their lives in a self-directed way. In our text, Jesus takes these people forward to the day of judgment and he compares their destiny with the fate of those corrupt, greedy, violent cities, Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom.

And he says to the villages of Galilee, it will be worse for you on that day than those cities. Just think about that for a moment. The towns in Galilee were more moral, in a sense, than Tyre and Sodom.

But you see, with all the dazzling light that they received with the gospel shining on them, they were indifferent, they were apathetic. And Jesus says their judgment will be more severe because we're all gonna be judged according to the measure of light that we've received in revelation.

The measure of light that you have received and I have received is a measure of our responsibility, in a sense. And if you've heard the gospel of Jesus, indifference is the sin of sins. If you are someone who hears the word of God and listens to the teachings of the gospel and it doesn't lead you to repentance, ongoing repentance, and it makes no real change in you, you need to hear these words from the mouth of the Lord Jesus, this warning he gives us, because it's very serious.

All of us have to repent from our indifference and apathy. We have to come to Jesus and take his yoke and learn from him as we'll see in just a moment. And we need to listen to the word of God because our lives depend on it.

So this is a warning of sorrow from the judge of the living and the dead. Jesus speaks with complete confidence. He says, I'm going to decide the guilt of people on that day. He alone knows what's gonna happen on that day of judgment.

And he's going to separate the wheat from the chaff. And he doesn't need to warn us about it, but he does. He didn't need to warn these villages about it, but in his mercy he did. The fact that he does warn them is another kindness, another opportunity to open the door and invite them to follow him as he says in verse 28.

And they've rejected him. Yet he says, come to me and I will give you rest. He still invites them. In verse 25, the mood changes. If you notice the first words, it says at that time or at the same time, which Jesus is still thinking about the rejection of these people.

He's still thinking about the hardness of heart, but he shifts to his father, to the will of the father from sorrow and tears, he's now joyful and submissive. So he moves from human rejection to divine acceptance.

The Warning of Judgment on the Unrepentant Cities

So here we come to verses 28 and 29 where Jesus gives us a two point invitation. And the first part is in verse 28. He says, come on to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

It's very simple, it's very personal. He invites all who labor, all who are heavy burdened. It's kind of a wide description. It covers everyone in a sense in the world. Those with a load of sorrow, a load of sin, a load of remorse, all who feel a load on their heart, whoever it may be, whatever their past lives might have been he says all are invited to come to him.

And so look at this gracious offer that he makes. I will give you rest. You'll find rest for your souls. You see, unrest is one of the great characteristics of the world, but here Christ tells us there is rest in him, rest of heart, rest of conscience, rest because of forgiveness of sins, rest as a result of peace with God.

He says, I will give you rest. And so he invites all those who labor and are heavy laden. And I think we often take this to mean our own anxieties, our own suffering, our struggles, our restlessness that we have day by day.

And it's true, Jesus wants us to bring these to him. He wants us to bring all of ourselves to him and not to pretend like we have it all together. And he does promise to help us with these things, but that's not the primary meaning.

That's part of it, but it's not the primary meaning. When Jesus invites us to come to him being weary and heavy laden, it's the weight of trying to please God and make ourselves presentable to him by our own obedience.

And that's just a weight we cannot bear. We can't do it. It's the weight of the wrongs that were done, the rights and the good that we fail to do. Verse 28 means, come to me with all your sin and lostness.

I'll take it away and give you eternal rest in God. But the second part of the invitation has to do with the here and now, how we live now. And it speaks about a different kind of rest. If the first part speaks about eternal rest, this part in verses 29 and 30 speaks about the rest we experience now.

In verse 28, Jesus gives us rest, but in verse 29, we pursue it. And how we do that, there's two commands from Jesus. He says, take my yoke, 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.

So we come to Jesus, and he gives us eternal rest, but the Christian life is not just about the future, it's about now, a present rest. And the way we find this present rest, this experience of present rest, is by observing the two commands, take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.

Taking Christ’s Yoke and Finding Rest Now

So let's think about what a yoke is. A yoke is a piece of wood, it's a curved piece of wood, and it's used, it's usually put over two animals. And one's a stronger animal, he's older, he's wiser, he's smarter, and the other animal is the opposite.

He's younger, he's inexperienced, he's dumb. And they put them in the yoke together, there's room for their heads to slip in this yoke device. And Jesus commands us to get in the yoke with him, to put it around our necks, where he is on one side, and I'm on the other.

And so he's the one leading, he's commanding us to be personally joined with him, so that we walk his direction and learn from him. He knows we can't do this on our own. He's with us in the yoke, leading us to live for him.

It's a wonderful picture that Jesus gives us here. And he designs a yoke that will fit you perfectly. That's what it means when he says, my yoke is easy. The word easy means to fit well. The Lord has a path, or he has a purpose for you in this life, and he's leading you in his sovereignty, and that he's chosen the path that you're gonna go on.

He's gonna lead you. And there's gonna be burdens and troubles along the way, but you're gonna find that his yoke will bring you peace and rest and joy, and that every trial in life is turned to our good by his grace.

The Christian life is not just for forgiveness of sins, and the hope of glory and eternal rest. That's our inheritance. It's putting your neck under his yoke right now, just as you are. It's taking it up, putting it on, and walking with him day by day as he leads you, because he's promised to lead you and to walk with you day by day.

So when we come to him, that's not the end of the story, nor is it an end in itself. It leads to a life of discipleship, companionship, and into eternity. And that's how we find rest now, walking daily besides Jesus, having his yoke on us, which is easy and light.

We don't find rest anywhere else apart from him, and we can't find it. And it really is amazing, the one to whom God the Father has given all things wears a yoke, and he offers us that very yoke. He offers us, come in the yoke with me, gentle, humble in heart.

He came willing to be rejected, and now today he still makes this offer. He says, come to me, take my yoke. A couple things to conclude from this. If you're someone that comes to church, but you know that hearing God's word is making no difference in your life, you need to pay attention to the warning that Jesus has, because he wants you to come to him.

He alone understands the awfulness of eternal life without him, but he still invites you, just like he invited these cities around Galilee who rejected him, he still gave this invitation, come to me. Perhaps a good response would be, yes, Lord, I want you to come to Jesus.

And on the other side, you may be here, and you may be someone who secretly worries whether you're part of those whom God has chosen to reveal his son to, and you struggle with that uncertainty, and maybe even tie yourself in knots whether you can be sure, but you don't have to ask that question.

That will God, will Jesus reveal God's love to me? What we need to hear is that he says, come. We need to simply do what he commands. Come, take my yoke, learn without exception. So he wants us to come to him, to take his yoke, and to learn from him.

And he promises to give you rest, for he's gentle and lowly in heart. And these are just encouraging words, because life is a struggle. Day-to-day living is a struggle at times. And we see the vanity of this life apart from him, and so it makes you all the more just want to be near him, to be in that yoke.

Finally, if you feel yourself struggling or stunted in your walk with Christ, there's only one way to grow in the knowledge of God, of growing in grace, it's with your head in the yoke with Christ. You can't grow spiritually outside of submission to Jesus.

He says, learn from me, and you can't learn outside of him. You can only study and learn from him inside the yoke, within his word, walking with him daily, watching him, learning from him, copying his ways, imitating him.

The Lord doesn't give you more than you can bear, but that promise is to you. Come to me, and I will give you rest. So remember that wonderful promise to you. And there's another promise, he says, him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.

That's a wonderful verse too, a verse of assurance. So take his yoke, because his yoke is easy and his burden is light, amen. Let's just pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for our time together. We pray, Lord, that we would submit ourselves and put ourselves in the yoke with you, that you invite us day in and day out.

And Lord, it's by your providence that you save us, that you give us life in the sun. We thank you that you've done it all for us and that, Lord, you want us to live in preparation for that day when you come again.

So help us, Lord, live day to day, hearing your voice through your word. Thank you for the word of God that we have. Pray that you would bless our time together in Jesus' name, amen.