"Come to Me" -- In Search of the Promised Rest

                                                 “Come to Me”

In Search of the Promised Rest

 

July 31, 2021

Larry R Evans

 

Introduction

 

When the disciples heard Jesus pray, they wanted to be taught how to pray like Him (Lk 11:1). Isn’t that the way we are?  When we see something that we like, we want it too . . . and we want it NOW!  The disciples didn’t consider what it took for Jesus to get to the point where He could pray as He did.  

 

I have a great appreciation for music. I feel I am missing something by not being able to play an instrument. To play like Virginia or Carrie would be great, but it takes practice. It takes hours of practice. I just wish I could play the piano or anything, but I’d like to play it NOW. Have you ever felt that way about something you wanted to be or do?

 

As I survey the life of Jesus, I’ve concluded He was trying to teach a way of life not a formula of dos and don’ts.  We tend to pick out some high points and say that’s what I want or that’s what I want to be like. To pray like Jesus, to live like Jesus, or do what Jesus did in life is a journey and not simply a destination.  It’s not like conquering a mountain.  It’s about how to live.  It is then that the three invitations of Jesus found in Matthew 11:28-30 come alive. They take on a new meaning.  Those invitations are: (1) Come to Me; (2) Take My Yoke; (3) Learn from Me.

 

We find in the prayer of the Lord something profound. The way Jesus prayed, I believe, provides a backdrop for His three invitations.  Jesus prayed, 

“Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. . .” the prayer ends with, “But deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and power and the glory forever. Amen.” Matt.6:9,13

I realize that much has been said about the word “Father.” It certainly speaks of a close father-son relationship. However, I believe there was more in the mind of Jesus when he encouraged us to pray “Our Father.”

 

The idea of God being a “father” to us was first seen in the times of Moses. Moses was the new leader of an enslaved and abused people. Moses was called by God. He was to go boldly before Pharaoh. It was a time of crisis! He could go confidently and meet Pharaoh because God was with him.  

 

With special instruction from God, Moses spoke as he had been told. With forceful confidence, Moses said,  

“Thus says the Lord, ‘Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.’” (Ex.4:22)

  God spoke as the Father. When Israel called upon God as “Father” it was much more than an endearing term or a simple introduction to prayer! It was with the knowledge that God would treat them as His own children.

 

The disciples heard Jesus praying with this understanding. The words He prayed conveyed a deep understanding of not only who God was but who He, Jesus, was.  When we go before God in prayer we can go just as confidently as Moses and Jesus did.  We are God’s children, and He is with us as we pray.

 

A second point, that we need to keep in mind before we launch into our study of Matthew 11:28 is this.  Jesus turned the world upside down when He prayed, “deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and power and the glory forever”

 

Jesus prayed differently because He thought differently.   His Father and His will were always first. The needs of Jesus were second. Being assured of the Father’s love and acceptance preceded praying for needs he wanted to see met.

 

Let’s keep these two points in mind.  (1) To come to “our Father” in prayer is to do so with the full weight of God’s historical presence with his people.  (2) Coming to God is always coming with the full knowledge that regardless of what we see, God’s will is always what is best for us. We can’t really see very far, but He can. He can be trusted.  

 

I believe we are ready to consider the three invitations of Jesus now that we have these two points in mind,

“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.” (Matt. 11:28-30)

“Come to Me”

 

Unlike the other Gospels, Matthew was specially written for the Jewish community.  It was important for Matthew to show how Jesus was the promised Messiah of the Old Testament.  Throughout the Gospel, Jesus is compared to Moses as the leader who delivered his people from bondage. The invitation to come to Him climaxes in finding rest.  “Come to me,” Jesus said, and “all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” 

 

It is no accident that the word “rest” used in this verse is the same Greek word used for rest in the translation of Exodus 33:14 by the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint, LXX).  Note what is said in that passage, 

The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.

When God met with Moses in the wilderness, He told him that He would bring rest to the children of Israel. Moses was the leader through whom he would work.  When Jesus said, “Come unto me” he was not only saying He was the new Mosaic leader, but He was also claiming divinity. He was God! Jesus was claiming to be more than Moses.  When Jesus said “come to me” we can go to Him in our own prayers just as Jesus went to His Father.  In times of crisis, we can find “rest.”

 

Take My Yoke

 

  Not only can we find “rest” by coming to Jesus, but we can find also find it easier than any human devising. The rabbis spoke of “the yoke of law” as a great blessing but, under their interpretation, the yoke of the law had become a burden rather than a blessing.  Jesus graphically describes how walking with God can be made difficult in Matt. 23:4,

They [the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, v.1) tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

These false leaders, unlike Moses, perverted God’s intention in the law that was given through Moses.  Christ in Matthew’s Gospel seeks to bring His followers back to God’s original plan! No wonder Jesus could say that His yoke was easy.  He said this not because there are fewer demands, but because it represents entering a disciple-relationship.  We are called to be a disciple and that begins by “coming to Jesus.”  

 

Many approach Christianity, and God in particular, as consumers.  When the disciples heard Jesus pray, “your kingdom come, you will be done,” they were introduced to a life-changing principle.  In the book The Desire of Ages (p.329) we find this insight,

“Take My yoke upon you,” Jesus says. The yoke is an instrument of service. Cattle are yoked for labor, and the yoke is essential that they may labor effectually. By this illustration, Christ teaches us that we are called to service as long as life shall last.We are to take upon us His yoke, that we may be co-workers with Him. 

The yoke that binds to service is the law of God. The great law of love revealed in Eden, proclaimed upon Sinai, and in the new covenant written in the heart, is that which binds the human worker to the will of God. 

 

One of the classic statements from The Desire of Ages comes in this context!

Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us, of which we know nothing. Those who accept the one principle of making the service and honor of God supreme will find perplexities vanish, and a plain path before their feet. (DA 330)

 

It is no accident that Matthew takes us directly from finding the rest by being yoked with Jesus to chapter 12 where He is shown to be the Lord of the Sabbath.  It is only in Jesus that we can find the Sabbath rest found in the Bible.  Hebrews 4:9-11 makes that clear,

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

Learn from Me

 

The disciples had seen Jesus in many circumstances. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, cast out demons, and answered His critics.   Jesus taught His disciples many things but nothing as important as seen in His own life of trust in His God’s plan for Him.  

 

Jerry Thomas paraphrased the entire book of The Desire of Ages in a book entitled, Messiah.  Here is an insightful paragraph,

Jesus’ heart was always at peace. He was not excited by praise or depressed by criticism. He kept His courage even in the face of danger or rejection. But many who follow Him are worried and anxious because they are afraid to trust God. God’s peace can come only with complete surrender. The troubles of this world cannot destroy us when Jesus is with us. (p.198)

Reflections

We began our study with a reference to portions of what we often call the Lord’s Prayer,

“‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.’Matt.6:9,13

The meaning behind the words “Our Father” and “deliver us” both come from the Exodus experience. We can have peace of heart and soul because we have a Father who hears, who understands, and who acts.  It is no wonder that Jesus, the Great “I am,” of the Old Testament and the Exodus experience, says TODAY,

 

COME TO ME AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST.