Pastor’s Thoughts – 12-14-2025

The reason for Christ’s incarnation is recorded by Luke where Christ says, “I have come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). He came to earth in order to save sinners. It is no wonder then that He gives a descriptive invitation for those prepared by God to hear and receive that invitation. It is found in Matthew chapter 11, “Come unto Me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). We appropriately use this same invitation when pleading with others to come to Christ the only Savior. It is not only an invitation but a command by God to “Come to Him.” It is equal to saying, “Believe in Him!.” And the reason given for this coming or believing in Jesus Christ is that He promises, “I will give you rest!”

The idea of “rest” is contrasted in Scripture with our natural condition in sin. Our context is one in which Christ is addressing the masses of the religious people who were lost spiritually. Christ has already described the foolish and blind rejection of Him by the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum (Matt. 11:20). He says to all the masses who are gathered around Him that He is looking for a particular people, a people who are weary and heavy laden. And for those who are, He promises rest. What is this rest that He promises? To understand this “rest” found in Christ, we must first understand our natural condition which is the opposite of rest.

Scripture says we are naturally in sin, “The wicked are like the tossing sea, for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up refuse and mud. ‘There is no peace,’ says my God, ‘for the wicked’” (Isaiah 57:20-21) .Our Lord is expressing a contrasting metaphor to explain the opposite of our spiritual unrest, so that to enter God’s rest means to be at peace with God. It is to bring about in a person’s heart a supernatural type of calm in the midst of the stormy darkness in this fallen world. Simply put, He is saying that He alone can bring this sense of rest, and that what keeps anyone from this rest is their unbelief, seen by their lack of coming to Him.

Dictionary definitions of “rest” mean to lean on, to repose upon, or to be fixed upon. Biblical rest is equivalent to the salvation our Lord provides. This coming to Christ therefore carries a faith with a rest to the fullest measure. It is a faith that sees Him as so glorious that He alone can do what is described here. This resting is the exclusive answer to those whom Christ was addressing then, and also for us now through His written word. It is to be positionally secured in Christ; and thereby ending all the foolish chasing of inadequate peace. Instead, it is to turn to Christ, be settled, unmovable, firm, and grounded in Him. It is, “To have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). This rest is brought about and grows in maturity because we have saving faith in Him.

Our Lord doesn’t just bring this invitation without also explaining the conditions fitting this invitation. What are those conditions? He says, “All who are weary and heavy laden.” The word for “weary” means to work to the point of exhaustion, to be totally fatigued. Once again, because Christ is addressing the spiritual in the form of the physical, He is using a metaphor. It refers to people in their lost and hopeless condition who are seeing their fruitless search for life’s answers. They are beginning to understand the reality of their crushing load of sin, and that is why they are heavy laden. They are beginning to recognize their separated condition from God.

The rabbis had told them they could earn their salvation, yet their consciences are crushing them with guilt. They are recognizing that vain, fruitless, striving after peace, contentment, joy and happiness is impossible without God’s intervention. So, Christ says, “Come to Me.” And this coming therefore means repentance. It means turning away from self to a change of life’s thinking and direction. When a person is convicted by the truth of God, they turn to Christ who alone rescues. This is the person who comes to grips by a state of humility that recognizes, “All my righteousness’s are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 56:3).

There is also another important element, and that is submission. In verse 29 Jesus says, “Take My yoke upon you.” That means to come under the authority of Christ. The yoke is representative of His Lordship and our servitude. Just as oxen who plowed the fields were under servitude, we come under the Lord’s yoke of submission. Unlike the yokes of self, of evil, and of the fallen world, Christ says, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:30). He is not saying that the life of a Christian is roses, but by our saving transformation and in our Lord’s strength we overcome.

Why? Because our Lord, though yet meek and gentle to us, is also the Almighty God. He is the exclusive answer and has the only invitation with immediate and eternal values. He puts us on the narrow road leading to glory. For those of us who have seen ourselves as the desperate sinners that God reveals in His Word, and have taken advantage of this wonderful invitation, we continually marvel at our Savior. He is the King of Kings, the Almighty God, and yet He stooped down to the lowest place on our behalf in order to grant this glorious salvation. That is what true Christmas is all about – seeing Christ, while also seeing ourselves and our circumstances, and coming to Him as He says, “To find rest for your souls” (Matt. 11:29). All of us who have truly come to Him sing, “Who is He in yonder stall, at whose feet the shepherds fall? Tis the Lord! Oh wondrous story! Tis the Lord! The King of glory! At His feet we humbly fall, crown Him, crown Him, Lord of all!”