God's Rest

“Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

Jesus spoke these words in Capernaum in His lament over the cities which would not repent. Again, we see God’s love in spite of man’s rejection of Him. He continues to invite man to come to Him and to offer him what he doesn’t realize he is seeking, what he is needing and what he doesn’t know he desires in his inner most heart.

In the midst of Israel’s sin of idolatry, Isaiah prophesies God’s words. “Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:22) And he prophesies about Jesus seven hundred years before Jesus came. “For He comes up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; He has no form nor majesty that we should see Him, nor an appearance that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as it were a hiding of faces from Him, He being despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed.”(Isaiah 53:2-5) John in the revelation of Jesus of the end times records the words of the Holy Spirit and of the church calling people to come to Jesus before He comes. “And he said to me, These sayings are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show to His servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the Words of the prophecy of this Book. And I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel showing me these things. Then he said to me, Behold! See, do not do it! For I am your fellow-servant, and of your brothers the prophets, and of those who keep the Words of this Book. Do worship to God. And he said to me, Do not seal the Words of the prophecy of this Book; for the time is at hand. He acting unjustly, let him still act unjustly. And the filthy, let him be filthy still. And the righteous, let him be righteous still. And the holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to each according as his work is. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last. Blessed are they who do His commandments, that their authority will be over the Tree of Life, and they may enter in by the gates into the city. But outside are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and makes a lie. I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify these things to you over the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright and Morning Star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let the one hearing say, Come! And let the one who is thirsty come. And he willing, let him take of the Water of Life freely.” (Revelation 22:6-17)

The invitation is for all who labor and are heavy laden, in other words, weary and overburdened with life, with struggling in this world, with pushing against the tide continually and trying to survive in this world. Solomon saw the burden of striving in this world. “I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.” (Ecclesiastes 1:14) But more grievous, there is the burden of sin in our lives because even the most hardened sinner knows that there is punishment for sin. There is guilt and dread of what is coming and the consequences of sin. Sin is death. And death is felt in the spirit of man and in the circumstances of his life. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Sometimes man is trying to find the answers but can’t find the way. And the way is Jesus, but man refuses to believe. “Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.” (John 14:6) And Jesus is still saving and calling after them. “Therefore He is able also to save to the uttermost those who come unto God by Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25) He is in the Throne Room, making intercession for those who need Him. He is the High Priest making intercession for those who need to come to Him and to trust Him with their lives. “For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, and whoever desires to lose his life for My sake shall find it.” (Matthew 16:25)

Jesus is the giver of life in His rest. His rest is refreshment and exemption from the wrath that is to come on the disobedient. “Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls.” (Matthew 11:29) There is a rest, which in this instance means intermission, in other words a pause, a recess or a break from your burdens. In Jesus we find our burden is taken and our burden is light because Jesus has taken it. When we give our lives to Him, He takes over our burdens. We may still have the burdens, but Jesus is in charge of them now. And there is that recess or rest because the burden has been lifted off our shoulders.