Jesus was calling come unto me

JESUS WAS CALLING-COMEUNTO ME
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
“Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Yoke Of Rest
Matthew 11:28-30
W.F. Adeney It is a common mistake to divide these verses and to quote the first of them - the
invitation to the weary - without the others, which are really essential to the practical
comprehension of Christ's method of giving rest; because it is in the conclusion of the whole
passage that we discover how we may obtain rest from Christ. We must, therefore, look both at
the blessing offered and at the means by which this blessing may be obtained.
I. THE BLESSING IS REST.
1. In what it consists. The soul of man in weariness and unrest craves for peace and repose. This
is more than the outward calm of quiet circumstances. Many have that who are victims to a storm
of unrest within - ship-wrecked sailors tossing on the waves of their own passions. The true rest
is not idleness. While the heart is at rest the hand may be at work. We can never work so well as
with a restful mind. Neither is this rest a state of mental torpor. The mind may be wide awake,
but calm and at peace - like the sea when its waves are still, and yet its deep waters teem with
life, and great fleets sweep over its surface.
2. For whom it is designed. Those who labour and are heavy laden. Some people are naturally
restful, constitutionally placid. But Christ desires to bring rest to troubled souls. He has
sympathy for the toiling multitude; he brings peace to those whose lives are burdened. This may
apply especially to those whose toil is inward - in the effort to overcome temptation, and who are
heavily laden with the weight of sin.
II. THE BLESSING OF REST IS TO BE OBTAINED BY WEARING THE YOKE OF
CHRIST. Let us see what this involves.

1. A personal approach to Christ. Jesus begins his words to the weary with the gracious
invitation, "Come unto me." Let not any heartbroken, despondent person hold back in fear, for
the invitation is just for him. "Arise; the Master calleth thee!" But he cannot receive the blessing
until he goes to Christ. Rest begins in personal contact with Christ.
2. Submitting to the rule of Christ. Some have thought that by his reference to the yoke our Lord
meant to indicate that the weary might yoke themselves to him, and that he and his tired disciple
might walk under the same yoke - the greater part of the weight of which he would bear.
Certainly there is some yoke to be borne by Christ's disciple. We do not escape from restlessness
by plunging into lawlessness and self-will. On the contrary, our self-will is the source of our
deepest unrest. When this is conquered we shall be at peace. Therefore the service of Christ,
which involves the suppression of self, is the way of inward restfulness. To bear his yoke, nay,
even to carry his cross, is to find rest. While we look for personal comfort and escape from duty,
we are miserable and restless; when we cease to think of our own ease and give ourselves up to
Christ's service, to bear his yoke, we find peace.
3. Following in the way of Christ. They who would have rest must learn of Christ. Then the rest
does not come in a moment. It will be obtained just in the degree in which the great lesson is
learnt. Further, this is a lesson in meekness and lowliness. Then rest will come in proportion as
we become meek and lowly like Christ. - W.F.A.
Biblical Illustrator
Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden.
Matthew 11:28
The burdened directed to Christ
R May.I. THE PERSON'S WHOM OUR LORD HERE ADDRESSES.
1. As burdened with convictions of sin and the keen remorse of a wounded conscience.
2. That sinners under these circumstances labour to be released from their burden.
(1)They resolve in their own strength to forsake their sins.
(2)There are others who are ignorant of the righteousness of God, and go about to establish their
own righteousness.
(3)In looking to the mercy of God irrespective of Christ's propitiatory sacrifice.
II. OUR LORD'S TENDER SOLICITUDE FOR THE HAPPINESS OF SUCH.
1. The invitation is condescending.
2. It is extensive and unconditional..

III. THE PROMISE ANNEXED.
1. Rest in your conscience from the dread of Divine wrath.
2. Rest in the will from its former corrupt propensities.
3. Heavenly rest for the people of God.
(R May.)
Rest in Christ for the heavy-laden
C. Bradley.I. WHAT IT IS. "Rest," not rest in sin, not rest from trouble. It is rest from sin — its
guilt, misery, power. It is rest in trouble.
II. OF WHOM IS THIS BLESSING TO BE OBTAINED. The conscious greatness these few
simple words indicate. Have you ever tried to comfort a troubled heart? Beyond your power. It is
the prerogative of Him who made the soul to give it rest. There is more power in Him to comfort
than in the world to disquiet.
III. WHO MAY OBTAIN THIS REST FROM HIM — "All that labour." These words express
the inward condition of man. We do indeed toil. Some weary themselves to work iniquity. The
world has worn some of you out. The burden of affliction; guilt — our corruptions.
IV. HOW THEY WHO DESIRE MAY OBTAIN IT — "Come."
1. Literally, when lie was on earth.
2. Faith in operation. Hagar went to the well and drank, and was saved. Those who have found
rest in Christ, remember where you found it. See on what easy terms we may find rest. Some
know they are sinners, but are not weary of sin.
(C. Bradley.)
Rest for the weary
D. Rees.1. The promise is faithful.
2. It is a precious promise.
3. It is an appropriate promise.
4. It is one of present accomplishment.
(D. Rees.)
The way of coming to Christ
H. W. Beecher.1. The most obvious is Christ historically taught.
2. Men seek to come to Him speculatively. Who can find out a being by a pure process of
thought?
3. There are those who seek Christ by a sentimental and humanitarian method. This will not fire
zeal. How then are men to come to Christ? Through a series of moral, practical endeavours to
live the life which He has prescribed for us.
(H. W. Beecher.)
Christ's word to the weary
W. G. Barrett.There are three sorts of trouble.

1. There is head-trouble — to do what is right.
2. There is heart-trouble. The interior grief.
3. There is soul-trouble. Christ gives rest from these.
(W. G. Barrett.)
A special invitation
C. H. Spurgeon.1. It is personal — "Come unto me." God directs to Christ, not to His members.
2. It is present — "Come " now, do not wait.
3. So sweet an invitation demands a spontaneous acceptance.
4. He puts the matter very exclusively. Do nothing else but come to Him.Arguments which the
Saviour used: —
1. Because He is the appointed mediator — "All things are delivered unto me of My Father."
2. Moreover the Father has given all things into His hands in the sense of government.
3. Christ is a well-furnished mediator — "All things are delivered unto Me." He has all the sinner
wants.
4. Come to Christ because He is an inconceivably great mediator. No man knows His fulness but
the Father.
5. Because He is an infinitely wise Saviour. He understands both persons on whose behalf He
mediates.
6. He is an indispensable mediator — "Neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son."
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Invitation based on saving power
Matthew Hole.In a previous verse our Lord had said, "All things are delivered unto me by My
Father: meaning that all power is given unto Him for the instructing, ruling, and saving of
mankind; from whence He infers those comfortable words in the text.
I. A gracious invitation made by our Saviour.
II. The persons invited.
III. A promise of ease and benefit.
IV. The way and manner of coming to Christ.
V. A farther encouragement hereunto, from an inward sense and feeling of the promised rest.
VI. A good reason to back and enforce it — "My yoke is easy."
(Matthew Hole.)
Ways of coming to Christ
Matthew Hole.Coming to Christ and believing, are in Scripture used to signify one and the same
thing.
I. The first step in coming to Christ is by baptism.
II. The next step is by prayer.

III. A farther step is by repentance and confession of sin.
IV. We are said to come to God by hearing His Word, and receiving instruction from Him.
V. Also by receiving His Holy Supper: and —
VI. By putting our whole trust and affiance in Him, relying upon Him for salvation, and placing
all our hopes and confidence in His merits and satisfaction.
(Matthew Hole.)
Coming to Christ
W. Jay.This implies three things.
I. ABSENCE: for what need is there of oar coming to Christ unless we are previously at a
distance from Him? Such is the condition of every man. Naturally, all are without Christ as to
saving influence; as to a proper knowledge of Him, love to Him, confidence in Him, and union
and communion with Him.
II. ACCESSIBLENESS. We come to Him; we can find and approach Him. Not to His bodily
presence. As man He is absent; as God He is still present. He said to His apostles, "Lo, I am with
you always; even unto the end of the, world."
III. APPLICATION. For this coming to Him is to deal with Him concerning the affairs of the
soul of eternity.
(W. Jay.)
Christ's rest
Stems and Twigs.I. A NEGATIVE DESCRIPTION.(1) Rest, not lethargy. A condition in which
the powers of the soul are quickened, rendered alive to its capacities, duties, and privileges.(2)
Rest, not inactivity. Release from weariness rather than from labour.(3) Rest, not confinement.
Not isolation or routine.(4) Rest, not leisure. Not a brief season of relaxation, but a lasting state
of peace and strength.
II. A POSITIVE DESCRIPTION.(1) Rest, that is, peace. Conscience is at ease. The mind is
satisfied. The heart is filled with love.(2) Rest, that is, fearlessness. Not only is there present
satisfaction, but assured confidence in the future.(3) Rest, that is, fortitude. The burden may not
be removed, but Christ gives us such a temper that we are as happy with our burden as though
we were without it.(4) Rest, that is, security. He shields us from every adverse power. He gives
us ground for our confidence.
(Stems and Twigs.)
Christ relieving us of natural burdens
Bishop Simpson.1. Spiritual burdens.
2. Mental burdens.
3. Providential burdens.
4. Physical burdens.
(Bishop Simpson.)
Christianity lightens physical burdens

Bishop Simpson., Robert Hall, M. A.Go to-day into heathen countries, into Mohammedan lands,
and what do you find'? The village on the hill top, the old wails, the spring down near the roost
of the hill, the water carried by hand, the pitcher, the goat skin — just as it was in ancient times.
The burden is borne by men upon their backs. Go to China, and travel from place to place. It is
difficult, and oftentimes the traveller must be carried by men, and, if not by men, by a rude cart.
When I was in Palestine, a year ago, there was only one wheeled vehicle in the whole territory,
and that had been brought there by the Russian Embassy. Burdens were borne on the back, and
in the simplest way-. Turn to Christian lands, and what are they? See what you call civilization
— that is, Christianity affecting the minds and occupations of men — how it works! How is this
city of a million and a quarter supplied with water? A great engine pumps it up from the river;
iron pipes carry it to every house. You turn the tap and have it in almost every room. There is no
broken back or burdened frame carrying from some spring this water. Go into countries partly
civilized, and you find a few public pumps or wells, and the multitudes go there. It is a mere
physical thing, you say. Yes; but it is God working in the subjugation of nature to man's comfort.
Moreover, you turn these taps in your room without thinking of it; and yet you have here a proof
that God is taking care of the labour-burdened, and ought to remember how Christ has said,
"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Go out into the
fields. What was the old way? Men, bowed down in the heat of an August sun, took the sickle in
hand, and tried to reap the harvest. Now the reaping-machine, drawn by horses, moves into the
field, throws out its bound-up sheaves without human toil: and the harvest is gathered without
man being bowed down to the earth. What is it? "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest." Go into the house: long ago, needlewomen, from early morn
until night, and late into the night, stitched carefully, slowly, regularly, on their endless task.
Now look at the sewing-machine, and see the amount of work that can be done without,
comparatively speaking, human toil. Turn your eyes over to this light, and whence comes it, and
how? Look at the little lamp of old, with its lard and wick, then the tallow candle; and now,
wandering through all these pipes, comes this air or gas to be lighted, and what a change in
human labour i From the darkness, from the atmosphere around us, men are gathering this
electric fluid, and throwing light over the darkest of streets and alleys of your city, and thus
enabling thousands of men to work as by daylight in your manufactories. What a change in
human labour! There must still be labour, but it is not to be of that toilsome character that it once
was.
(Bishop Simpson.)It is not a local coming to Christ, which is now impossible, but a movement of
heart and mind to Him.
I. THE CLASS OF PERSONS that our Saviour wan supposed to have in view.
1. Such as were laden with the burden of ceremonial obedience. The observances of Christianity
were few and simple, neither occupying much time, nor incurring much expense. They
recommended themselves by their significance and force.
2. Such as are oppressed and burdened with a sense of guilt.
3. Such as are endeavouring to erect an edifice of righteousness out of their own performances.
4. Those who are overwhelmed with worldly calamities — the victims of worldly sorrow.
5. Those who are engaged in a restless, uncertain pursuit after felicity in the present state.
6. Those who are heavy laden by speculative pursuits in matters of.religion.

(Robert Hall, M. A.)
A word in season to the weary
E. Johnson, M. A.Causes of weariness.
1. Wounded affections.
2. The disappointment of our desires.
3. Vacancy of mind and the sense of monotony.
4. The load of a guilty conscience is fatiguing.
5. The burden of earnest thought and noble endeavour.
(E. Johnson, M. A.)
Desire outruns faculty anal causes weariness
E. Johnson, M. A.The result would be something monstrous if their energies and abilities grew
as fast as their aspirations or their ambitions. As the eye carries the mind in the flash of a
moment over a space of country which it would require hours to traverse in the body, so the hot
speed of human Desire outruns our slow and pausing faculties. And this a great cause of fatigue;
we cannot keep up with ourselves; one part of our nature lags behind another. Or, no sooner is
the goal which we had thought a fixed one reached, than another starts up in the new distance,
and Desire is still goading us on. refusing us rest.
(E. Johnson, M. A.)
Rest not found in mere ceremonial observances
R. A. Bertram.Both the Wesleys, and Whitefield also, fell for a time into the same mistake. In
their endeavours to obtain peace of conscience, in addition to attending every ordinary service of
the church, they received the sacrament every Sunday, fasted every Wednesday and Friday,
retired regularly every morning and evening for meditation and prayer; they wore the coarsest
garments, partook of the coarsest fare, visited the sick, taught the ignorant, ministered to the
wants of the needy; and, that he might have more to give away, John Wesley even for a time
went barefoot. And yet, with all this, they did not obtain the peace for which their souls craved.
(R. A. Bertram.)
The reality of rest
Thomas Brooks. "Come," saith Christ, "and I will give you rest." I will not show you rest, nor
barely tell you of rest, but I will give you rest. I am faithfulness itself, and cannot lie, I will give
you rest. I that have the greatest power to give it, the greatest will to give it, the greatest right to
give it, come, laden sinners, and I will give you rest. Rest is the most desirable good, the most
suitable good, and to you the greatest good. Come, saith Christ — that is, believe in Me, and I
will give you rest; I will give you peace with God, and peace with conscience: I will turn your
storm into an everlasting calm; I will give you such rest, that the world can neither give to you
nor take from you.
(Thomas Brooks.)
Rest only in GodLord, Thou madest us for Thyself, and we can find no rest till we find rest in
Thee!
( Augustine.)

The weary welcome to rest
The Sunday at Home.A poor English girl, in Miss Leigh's home in Paris, ill in body and hopeless
in spirit, was greatly affected by hearing some children singing, "I heard the voice of Jesus say."
When they came to the words, "weary, and worn, and sad," she moaned, "That's me 1 That's me i
What did He do? Fill it up, fill it up!" She never rested until she had heard the whole of the hymn
which tells how Jesus gives rest to such. By-and-by she asked, "Is that true?" On being
answered, "Yes," she asked, "Have you come to Jesus? Has He given you rest?" "He has."
Raising herself, she asked, "Do you mind my coming very close to you? May be it would be
easier to go to Jesus with one who has been before than to go to Him alone." So saying, she
nestled her head on the shoulder of her who watched, and clutching her as one in the agony of
death, she murmured, "Now, try and take me with you to Jesus."
(The Sunday at Home.)
Rest for all
Samuel Rutherford.There are many heads resting on Christ's bosom, but there's room for yours
there.
(Samuel Rutherford.)
Rest not inaction
F. W. Robertson.It is not the lake locked in ice that suggests repose, but the river moving on
calmly and rapidly, in silent majesty and strength. It is not the cattle lying in the sun, but the
eagle cleaving the air with fixed pinions, that gives you the idea of repose with strength and
motion. In creation, the rest of God is exhibited as a sense of power which nothing wearies.
When chaos burst into harmony, so to speak, God had rest.
(F. W. Robertson.)
Rest In trouble
R. Tuck, B. A.I say that men want rest from their troubles, and that the only worthy rest is rest in
our trouble. We have our first real impression of what toil is, when we begin, as an apprentice, to
learn some trade. Our first real impression of toil brings the first real desire for rest. But all the
rest the young man thinks of is the rest of laying down his tools, and leaving the workshop or the
warehouse to spend the evening in manly sports. He has no thought yet of that higher rest, which
will come, by-and-by, out of skill and facility in the use of tools.
(R. Tuck, B. A.)
Resting on the BibleIn Newport church, in the Isle of Wight, lies buried the Princess Elizabeth
(daughter of Charles the First). A marble monument, erected by our Queen Victoria, records in a
touching way the manner of her death. She languished in Carisbrook Castle during the wars of
the Commonwealth — a prisoner, alone, and separated from all the companions of her youth, tilt
death set her free. She was found dead one day, with her head leaning on her Bible, and the Bible
open at the words, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest." The menu. meat in Newport church records this fact. It consists of a female figure reclining
her head on a marble book, with our text engraven on the book. Think, my brethren, what a
sermon in stone that monument preaches. Think what a stunning memorial it affords of the utter
inability of rank and high birth to confer certain happiness. Think what a testimony it bears to the

lesson before you this day — the mighty lesson that there is no true rest for any one excepting in
Christ. -Happy will it be for your soul if that lesson is never forgotten.
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(28) Come unto me.—As in the consciousness of this
plenitude of power, the Son of Man turns with infinite compassion to those whose weakness and
weariness He has shared, and offers them the rest which none other can give them.
Labour and are heavy laden.—The words arc wide enough to cover every form of human sin and
sorrow, but the thought that was most prominent in them at the time was that of the burdens
grievous to be borne, the yoke of traditions and ordinances which the Pharisees and scribes had
imposed on the consciences of men. (Comp. Matthew 23:4, Acts 15:10.) The first of the two
words gives prominence to the active, the latter to the passive, aspect of human suffering, by
whatever cause produced.
I will give you rest.—The I is emphasized in the Greek. He gives what no one else can give—
rest from the burden of sin, from the weariness of fruitless toil.
MacLaren's ExpositionsMatthew
THE REST GIVER
Matthew 11:28 - Matthew 11:29.
One does not know whether tenderness or majesty is predominant in these wonderful words. A
divine penetration into man’s true condition, and a divine pity, are expressed in them. Jesus looks
with clearsighted compassion into the inmost history of all hearts, and sees the toil and the
sorrow which weigh on every soul. And no less remarkable is the divine consciousness of power,
to succour and to help, which speaks in them. Think of a Jewish peasant of thirty years old,
opening his arms to embrace the world, and saying to all men, ‘Come and rest on My breast.’
Think of a man supposing himself to be possessed of a charm which could soothe all sorrow and
lift the weight from every heart.
A great sculptor has composed a group where there diverge from the central figure on either side,
in two long lines, types of all the cruel varieties of human pains and pangs; and in the midst
stands, calm, pure, with the consciousness of power and love in His looks, and with outstretched
hands, as if beckoning invitation and dropping benediction, Christ the Consoler. The artist has
but embodied the claim which the Master makes for Himself here. No less remarkable is His
own picture of Himself, as ‘meek and lowly in heart.’ Did ever anybody before say, ‘I am
humble,’ without provoking the comment, ‘He that says he is humble proves that he is not’? But
Jesus Christ said it, and the world has allowed the claim; and has answered, ‘Though Thou
bearest record of Thyself, Thy record is true.’

But my object now is not so much to deal with the revelation of our Lord contained in these
marvellous words, as to try, as well as I can, to re-echo, however faintly, the invitation that
sounds in them. There is a very striking reduplication running through them which is often
passed unnoticed. I shall shape my remarks so as to bring out that feature of the text, asking you
to look first with me at the twofold designation of the persons addressed; next at the twofold
invitation; and last at the twofold promise of rest.
I. Consider then the twofold designation here of the persons addressed, ‘Come unto Me, all ye
that labour and are heavy laden.’
The one word expresses effort and toil, the other a burden and endurance. The one speaks of the
active, the other of the passive, side of human misery and evil. Toil is work which is distasteful
in itself, or which is beyond our faculties. Such toil, sometime or other, more or less, sooner or
later, is the lot of every man. All work becomes labour, and all labour, sometime or other,
becomes toil. The text is, first of all, and in its most simple and surface meaning, an invitation to
all the men who know how ceaseless, how wearying, how empty the effort and energy of life is,
to come to this Master and rest.
You remember those bitter words of the Book of Ecclesiastes, where the preacher sets forth a
circle of labour that only comes back to the point where it began, as being the law for nature and
the law for man. And truly much of our work seems to be no better than that. We are like
squirrels in a cage, putting forth immense muscular effort, and nothing to show for it after all.
‘All is vanity, and striving after wind.’
Toil is a curse; work is a blessing. But all our work darkens into toil; and the invitation, ‘Come
unto Me, all ye that labour,’ reaches to the very utmost verge of the world and includes every
soul.
And then, in like manner, the other side of human experience is set forth in that other word. For
most men have not only to work, but to bear; not only to toil, but to sorrow. There are efforts that
need to be put forth, which task all our energy, and leave the muscles flaccid and feeble. And
many of us have, at one and the same moment, to work and to weep, to toil whilst our hearts are
beating like a forge-hammer; to labour whilst memories and thoughts that might enfeeble any
worker, are busy with us. A burden of sorrow, as well as effort and toil, is, sooner or later, the lot
of all men.
But that is only surface. The twofold designation here before us goes a great deal deeper than
that. It points to two relationships to God and to God’s law of righteousness. Men labour with
vague and yet with noble effort, sometimes, to do the thing that is right, and after all efforts there
is left a burden of conscious defect. In the purest and the highest lives there come both of these
things. And Jesus Christ, in this merciful invitation of His, speaks to all the men that have tried,
and tried in vain, to satisfy their consciences and to obey the law of God, and says to them,
‘Cease your efforts, and no longer carry that burden of failure and of sin upon your shoulders.
Come unto Me, and I will give you rest.’
I should be sorry to think that I was speaking to any man or woman who had not, more or less,

tried to do what is right. You have laboured at that effort with more or less of consistency, with
more or less of earnestness. Have you not found that you could not achieve it?
I am sure that I am speaking to no man or woman who has not upon his or her conscience a great
weight of neglected duties, of actual transgressions, of mean thoughts, of foul words and
passions, of deeds that they would be ashamed that any should see; ashamed that their dearest
should catch a glimpse of. My friend, universal sinfulness is no mere black dogma of a narrow
Calvinism; it is no uncharitable indictment against the race; it is simply putting into definite
words the consciousness that is in every one of your hearts. You know that, whether you like to
think about it or not, you have broken God’s law, and are a sinful man. You carry a burden on
your back whether you realise the fact or no, a burden that clogs all your efforts, and that will
sink you deeper into the darkness and the mire. ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labour,’ and with
noble, but, at bottom, vain, efforts have striven after right and truth. ‘Come unto Me all ye that
are burdened,’ and bear, sometimes forgetting it, but often reminded of its pressure by galled
shoulders and wearied limbs, the burden of sin on your bent backs.
This invitation includes the whole race. In it, as in a blank form, you may each insert your name.
Jesus Christ speaks to thee, John, Thomas, Mary, Peter, whatever thy name may be, as distinctly
as if you saw your name written on the pages of your New Testament, when He says to you,
‘Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden.’ For the ‘all’ is but the sum of the units;
and I, and thou, and thou, have our place within the word.
II. Now, secondly, look at the twofold invitation that is here.
‘Come unto Me . . . Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me.’ These two things are not the
same. ‘Coming unto Me,’ as is quite plain to the most superficial observation, is the first step in
the approach to a companionship, which companionship is afterwards perfected and kept up by
obedience and imitation. The ‘coming’ is an initial act which makes a man Christ’s companion.
And the ‘Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me,’ is the continuous act by which that
companionship is manifested and preserved. So that in these words, which come so familiarly to
most of our memories that they have almost ceased to present a sharp meaning, there is not only
a merciful summons to the initial act, but a description of the continual life of which that act is
the introduction.
And now, to put that into simpler words, when Jesus Christ says ‘Come unto Me,’ He Himself
has taught us what is His inmost meaning in that invitation, by another word of His: ‘He that
cometh unto Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst’; where the
parallelism of the clauses teaches us that to come to Christ is simply to put our trust in Him.
There is in faith a true movement of the whole soul towards the Master. I think that this
metaphor teaches us a great deal more about that faith that we are always talking about in the
pulpit, and which, I am afraid, many of our congregations do not very distinctly understand, than
many a book of theology does. To ‘come to Him’ implies, distinctly, that He, and no mere
theological dogma, however precious and clear, is the Object on which faith rests.
And, therefore, if Christ, and not merely a doctrinal truth about Christ, be the Object of our faith,
then it is very clear that faith, which grasps a Person, must be something more than the mere act

of the understanding which assents to a truth. And what more is it? How is it possible for one
person to lay hold of and to come to another? By trust and love, and by these alone. These be the
bonds that bind men together. Mere intellectual consent may be sufficient to fasten a man to a
dogma, but there must be will and heart at work to bind a man to a person; and if it be Christ and
not a theology, to which we come by our faith, then it must be with something more than our
brains that we grasp Him and draw near to Him. That is to say, your will is engaged in your
confidence. Trust Him as you trust one another, only with the difference befitting a trust directed
to an absolute and perfect object of trust, and not to a poor, variable human heart. Trust Him as
you trust one another. Then, just as husband and wife, parent and child, friend and friend, pass
through all intervening hindrances and come together when they trust and love, so you come
closer to Christ as the very soul of your soul by an inward real union, than you do even to your
dear ones, if you grapple Him to your heart with the hoops of steel, which, by simple trust in
Him, the Divine Redeemer forges for us. ‘Come unto Me,’ being translated out of metaphor into
fact, is simply ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.’
And still further, we have here, not only the initial act by which companionship and union with
Jesus Christ is brought about, but the continual course by which it is kept up, and by which it is
manifested. The faith which saves a man’s soul is not all which is required for a Christian life.
‘Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me.’ The yoke is that which, laid on the broad forehead
or the thick neck of the ox, has attached to it the cords which are bound to the burden that the
animal draws. The burden, then, which Christ gives to His servants to pull, is a metaphor for the
specific duties which He enjoins upon them to perform; and the yoke by which they are fastened
to their burdens, ‘obliged’ to their duties, is His authority, So to ‘take His yoke’ upon us is to
submit our wills to His authority. Therefore this further call is addressed to all those who have
come to Him, feeling their weakness and their need and their sinfulness, and have found in Him
a Saviour who has made them restful and glad; and it bids them live in the deepest submission of
will to Him, in joyful obedience, in constant service; and, above all, in the daily imitation of the
Master.
You must put both these commandments together before you get Christ’s will for His children
completely expressed. There are some of you who think that Christianity is only a means by
which you may escape the penalty of your sins; and you are ready enough, or fancy yourselves
so, to listen when He says, ‘Come to Me that you may be pardoned,’ but you are not so ready to
listen to what He says afterwards, when He calls upon you to take His yoke upon you, to obey
Him, to serve Him, and above all to copy Him. And I beseech you to remember that if you go
and part these two halves from one another, as many people do, some of them bearing away the
one half and some the other, you have got a maimed Gospel; in the one case a foundation
without a building, and in the other case a building without a foundation. The people who say
that Christ’s call to the world is ‘Come unto Me,’ and whose Christianity and whose Gospel is
only a proclamation of indulgence and pardon for past sin, have laid hold of half of the truth. The
people who say that Christ’s call is ‘Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me,’ and that
Christianity is a proclamation of the duty of pure living after the pattern of Jesus Christ our great
Example, have laid hold of the other half of the truth. And both halves bleed themselves away
and die, being torn asunder; put them together, and each has power.
That separation is one reason why so many Christian men and women are such poor Christians

as they are-having so little real religion, and consequently so little real joy. I could lay my fingers
upon many men, professing Christians-I do not say whether in this church or in other churches-
whose whole life shows that they do not understand that Jesus Christ has a twofold summons to
His servants; and that it is of no avail once, long ago, to have come, or to think that you have
come, to Him to get pardon, unless day by day you are keeping beside Him, doing His
commandments, and copying His sweet and blessed example.
III. And now, lastly, look at the twofold promise which is here.
I do not know if there is any importance to be attached to the slight diversity of language in the
two verses, so as that in the one case the promise runs, ‘I will give you rest,’ and in the other,
‘Ye shall find rest.’ That sounds as if the rest that was contingent upon the first of the invitations
was in a certain and more direct and exclusive fashion Christ’s gift than the rest which was
contingent upon the second. It may be so, but I attach no importance to that criticism; only I
would have you observe that our Lord distinctly separates here between the rest of ‘coming,’ and
the rest of wearing His ‘yoke.’ These two, howsoever they may be like each other, are still not
the same. The one is the perfecting and the prolongation, no doubt, of the other, but has likewise
in it some other, I say not more blessed, elements. Dear brethren, here are two precious things
held out and offered to us all. There is rest in coming to Christ; the rest of a quiet conscience
which gnaws no more; the rest of a conscious friendship and union with God, in whom alone are
our soul’s home, harbour, and repose; the rest of fears dispelled; the rest of forgiveness received
into the heart. Do you want that? Go to Christ, and as soon as you go to Him you will get that
rest.
There is rest in faith. The very act of confidence is repose. Look how that little child goes to
sleep in its mother’s lap, secure from harm because it trusts. And, oh! if there steal over our
hearts such a sweet relaxation of the tension of anxiety when there is some dear one on whom we
can cast all responsibility, how much more may we be delivered from all disquieting fears by the
exercise of quiet confidence in the infinite love and power of our Brother Redeemer, Christ! He
will be ‘a covert from the storm, and a refuge from the tempest’; as ‘rivers of water in a dry
place, and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.’ If we come to Him, the very act of
coming brings repose.
But, brethren, that is not enough, and, blessed be God! that is not all. There is a further, deeper
rest in obedience, and emphatically and most blessedly there is a rest in Christ-likeness. ‘Take
My yoke upon you.’ There is repose in saying ‘Thou art my Master, and to Thee I bow.’ You are
delivered from the unrest of self-will, from the unrest of contending desires, you get rid of the
weight of too much liberty. There is peace in submission; peace in abdicating the control of my
own being; peace in saying, ‘Take Thou the reins, and do Thou rule and guide me.’ There is
peace in surrender and in taking His yoke upon us.
And most especially the path of rest for men is in treading in Christ’s footsteps. ‘Learn of Me,’ it
is the secret of tranquillity. We have done with passionate hot desires,-and it is these that breed
all the disquiet in our lives-when we take the meekness and the lowliness of the Master for our
pattern. The river will no longer roll, broken by many a boulder, and chafed into foam over many
a fall, but will flow with even foot, and broad, smooth bosom, to the parent sea.

There is quietness in self-sacrifice, there is tranquillity in ceasing from mine own works and
growing like the Master.
‘The Cross is strength; the solemn Cross is gain.
The Cross is Jesus’ breast,
Here giveth He the rest,
That to His best beloved doth still remain.’
‘Take up thy cross daily,’ and thou enterest into His rest.
My brother, ‘the wicked is like the troubled sea that cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and
dirt.’ But you, if you come to Christ, and if you cleave to Christ, may be like that ‘sea of glass,
mingled with fire,’ that lies pure, transparent, waveless before the Throne of God, over which no
tempests rave, and which, in its deepest depths, mirrors the majesty of ‘Him that sitteth upon the
Throne, and of the Lamb.’
Benson CommentaryHYPERLINK "/matthew/11-28.htm"Matthew 11:28. Come unto me — Our
Lord here shows to whom he is pleased to reveal the Father, and the things said above to be hid
from the wise and prudent; to those that labour, or, are weary, as κοπιωντες may be rendered,
and are heavy laden; namely, those that are weary of the slavery of sin and Satan, and of the love
of the world and the pursuit of its vanities, and desire and labour after a state of reconciliation
and peace with God, and rest in him; and who, till they enjoy these blessings, are heavy laden
with a sense of the guilt and power of their sins, and of the displeasure of God due to them on
account thereof. To these, and also to such as are burdened with the distresses of life and various
trials, Jesus graciously says, Come unto me — The original word, Δευτε, come, expresses not so
much a command, as a friendly request; a familiar exhorting, desiring, and begging a person to
do any thing, particularly what is pleasant, and would be profitable to him if done. To come to
Christ, is to apply to him in faith and prayer for such blessings as we see we want. And I — I
alone, (for no one else can,) will give you freely, (what you cannot purchase,) rest, namely, from
the guilt of sin by justification, and from the power of sin by sanctification; rest, from a sense of
the wrath of God and an accusing conscience, in peace with God and peace of mind; rest, from
all carnal affections, and fruitless worldly cares, disquietudes, and labours, in the love of God
shed abroad in your hearts; and rest in the midst of the afflictions, trials, and troubles of life, in a
full assurance that all things shall work for your good, and that, though in the world you may
have tribulation, in me you shall have peace. Some commentators, by the rest offered in this
invitation, understand that freedom from the burdensome services of the law which Christ has
granted to men through the promulgation of the gospel. And it must be owned that this
interpretation is favoured by the subsequent clause, in which men are invited to take on them
Christ’s yoke and burden, from the consideration that they are light and easy, namely, in
comparison of Moses’s yoke. There is no reason, however, for confining the rest of the soul here
offered to that particular privilege of Christianity. It is more natural to think that it comprehends
therewith all the blessings of the gospel whatsoever. Christianity, when embraced in faith and
love, and possessed in the life and power of it, gives rest to the soul, because, 1st, it clearly

informs the judgment concerning the most important points, removing all doubts concerning
them; 2d, it settles the will in the choice of what is for its happiness; 3d, it controls and regulates
the passions, and keeps them under subjection to the peace and love of God. Php 4:7; Colossians
3:14-15. See Dodd’s sermon on this text.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary11:25-30 It becomes children to be grateful. When we
come to God as a Father, we must remember that he is Lord of heaven and earth, which obliges
us to come to him with reverence as to the sovereign Lord of all; yet with confidence, as one able
to defend us from evil, and to supply us with all good. Our blessed Lord added a remarkable
declaration, that the Father had delivered into his hands all power, authority, and judgment. We
are indebted to Christ for all the revelation we have of God the Father's will and love, ever since
Adam sinned. Our Saviour has invited all that labour and are heavy-laden, to come unto him. In
some senses all men are so. Worldly men burden themselves with fruitless cares for wealth and
honours; the gay and the sensual labour in pursuit of pleasures; the slave of Satan and his own
lusts, is the merest drudge on earth. Those who labour to establish their own righteousness also
labour in vain. The convinced sinner is heavy-laden with guilt and terror; and the tempted and
afflicted believer has labours and burdens. Christ invites all to come to him for rest to their souls.
He alone gives this invitation; men come to him, when, feeling their guilt and misery, and
believing his love and power to help, they seek him in fervent prayer. Thus it is the duty and
interest of weary and heavy-laden sinners, to come to Jesus Christ. This is the gospel call;
Whoever will, let him come. All who thus come will receive rest as Christ's gift, and obtain
peace and comfort in their hearts. But in coming to him they must take his yoke, and submit to
his authority. They must learn of him all things, as to their comfort and obedience. He accepts
the willing servant, however imperfect the services. Here we may find rest for our souls, and
here only. Nor need we fear his yoke. His commandments are holy, just, and good. It requires
self-denial, and exposes to difficulties, but this is abundantly repaid, even in this world, by
inward peace and joy. It is a yoke that is lined with love. So powerful are the assistances he gives
us, so suitable the encouragements, and so strong the consolations to be found in the way of duty,
that we may truly say, it is a yoke of pleasantness. The way of duty is the way of rest. The truths
Christ teaches are such as we may venture our souls upon. Such is the Redeemer's mercy; and
why should the labouring and burdened sinner seek for rest from any other quarter? Let us come
to him daily, for deliverance from wrath and guilt, from sin and Satan, from all our cares, fears,
and sorrows. But forced obedience, far from being easy and light, is a heavy burden. In vain do
we draw near to Jesus with our lips, while the heart is far from him. Then come to Jesus to find
rest for your souls.
Barnes' Notes on the BibleAll ye that labour and are heavy laden - The Saviour here, perhaps,
refers primarily to the Jews, who groaned under the weight of their ceremonial laws and the
traditions of the elders, Acts 15:10. He tells them that by coming to him, and embracing the new
system of religion, they would be freed from these burdensome rites and ceremonies. There can
be no doubt, however, that he meant here chiefly to address the poor, lost, ruined sinner: the man
"burdened" with a consciousness of his transgressions, trembling at his danger, and seeking
deliverance. For such there is relief. Christ tells them to come to him, to believe in him, and to
trust him, and him only, for salvation. Doing this, he will give them rest - rest from their sins,
from the alarms of conscience, from the terrors of the law, and from the fears of eternal death.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary28. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest—Incomparable, ravishing sounds these—if ever such were heard

in this weary, groaning world! What gentleness, what sweetness is there in the very style of the
invitation—"Hither to Me"; and in the words, "All ye that toil and are burdened," the universal
wretchedness of man is depicted, on both its sides—the active and the passive forms of it.
Matthew Poole's CommentarySee Poole on "Matthew 11:30".
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleCome unto me,.... Christ having signified, that the
knowledge of God, and the mysteries of grace, are only to be come at through him; and that he
has all things relating to the peace, comfort, happiness, and salvation of men in his hands, kindly
invites and encourages souls to come unto him for the same: by which is meant, not a local
coming, or a coming to hear him preach; for so his hearers, to whom he more immediately
directed his speech, were come already; and many of them did, as multitudes may, and do, in this
sense, come to Christ, who never knew him, nor receive any spiritual benefit by him: nor is it a
bare coming under the ordinances of Christ, submission to baptism, or an attendance at the
Lord's supper, the latter of which was not yet instituted; and both may be performed by men,
who are not yet come to Christ: but it is to be understood of believing in Christ, the going of the
soul to him, in the exercise of grace on him, of desire after him, love to him, faith and hope in
him: believing in Christ, and coming to him, are terms synonymous, John 6:35. Those who come
to Christ aright, come as sinners, to a full, suitable, able, and willing Saviour; venture their souls
upon him, and trust in him for righteousness, life, and salvation, which they are encouraged to
do, by this kind invitation; which shows his willingness to save, and his readiness to give relief
to distressed minds. The persons invited, are not "all" the individuals of mankind, but with a
restriction,
all ye that labour, and are heavy laden; meaning, not these who are labouring in the service of sin
and Satan, are laden with iniquity, and insensible of it: these are not weary of sin, nor burdened
with it; not do they want or desire any rest for their souls; but such who groan, being burdened
with the guilt of sin upon their consciences, and are pressed down with the unsupportable yoke
of the law, and the load of human traditions; and have been labouring till they are weary, in order
to obtain peace of conscience, and rest for their souls, by the observance of these things, but in
vain. These are encouraged to come to him, lay down their burdens at his feet, look to, and lay
hold by faith on his person, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice; when they should enjoy that true
spiritual consolation, which could never be attained to by the works of the law.
And I will give you rest; spiritual rest here, peace of conscience, ease of mind, tranquillity of
soul, through an application of pardoning grace, a view of free justification by the righteousness
of Christ, and full atonement of sin by his sacrifice; and eternal rest hereafter, in Abraham's
bosom, in the arms of Jesus, in perfect and uninterrupted communion with Father, Son, and
Spirit. The Jews say (y), that , "the law is rest"; and so explain Genesis 49:15 of it: but a truly
sensible sinner enjoys no rest, but in Christ; it is like Noah's dove, which could find no rest for
the soles of its feet, until it returned to the ark; and they themselves expect perfect rest in the
days of the Messiah, and call his world rest (z).
(y) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 39. 3.((z) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 150. 2.
Geneva Study BibleCome unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest.
EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT CommentaryHYPERLINK "/matthew/11-28.htm"Matthew 11:28. Πάντες] gratia
universalis. “In this all thou oughtest to include thyself as well, and not suppose that thou dost

not belong to the number; thou shouldst not seek for another register of God,” Melanchthon.
κοπ. καί πεφορτ.] through the legal and Pharisaic ordinances under which the man is exhausted
and weighed down as with a heavy burden, without getting rid of the painful consciousness of
sin, Matthew 23:4. Comp. Acts 15:10; Acts 13:39.
κἀγώ] emphatic: and I, what your teachers and guides cannot do.
ἀναπαύσω] I will procure you rest, i.e. ἐλευθερώσω καὶ τοῦ τοιούτου κόπου καὶ τοῦ τοιούτου
βάρους (Euth. Zigabenus), so as to secure the true peace of your souls, John 14:27; John 16:33;
Romans 5:1. Matthew 11:29 tells in what way.
Expositor's Greek TestamentHYPERLINK "/context/matthew/11-28.htm"Matthew 11:28-30.
The gracious invitation. Full of O. T. reminiscences, remarks Holtz., H.C., citing Isaiah 14:3;
Isaiah 28:12; Isaiah 55:1-3; Jeremiah 6:16; Jeremiah 31:2; Jeremiah 31:25, and especially Sir
6:24-25; Sir 6:28-29; Sir 51:23-27. De Wette had long before referred to the last-mentioned
passage, and Pfleiderer has recently (Urch., 513) made it the basis of the assertion that this
beautiful logion is a composition out of Sirach by the evangelist. The passage in Sirach is as
follows: ἐγγίσατε πρὸς μὲ ἀπαίδευτοι, καὶ αὐλίσθητε ἐν οἴκῳ παιδείας. διότι ὑστερεῖτε ἐν
τούτοις, καὶ αἱ ψυχαὶ ὑμῶν διψῶσι σφόδρα; ἤνοιξα τὸ στόμα μου, καὶ ἐλάλησα, κτήσασθε
ἑαυτοῖς ἄνευ ἀργυρίου. τὸν τράχηλον ὑμῶν ὑπόθετε ὑπὸ ζυγὸν, καὶ ἐπιδεξάσθω ἡ ψυχὴ ὑμῶν
παιδείαν· ἐγγύς ἐστιν εὑρεῖν αὐτήν· ἴδετε ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ὑμῶν ὅτι ὀλίγον ἐκοπίασα, καὶ εὗρον
ἐμαυτῷ πολλὴν ἀνάπαυσιν.[72] There are unquestionably kindred thoughts and corresponding
phrases, as even Kypke points out (“Syracides magna similitudine dicit”), and if Sirach had been
a recognised Hebrew prophet one could have imagined Matthew giving the gist of this rhetorical
passage, prefaced with an “as it is written”. It is not even inconceivable that a reader of our
Gospel at an early period noted on the margin phrases culled from Sirach as descriptive of the
attitude of the one true σοφός towards men to show how willing he was to communicate the
knowledge of the Father-God, and that his notes found their way into the text. But why doubt the
genuineness of this logion? It seems the natural conclusion of Christ’s soliloquy; expressing His
intense yearning for receptive scholars at a time when He was painfully conscious of the
prevalent unreceptivity. The words do not smell of the lamp. They come straight from a
saddened yet tenderly affectionate, unembittered heart; simple, pathetic, sincere. He may have
known Sirach from boyhood, and echoes may have unconsciously suggested themselves, and
been used with royal freedom quite compatibly with perfect originality of thought and phrase.
The reference to wisdom in Matthew 11:19 makes the supposition not gratuitous that Jesus may
even have had the passage in Sirach consciously present to His mind, and that He used it, half as
a quotation, half as a personal manifesto. The passage is the end of a prayer of Jesus, the Son of
Sirach, in which that earlier Jesus, personating wisdom, addresses his fellowmen, inviting them
to share the benefits which σοφία has conferred on himself. Why should not Jesus of Nazareth
close His prayer with a similar address in the name of wisdom to those who are most likely to
become her children—those whose ear sorrow hath opened? This view might meet Martineau’s
objection to regarding this logion as authentic, that it is not compatible with the humility of Jesus
that He should so speak of Himself (Seat of Authority, p. 583). Why should He not do as another
Jesus had done before Him: speak in the name of wisdom, and appropriate her attributes?
[72] Of the above the R. V. gives the following translation: “Draw near unto me, ye unlearned,

and lodge in the house of in struction. Say wherefore are ye lacking in these things, and your
souls are very thirsty? I opened my mouth and spake. Get her for yourselves without money. Put
your neck under the yoke, and let your soul receive instruction. She is hard at hand to find.
Behold with your eyes how that I laboured but a little, and found for myself much rest.”
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges28. Come unto me] Jesus does not give rest to all the
heavy laden, but to those of them who show their want of relief by coming to Him.
28–30. Rest for the heavy laden
These words of Jesus are preserved by St Matthew only. The connecting thought is, those alone
shall know who desire to learn, those alone shall have rest who feel their burden. The babes are
those who feel ignorant, the laden those who feel oppressed.
Bengel's GnomenHYPERLINK "/matthew/11-28.htm"Matthew 11:28. Δεῦτε, come ye) sc.
immediately.—See Gnomon on ch. Matthew 4:19.—πρός Με, unto Me) Since the Pharisees, and
even John himself, cannot satisfy you.—πάντες, all) Let not the limitation in Matthew 11:27
deter you.—οἱ κοπιῶντες, that labour) Refer to this ζυγὸν and ζυγὸς, yoke, in Matthew 11:29-
30.—πεφορτισμένοι, heavy laden) To this should be referred μάθετε, learn, in Matthew 11:29,
and φορτίον, burden, in Matthew 11:30. The Hebrew ‫אשמ‬ signifies a burden, i.e., doctrine,
discipline.—κᾀγὼ, and I) Though you have sought elsewhere in vain, you will find it with Me,
Matthew 11:29.—ἀναπαύσω, I will make you rest) This is explained in the next verse.—ὄτι,
κ.τ.λ., because, etc.) “I will make you rest,” and “ye shall find rest,” are correlative.
Pulpit CommentaryVerses 28-30. - In Matthew only. Ver. 28: An invitation to all who need him,
and an unconditioned promise of welcome. Ver. 29: A summons to submit to his teaching, and a
promise that those who do so shall find rest in it. Ver. 30: For his "service is perfect freedom."
Notice the sharp contrast between the width of this invitation and the apparent limitation of the
preceding statement (ver. 27). The truths of prevenient grace and man's free-will may not be
separated. Verse 28. - Come (δεῦτε); Matthew 4:19, note. There is less thought of the process of
coming than in the very similar invitation in John 7:37. Unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden. The toilers and burdened (οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι). Our Lord purposely did not
define in what the toil and burden consisted; for he would include all, from whatever quarter
their toil and burden came. But since the spiritual is the central part of man (Matthew 5:3, note),
the more that the toil or burden is felt there so much the stronger would our Lord's reference to it
be. He would therefore be inviting most especially those that toil in legal ways of righteousness
(Romans 10:2, 3), and are burdened under Pharisaic enactments (Luke 11:46). And I. Emphatic
(κἀγώ). However others may treat you. Will give you rest (a)napau/sw u(ma = ). Not to be
identified with the phrase in ver. 29 (see there). As contrasted with παύω (see Bishop Lightfoot,
on Philemon 1:7 and on Ignat., 'Ephesians,' § 2), ἀναπαύω refers to temporary rather than
permanent cessation from work, and it thus especially connotes refreshment of body and soul
obtained through such rest. In confortuity with this we find ἀνάπαυσις regularly used in the
LXX. as a translation of sabbathon ("sabbath-keeping," e.g. Exodus 16:23, for which
σαββατισμός comes in Hebrews 4:9 as an equivalent). The thought, therefore, here is not that
those who come to Christ will have no more work, but that Christ will give them at once such
rest and refreshment of soul that they may be fit for work, should God have any in store for
them.
Vincent's Word StudiesLabor and are heavy-laden (κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι)

The first an active, the second a passive participle, exhibiting the active and passive sides of
human misery.
Give rest (ἀναπαύσω)
Originally to make to cease; Tynd., ease; Wyc., refresh. The radical conception is that of relief.
PRECEPT AUSTIN RESOURCES
BRUCE HURT M D
Matthew 11:28 Commentary
Matthew 11 Resources
Updated: Sat, 09/21/2019 - 09:51 By admin
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Matthew 11:28 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
(NASB: Lockman)
Greek: Deute (imperative) pros me pantes hoi kopiontes (2PPAP) kai pephortismenoi,
(2PRPP) kago anapauso (1SFAI) humas.
Amplified: Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I
will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] (Amplified Bible -
Lockman)
Barclay: Come to me, all you who are exhausted and weighted down beneath your
burdens, and I will give you rest.(Westminster Press)
ESV: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
NLT: Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest. (NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: Come to me, all of you who are weary and over-burdened, and I will give you
rest! (Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: Come here to me, all who are growing weary to the point of exhaustion, and who
have been loaded with burdens and are bending beneath their weight, and I alone will
cause you to cease from your labor and take away your burdens and thus refresh you with
rest. (Eerdmans)

Young's Literal: 'Come unto me, all ye labouring and burdened ones, and I will give you
rest,
COME TO ME ALL WHO ARE WEARY AND HEAVY-LADEN AND I WILL GIVE
YOU REST: Deute (imperative) pros me pantes hoi kopiontes (2PPAP) kai
pephortismenoi, (2PRPP) kago anapauso (1SFAI) humas :
• Come: Isa 45:22-25 53:2,3 55:1-3 Jn 6:37 7:37 Rev 22:17
• All: Mt 23:4 Ge 3:17-19 Job 5:7 14:1 Ps 32:4 38:4 90:7-10 Eccl 1:8,14 2:22,23 4:8 Isa
1:4 61:3 66:2 Mic 6:6-8 Ac 15:10 Ro 7:22-25 Gal 5:1
• And I will give you rest:: Mt 11:29 Ps 94:13 116:7 Isa 11:10 28:12 48:17,18 Jer 6:16
2Th 1:7 Heb 4:1
COME TO ME!
J H Jowett wisely wrote that "This exquisite passage is like a flower which one is almost afraid
to touch, lest he should spoil the delicate bloom. Yet to disturb the flower may awake a fragrance
and distribute it to others.
J C Ryle - There are few texts more striking than this in all the Bible—few that contain so wide
and sweeping an invitation—few that hold out so full and comfortable a promise. (Come Unto
Me)
Indeed, as I began to compile the notes on this great passage, it became obvious to me that the
simple words of Jesus were so profound that an entire book, even a library of books, could not
exhaust their meaning. C H Spurgeon delivered at least 12 sermons on Mt 11:28-30 and yet said
that one could not preach too often on these passages! Spurgeon also wrote that...
there are mines of instruction here. Superficially read, this royal promise has cheered and
encouraged tens of thousands, but there is a wealth in it which the diligent digger and
miner shall alone discover. Its shallows are cool and refreshing for the lambs, but in its
depths are pearls for which we hope to dive.
And so the following comments are meant only to give you food for thought as you ponder these
great words of our Savior. Let me strongly encourage you to treasure Jesus' words in Matthew
11:28-30 in your heart (Memorize His Word), so that you will be able to meditate on them
(Meditation) and allow your Teacher the Holy Spirit to minister deeply to your soul. You will
not be disappointed.
THE GRAND INVITATION:
COME!
Come! The greatest invitation that ever issued from a Man's lips. "Come!" Come the first time
to salvation (Justification). In the context of Jesus' preceding words in Matthew 11, this is the
primary interpretation of His call to come...
COME TO JESUS
FOR SALVATION
Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy
written by Joseph Hart
(Sung by Fernando Ortega & Amy Grant)

(Sung by Todd Agnew)
Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy
Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you,
Full of pity, love and power.
Refrain
I will arise and go to Jesus,
He will embrace me in His arms;
In the arms of my dear Savior,
O there are ten thousand charms.
Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,
God’s free bounty glorify;
True belief and true repentance,
Every grace that brings you nigh
Refrain
Come, ye weary, heavy laden,
Lost and ruined by the fall;
If you tarry till you’re better,
You will never come at all.
Refrain
View Him prostrate in the garden;
On the ground your Maker lies.
On the bloody tree behold Him;
Sinner, will this not suffice?
Refrain
Lo! th’ incarnate God ascended,
Pleads the merit of His blood:
Venture on Him, venture wholly,
Let no other trust intrude.
Refrain
Let not conscience make you linger,
Not of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness He requireth
Is to feel your need of Him.
Refrain
While there must be this initial coming to Jesus for salvation rest, by way of application, there is
yet a need for every saint to daily "Come" and allow the Spirit of Christ to grow us in grace and
Christlikeness (2Pe 3:18-note) (Sanctification see Three Tenses of Salvation).

And then there will be a final invitation to "Come!" when Jesus invites us to come away to Him
(if we pass away before He returns) or to come up to Him (if we are here to experience the
Rapture - 1Th 4:17-note) and be with Him forever and ever in the eternal rest of Paradise!
(Glorification). "Therefore comfort (present imperative-command to continually encourage)
one another with" Jesus' invitation to "Come!". (1Th 4:18-note)
I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Come unto me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon my breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary and worn and sad;
I found in Him a RESTING PLACE,
And He has made me glad.
-Horatius Bonar
(Chorale version)
Dear reader, at whatever stage of your life you find yourself, will you not hear the
gracious invitation that falls from His perfect lips?
Will you not come dear struggling sinner, trying to make yourself acceptable to the Holy
God?
Will you not come dear struggling saint, trying daily to earn your Father's approval,
trying daily to defeat that besetting sin that only the Spirit of Christ can defeat as you
learn to cooperate with Him (Ro 8:13-note)?
And dear saint, will you not live in the light of His final call to "Come !", allowing this
firm anchor motivate a deep desire for daily purification (1Jn 3:3-note) and growth in
likeness to Christ, your Lord?
And here is the great assurance that the One Who calls us to "Come" now will Himself
come very soon, a coming for which we pray "Come Lord Jesus"...
He who testifies to these things says,
"Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
Revelation 22:20, 21
The End!
Come - Not "do this" or "don't do that" but simply "Come". Note also that Jesus does not say
come to the church, to a creed, to a clergyman, to a "denomination" or to anything but to Jesus
Himself, to a vital, dynamic, radical relationship with the Living Lord. As Oswald Chambers
says "Personal contact with Jesus alters everything." Do nothing else but come to Him, for He
alone is the way, the truth, the life (Jn 14:6). There is salvation rest in no one else, for there is
no other Name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved (the
first time and then every day thereafter!). (Acts 4:12) Jesus is the narrow gate, the narrow way
that leads to the rest of eternal life (Mt 7:13, 14). Inherent in Jesus' call to come is that the

hearer come now and not wait nor procrastinate - when you hear His invitation, that is the day of
salvation (cp 2Cor 6:2).
J C Ryle exhorts us "Beloved brethren, see that you refuse not Him who speaks to you this day.
If a letter came to you from the ruler of this country you would not despise it. If you were sick,
and advice came from a wise physician, you would not reject it. If you were in danger, and
counsel came from your best and truest friend, you would not make light of it. Then hear the
words that Jesus sends to you this day. Listen to the King of kings. Then body and soul shall be
His. (Come Unto Me)
Spurgeon as usual says it well "‘Come’; He drives none away; He calls them to Himself. His
favorite word is ‘Come.’ (Ed: "Come" was the call to His first disciples - Mt 4:19YLT) Not, go
to Moses – ‘Come unto me.’ To Jesus Himself we must come, (How?) by a personal trust. Not
to doctrine, ordinance, nor ministry are we to come first; but to the personal Saviour.
How do we come to Jesus? The most "generic answer" is by faith and trust in Jesus.
Oswald Chambers adds that "The attitude of coming is that the will resolutely lets go of
everything and deliberately commits all to Him."
Adam Clarke says "Come to Me" "in the New Covenant implies simply, believing in Christ
and becoming His disciple or follower." Are you a follower of Christ? Have you come to
Jesus?
William MacDonald elaborates on what it means to "Come" writing that "To come means to
believe (Acts 16:31); to receive (John 1:12); to eat (John 6:35); to drink (John 7:37); to look
(Isa. 45:22); to confess (1 Jn. 4:2); to hear (John 5:24, 25); to enter a door (John 10:9); to open
a door (Rev. 3:20); to touch the hem of His garment (Matt. 9:20, 21); and to accept the gift of
eternal life through Christ our Lord (Ro 6:23).
James Smith addresses believers writing that...
All true Christians know Christ—not with a mere theoretical knowledge, which may be
obtained from books; but with a knowledge which the Holy Spirit works in the heart. We
know Christ . . . in the glory of His person, in the perfection of His work, and in the
riches of His wondrous grace. We so know Christ, that He stands out before us, as the
chief among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely One. And the more we know Him—
the more intimate we wish to become with Him!
We not only know Christ—but we need Him. And the longer we live—the more we need
Him. Nor do we merely need Christ, but we need everything in Christ, or that Christ has.
We need . . .His blood to cleanse us, His righteousness to clothe us, and His Spirit to
sanctify us. We need Christ daily, hourly!
As we need Christ—so we come to Christ. Not once for all, but we continue to come.
We must come to Him . . .in every trial, in every trouble, in every conflict, to
unburden our minds, to find rest for our souls. We come to Him . . . for wisdom, for
strength, for holiness. Much of experimental (experiential) religion consists in
coming daily and hourly to Jesus.
Come (1205) (deute) is an adverb which means "Come here!" or "Come on!" in the sense of a
command or an exhortation. Deute is used with the plural imperative either expressed or more
often understood (as in Mt 11:28). For example in Mt 4:19 Jesus says "Follow Me" or more

literally "Come you after me" where the adverb deute functions as an aorist imperative, a
command to do this now!
Friberg -- Deute serving as the plural of deuro; adverb; (1) with an imperative following come!
come on! come now! (MT 21.38); (2) absolutely come (MT 22.4); with opiso come after, follow
(MT 4.19)
Deute - 21x in 21v in the NT - Matt 4:19; 11:28; 19:21; 21:38; 22:4; 25:34; 28:6; Mark 1:17;
6:31; 10:21; 12:7; Luke 18:22; John 4:29; 11:43; 21:12; Acts 7:3, 34; Rom 1:13; Rev 17:1;
19:17; 21:9. NAS = come(9), come away(1), follow*(2).
Deute is used most often by Jesus - Mt 4:19, 11:28, 19:21, Mt 25:34 (When He reigns as King in
the Millennium), Mk 1:17, 6:31, 10:21, 18:22, Jn 11:43 (Call to Lazarus), Jn 21:12 (Post-
resurrection invitation to His disciples to eat breakfast).
Deute - 30v in the non-apocryphal Septuagint - Gen 11:3f, 7; 37:20, 27; Exod 1:10; Josh 10:4;
Judg 9:15; 2 Kgs 1:2, 6; 6:2, 13, 19; 7:4, 14; 22:13; Neh 2:17; Job 17:10; Ps 34:11; 46:8; 66:5,
16; 74:8; 83:4; 95:1, 6; Isa 1:18; 2:3, 5; 9:10; 27:11; 56:9; Jer 11:19; 18:18; 51:10; Dan 3:26; 6:5;
Jonah 1:7; Mic 4:2
Spurgeon outlines Jesus' special invitation...
1. It is personal — “Come unto me.” God directs to Christ, not to His members.
2. It is present — “Come “ now, do not wait.
3. So sweet an invitation demands a spontaneous acceptance.
4. He puts the matter very exclusively. Do nothing else but come to Him.
David Guzik observes that when Jesus commands men and women to "Come unto Me", He
demonstrates "His authority...This invitation is unthinkable in the mouth of anyone else but God,
and woe to the men who call people to themselves instead of Jesus! (Matthew 11 Commentary)
Oswald Chambers comments on Jesus' invitation to "Come" = When you hear those words you
will know that something must happen in you before you can come. The Holy Spirit will show
you what you have to do, anything at all that will put the axe at the root of the thing which is
preventing you from coming to Jesus. You will never get further until you are willing to do that
one thing. The Holy Spirit will locate the one impregnable thing in you, but He cannot budge it
unless you are willing to let Him.
+++
All - This Greek word generally means all with no exceptions, and yet in the present context the
all is in a sense restricted...restricted by Jesus statement to those humble souls who acknowledge
their weariness of struggling with sin. This "all" is God's "all merciful antidote" for the horrible
"all" of Ro 3:23 where Paul says "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Jesus is
speaking to a Jewish audience but with the "all" He flings opens the gates of salvation to sinners
from every tribe, every tongue, every people, every nation! As a Gentile believer, I praise God
for this "all" from the lips of the Redeemer of mankind!
J C Ryle expounds on the "all"...
The "laboring and heavy laden" describes all who are pressed down and burdened by a
feeling of sin. It describes all whose consciences are set at work, and who are brought to
concern about their soul—all who are anxious about salvation, and desire to have it—all

who tremble at the thought of judgment, and know not how to get through it, and of hell,
and are afraid of falling into it; and long for heaven, and dread not getting to it; and are
distressed at the thought of their own sinfulness, and want deliverance. All such people
appear to be the laboring and heavy laden to whom Jesus speaks....This was the state of
mind in which we see the jailer at Philippi. He was roused from sleep by an earthquake.
His fear brought his sin to his remembrance, and he came and fell down before Paul and
Silas, and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" This is the state of mind I desire to see
in each of you, for the beginning of all saving religion. You will never come to Christ
until you feel your need. You ought, everyone, to feel laboring and heavy laden....But to
all laboring and heavy laden souls, whoever they may be, to you Jesus speaks—to you is
this word of salvation sent. Take heed that it is not in vain. Jesus speaks to ALL such:
none are left out. (Come Unto Me)
John Gill - The persons invited are not ‘all’ the inhabitants of mankind, but with a restriction:
‘all ye that labor and are heavy laden,’ meaning not those who labor in the service of sin and
Satan, are laden with iniquity and insensible of it: those are not weary of sin nor burdened with
it, nor do they want or desire any rest for their souls; but such who groan, being burdened with
the guilt of sin on their consciences and are pressed down with the unsupportable yoke of the
Law and the load of their trespasses, and have been laboring till they are weary, in order to
obtain peace of conscience and rest for their soul by the observance of these things, but in vain.
These are encouraged to come to Him, lay down their burdens at His feet and look to Him, and
lay hold by faith on His person, blood and righteousness.
Matthew Henry - The character of the persons invited: all that labor and are heavy laden. This is
a word in season to him that is weary (Isa. 50:4). Those that complain of the burden of the
ceremonial law, which was an intolerable yoke, and was made much more so by the tradition of
the elders (Luke 11:46); let them come to Christ and they shall be made easy....But it is rather to
be understood of the burden of sin, both the guilt and the power of it. All those, and those only,
are invited to rest in Christ that are sensible of sin as a burden and groan under it, that are not
only convicted of the evil of sin—their own sin—but are contrite in soul for it; that are really
sick of sin, weary of the service of the world and the flesh, that see their state sad and dangerous
by reason of sin, and are in pain and fear about it: as Ephraim (Jer. 31:18-20), the prodigal (Luke
15:17), the publican (Luke 18:13), Peter’s hearers (Acts 2:37), Paul (Acts 9), the jailer (Acts
16:29, 30). This is a necessary preparative for pardon and peace”
John Calvin - He now kindly invites to Himself those whom He acknowledges to be fit for
becoming His disciples. Though He is ready to reveal the Father to all, yet the great part are
careless about coming to Him, because they are not affected by a conviction of their necessities.
Hypocrites give themselves no concern about Christ because they are intoxicated with their own
righteousness, and neither hunger nor thirst after His grace. Those who are devoted to the world
set no value on a heavenly life. It would be vain therefore for Christ to invite either of these
classes, and therefore He turns to the wretched and afflicted. He speaks of them as ‘labouring’ or
being under a ‘burden,’ and does not mean generally those who are oppressed with griefs and
vexations, but those who are overwhelmed by their sins, who are filled with alarm at the wrath of
God and are ready to sink under so weighty a burden.
Adam Clarke explains...
The metaphor (all who are weary and heavy laden) appears to be taken from a man
who has a great load laid upon him, which he must carry to a certain place: every step he

takes reduces his strength, and renders his load the more oppressive. However, it must be
carried on; and he labors, uses his utmost exertions, to reach the place where it is to be
laid down. A kind person passing by, and, seeing his distress, offers to ease him of his
load, that he may enjoy rest.
The Jews, heavily laden with the burdensome rites of the Mosaic institution, rendered
still more oppressive by the additions made by the scribes and Pharisees, who, our Lord
says, (Mt 23:4) bound on heavy burdens; and laboring, by their observance of the law, to
make themselves pleasing to God, are here invited to lay down their load, and receive the
salvation procured for them by Christ. (Ed: Are you laboring to make yourself
"pleasing to God?" This is a subtle trap into which we all so easily fall because we
have been so well trained to be "man pleasers" and think that we can please God in
the same manner we have learned to "please" men!)
Sinners, wearied in the ways of iniquity (cp Isa 6:5 Lk 5:8), are also invited to come to
this Christ, and find speedy relief (Lk 18:13, 14).
Penitents (those who feel or show sorrow and regret for against the Holy God), burdened
with the guilt of their crimes, may come to this Sacrifice, and find instant pardon (cp 1Jn
1:9, Pr 28:13-note).
Believers, sorely tempted, and oppressed by the remains of the carnal mind (the "flesh"),
may come to this blood, that cleanses from all unrighteousness; and, purifies from all sin,
and powerfully succors (Literally, succor means to run to or run to support; hence that
which provides help or relieve when in difficulty, want, distress or suffering) in every
temptation (every trial), they shall find uninterrupted rest in this complete Saviour.
All are invited to come, and all are promised rest. If few find rest from sin and vile
affections, it is because few come to Christ to receive it. (Comment: How often we
refuse to "Come" because we enjoy our sin more than we desire the Savior at that
moment. God help us to "Come" quickly to Jesus!)
Note that Jesus directs His call to the heavy burdened, to the weak, not the strong. "He called
those who sensed they must come to Him to relieve their need instead of living in self-
sufficiency." (Guzik) God is ever opposed to the proud, but stands ready to give abundant grace
to the humble of heart. (James 4:6-note) Therefore " Humble yourselves in the presence of the
Lord, and He will exalt you." (James 4:10-note)
Jesus' invitation in the New Testament to come and be refreshed recalls Jehovah's offer in the
Old Testament to His people to rest in the New Covenant...
For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes. (Jer 31:25).
Weary and heavy laden - As Jesus said elsewhere it is not the (spiritually) well who need a
physician but the (spiritually) sick. Do you even see your need to come to Jesus? As MacDonald
says "In order to truly come to Jesus, a person must admit that he is burdened with the weight of
sin. Only those who acknowledge they are lost can be saved." As discussed earlier, while Jesus'
invitation is especially a call to come to Him for salvation, the call is also applicable to saints
who are weary in their struggle to live the Christian life in their own strength.
Are weary (2872)(kopiao from kopos = labor, fatigue) This root word kopos (see word study)
is used in secular Greek of “a beating,” “weariness” (as though one had been beaten) and
“exertion,” was the proper word for physical tiredness induced by work, exertion or heat.

Kopiao means to to exhibit great effort and exertion, to the point of sweat and exhaustion. To
physically become worn out, weary or faint. To engage in hard work with the implication of
difficulty and trouble. The work described by kopiao was left one so weary it was as if the
person had taken a beating. Kopiao describes not so much the actual exertion as the weariness
which follows the straining of all one's powers to the utmost. Figuratively kopiao means to
become emotionally fatigued and/or discouraged and thus to lose heart and/or give up. The
present tense presents the pathetic picture of one who is persistently physically weary and tired,
spiritually exhausted, discouraged and ready to "throw in the towel"! Does that describe you
dear reader? Then Jesus' words of promised presence and power are perfect for you dear
weary one!
John MacArthur - Weary translates a present active participle and refers figuratively to
arduous toil in seeking to please God and know the way of salvation. Jesus calls to Himself
everyone who is exhausted from trying to find and please God in his own resources. Jesus invites
the person who is wearied from his vain search for truth through human wisdom, who is
exhausted from trying to earn salvation, and who has despaired of achieving God’s standard of
righteousness by his own efforts.
Illustration of Very, Very Weary - The date was August 15, 1930. On that day, a 45-year-old
New York State Supreme Court Justice named Joseph Crater, after spending an evening eating
out with friends, hailed a taxi and was never seen or heard from again. It remains one of the most
mystifying Missing Person cases in FBI files. The FBI immediately suspected a kidnapping by
someone who held a judicial grudge against Justice Crater. But that didn’t seem to pan out. They
then suspected Mafia activity because Justice Crater was an enemy of the Mafia. But, again, that
led nowhere. There is only one clue which remains to this day. When Mrs. Crater returned to
their apartment the evening her husband disappeared, there on the table was a large check made
out to her and a note attached to the check in her husband’s handwriting which simply said, "I
am very, very tired. Love, Joe" Maybe you can relate to Joe Carter– tired and stressed out in life
thoughts of Checking out! Maybe you can relate to Joe Carter– tired and stressed out in life
thoughts of Checking out! 2% of Americans are regularly dealing with stress –Those most likely
to deal with stress are those in their 40’s.
I walked life's path with worry,
Disturbed and quite unblest,
Until I trusted Jesus;
Now faith has given REST.
-HGB
Spurgeon....expounds on the meaning of weary..."all ye that labor," in whatever form.
In the service of formal religion, in the attempt to keep the law, or in any other way of
self-justification.
In the service of self to get gain, honor, ease, etc.
In the service of the world to discover, invent, legislate, etc.
In the service of Satan, lust, drink, infidelity, etc.
J C Philpot on "weary"...
The Lord's purpose in laying burdens upon us is to weary us out. We cannot learn our
religion in any other way. We cannot learn it from the Bible, nor from the experience of

others. It must be a personal work, wrought in the heart of each; and we must be brought,
all of us, if ever we are to find rest in Christ, to be absolutely wearied out of sin and self,
and to have no righteousness, goodness, or holiness of our own.
The effect, then, of all spiritual labor is to bring us to this point: to be weary of the world,
for we feel it, for the most part, to be a valley of tears; to be weary of self, for it is our
greatest plague; weary of professors, for we cannot see in them the grace of God, which
alone we prize and value; weary of the profane, for their ungodly conversation only hurts
our minds; weary of our bodies, for they are often full of sickness and pain, and always
clogs to our soul; and weary of life, for we see the emptiness of those things which to
most people make life so agreeable.
By this painful experience we come to this point: to be worn out and wearied; and there
we must come, before we can rest entirely on Christ.
As long as we can rest in the world, we shall rest in it. As long as the things of time and
sense can gratify us, we shall be gratified in them. As long as we can find anything
pleasing in self, we shall be pleased with it. As long as anything visible and tangible can
satisfy us, we shall be satisfied with them.
But when we get weary of all things visible, tangible, and sensible—weary of ourselves,
and of all things here below—then we want to rest upon Christ, and Christ alone.
Heavy laden (5412) (phortizo from phortos = something carried [Acts 27:10 = freight of a
ship], from phero = to bring or carry) means to load or burden with something, to cause
someone to carry something, to overburden. Phortizo in a figurative sense describes
overburdening someone spiritually (with ceremony, rules, laws, etc).
In the only other NT use Jesus used phortizo to describe the lawyers (prototypical "legalists" in a
spiritual sense) placing impossible religious demands on the the people, especially the "burden"
of keeping the law.
Luke 11:46 But He said, "Woe to you lawyers as well! For you weigh men down (verb -
phortizo) with burdens (noun - phortion) hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even
touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
Heavy laden here in Matthew is in the perfect tense which describes a past completed action (at
some point they became weary) with ongoing effect (they are still weary). They are pictured as
overloaded like beasts of burden.
MacArthur adds that in the passive voice the idea is "that at some time in the past a great load
was dumped on the wearied person." He goes to explains that while "weary refers to the internal
exhaustion caused by seeking divine truth through human wisdom, heavy-laden suggests the
external burdens caused by the futile efforts of works righteousness."
Jesus bore every burden we could never bear, just as prophesied by Isaiah...
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isaiah 53:4
Spurgeon writes that all who are "heavy laden" are called....

Laden heavily because weary, vexed, disappointed; despairing.
Laden with sin, guilt, dread, remorse, fear of death.
Laden with care, anxiety, greed, ambition, etc.
Laden with sorrow, poverty, oppression, slander, etc.
Laden with doubt, temptation, conflict, inner faintness, etc.
James Montgomery Boice explains that "The phrase “weary and burdened” does not refer to
physical weaknesses or to what we might call the burdens of a difficult life, though it may
include them. It chiefly refers to a sense of sin’s burden and the need of a Savior. The context
makes this clear, for the earlier verses describe the rejection of John the Baptist and Jesus by the
Jewish masses, followed by the Lord’s denunciation of Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum for
their failure to repent at Jesus’ preaching. They were not burdened by sin. They were getting
along just fine. Still, there were people who were burdened, and these people believed that Jesus
could lift sin’s weight and turned to him to do it. These people listened to Him, trusted Him,
and found salvation. (The Gospel of Matthew - Baker Books)
+++
I will give you rest - Note that we are not invited to come to a doctrine which is systematic (as
good and necessary as that might be), but to a Savior Who is Divine, to the Person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself is our Rest! Are you learning how to abide in Him, to rest in Him?
If not, you will grow weary even of "well doing"! It seems that many of God's children are
growing weary of following Jesus, and are being swept away into the bypaths of this
technologically tempting, but temporal world system which is headed by Satan (1Jn 5:19). As a
result many of God's children are restless ("weary and heavy-laden") and desperately need to
hear and heed Jesus' sweet call to "Come" to Him. He will give a rest the world can neither give
nor understand!
Paul gives us a clue to how we can learn to abide and shows us the "fruit" of this learning...
Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I
am (Test question - Do you give thanks in every circumstance? 1Th 5:18 Do you
consider it all joy when you encounter various trials? James 1:2. As you practice these
disciplines of gratitude and joy, you will come more and more to learn that it is only as
you relinquish your "rights", your "power" and rely on the indwelling enabling power of
the Holy Spirit that you will begin to learn the secret of the "Christ life".). 12 I know how
to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and
every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of
having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things through Him who
strengthens me. (Phil 4:11, 12, 13)
I will give - Rest is a divine gift, but note that Jesus' promise of rest is conditional. It is
conditioned on the individual making the personal choice to "Come" at His bidding! He is
"gentle and humble in heart" and so He will not coerce or force us to come to Him against our
will!
Thomas Brooks writes on "I will give you rest"...
“Come,” says Christ, “and I will give you rest.” I will not show you rest, nor barely tell
you of rest, but I will give you rest. I am faithfulness itself, and cannot lie, I will give

you rest. I who have the greatest power to give it, the greatest will to give it, the greatest
right to give it, come, laden sinners, and I will give you rest. Rest is the most desirable
good, the most suitable good, and to you the greatest good. Come, says Christ; that is,
believe in Me, and I will give you rest; I will give you peace with God, and peace with
conscience: I will turn your storm into an everlasting calm; I will give you such rest, that
the world can neither give to you nor take from you.
Augustine has a well known quote that relates to the divine rest that Jesus offers...
Lord, Thou madest us for Thyself, and we can find no rest till we find rest in Thee!
Samuel Rutherford wrote
There are many heads resting on Christ’s bosom, but there’s room for yours there.
How blest Thy saints! How safely led!
How surely kept! How richly fed!
Saviour of all in earth and sea,
How happy they who rest in Thee!
-Henry Francis Lyte
Note that this rest is not just any rest, but is rest which is given by Jesus. In Hebrews 4:3 and
Hebrews 4:5 the writer quotes God as describing the rest available to believers as "My rest".
Therefore this rest is in every sense a divine rest, the rest the Creator Himself enjoys, a rest that
is joyous, satisfying and productive, in every sense a supernatural rest. Can you grasp that
incredible truth? In a world that is becoming increasingly restless, believers have the invitation
to trust in a quality of rest that is literally "other worldly."
Oswald Chambers comments that Jesus says...
"I will give you rest," i.e., I will stay (Ed: Support you from sinking, sustain you with
strength) you. Not - I will put you to bed and hold your hand and sing you to sleep; but - I
will get you out of bed, out of the languor and exhaustion, out of the state of being half
dead while you are alive; I will imbue you with the spirit of life, and you will be stayed by
the perfection of vital activity.
David who was often surrounded by tumultuous circumstances (and had learned to rest in the
Lord) wrote...
Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him.
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
(Psalm 37:7)
Comment: Rest in this psalm is a verb and is in the form of a command for the reader to
rest and be quiet in God, which parallels Jesus' command to Come and enter into His
blessed rest!
As we have alluded to earlier, every believer enters the rest of justification and that only
once, but then every believer must learn to enter His blessed, divine rest daily, yea, even
moment by moment. It is available, but it requires a choice to trust Him (see more
discussion on this topic below). And so when the circumstances of the day seem too
much to bear, we do well to recall that there is always an invitation to share the yoke with
One Whose strength never fails and the result is rest for our souls.

Are you learning the secret of daily entering into the Savior's rest
and experiencing His soul calming presence and power?
In light of the preciousness of God's rest, the writer of Hebrews exhorted his readers...
Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same
example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:11)
Comment: While this passage is referring in context to the rest of salvation
(justification), the principle is still applicable to believers to be diligent to enter
the rest Jesus provides continually in our journey of sanctification.
Rest (refresh) (373)(anapauo from ana = again, back, or even as intensifying the meaning of the
verb + pauo = to cease or give rest) means to cause someone to become physically refreshed as
the result of resting from work which is what Jesus did with his disciples in Mark 6:31.Anapauo
can also refer to spiritual refreshment or revival which is Jesus' sense here in Mt 11:28.
RelatedResource - Rest in the BibleHYPERLINK "/rest_in_hebrews_4"-A good topic to
mediate on if you have signs of "spiritual burnout"
Vine writes that
anapauo signifies “to cause or permit one to cease from any labor or movement” so as to
recover strength. It implies previous toil and care. Its chief significance is that of taking,
or causing to take, rest; it is used in the middle voice in Luke 12:19, “take (thine) ease,”
indicative of unnecessary, self-indulgent relaxation. In the papyri it is used technically, as
an agricultural term.
Our English word "refresh" means to restore or give new strength or energy to, to invigorate, to
relieve after fatigue, to reanimate after depression, to revive what is drooping, to restore or
maintain by renewing supply. Each of these nuances could be applied to our spiritual life and the
effect of the rest that Jesus gives us when we come to Him. For example, when Jesus refreshes,
He restores our strength or gives us new spiritual strength, He relieves our spiritual fatigue, He
revives our drooping spirits, etc.
In Jesus' parable of the rich farmer (Lk 12:16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23), He contrasts rest with
anxiety about this life and its attendant fear of being without earthly possessions (which usually
end up "possessing" the possessor!)...
And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come;
take your ease (Young's Literal = "be resting"- anapauo is in the present imperative -
he is "preaching" to his soul to rest - contrast the "Jesus way" - simply come to Him, take
His yoke, learn from Him, then your receive supernatural rest, not the ethereal, fleeting
"rest" the world and worldly possessions offer! There is simply no comparison!), eat,
drink and be merry."' (Luke 12:19)
In this parable, the "rich man" thought that he could "rest" (take ease) in the fact that he
had earthly goods, but Jesus shattered this false hope (for him and for all who trust in
earthly possessions) by pointing out that true rest comes from knowing that the Father in
heaven cares for us (Lk 12:24, 28, 30, 31) and will provide all we need (cp Php 4:19).
When we're discouraged spiritually
And fear and doubt assail our soul,
We may just need to REST awhile

Before God heals and makes us whole.
—Sper
Rest for the restless soul is found in the Word, in Jesus the Incarnate Word Who invites us to
"Come"...
For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will
be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” (Isa. 30:15)
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus it is He;
Lord Sabaoth His name,
From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.
Martin Luther
J Vernon McGee in his commentary on the book of Ruth writes that...
This is a rest that only a Godly Redeemer can provide. It is the rest of redemption. After
God created the heavens and the earth, Scripture instructs us that He rested. That was a
Creation Rest. All was good and complete, and nothing needed to be done to improve it.
Then man sinned, and God broke His creation rest. “His ox was in the ditch,” and God
began to move to get man out of the ditch of sin. From that day on, God has not rested.
Christ said, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work” (John 5:17). God will not rest until
redemption is finished and sin is destroyed....The redemption rest that is provided today
for a lost sinner is to cease from his own works and trust his Redeemer-Kinsman to
provide his rest. Hebrews 4:9, 10 tells us, "There remains therefore a rest to the people of
God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God
did from His." This is the rest that comes when we no longer trust our works but receive
His work of redemption on the Cross as the penalty for our sins. Furthermore, we are
instructed to rest in Him daily and to commit our every problem and difficulty to Him,
as Peter wrote, "Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you" (1Pet 5:7). Only in
our great Redeemeris there rest for the restless heart of man from the threshing
floor of this world, with its chaff, stubble, and crowd. (Ruth and Esther : Women of
faith)
Can you trust God to take care of your needs? There is no rest in this life without trust in His life
giving provisions. As believers, those who have experienced the initial reality of resting our
restless hearts in Christ, what is the greatest problem we face? Do we believe God can meet it?
Can we—will we—trust him? If so, God’s Word, in the present passage, the Incarnate Word
Himself, offers rest. Spurgeon said that "Faith is reason at rest in God." The writer of Hebrews
said "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). “Now we who
have believed enter that rest” (Hebrews 4:3).
Reality, Reality,
Lord Jesus Christ Thou art to me.
From the spectral mist and the driving clouds,
From the shifting shadows and phantom crowds
From unreal words and unreal lives,
Where truth with falsehood feebly strives:

From the passings away, the chance and change,
Flickerings, vanishings, swift and strange,
I turn to my glorious REST in Thee,
Who art the grand Reality.
—Frances Havergal
FIND REST O MY SOUL
IN JESUS ALONE!
James Smith reminds us as believers...
There is no rest for the Christian in this world. There will be always something to disturb,
perplex or distress him; it is an enemy's land.
But Jesus says, "I will give you rest." He does so by enabling us to . . .rely on His Word,
recognize His hand, submit to His will, and trust in His perfect work.
He assures us . . . that our sins are forgiven; that we are safe in His keeping; that His
presence shall always be with us; and that all things shall work together for our eternal
good.
We can rest on His faithfulness—for He has been tried, and found faithful.
We can rest on His love—for He loves us to the uttermost.
We can rest on His power—for it is ever engaged on our behalf.
We can rest on His covenant—for it is ordered in all things and sure.
We can rest on His blood—for it speaks peace, pardon, and acceptance with God.
We can rest at His feet—for there we are safe, and can never be injured.
We cannot rest . . . on our graces, on our comforts, on our friends, or on our possessions.
We may rest on Jesus alone.
Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
For Thou hast rescued my soul from death,
My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling.
Psalm 116:7,8
Spurgeon comments: He calls the rest still his own, and feels full liberty to return to it.
What a mercy it is that even if our soul has left its rest for a while we can tell it -- "it is
thy rest still." The Psalmist had evidently been somewhat disturbed in mind, his troubles
had ruffled his spirit but now with a sense of answered prayer upon him he quiets his
soul. He had rested before, for he knew the blessed repose of faith, and therefore he
returns to the God who had been the refuge of his soul in former days. Even as a bird flies
to its nest, so does his soul fly to his God. Whenever a child of God even for a moment
loses his peace of mind, he should be concerned to find it again, not by seeking it in the
world or in his own experience, but in the Lord alone. When the believer prays, and the
Lord inclines his ear, the road to the old rest is before him, let him not be slow to follow
it.
John Newton asks...

Jesus was calling come unto me

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