Jesus gives us true rest

Our family recently enjoyed a vacation out to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. It was amazing to view this part of our country and witness God’s beautiful creation there.
We also enjoyed family time together and time for rest in our cabin after hiking awe-inspiring trails near waterfalls and tranquil lakes.
In Matthew 11:28 Jesus issues a gracious invitation: “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Jesus speaks to all who are burdened with the weight of their guilt and mistakes, with the many problems of this life, of trying to please God by their own efforts. Is Jesus speaking to you? Then he is inviting you to come and receive the rest he freely offers.
Jesus’ words in the Bible addressed people who knew what it was to labor and be heavy-laden. The Pharisees (Jewish religious leaders) would load heavy weights on people’s backs. They taught that the law was something you could keep if you worked hard enough. That was how you could be counted righteous before God – by your works. And that is a heavy burden to bear. Only the best and most dedicated could hope to live up to that standard.
The Pharisees thought they could manage the law and master it. But what they did was to take the teeth out of the law so they could outwardly keep it. Take, for example, the Sabbath commandment. People should rest from their work on the Sabbath in order to hear God’s Word. But instead, the Pharisees made up their own regulations – how many steps one could take on a Sabbath day’s journey — and they missed the whole point. They turned it into a manageable law, one they could master. But that really sidesteps the force of the law. God’s law is meant to show us the sinfulness of our heart. It exposes us as sinners who do not want to do God’s will. In this way, God shows us our need for a Savior.
But the Pharisees deluded themselves into thinking they were keeping God’s law. To make themselves seem righteous, they also had to look better than everyone else. That was their game. What was the effect this had on people? They felt weighted down, burdened. By directing them to the law and the added human regulations, the Pharisees tied heavy loads on people’s backs. It was unbearable.
The law is a heavy yoke that you and I are not able to bear. Keeping all the commandments of God is an enormous weight, and we are not strong enough to lift it. This battle within us, the conflict between the new person who wants to obey God and the Old Adam who serves only self is real, and it weighs heavily on our conscience.
Do you realize that you have not loved God as you should, that you have not loved your neighbor as well as you could? That you have not kept God’s commandments, and that the law of God condemns you as a sinner and sentences you to death?
Friends, it is only through Christ that you are delivered, that the load is lifted, the burden removed. That’s why Jesus can say to you today, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.” Jesus is the only one who can do this for you. He is the only one strong enough to carry the load that is the weight of the law. That’s what our Savior did. He kept God’s law completely in our place.
Then Jesus did something more. He died the death of sinners, hanging on a cross, suspended between heaven and earth, mocked by men and forsaken by God. That is a heavy load to bear. Jesus really did carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. Christ carried the sins of us all to the cross.
The weight of your sins has been lifted. That heavy load is gone, just as surely as the huge stone was rolled away on Easter morning. Sin is forgiven, death is destroyed. Jesus now says to you: “Come to me, and I will give you rest.” What a relief! What rest for our souls!
Come to Jesus, and find the rest you need. Rest for those worn out by their own sins. Rest for weary Christians who are troubled by the internal battle within. Rest from all the burdens of sadness and pain, heartache and loss.
Come and find true spiritual rest in Christ, both for this life and for the age to come – peace with God, the forgiveness of sins and the certain hope of eternal rest in heaven. Come to God’s house and experience this true rest!