“Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."Matt:11:28
All of us, can, from time to time, find ourselves heavy laden with great burdens in this life. At times these burdens can be overwhelming, especially when we have borne them for so great a time.
At times, those things, which we
carry with us through this life, find their severity not in their
magnitude but in their duration. We can become wearied and tired, made worn out
from years of bearing our burdens.
We can look at the troubled world around us
which stands on the brink of chaos. There is threat of war, natural disasters,
terrorism, economic uncertainty, social and moral deterioration, family
breakdown and more.
All these things can fill us with a sense of
personal and collective anxiety.
Jesus Calls Us
If we are being overwhelmed by the cares and burdens
of this life, individually or collectively, then Jesus calls out to us each and
all to come to him, burdens and all, whatever they may be.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest." Matt: 11:28
This is rest, that we can all have through
Jesus. It is a rest that rises above circumstances or conditions. A rest, that
defies the understanding of the natural mind of humanity. It is rest even in
the midst of the pressures of this life
I Will Give
This rest, which Jesus invites us to is a
certainty not a possibility, nor is it a theoretical rest, but a true and
freely given rest which we receive only through Jesus himself. It is is
not something that we can of our own selves create or generate on our
own.
Did Not Rest
The Holy Spirit inspired the human author of
the Epistle to the Hebrews, that is Jewish Christians, to address the idea of
entering into the true rest that is found only in and though Jesus alone.
These Hebrew Jewish Christians had been raised
under the Old Covenant with all it's ceremonies and ordinances and
law. They had been taught all their lives that Israel is God's Elect People by an act of Grace on God's part, but they had come to believe
that in order to maintain this status as God's Elect People they
had to keep the Law and all the varies ceremonies and regulations attempting to
maintain this Elect status Israel could never
be at rest.
The author of the Hebrews Epistle, in the
fourth chapter, verses (1-12) ,
referrers these first Century Jewish Christians , and we all, back to the
history of the people of Israel ,who were being led by Joshua , and how Israel
failed to truly enter their national rest in the
Promised land of Canaan due to Israel's unbelief and to refusing to accept and
hold on to the sacred word of God.
Israel entered the land of Canaan but never
entered the true rest that God had been speaking of and promising even
from the very beginning. The rest that
even the Sabbath day had only been a type.
Thru Jesus
As a result, the Hebrews author states, that
Israel had never truly entered in to and experienced the rest that God had always intended. This rest which God offers Israel and all humanity is
more than a prosperous and well-favored geographical location or a given day.
This rest is now
available through Jesus so that those who have come to believe in Jesus can
experience this true rest which God
had always wanted for Israel and all humanity.
Hebrews then turns our attention to the
Priesthood of our Lord Christ, this is not just a transition to a new theme in
the Epistle but rather, is a continuation of the rest theme
and the true source and reason we all can be at rest.
"Therefore, since we have a great high
priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly
to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to
empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every
way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of
grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us
in our time of need." (14-16)
What we are being told in these verses,
is that, due to our Lord's place in the Heavens at the very throne of God
as our High Priest on our behalf. A High Priest who personally understands the
problems that we all face in this life, and who is seeking our continual
deliverance and providing each and all of us with intercession is the reason we
can be at rest.
Jesus understands our humanity, he is
fully one of us even as he is fully God. Jesus knows from his own first-hand
experiences what the human life is like. Jesus knows the
weariness, cares and burdens that we all bare in this life; therefore, Jesus
can have both empathy and sympathy for us. We can know that he understands each
and all of us.
Cast Your Concerns
Jesus invites us to come to him when the
pressures and burdens of this life begin to take their toll upon us and we
are weighed down and over whelmed by our circumstances. Jesus calls out to us
when we stumble and fall, when our concerns are looming large and seem
unbearable.
St. Peter, with Psalm:55:22 in mind, writing his first general
Epistle to Christians two thousand years ago and to Christians throughout the
ages, counsels each and all of us to give over our cares and burdens to our
Lord Jesus.
"Casting all your cares upon him; for he
cares for you" 1Pet: 5:7
St. Peter tells us to "cast all your cares”, the word "cast" means to jettison them from us, to thrust
them far away, to quickly to relinquish ownership of them into the hands of
Jesus. Why can we do this? Because "he (Jesus) cares for you". This means more than we might
believe. It means that Jesus "cares for you”, that
is, Jesus has a bond of love for and towards each and all of us. Jesus care
about and for us, and also that Jesus manages the problems on our
behalf therefore we should "cast”, that is, relinquish
control of our cares over to our Lord. Jesus will not fail us whatever
we face in this life.
Self-Reliant
Many of us still attempt to handle life's
burdens and challenges whatever they may be. We try to be self-reliant. Sometimes,
it is hard for us to just let go of the burdens that we carry in this
life. It is as through we believe that we can manage our cares better than
Jesus, yet, in the end, if we are honest with ourselves, we will have to
knowledge the truth that we all fail and fall short before our God.
Come Unto Me
When we face burdens, as we all will, and find
ourselves weighed down in this life we can heed the invitation which Jesus
freely offers all of us, to come to Jesus and bring our needs and our cares to
him.
Jesus so freely offers to take up part and to
assume of our burden whatever it might be. Jesus is there for each and all of
us calling us to himself offering us his divine assistance and providing,
through his grace alone, that rest which we all were intended to experience
“Come unto me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For
my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matt: 11:28-30
Jesus calls out to any and all who will but
freely receive it to "come unto" him,
to "cast our cares" and burdens upon him,
knowing that Jesus is there in the Heavens as our High Priest to help
us with any and all our cares and burdens that weary us in this life.
If we have cares and burdens and are weary, then
let us hear and heed Jesus' gracious invitation so freely extend to
each and all of us and Jesus will give us rest.
Benediction: May
we each and all come unto our Lord Jesus that we might enter that rest he so
freely offers, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen
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Rev. Todd Crouch, Norman, Oklahoma
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