Ezra
Well-known member
“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28
This verse comes at the end of a section where Jesus is describing who He is and the relationship between the Father and the Son. It comes at the end of a chapter where the followers of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked if Jesus was the Messiah they had been waiting for. John and his followers are not the only ones who were wondering.
There had been four hundred years of silence since the prophets of the Old Testament. The Jewish people were expecting a Messiah and waiting for God to save them, but they did not know the time or what the Messiah would look like.
Jesus was speaking to crowds of people who had become desperate in their waiting for the Messiah to save them and who were looking to see if Jesus had the answers to their questions and concerns.
What Does It Mean?
Jesus explained in this chapter that when people are given the answers and shown the truth, they still fail in understanding and obeying. Just before this key verse, Jesus points out that God has revealed truths to infants that even the wise cannot understand. Verse 28 gives freedom! Jesus’ words here would have brought to mind, to His audience, a Jewish document that personified Wisdom.
Jesus not only has all the answers—is not only wise—He is wisdom. Jesus gives rest to the weary because He allows them to release the responsibility of knowing the answers. They only need to know Him. They do not need to push to have all the answers. The only answer they need is Jesus. The burdened can lay down everything they are carrying and all they have to do is allow Jesus to guide them.
Why Does It Matter?
Jesus is wisdom. He is knowledge. He is understanding. Jesus understood that sin, Satan, stresses, and the worries of life weigh us down. The longer we carry them, mulling over their presence, grip, and incessant impact, the heavier they become. Every one of our worries and questions is a rock in the backpack we’re wearing, and Jesus tenderly invites us to “come to [Him],” and let Him carry it for us.
When we come, He gives rest—a rest no one else can give. Even when we do not understand the answers to our deepest fears, we have the freedom to set down our anxiety because we have faith that we do not need to understand when we trust the one who does. But this freedom is not always easy for us. We have to be willing to let go of the idea that we are going to understand everything. We have to be able to pass our burdens to Jesus and say, “I don’t need to know everything, because I trust that You do.”
52 Bible Verses You Should Have in Your Heart
Matthew 11:28
This verse comes at the end of a section where Jesus is describing who He is and the relationship between the Father and the Son. It comes at the end of a chapter where the followers of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked if Jesus was the Messiah they had been waiting for. John and his followers are not the only ones who were wondering.
There had been four hundred years of silence since the prophets of the Old Testament. The Jewish people were expecting a Messiah and waiting for God to save them, but they did not know the time or what the Messiah would look like.
Jesus was speaking to crowds of people who had become desperate in their waiting for the Messiah to save them and who were looking to see if Jesus had the answers to their questions and concerns.
What Does It Mean?
Jesus explained in this chapter that when people are given the answers and shown the truth, they still fail in understanding and obeying. Just before this key verse, Jesus points out that God has revealed truths to infants that even the wise cannot understand. Verse 28 gives freedom! Jesus’ words here would have brought to mind, to His audience, a Jewish document that personified Wisdom.
Jesus not only has all the answers—is not only wise—He is wisdom. Jesus gives rest to the weary because He allows them to release the responsibility of knowing the answers. They only need to know Him. They do not need to push to have all the answers. The only answer they need is Jesus. The burdened can lay down everything they are carrying and all they have to do is allow Jesus to guide them.
Why Does It Matter?
Jesus is wisdom. He is knowledge. He is understanding. Jesus understood that sin, Satan, stresses, and the worries of life weigh us down. The longer we carry them, mulling over their presence, grip, and incessant impact, the heavier they become. Every one of our worries and questions is a rock in the backpack we’re wearing, and Jesus tenderly invites us to “come to [Him],” and let Him carry it for us.
When we come, He gives rest—a rest no one else can give. Even when we do not understand the answers to our deepest fears, we have the freedom to set down our anxiety because we have faith that we do not need to understand when we trust the one who does. But this freedom is not always easy for us. We have to be willing to let go of the idea that we are going to understand everything. We have to be able to pass our burdens to Jesus and say, “I don’t need to know everything, because I trust that You do.”
52 Bible Verses You Should Have in Your Heart
