Twenty-Five PromisesMatthew 11:28-29 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
We have studied, over the last few months, many promises of future hope and fulfillment – “He will wipe every tear from their eyes and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.” But one of the great truths of the Christian life is that it is ‘now and not yet.’ We do not wait for all our hopes and comforts to be realized then – we experience a ‘foretaste of glory divine’ in Christ’s ministry to us now. This promise has always been of tremendous help to God’s people because it is a present tense promise: are you weary now? Are you burdened now? Come to me now; find rest in me now.
When Jesus says ‘take my yoke upon you’ he is contrasting the ‘rest’ that is found in working and walking with him to the crushing burden the law (. The wooden frame joining two animals (usually oxen) for pulling heavy loads was a metaphor for one person’s subjection to another, and a common metaphor in Judaism for the law. The Pharisaic interpretation of the law, with its extensive list of proscriptions, had become a crushing burden (cf. Matthew 23:4). Jesus’ yoke of discipleship, on the other hand, brings rest through simple commitment to him (cf. 1 John 5:3).
Come Unto Me from the Messiah
Come Unto Me by Nicole Mullen
