"Come to me, all who are weary and heavy–laden, 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 shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My load is light." (Mathew 11:28-30)

It is most difficult to properly minister to the weary, grieving, sad and depressed. Some are convinced that they need to be distracted. They talk and talk. Others suggest to say nothing. We are to give them time. We can understand both their comments. It is hard to understand their difficuties let alone handle perplexing emotional states.

The words of Jesus are different from man's attempts to salve your troubles. He promises to meet your true need. After all, if you are not now grieving deep in your soul, you will at some time. Furthermore, we will always meet others who are passing times of great sorrow. God wants to train us to minister His love and truth to others in great need.

Jesus was a doctor of the soul and body. He knew how to marvelously minister to the needs of our heart. The instructive words of Jesus are both simple and yet majestic. It is simple because it costs nothing. He is near. One does not need to travel far to see this famed 'heart surgeon.' The words are simple. Theyare explained through a simple illustration.

The words are also majestic. They usher us into God's presence. They lead us to find that much needed rest. Pity on those who do not believe in the resurrection of Christ. They have nowhere to go. Pity on those who believe Christ is only man and not God; they have to carry all their burdens on their own. But we have Christ to go to.

Maybe I should preface our discussion by first stating that these words of Christ meant a lot to me during a recent struggle in my own heart. As I was reading along in the Gospel of Matthew, I read these very words. It was almost as if a voice rang out saying, "You need to go back over those verses more carefully." I did. The passage was not new of course, but fresh meaning and joy flooded my soul as the truth of these words sifted deeper and deeper into my soul. The more I meditated on them, the more I sensed Christ's presence during my troubled time.

Matthew 11:28-30 records three instructions. We all know that when we are troubled, it is not easy to listen. We are often so focused on the troubling situation or our heart that we cannot deal with lots of words. Jesus' words are designed for the troubled of heart. We might be spell-bound by grief, but Jesus our Healer speaks to our wounded hearts.
A. Come
B. Take
C. Learn

A. Come

What is it that Jesus first says? His words are filled with gentleness and yet power. "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy–laden, and I will give you rest." He did not say "Go" but to come. "Go" has a sense of being alone; the Lord knew what we need is company of soul. He draws us by His side. He is not asking for bravery or courage. There is a time for those things. Jesus is not speaking as a general here but as a Comforter, much like a mother comforts her child.

But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. (1Thessalonians 2:7)

Second we should note to whom He speaks. He is searching for the weary and the heavy-laden. They are the ones who will hear Jesus' beckoning them to come. They are burdened down. They have no solutions, no resources, nothing to help minister to their inner needs. Modern man has given up hope on such people. Oh, they will dope them up with drugs until their minds get dull and their pockets dry. But Christ's counsel is so different.

The yoke consists of two parts. The first part connect both oxen. This usually is in the form of a long stick. The second part is some contraption that locks their head to their side of the stick. The result? They are bound to go in the same direction. The oxen above do not have a yoke and will go in different directions.

I want you to know that I am in no way downplaying the importance of people in the place they can play in ministering to our needs. God has called us to comfort one another in the power of the Great Comforter – the Holy Spirit. There are those times we are so bitterly troubled that only Christ can help. This is the great duty and privilege of the consoling Christian. Bring them to Christ. Read these simple words to them. Let them hear of Christ's wonderful invitation. They sense nobody else wants them. They need to hear Christ's invitation over and over until it seeps down into their wounded hearts.

Do you right now have something that drags you down? Is there a burden on your soul that you are not able to bear? We do run into such things. We are horrified at what happens, distressed by some sickness, perplexed about some situation. We just do not have the answers. God knows man is not able to bear them, not even the best of them. Man was designed to depend upon God.

Man need not be ashamed of trusting in God for these very trying times. They were designed to shake us so violently that we would trust in Him more. We pity not the weary and burdened, but the weary one who refuses to believe in God. He has denied Christ's resurrection. He doesn't believe Christ is alive and living. He has nowhere to go.

What will you find when you go to Christ? You will find rest. You will find a special healing for your soul. There are two Greek words used for rest.

1) 'anapausiv' is rest which comes by cessation from labor, which may be simply temporary.
2) 'anesiv' means literally the relaxation of strings which have been drawn tight. Hence, it is used to designate ease, especially that which comes by relaxation of unfavorable conditions of any kind, such as affliction.

Jesus uses the first one here. It goes along most nicely with His illustration of a man plowing his field. He puts this harness about his body so that he can pull the plow deep into the sod. Unfortunately, the plow does it job when is heavy and digs deep into the stubborn soil. This makes the labor. But no labor, no food.

This is just a picture though. Few if any of us plow and if we do, we usually have motors or at least horses to help us along. The point is this. Everyone can go a certain distance on his own. Each can work well up to a certain limit depending on his person. But even the strongest will run up to that point where he can do no more. He collapses in exhaution. This is true emotionally as well as physically.

Jesus is speaking to the weary. Those who are worn out say, "I can't go another step." Did you ever get to that point where you said, "I can't go on?" another version is, "I don't want to go on."

Sometimes we do. We can't see a way out of the burdensome circumstances that we are in. We have endured. We have held on. And yet, we say the words we never planned on saying, "I can't take another minute of this."

Jesus has promised you a rest. The first step is to come. He will take your load off your shoulders and exchange it for His rest. Have you ever experienced this amazing work of God?

In the first section then, He tells us to come. He gives us a promise of rest to lure us in His direction. He identifies whom He is inviting by describing our broken condition. He assures us that we can be in the worst of circumstances but has a solution for us. That is so good to know. Jesus never fails. Only with Jesus will we see these emotional burdens removed. We need to go to Him.

How does He bring that promised rest? Let's look at the next section.

B. Take "Take My yoke upon you"

Many a time we wonder why help doesn't come our way. The answer is that we do not take the Lord's prescription. Jesus first says to come to Him. We have an invitation, but we need to respond to it. But we ask how do we get to Jesus. It is not as if we can find Him around the corner. Jesus highlights two means to come to Him. These are the second and third commands that Jesus gives to us in these verses.

The first step occurs when we take the yoke of Jesus and put it on us. A yoke is a simple structure much like a figure eight. They are made for two heads. Each ox has its head placed in that one section. The yoke keeps them going at the same pace so that the plow is evenly pulled.

A yoke might slow us down or speed us up, but most of all it keeps us from wandering off in our own direction. The point is that Jesus controls one side of the yoke. The yoke is His. He leads us. When we put our head in it, then we are constrained to follow His lead.
You might ask, "Well how do I put my head in that yoke?" It is not hard. When desperate, one is not looking for excuses but solutions. The "Come to Me" takes all the harshness or possible oppressiveness out of the situation. His gentle and humble words take the fear away that a yoke might otherwise present. Where else would we want to be?! The yoke in this case becomes an opportunity rather than a threat.

Think of marriage. When a person gets married, the man and woman deliberately restrains his freedom to be part of this covenant. They don't think of marriage as constraining but liberating. They look at it as if they are getting more delight and freedom. This is true with the yoke of Jesus too. We are never so free then when we are abiding in Christ.

What does this mean practically? It means that we want to be with Jesus. As we consider this, our minds begin to deliberate who Jesus is. In a sense the closeness forces conversations that we might never have had otherwise. As we get to talk to Him, we remember His love, care, and faithfulness.

Healing comes as we put our trust in Him. We are drawn to Him. This is no doubt one of the major themes of the Song of Solomon. Life finds its meaning and source by being near the king. So it is true with Jesus. There are many burdens that we have taken upon ourselves that we were never fit to carry. The Lord has helped us discern this by telling us it is a sin to worry. We are never to be anxious. Anxiety reveals a lack of trust in God's care for us.

Healing doesn't necessarily come immediately. Did you ever have a dog that you put on a leash? They run and fight the leash pulling hard at their necks. We can be same in the yoke. As long as we are trying to get out of the yoke, we will not be able to listen to our Master. We need to quiet down and accept our situation. For some of us, this takes a while. We can shorten these difficult times simply by observing a simple truth.

Reject the lie: the lie says that you are more free when not constrained. Many married people are breaking their covenants because they believe in this delusion. Instead, we are to remember that it is the humble of heart that gains the kingdom of God. It is the merciful that receives mercy. We are to start focus on serving others than ourselves. As long as we focus on our own needs and wants, they begin to miserably control us.

All those questions of, "What people will think?" or "What will happen to me?" or "What will become of my reputation?" will cause us to lurch to one side or the other thus putting strain on our necks. Take His yoke upon you. Accept it. Value it. And most of all rest.

Application:
Have you consciously given yourself to be led by Him. The Christian is always to be in such a relationship with Christ. He dies to Himself. He follows Christ. This is what a Christian is. Dying to ourselves is simply another way of taking His yoke upon us. We relinquish our wills so that we can do whatever He desires.
We have discussed 'Come' and 'Take.' We have one last command for us.

C.) Learn

The last phrase says, "and learn from me." This refers to the constant lessons that the Lord will give to us.

Many people do not understand the important place truth plays in our lives. Truth are to be learned and applied to our lives. They allow us to think the right way about our lives and others. This is the reason we always need to be meditating on God's Word. I hope you do not let a day go by without spending some consecrated time listening to God's Word.

I think "Learn from me" means more than reading the Bible. Or perhaps I should say it is closely connected. God is also sovereign ruler over our lives. Many people have secularized their minds and no longer believe God has any part in our lives. This was the trouble with the Jews before the exile. God would bring increasingly serious judgments to their lives but they would refuse to think that God would do such things. Actually God was warning them and calling them back to Himself. But they would not learn and caused great suffering.

When we come to church, we do learn valuable lessons. But we must take them home with us if we are going to profit by them. When we share the yoke of Christ, we do it 24 hours a day. Jesus wants us to listen to His viewpoint on all the things we do, watch and say.

One of my burdens that I talk to Him about is my non-Christian family. I have been praying a lot for them. I recently went to New England to join a family reunion. It is so hard to speak of Christ in such situations. You know how it works. One goes from one person to another, much like a bumblebee goes from flower to flower, and speaks 5 minutes with each person. How did God answer my prayer?

I told one person that I would be preaching at our old home church one Sunday. My Mom heard this and convinced a number of family members to attend. This was a miracle. There I could clearly share the Gospel and the glories of following Jesus.

When we learn of Him, we see how He works. In this case, my older sister rather bluntly said that she might go only if it gets real cold up at camp where she stayed. Guess what? The Lord brought along a real cold weekend. There she was sitting in the pew.

Jesus doesn't always do things the way we have planned, but He does do very special things. When we are going through difficult trials, He brings along words of encouragement, gifts, scriptural warnings and encouragement, burdens in prayers, etc. He is orchestrating all these things together to help us see the magnificent love of God.

Try reading through the Gospels and notice how Jesus allowed the Father to orchestrate His life and ministry through what happened during the day. The Father brought people to Jesus. The Father gave words to Jesus to speak. It is time for God's people to again return to Him and start learning how to live like Jesus.

Maybe I should warn you of one thing.
In order for us to learn, we must refuse to demand certain things from the Lord. We cannot demand that He do this or that. We cannot insist that if we do this, He will do such and such a thing. We must allow Jesus to lead us.

I have met people who try to control God with their allegiance. "If you really love me, then you will …" If you say such things to God or others, then you need to repent from such manipulative and arrogant words. There is no room for that in the yoke with Jesus. We need to accept His will for our lives. What are some things you might insist on?

Did you ever really want a person to be healed, a tragedy not to happen, money to do something urgent, etc.? The Lord will work out things in His ways. My wife keeps a list of the gifts we get so we can care for our family. We don't get any regular salary. We constantly look at this list of gifts as a letter of God's love to our lives. It is a reminder of how God can work impossible situations out.

We need to "Take" and "Learn." They are two ways we take the yoke of Jesus upon us. When we do this, God brings a special peace to our hearts. Jesus said the result will be,

"You shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My load is light."

This only reinforces what we have already said. The most restful place is by the side of our loving savior. If the Father has given us His Son, would He withhold any good thing? No. Jesus and His death is a perpetual reminder of His great love for us. Despite our sinfulness, He still covenanted to be with us. We might not understand how some situation is 'good,' but we can and should trust Him.

We are to follow the pattern of Jesus. He suffered all things yet without sin. Jesus knew betrayal, endured suffering, experienced rejection, suffered a bad family name, was constantly misunderstood, never had a cash reserve, regularly faced the sick and dying.

Jesus is gentle and humble. He calls us all to His side and especially those who are weary. You are the ones who are willing. You have no room left for pride. You are broken. The Lord has a special place for you.

For us who are not weary, can I suggest that we need to get to that point. The Gospel cannot be accepted unless we go through the gate of being 'poor in spirit.' Every Christian needs to live at the foot of the cross. It is true we will not always experience crises, but we will face one to bring us to the point where we are willing to put our head next to Christ and labor on. We are meant to keep it there. Have you taken your head out? Do you go along merrily without much thought what Jesus would say to you?

Lastly, a word for those who would give up on themselves. You think that your load is too heavy for anyone to help? Think about this no more. There is a promise that God will never give us too much to bear. When we position ourselves next to Jesus, we have a constant reminder that He is responsible to take care of matters. He says His yoke is easy. In other words it is manageable. One can bear and endure. The load is light. Whatever we face is always being carefully monitored by our Lord. I think of the earthquake seismic measuring instruments. Everything is carefully being cared for.

When Christ is beside us, what can we fear? When we follow Jesus even through the darkest nights, He the Light of the world still stands beside us.

We must not mind what God brings into our lives. We must, however, reject finding that we no longer need a Savior. We must run from any spirit that makes our Savior extra or superfluous to our lives. We must humble ourselves from any spirit of pride or self-confidence that would make us think that things are well without thinking about the glorious ways of Jesus Christ. Listen to Jeremiah,

Thus says the LORD, "Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.' Jeremiah 6:16

We all must turn to Jesus. We must need to stay by His side. We must love to be by His side. Oh that we were committed to Him forever.

Summary
Three special commands: Come, Take and Learn.

They cost nothing. They are promised to anyone who will come. We will not get this advice from those around us. We will not get His care from others. Now is the time for us to return to the Lord and find His peace that passeth all understanding.

Come to me, all who are weary and heavy–laden, 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 shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My load is light. (Mathew 11:28-30)