Jesus invites everyone. There is no exclusivity here. The Gospel is inclusive.

The invitation is:

Come to 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 you souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light, Matthew 11:28-30.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

  • Come as you are.
  • Those who are “toiling” and under any/every form of human sin, sorrow, suffering—physical or spiritual.
  • Jesus gives what no one else can give—rest from the burden of sin, rest from the weariness of fruitless and religious works.
  • We just have to come to Him… Jesus.

Take my yoke upon you

  • Jesus’ yoke is His teaching and sovereign rule in our lives.
  • It’s free and opposite from the yoke of the religious and worldly political systems.
  • It’s free from any/every oppression.
  • Submitting to Jesus’ rule in our hearts is submitting to His Kingship. He’s not a dictator king with millions of expendable minions building His empire. He’s a Shepherd-King, responsible to care for His people, giving up His own life to do so.
  • His yoke brings incredible freedom and liberty.

Learn from me

  • By allowing Jesus to be our Teacher, His life and nature will be fully reproduced in us.

For I am gentle and humble in heart

  • Jesus’ gentleness is incredible strength under incredible control. It can be directed to bring real help to people. Always lifting people up, never crushing, never harsh, never damaging hearts, always gentle. God’s divine strength only works through people with gentle hands and humble hearts.
  • Jesus’ example is of humility is lowliness of heart. A heart bowed low, not lifted up in self-exaltation, nor self-reliance. A heart completely reliant on God—for everything. It’s the absence of pride and self-assertion.

And you will find rest for you souls

  • Relief, ease, refreshment, blessed quiet solitude, spiritual food.
  • This is a restful and secure peace that passes all understanding, Philippians 4:7.

For my burden is easy and my yoke is light

  • The Greek word for “easy” has a much richer meaning than we are used to: good, helpful, kind, profitable, useful, productive, well-fitted, beneficial, eternally useful.
  • What’s Jesus’ burden? It’s His command that we should love ALL our brothers and sisters–and those yet to be brought into God’s family. This is no small command, but it’s a command He enables us to carry out. He gives us His ability to love…

We are not left alone. We are never alone. We get His strength and His life and His freedom. We just have to come to Jesus…