A.It is a tradition of the church to offer an invitation to sinners and wayward Christians during each assembly, but the Lord and His apostles rarely offered such invitations.Instead, the Lord’s invitation was implicit in their preaching, for the gospel naturally calls people to repent and obey Jesus.
B.One rare example of an explicit invitation from the Lord is recorded in Matthew 11:28-30.Let’s study this passage and learn of what the Lord called His easy yoke and His light burden.
II.THE LORD’S INVITATION
A.After condemning some rebellious cities, Jesus praised the Father and declared His own relationship to the Father as the Son of God (Matt. 11:20-27).
1.In verses 20-24, the Lord rebuked the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum because they did not respond well to His great miracles.He declared that they were worse than the notoriously evil cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom, for those cities would have been more receptive to Him.
2.In verses 25-26, Jesus praised the Father for His providential revelation.
a.The Father had purposefully chosen to reveal His will in such a way that it would remain hidden to the worldly wise and intelligent people.Only the "babes,” meaning the pure and faithful people, would perceive God’s will (see Matt. 18:1-5).
b.The apostle Paul wrote a similar message in 1Corinthains 1:18-31, saying, "God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (v. 21) and "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise” (v. 27).
3.In verse 27, Jesus showed that it was only through the Son that the Father had revealed Himself.
a.The Lord’s words here are similar to His statements in Matthew 28:18 ("All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth”) and John 14:6-7 ("No one comes to the Father but through Me…If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also…”).
b.Christ’s relationship with the Father is exclusive and unique.No one else can truthfully make the claims that Jesus made.
c.Consider also John 1:18 – "No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”
B.The Lord then offered an invitation to rest for those who are weary and heavy-laden (Matt. 11:28-30).
1.This invitation is a conditional promise of rest.
a.The promise of Jesus is very simple: "I will give you rest,” and "You shall find rest for your souls.”This is a promise of spiritual relief and comfort.
b.The Lord placed three conditions upon this promise in His invitation.
i.The first condition is to come to Jesus.Obviously, this is not a matter of coming to a physical location to find Him, but rather it is to rely on Him as the source of spiritual rest and salvation.
ii.The second condition is to take on Christ’s yoke.(The point will be expounded upon later.)
iii.The third condition is to learn from Jesus.Jesus had just declared that the only way to know the Father was through Him, so it behooves us to learn from Him.He teaches us by His words and His example (Matt. 7:21-27; John 13:15).
2.The recipients of this invitation are those who are tired and burdened with sin.
a.This is not a promise to those who are tired due to physical fatigue, sickness, infirmities of age, etc.Jesus did not promise to give relief from such ailments in this life.
b.Instead, the recipients of this promise will have the guilt and condemnation of sin lifted from them."Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 8:1)
3.The appeal of this invitation is both the promise and the person of Jesus Christ.
a.Jesus can deliver His promise of spiritual rest because of His relationship with the Father and because He is the Son of God.
b.The love and sympathy of Jesus makes the conditions of this promise even more appealing, for He says, "I am gentle and humble in heart.”See Philippians 2:5-11.
c.Jesus makes it possible for us to meet the conditions of this promise, for He does not require more of us than we are able to give.In fact, He makes the conditions very favorable, for He says, "For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.”
III."MY YOKE IS EASY, AND MY BURDEN IS LIGHT”
A.The easy yoke of Christ is a pleasure to wear.
1.A yoke is a device for joining together a pair of draft animals such as oxen.The advantage of the device is to combine the strength of the animals for pulling a load.
2.The figure of a yoke communicates several important messages to us regarding what Christ requires us to do.
a.Christ requires us to be bound to Himself and to other believers.His yoke is a figure of the binding of faith and love.
b.He requires for us to work for Him, for a yoke is a device for accomplishing work (1Cor. 15:58).
c.He requires us to work with others and not alone.We are to do our parts while also helping and being helped when needed (Gal. 6:2-5).
d.He requires us to work under submission to Him.Taking on His yoke makes us to be servants of Christ our master and Lord.
3.When the Lord described His yoke as "easy,” He literally meant that it was pleasant, and kindly.
a.The Greek word translated as "easy” is chrēstos, which means mild or pleasant.It is variously translated as better, kind, good, and gracious in the New Testament.
b.Consider what it means for Christ’s yoke to be easy and pleasant.
i.For those who love Jesus Christ, serving Him is literally a pleasure.Christ’s servants know the truth of Psalm 16:11, which says, "You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”
ii.The joy of serving Christ is well expressed in the hymn His Yoke is Easy, for the chorus says, "His service is my sweetest delight.”
iii.Serving Jesus gives us the pleasure and honor of being in the presence of the Lord.Notice John 12:26 – "If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.”
iv.See also Revelation 7:15; 22:1-5.
B.The light load of Christ is not burdensome to bear.
1.The apostle John wrote, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome” (1John 5:3).
2.A servant of Christ has a faithful perspective so that Christ’s burden becomes light to him.
a.The apostle Paul explained this in 2Corinthians 4:17-18 – "For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
b.Paul suffered many things for Christ (2Cor. 11:23-33), yet he considered his ordeals to be "light affliction.”We have not suffered anything in the service of Christ as severe as Paul, so surely we can agree that Christ’s load is light.
3.In contrast to Christ’s load, sin is a burdensome weight that crushes the sinner.
a.Sin is a wearisome burden that affects death in those who attempt to carry it (Rom. 6:23a; Eph. 2:1-3; Col. 2:13a).It is a load that we cannot bear.
b.The weight of sin is so great that only the Son of God could bear it, which He did when He took our punishment and died on the cross (Isa. 53:1-12; Rom. 5:6-11; Heb. 2:14-18).
IV.CONCLUSION
A.Although given long ago, the Lord’s invitation still stands for those who will come to Jesus, take on His yoke, and learn from Him.Those who do so will find rest for their souls.
B.Those who come to Christ will also find the joy of serving Him, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light.They may cast off the load of sin, and take on the pleasure and honor of Christ’s service.
