“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 your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:20-30, NIV)

Jesus’ invitation for salvation is for all who are weary and burdened, especially the individuals who had been held hostage by the self-righteous religious elite of His day (the scribes and pharisees). They opposed Jesus and cared for Him as much as they cared to help those they loaded down with heavy religious burdens.

It was to these weary and burdened individuals that Jesus extended a clear invitation for salvation, calling them out of religion and into a relationship with Him.

Is your soul weary with the burden of religion? Are you exhausted in your vain attempt to earn salvation? Come to Jesus and find the rest your soul longs for. He has made the way for you to enjoy peace and fellowship with God forever!

In Matthew 11, we read of Jesus addressing two vastly different groups. On one side were the arrogant, overfed, unconcerned, and self-righteous religious elites who either opposed Jesus or were indifferent to Him. On the other side were the seventy Jesus had sent out to minister to the surrounding cities. These were the foolish, the forgotten, the unworthy, and unimportant in the eyes of the religious elite.

Jesus rebuked the first group with a warning and received the second group with rejoicing. But some of the self-righteous just needed a clear invitation for salvation. And so Jesus addresses them and invites them to come to Him.

Watch our study in Matthew 11:27-30 as we thoughtfully consider Jesus’ invitation to those who are weighed down and burdened by religion to come and enjoy a relationship with Him.​

​Consider the contrast between the two groups Jesus addressed in Matthew 11:25-30. On one side was the crusty and dusty self-righteous religious, filled with pride, anger, and disgust. On the other side were the gloriously ordinary, filled with genuine joy and thankfulness, eager to tell Jesus all that God had done in His graciousness. And Jesus is between them both—lamenting and warning the first. Reacting and rejoicing with the second.

The world would view the first group as having it all together and the second group as foolish simpletons who just don’t get it. But from the Lord’s perspective, the fool is the one who says in his heart, “there is no God.” (Psalm 14:1; 53:1). But it’s wisdom to forsake that pride, admit that you are a sinner in need of a savior, and simply come to Jesus.

To those who are willing to come to Jesus, He gives them the invitation: ”Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) Lay your pride aside, come to Jesus, and find rest for your soul.

​As Jesus went to preach and teach in the cities in Judea, He encountered the religious elite who were either indifferent to Him or actively resisted Him. Even after witnessing all that Jesus did, they still did not believe. This prompted Jesus to call out to them with a broken heart, warning the hard-hearted and self-righteous. 

But even when the majority of people in cities or countries are indifferent to or resist Jesus, there is always a remnant of individuals that accept His invitation to come to Him and find salvation, forgiveness, and rest for their souls.

Watch our study of Matthew 11:25-30 as we consider these individuals—the wise, unlikely ones.

​Which is worse: resistance or indifference in terms of someone coming to Christ and finding everlasting life and rest for their souls in Him?

Resistance from insecurity or self-righteousness manifests in incessant criticism. The insecure heart is always resisting because it is always learning, but accepts the knowledge of the truth of the gospel (see 2 Timothy 3:7-8). But as awful as resistance is, indifference can be worse. Suppose someone is indifferent to the authority, majesty, and reality of God. In that case, there is no objective morality, no moral moorings. They drift into any and all of the awfulness that this world has to offer.

Jesus is a gentle man. He will not force His forgiveness, His gift of righteousness, or His rest on anyone. But He freely gives these to those who humbly come to Him. Hebrews 11:6 says, “he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently [sincerely, earnestly] seek Him.”

If you are resisting, why? Resist no more. If you’ve been indifferent, why? Be indifferent no more. Jesus is real. So is His authority, majesty, and ministry—to save those who seek Him diligently, earnestly, and sincerely. Come to Him and find rest for your soul.

​Which is worse in terms of someone coming to Christ and finding everlasting life in Him: resistance or indifference? At face value, it seems like a simple question to answer. Those who don’t really seem to care are usually easier to deal with than those who want to argue with you.

The question is not who is the easiest to deal with, but what mentality is less open to the Gospel. Those who are consistently critical are actually closer to surrendering to Jesus than those who couldn’t care less. 

We encounter this more than we realize. And so did Jesus, as we see in Matthew 11:20-30. Watch our study from Sunday as we consider how resistance and indifference affect our decision to come to Jesus.

​In Christ, your exponentially increasing debt of sin has been paid for and your account has been credited the limitless righteousness of God. 

Just think about how much sin you have been, are being, and will be forgiven. Then consider how righteous you are in Christ. In Christ, you are as righteous as anyone ever could be. In Christ, there is nothing more you can do to make yourself any more righteous than you already are. 

Recognizing these truths will make you aware of the true depths of the debt of your sin, the cleansing work of complete forgiveness, and how righteous you truly are in Christ, which has nothing to do with you and everything to do with Jesus.

​It’s difficult to appreciate just how good the good news truly is without first working through the bad news. Part of that was the responsibility of John the Baptist. He prepared the way for the good news of Jesus Christ by preaching repentance, which meant bringing to the forefront the bad news of sin. 

Some readily received the bad news that they were sinners, which prepared them to receive the good news of complete forgiveness and the gift of righteousness. But some rejected the good news of Jesus Christ because they rejected the reality that they were sinners. In their self-righteousness, they were unable to believe, receive, and respond.

Watch our study from Sunday as we continue our study in Matthew, once again examining the parallel passage in Luke and considering what Jesus has to say about self-righteousness.