Click to Play
0 plays
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
— Matthew 11:28 (NIV)
These are not the words of a religious system. They are not an invitation to an institution. They are the voice of a Person—Jesus the Messiah—speaking directly, personally, urgently.
The full passage reads:
> “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 11:28–30
In these three verses, Jesus addresses three things that mark our generation as much as any other:
1. Weariness – exhausted by effort, striving, and pressure.
2. Burden – weighed down by loads we were never designed to carry.
3. Rest – not mere sleep, but rest for the soul, deep within the inner man.
This is not sentimental language. It is covenant language. It is an offer with conditions, accompanied by a divine guarantee. It involves coming, taking, learning, and then receiving rest.
We will see that this “rest” is not passive. It is not inactivity. It is the fruit of a right yoke, a right relationship, and a right heart posture before God.
“Scripture interprets scripture.” So we begin by asking: Who spoke these words? To whom were they spoken? Under what conditions? And what do they mean in the light of the whole counsel of God?
---
### a. Where in Matthew?
Matthew 11 comes at a critical turning point in Jesus’ earthly ministry. The chapter includes:
Then immediately after this, Jesus turns from praying to the Father to speaking to the people:
> “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened…”
So this invitation emerges in the context of:
### b. Who is speaking?
Jesus is not here acting as a mere teacher among many. He is speaking as:
The One who says “Come to me” is the same One who could say, “Come to me, all you who are thirsty… whoever believes in me…” (John 7:37–38). He is conscious of being the channel of God’s rest and God’s life.
### c. To whom was He speaking?
The immediate audience was first-century Jews, living under:
Jesus elsewhere rebukes the religious leaders:
> “They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.”
> — Matthew 23:4
The people were “heavy laden” not only with sin and personal failure, but with man-made religious demands that gave no true rest.
Jesus does not offer a softer version of the same religion. He offers Himself as the way to the Father, the true rest-giver.
---
### a. “Weary” and “Burdened”
> “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened…”
> — Matthew 11:28
The Greek words used here are significant.
1. “Weary” – κοπιάω (kopiáō)
2. “Burdened” – φορτίζω (phortízō)
Many believers today are in this condition. They are:
Jesus addresses both self-effort (laboring) and external loads (burdened). His invitation includes both.
### b. “Rest”
There are two references to rest:
> “I will give you rest.” (v. 28)
> “You will find rest for your souls.” (v. 29)
The Greek noun is ἀνάπαυσις (anápausis). It means:
It is used in the Greek Old Testament (LXX) for the rest promised to God’s people in the land and in God Himself (e.g., Exod. 33:14).
This “rest” is:
He does not merely take away work. He changes the yoke under which we work.
### c. “Yoke”
> “Take my yoke upon you…”
> — Matthew 11:29
The Greek word is ζυγός (zygós).
In Scripture, “yoke” often describes:
Jesus is using a familiar image: two oxen under one beam, pulling together. His invitation is not, “Take off all yokes,” but “Take my yoke.”
It is a relational yoke. To take His yoke is:
This changes how we hear the lyrics. The rest offered is not lawlessness. It is rightly yoked labor with Jesus, which becomes rest.
---
The lyrics simply echo the words of Jesus:
> 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.
We will consider these lines in four movements:
1. The invitation: “Come to me”
2. The exchange: “I will give you rest”
3. The yoke: “Take my yoke… learn from me”
4. The inner result: “Rest for your souls… yoke easy, burden light”
### 1) “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened…”
This is the first condition: Come.
Notice what He does not say:
This exposes a deception. Many think they must fix themselves before they can come. Jesus says the opposite: your weariness and burdens qualify you.
This is consistent with Isaiah 55:1:
> “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;
> and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!”
And with John 6:37:
> “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”
The enemy will always seek to keep you from this first step. He will use:
But Jesus says simply, directly, universally: “Come to me.”
### 2) “…and I will give you rest.”
There is a divine I will: “I will give you rest.”
This is a gift, not a reward. It does not say, “I will teach you how to earn rest.” It says, “I will give you rest.”
We can connect this with John 14:27:
> “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.
> I do not give to you as the world gives.”
The rest Jesus gives is His own rest:
Hebrews 4 draws this out:
> “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;
> for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,
> just as God did from his.”
> — Hebrews 4:9–10
This does not mean inactivity. It means cessation from self-righteous works—human effort to establish our standing with God—and entrance into God’s finished work.
So the first rest (“I will give you rest”) is an initial gift when we come to Jesus. It parallels salvation, justification, being made right with God through faith.
Many Christians stop here. They receive initial rest (forgiveness, peace with God), but they never proceed to the second stage: “You will find rest for your souls.”
### 3) “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…”
Now we come to the second condition: Take.
There is a shift from invitation to instruction:
The rest of verse 28 is unconditional: “Come… and I will give you rest.”
But the deeper rest of verse 29 is conditional upon taking and learning.
#### a. Taking His yoke
To take His yoke is to accept:
In spiritual warfare, one of the main objectives of the enemy is to push us—into haste, anxiety, pressure. The Holy Spirit leads; Satan drives. The yoke of Jesus is firm but not driven by fear.
2 Corinthians 6:14 warns:
> “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.”
That is a negative yoke—wrong partnerships, alliances, spiritual mixtures. Jesus offers the positive alternative: be yoked with Me.
When two oxen are yoked, one is often more experienced—the “older” ox. The younger learns the path, the rhythm, the response to the farmer’s commands, simply by walking beside the older. That is a picture of discipleship to Jesus.
#### b. “Learn from me”
The Greek verb is μανθάνω (manthanō)—to learn as a disciple, to be trained.
Rest for the soul is connected with being taught by Jesus. This means:
John 8:31–32 explains the process:
> “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
> Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Freedom (and rest) comes when we continue in His word, not when we merely taste it once.
Many are weary not just because of external circumstances, but because of wrong beliefs—about themselves, about God, about how God deals with them. Those beliefs function like inner burdens. Only the teaching of Jesus, received in humility, can remove them.
### 4) “…for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Here Jesus exposes the heart behind the yoke.
#### a. “Gentle and humble in heart”
The character of the One who holds the other side of the yoke determines how that yoke feels.
Many believers unconsciously imagine Jesus as:
Such a Jesus is not the Jesus of Scripture. He says of Himself: “I am gentle and humble in heart.”
You cannot find rest for your soul while secretly believing that the One leading you is harsh. That belief must be renounced. It is a distortion, often rooted in past wounds (e.g., from harsh parents or authority figures), and it must be replaced with the truth.
#### b. “You will find rest for your souls.”
Now we have a second stage of rest:
1. “I will give you rest” – the gift of initial rest when we come.
2. “You will find rest for your souls” – the discovered rest as we walk under His yoke and submit to His teaching.
The phrase “rest for your souls” recalls Jeremiah 6:16:
> “This is what the LORD says:
> ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths,
> ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
> and you will find rest for your souls.’
> But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”
Jesus is effectively saying: *I am that good way. I am the ancient path. Walk with Me, and you will find what Israel rejected—rest for your souls.*
This is rest at the deepest level of your inner being—your thoughts, emotions, identity.
### 5) “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Finally, Jesus makes a remarkable statement about His demands.
Meaning: good, kind, well-fitting, suitable. Not harmful.
Meaning: light in weight, not oppressive.
The rabbis of Jesus’ day sometimes spoke of “the yoke of the law.” That yoke, as interpreted through layers of tradition, had become heavy.
Jesus does not say there is no burden. But He says His burden is:
1 John 5:3 explains the paradox:
> “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands.
> And his commands are not burdensome…”
The commands are not burdensome when empowered by the Holy Spirit and borne under the yoke of Jesus. When we try to carry them in our own strength, they become unbearable.
So the theology of these lyrics is simple but profound:
This is God’s answer to religious burnout and to worldly striving.
---
Now we ask: how do we enter and remain in this rest in practice?
### Step 1: Recognize and Renounce False Yokes
First, we must identify what yokes we are actually under.
Ask the Holy Spirit to show you:
Anything that demands your allegiance, shapes your decisions, and drains your strength without leading you closer to Jesus is a wrong yoke.
In prayer, you can say:
Then, by faith, break those yokes in the name of Jesus, based on Isaiah 10:27:
> “…the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat [or: because of the anointing].”
The anointing of the Holy Spirit breaks yokes that bind the neck.
### Step 2: Come to Jesus Daily, Not Only Once
“Come to me” is not a one-time altar call. It is a lifestyle.
Make a daily practice of coming to Jesus:
You can say to Him:
1 Peter 5:7 ties this directly to rest:
> “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Casting is an act. You take what is weighing you down and you place it on Him.
### Step 3: Consciously Take His Yoke
This is an act of surrender and alignment.
You may say something like:
This will involve practical obedience:
Romans 12:1–2 describes this as presenting your body as a living sacrifice and being transformed by the renewing of your mind.
### Step 4: Learn from Him—Replace Lies with Truth
“Learn from me” calls for intentional discipleship.
This means:
For example:
This is not a mechanical process. It is relational learning:
As truth replaces lies, the inner pressure eases. The soul begins to come to rest.
---
### Proclamation
Speak this out loud, slowly, with faith:
> I come to You, Lord Jesus.
> I admit that I am weary and burdened.
> You have promised that if I come to You, You will give me rest.
> I renounce every false yoke—
> the yoke of fear, the yoke of striving, the yoke of legalism,
> the yoke of people-pleasing, and every yoke not from You.
>
> Lord Jesus, I take Your yoke upon me.
> I submit to Your Lordship over every area of my life.
> I choose to learn from You,
> because You are gentle and humble in heart.
> I believe that Your yoke is good and well-fitting,
> and Your burden is light.
>
> By faith, I receive rest as Your gift,
> and I step into the process of finding rest for my soul
> as I walk with You, obey You, and learn from You.
> I declare that I am yoked to Jesus,
> and His grace is sufficient for me.
> Amen.
### Prayer
Lord Jesus,
You are the One who said, “Come to Me.” I come to You now. I bring my weariness, my burdens, my confusion, my striving. I lay them at Your feet.
I ask You to break every yoke that is not from You—every demonic yoke, every yoke of human expectation, every yoke of religion without life. By the power of Your cross and by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, let those yokes be destroyed.
I receive Your yoke. I submit to Your authority. Teach me Your ways. Reveal to me Your gentleness and humility. Expose every false picture I have of You, and replace it with truth from Your Word.
Holy Spirit, write these words of Jesus deep into my heart: “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Lead me into that rest which remains for the people of God. Let my soul find its resting place in Your finished work and in Your faithful presence.
I ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, the giver of true rest.
Amen.
Deepen your worship with these related songs:
No more songs available