God’s Rest, man’s faith (Matt 11:28-30)
We commonly view rest as being free from work, stress or worry, or being relaxed. The Bible tells us God has prepared a rest for man that goes beyond our concept of rest.
What is Rest?
God’s Rest, prepared for people, can be found in the following events:
Rest in Eden (Gen 1:28-2:3)
Rest in Canaan (Exo 33:14, Heb 3:18)
Future Millenium Rest (Zech 8:4-5)
Future Eternal Rest (Heb 4:9)
However, God’s Rest in Eden and Canaan have been rejected by people in the past when they didn’t trust God to provide rest for them:
- Adam/Eve (regarding the tree of knowledge of good and evil in Gen 2:1-6)
- The Israelites (regarding the promised land and God’s providence in Deut 1:34-35)
Where can we find Rest?
The source of God’s Rest is now to be found in Jesus, as promised in Matt 11:28. When Jesus made this claim, there is a major implication:
He effectively places Himself equal to Jehovah God of the OT
Because the only Source that can provide rest is Jehovah God (Jer 6:16, Psalm 23)
How do we get that Rest?
“Come unto me… Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me” (Matt 11:28-29)
(A) Jesus invites us to Rest by taking His yoke that is easy and light, instead of the yoke of the Scribes and Pharisees which is heavy and burdensome to carry:
The yoke is used in the Bible as a picture of submission (Jer 27:8) and oppression (Deut 28:48)
In the New Testament, it is also used in association with the oppressive (Matt 23:4) religious system imposed upon the people of Israel by the proud/arrogant (Luke 18:11,12) Jewish religious leaders.
This system of righteousness that the scribes and Pharisees teach and impose on Israel piles legalistic burdens on the people. It is oppressive, without bringing the people any closer to righteousness before God.
Also, the scribes and the Pharisees are proud of their own standard of righteousness, and arrogant in the manner they teach and lead the people.
Hence, instead of carrying the heavy and hard yoke of the Scribes and Pharisees that provides no rest for the wicked, Jesus invites Israel to take the yoke of King Jesus - a yoke that is easy and where the burden is light. This is His Father’s way in providing rest for His people, because righteousness is attainable through faith in Jesus.
(B) Jesus also asks us to learn of Him - to know Him and His nature. Practically, we achieve this through:
Learning Jesus through the Bible, in all His attributes
Walking in Him and, thus, experiencing the reality of His attributes
Living it out with, and among, fellow saints
In essence, it means we are to be submissive disciples of Jesus (Php 3:7-14)
The King invites us to submit to Him, to be His disciples, in turn, promising us eternal Rest. Our response of submission & discipleship is anchored solely on faith. Do we believe in Him and His promises?
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest (Heb 4:2-3)
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