Matthew 11:28 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Matthew 11:28

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‘Labour’ – it is a picture is of an oppressed workforce. Some were desperately poor, and had to work for others. They laboured – a strong word – they worked their fingers to bone, worked to the point of exhaustion. They lived short lives, received derisory pay, ,. had no leisure, pleasure; life was just a matter of survival. Christ feels for them, but he was not just concerned about their earthly lot; this is addressed to those who labour spiritually. We are so oppressed by secular life, it leaves us with nothing for the soul. Christ presents himself as a vastly rich benefactor. Come away from the graft of godlessness and come to me, do service that will bring you good. How can the heart be at rest when it faces an impossible task, a task which it knows it can never complete, and yet a task which is essential to life and happiness? This is the burden which fallen men and women face. In order to escape the condemnation of God, and the eternal destruction of the soul. It is the burden of guilt, the consciousness of a debt we owe to God which we can never repay and which will never be relaxed; it is the burden of sin which holds us as slaves and increases our debt moment by moment; it is the burden of mortality which will not go away. No one is able to bear this burden, and yet man sees no way of escape, and so the situation looks hopeless; we cannot turn away from it as a bad dream, because we wake to find it is still true. It forces its way into our consciousness whichever way we turn. This is not just the burden of some, but of all. Yes, there are ways that people try to avoid these burdens, but they are all blind alleys, and when they have exhausted them, they must return by the same way they came and face again the impossible task. Christ knows the tyranny of the situation. He sympathises with those who are weighed down with it, even though he knows we have brought these things on ourselves. He is full of astounding pity towards those who are trapped in the consequences of their sins. Although we can see no solution, he sees what must be done necessary to lift this burden, and only he can do it. It is a task too great for mortal man, but it is one which the Son of God has already accomplished. Here is Christ’s genuine free offer of salvation to all who will come to him. It is his assurance of his willingness to receive all who seek him. What are the qualifications for being received? None are stated, and Christ deliberately leaves out any mention of qualifications, because the only qualifications are that we come to him in recognition of our sinful state. The sinful and the needy may rightly interpret this to mean that their sin is not an obstacle to being received by him. He already knows about it and has made provision for it. They labour and are heavy laden, not with the oppression of others as if they were innocent victims, but with their own guilt and misery as a result of their own sin and waywardness. They need hide nothing from him for none of their unrighteousness is going to put him off and make him change his mind about receiving them. ‘And I will give you rest.’ He will make us to cease from our labour, to be exempt from the work. The impossible task of justifying ourselves before him will come to and end, for he will justify us freely. It is rest from anguish about the Day of Judgment, rest from the crushing disappointments of life. I will give rest to your fears and the uncertainties of life, he says. You will have your feet on a rock. ‘Rest’ – is not sleep. We might see rest in a graveyard and think of cessation of all activity – nothing to do. No, rest means cessation of one activity and the start of another. You cease the labour of an impossible oppressive task, and you begin a new delightful activity.

Application

This is a personal call, and we must respond with personal faith. There are many things in this life you can do in a group, but not this. We need to see in these words the infinite kindness of Christ. We have spurned him and are indifferent to him. If someone tells you to come, then you are not yet with them. What did he mean? We need this invitation because we are not on his side, in his family,. So many assume that, if there is a God, they are home and dry without thinking about it properly. You may call yourself a Christian, and yet you may be far away. The trouble with all of us is we are far from God, much further than we could ever imagine. Come before you have to be judged for it. You need this invitation and you never realised it. Christ sees us and he knows he must judge us, but his very heart is a heart of love and he is come to save us out of mighty compassion. God means it. Why don’t you come?

See his infinite condescension. He, high above us, greater than we can understand, and yet he personally addresses us. Government cannot be concerned with individuals: there are too many millions of us, but our God shows concern for us one by one. A personal invitation demands a personal response.

Don’t respond by saying, I will go on with my life as I am, but I will pray every now and then in a tight corner. No. It doesn’t work like that. He says, leave that lifestyle, leave behind all you have so carefully planned for this life. You have to have a different way of thinking. You have to change everything.

He says, ‘Come to me’, not, ‘come to church’. He is not calling us to a religious life but to put our trust in him. Many have a form of belief but they have never said, ‘I give myself only to thee; make me thine.’ Not is it, ‘Come to reformation of life’. You cannot reform your life, anyway. Why come to him? He is the only mediator. He made us, we have offended against him. The way you find him is to come to him as a person. You must make your peace with him, not with the preacher. It is Christ you have offended. He is your enemy. He created you, and you belong to him. He decided when you would be born. It is he that you have rejected. You said, ‘I want to do it my way. I want to plan my life as I like.’ He is offended when you reject the message, when we puny beings say, ‘I won’t accept it.’ Some say you can find God by looking at beautiful scenery. It is not beautiful scenery you have offended. ‘Come to me.’ This is the only grounds on which you can come. He invites you. He alone has power to wash away sin. He is the only one who can forgive sin. All sin in God’s universe must be punished, sot, if we are not to bear it ourselves, Christ must bear it for us. He alone has dealt with sin.

Who may come? If you are still cocky, confident, quite able to look after yourself, or sure this is a great life, you cannot come. The invitation is to those who are tired of this life, not physically, but morally. They have seen that it is full of falsehood: forced laughter, frothy conversation. They realise there must be a God in heaven. It is to those who are labouring in Satan’s service. Maybe you have a lust problem: you cannot stop yourself doing certain things. Maybe there is a lying problem; maybe you are in the grip of drink, or drugs. You are sick of it, and would give anything to be free of it – Christ invites you to come. If you are enjoying Satan’s service you cannot come to Christ. Your whole life shouts to God, ‘I don’t want you.’

Are you burdened by fear: ‘What will happen after death?’ Perhaps you say, ‘I want to come; I wish I could be different, but I have no guarantee he will hear me.’ Don’t say that, for Christ says positively he will bless you. This is his genuine assurance to you, and you can act on it. Even when men give an invitation, they don’t change their mind after they have given it. How can Christ not mean what he says?

Questions

Do we come or does God bring us to himself?There is an order in the passage. Come to me and you will have rest. This is the order everywhere. If you will repent, I will do such and such. Not contradict acting regeneration. One family of text puts regeneration first. Another says, you come and I will bless. First God makes known the gospel, we respond and are blessed. How so? Because there is a secret work that makes all the difference. When he says, come to me, he is not wasting time explaining and if you do it is because you are regenerated. But elsewhere this is explained. I respond when I hear. Regeneration or reading or hearing a friend. I am convicted so I repent and as a result, I am conscious of life put in me. As continental dogmaticians said, regeneration issues and conversion. And Dutch said it. English said regeneration brings about repentance and faith. Suddenly became popular in 1950s to say regeneration is conversion. It is God’s will that your conversion will be conscious. All in heaven (apart from those brought in by special act of God) are there because they want to be. Suppose in one there is a deep awareness of God: ‘I need Christ and I want to go to heaven’, but then but no one told you that you must come to Christ. ‘Come and I will give you rest, and he will impart.’ Sad if you did not know you need to respond. It is passive. It will just happen. Willingly come and repent.

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

Matthew 11:28 Commentary and Bible Study