"There to Them" or "HERE to ME" ?
/At that time Jesus declared,
“I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding
and revealed them to little children;
yes, Father, for such was your gracious will…
[And then He turned to the crowd (including you and me)] …
Come to me, all 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 11:25-26;29-30 ESV
grandsons carter and evan playing before swimteam
Picture yourself in the “ragamuffin” crowd in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 11, as you are following Jesus today. Maybe there are judgmental people all around in your life, like the Pharisees who hounded Jesus’ every step and were certainly in the crowd that day. And maybe there are those you consider the “chosen ones,” like the disciples, those special ones, who must be so very “close.”
And then there’s you, like the ordinary people: exhausted, worn out, burdened by the should’s and ought to’s, never feeling like enough is enough. Maybe you are wounded, frightened, lonely, depressed — a mess on every level.
Or maybe you are burdened by your past choices, and you never feel like you are getting it right. Maybe you are desperate because you’ve given up. Everything in your Christian life has become dead and heavy.
Or maybe you are just blah…no life, no joy…just going through the motions because “this is the way it’s done.”
So hear the words of Jesus to you personally in verse 28:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
THE REST WE RECEIVE
Literally, the first imperative reads,
“Here to Me”
The word “come” is not in the original Greek. No verb, action word. It’s a Greek construction. But literally, Jesus is indicating “a place” and “a Person.”
Do you get that? Picture Jesus with His beautiful YES face pointing, as it were, to HIMSELF as the Person Who is the place of rest, in contrast to the Pharisees with their constant NO faces who were following Him and harassing the people with their “religious mega-list.”
Also notice the little word translated “to” in this verse. It is like an arrow aimed in a certain direction. It stays focused and doesn’t miss its target.
And Jesus is saying, “ HERE … aim at, focus on, come to ME!”
Not over THERE to them (the religious leaders) and their mega-list of “doing, doing, doing.”
CARTER’S SWIM TEAM
It reminds me of my then 7 y.o. grandson CARTER when he was on a swim team at their swim club. He was only on the team because his mom & dad thought it would help make him a strong swimmer. But all Carter cared about was who was in his audience (mom & dad, g’ma & g’pa, Babci & Poppi).
So instead of focusing on the finish line and winning, Carter looked from side to side to see if Mom & Dad, G’ma & G’pa, and Babci and Poppi were watching.
But the coach and the crowd (including us) wanted Carter and his team to win. So I had an idea. When I was at Carter’s next meet, knowing he was going to be looking along the sidelines to see if parents and grandparents were watching, I decided to get at the end of the lane where he was supposedly heading. I crouched down low trying to catch his eye and I began calling to him,
“Carter … come on, swim, swim!!!!!”
And guess what, he won … 1st place!
So after that we ALL got at the end of his lane and beckoned and called out to him,
“Swim, Carter, swim! Here, this way!”
JESUS says, “Here to ME!”
And I can’t help but picture Jesus beckoning and saying the same thing to us:
“Here … to Me! Focus! Move! Come!”
And then Jesus, in a sense, goes on to say …
“When you come HERE to ME!
[Literally] “I WILL REST YOU!”
“I am your Focus, not those religious leaders over there and their ‘religious to do list,’ and not your own self-effort to be righteous and good … ME! I AM YOUR REST. I will do it!”
And this is the inner rest of SPIRIT that Jesus gives as a totally free gift when we come to Him for the very first time, for eternal salvation. He says, “I WILL REST YOU! It’s My Gift. BELIEVE ME and receive it!”
It’s the Rest of Spirit in UNION with the Living God.
Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth to unite us, who were once separated from God, to HIMSELF. And this rest of UNION with God is fixed, permanent, unchanging, a free gift when we come to HIM by faith for salvation.
What does this Union with God include?
It means we have …
· *The rest of total FORGIVENESS of all our sins, past, present, and future.
It’s the rest of a completed work – the work of Christ on the Cross, where He said, “It is finished.” (Luke 22:20; John 1:29; 17:22-24; Rom 8:1-2; Eph 1:7; Col 1:13-14; Heb 9:28; 10:14,17-18).
o It’s complete, no more striving to earn or make up for, no more penance, no more sacrifices to pay for sins. No more begging for forgiveness or even asking for forgiveness. It’s done.
o And it’s the Key to the kingdom. It transferred us out of the Old Covenant of doing, to the New Covenant done, resting – the doorway. (Luke 22:20)
o No more working to get closer (you are as close as you ever will be b/c you are in union with HIM),
o No more earning (Jesus paid it all), no more making up for (the sinless & pure Jesus’ one sacrifice made up for it all),
o No more trying to get God to love you more. God loves you like He loves His beloved Son. (John 17: 22-24)
You are totally forgiven.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2 ESV)
For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,” declares the Lord:
“I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”
then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
(Hebrews 10:14-18 ESV)
It also means we have …
· *The rest of LIFE, God’s Life, eternal life— not just going to heaven when we die.
o Your old man died in union with Christ, and you were raised to newness of life, Jesus’ resurrection life (Romans 6:4-14; Galatians 2:20)
o You are a new person, a new “YOU” (2 Cor 5:17)
o You were born into God’s family, a beloved child of God (John 1:12; 1 John 3:1-2)
o You are a new creation; a saint (holy one); alive with the “pulsating eternal life of God” (zoe) as Jesus promised (John 3:16; 5:39-40; 6:33; 6:51; 10:10; 11:25-26; 14:6)
o You are the beloved of your Abba, Father God.
You know your Abba and His unconditional love for you (1 John 3:1-3)
He is your Life.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:4-9 ESV)
And it also means you have …
· *The rest of FULLNESS in Christ
o You have been baptized [plunged] INto Christ -- Security -- Everything that has happened to Christ has happened to you: death, burial, resurrection, ascension, seated…(Col 2:9-10; 1 Cor 1:30)
o You are indwelt by Christ who lives IN you – Intimacy and Empowering – HE is the fullness of deity in bodily form and HE lives in you; HE is the hope of glory who indwells you. (Col 1:27;2:9-10; 2 Cor 4:6-7; John 15; 1 Cor 6:17, 19-20).
All you need is IN HIM, and He is IN YOU!
1:27 …the riches of the glory of this mystery, … is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
2:9-10 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. (Colossians 1:27; 2:9-10 ESV)
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus ]our Lord, for His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. Through these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature… (2 Peter 1:2-4 NASB)
And all this and more is true for you the moment you respond in faith for the very first time to Christ’s invitation:
“HERE TO ME! I will REST YOU”
So there is no more working, no earning, no trying to be right in God’s eyes; no grasping for His love, no agonizing over getting more of Him and His Spirit. There’s nothing you could do to make God love you more, and there’s nothing you could do to make Him love you less. You have it all because you have HIM. It’s all about being in union with HIM who is your promised Sabbath Rest!
So may I ask you, DEAR READERS,
Are you resting in the Person of the Son of God and His finished work in His death, burial and resurrection?
Do you realize He rested you permanently when you came to Him
--for the first time years ago?
--just last week?
--even today, as you respond to His invitation HERE…TO HIM.
Or are you doing, doing, doing, trying to earn what you already have as a free gift?
Well, there’s good news … you have all of Him and He has all of you. And in HIM you have total forgiveness of sin, past, present and future. You have Life eternal, the life of God Himself. You are the loved child of your Father. And you have fullness in Him, and He is in you.
BUT NOW THE QUESTION IS HOW CAN I EXPERIENCE THIS REST,
… the intimacy and oneness with God which is already mine?
Jesus doesn’t leave us in the dark. That’s where the next two verses come in…NEXT TIME
