Matthew 11:26-30

Mat 11:26 (KJB)
Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.

Jesus recognized the fact that the reception of the Gospel by those who hold no high social status was pleasing to the Father. (Isa 57:15 KJV) For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Pride and arrogance do not stand in the way of the humble but it does to those who think they are in some high elite social class. Those who received the Gospel were not spoiled by worldly wisdom and that was pleasing to God.

Mat 11:27 (KJB)
All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

Here Jesus speaks about the fact that God the Father has given all things into His hands. This would include the way of salvation and it would also mean the cross, that He alone would bear it for the sake of the Elect. This would mean all power was given unto Him, in all realms. (Mat 28:18 KJV) And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. He has the authority to forgive sins, heal sicknesses, judge the unsaved at the Great White Throne Judgment, to save. Then Jesus gives us insight about the intimacy between the Father and the Son. As finite beings, we could never understand the true relationship that God the Father has with God the Son. Then Jesus introduces a tremendous promise that all those who become saved through Him will have the eternal privilege of knowing the Father. (John 14:6 KJV) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. No one can come to the Father except those who come by way of Christ. No one can bypass the Son and go directly to the Father. To know the Father, one must know the Son and there is no getting around it like many cults and false churches teach.

Mat 11:28 (KJB)
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Here Jesus is offering religious respite to those who have been laden with the inordinate amount of rules and regulations created by the rabbis down through the ages. These people are told to keep the law and the extra rules which amount to nothing more than legalism and that can make a person very weary. As soon as they get done obeying one rule, there are ten more which have to be obeyed. Jesus is telling the people that you labor by keeping the law and you are heavy laden with burdens and legalism, come to Me and I will give you rest. Rest, that is, rest from the keeping of the law and the extra burdens of the rabbinic add-ons which just caused the people more anxiety causing them to wonder if they have done enough to please God. The rest that Jesus gives is the fact that when He goes to the cross He will fulfill all the demands of God’s righteous law and when one is saved, they need not keep any tenets of the law for salvation, because salvation will have been complete.

Mat 11:29 (KJB)
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

A yoke was designed to cause two animals to work together thus allowing both to bear the burden of the work together. The people would have been familiar with this term and would have understood the analogy. The stronger animal would get the heavier end of the yoke. In Judaism, there was a well-known image of a person who was yoked to the law and also when a person studied with a certain rabbi, he was considered to be yoked to the rabbi. Jesus then uses that analysis for His followers that they are to be yoked with Him and are to learn of Him. To learn of Jesus is a lifetime undertaking because how can a finite being learn all there is to know of an infinite being? Jesus is stating that He is lowly and meek in contrast to the arrogance of the leaders who pile excess laws on the people and consider themselves to be better than the people. Jesus was prophesied to be lowly and humble. (Zec 9:9 KJV) Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. Then once a person becomes saved, they will have found the rest that their souls have craved by attempting to keep the law, which gave them no rest but constant anxiety. Once a person a is saved, the soul is safe and secure. (Rev 3:12 KJV) Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. (John 10:9 KJV) I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. Once the soul finds rest in Jesus, it never craves anything else because it is home.

Mat 11:30 (KJB)
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Burden - Obligation, duty, or load

In contrast to the heavy load and burdens of the law and the added legalism which weighed the people down, the yoke which Jesus gives is easy because He has completely fulfilled all the righteous requirements of God’s holy law and therefore a person in Christ need not add any laws or works to salvation because it is totally complete. (Acts 15:10 KJV) Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? This was what the big Jerusalem church conference was all about, whether the tenets of the law need to be kept for salvation or not. Then Jesus states His burden is light. Since there is no keeping of the law which weighs a person down with that burden, a person is free in Christ and from the moment of salvation begin to live the Christian life. The duty or obligation the Christian has in this world is to reach others with the Gospel. It is not preaching a religion which has all the confusion of works. Christianity is not a religion but a relationship. It is a relationship of love and faith, and these two things make the burden much lighter.

Faith and love are liberating to the soul and that is what Christianity is all about, liberty. When we go out into the world, the Lord Jesus Christ goes with us and it is not up to us to make a person saved, that is what Jesus does and it lightens our load and removes any guilt from us knowing that salvation is in the hands of the Lord. The guilt I speak about are those who feel they have not done enough to a evangelize a person and then that person dies. If you have given a person a tract with Scripture or spoke to a person about the Gospel, you have done your job and if they reject it, then it is their problem and not yours. The problem is that in Christianity, too many people are placing unnecessary burdens on Christians by guilt manipulation. If a person rejects the Lord, it is not the fault of the person who gave the tract but they may not be the Elect of God and therefore the burden of guilt is removed.

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