Wednesday, May 03, 2006
THE INVITATION
The invitation is now given:
Vv 28-30. "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29. "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. 30. "For My yoke is easy, and My load is light."
The King calls out to all those who will listen, “Come to Me!” This is a call to man for his salvation. John 6:35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. Coming to Christ means submitting to His Lordship. He invites those around Him an avenue of escape after pronouncing the severe indictment upon the local cities. The escape is to flee the popular religious system and simply come to Me! Calvin says, “Hypocrites give themselves no concern about Christ, because they are intoxicated with their own righteousness, and neither hunger nor thirst for His grace.”
Jesus is done with the religious and thus turns to all those who are weary and heavy-laden with the scribal and religious mandates and regulations that proved to be unbearable. The weary and heavy-laden are desperate because they know that in their own ability they cannot please God. He becomes the babe and disposes of all his resources and turns to Christ. Weary – kopiao – is to labor to the point of exhaustion internally and is coupled with the external burden of being heavy-laden that one is totally spent in the mental and physical sense.
The idea expressed is that of repentance: a 180 degree turn from one’s present life of mental and physical exhaustion in their efforts to please God that always falls short. These are those who respond to Jesus invitation, “Come to Me!” These specifically are those who are weary and heavy-laden. Upon that response He promises, “And I will give you rest.”
Rest is not totally understood in a negative sense of the lack of fear, anxiety, and despair, but in the positive sense of peace and comfort knowing in mind and heart the assurance of salvation. Again I emphasize that one can easily be stimulated intellectually by the objective truth taught in the scriptures whose depths will never be plumbed. But, intellectual knowledge is not heart knowledge unless it holds to true faith. James 2:19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
Vv 28-30. "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29. "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. 30. "For My yoke is easy, and My load is light."
The King calls out to all those who will listen, “Come to Me!” This is a call to man for his salvation. John 6:35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. Coming to Christ means submitting to His Lordship. He invites those around Him an avenue of escape after pronouncing the severe indictment upon the local cities. The escape is to flee the popular religious system and simply come to Me! Calvin says, “Hypocrites give themselves no concern about Christ, because they are intoxicated with their own righteousness, and neither hunger nor thirst for His grace.”
Jesus is done with the religious and thus turns to all those who are weary and heavy-laden with the scribal and religious mandates and regulations that proved to be unbearable. The weary and heavy-laden are desperate because they know that in their own ability they cannot please God. He becomes the babe and disposes of all his resources and turns to Christ. Weary – kopiao – is to labor to the point of exhaustion internally and is coupled with the external burden of being heavy-laden that one is totally spent in the mental and physical sense.
The idea expressed is that of repentance: a 180 degree turn from one’s present life of mental and physical exhaustion in their efforts to please God that always falls short. These are those who respond to Jesus invitation, “Come to Me!” These specifically are those who are weary and heavy-laden. Upon that response He promises, “And I will give you rest.”
Rest is not totally understood in a negative sense of the lack of fear, anxiety, and despair, but in the positive sense of peace and comfort knowing in mind and heart the assurance of salvation. Again I emphasize that one can easily be stimulated intellectually by the objective truth taught in the scriptures whose depths will never be plumbed. But, intellectual knowledge is not heart knowledge unless it holds to true faith. James 2:19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
# posted by Castusfumus : 3:07 PM
