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Jesus says, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. In the name of Jesus, amen.
In this morning’s Gospel reading, Jesus is walking from town to town in Galilee. He’s preaching and he’s teaching. And then all of a sudden, he stops. In the presence of everyone around him, he says a brief prayer. Afterwards, he turns his attention to those who are following him and he extends an invitation. From there, he goes back to his teaching and preaching ministry.
What was that little intermission? What is the backstory to that prayer and that invitation? Jesus was acknowledging and giving thanks to God for sending the light and life into a dark and dead place where, number one, he identifies the source; number two, the instrument; number three, the means; and number four, all accumulated in God’s wisdom in providing the way of salvation.
Now to our gospel lesson: the previous chapter, Jesus has given instructions to his 12 disciples, and he went to send them out to go among the people of Israel to proclaim that the kingdom of God is near. They were to bring to the light of the people their sins, and they were to reveal to them God’s greater grace of forgiveness of sins and salvation through the promised Messiah in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. But Jesus himself, he was not going to wait for them to return from their trip; he also traveled from town to town, proclaiming that same message.
And this is where we find him, near the Sea of Galilee. During that journey, two of John the Baptist’s disciples approached him with John’s question: are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? Now you have to take that in context. In John’s difficult circumstances in prison, he was struggling. But Jesus’ response to that question was to take the disciples back into the sacred scriptures, as they appointed to Jesus’ words and works, which identified him as the promised Messiah. Thus, giving John that comfort, giving him that peace, giving him that hope during his coming days because Jesus is the one.
After these two disciples depart, Jesus turns his attention to denouncing those who were rejecting John’s message because the message was pointing to him. Before Jesus’s brief prayer and invitation in our gospel lesson that is before us this morning, he had done just the same thing in denouncing the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. He had walked in their streets amidst their communities. They had heard his words. They had seen his miracles. Matter of fact, the text states, then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done because they did not repent. They rejected the words and works of Jesus for them. They rejected God’s gift to save them. After expounding on the consequences which these cities will suffer due to their rejection of him, Jesus stops and he prays.
I thank you, Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth. There, Jesus was connecting Himself as Son of the Creator and Ruler of all things visible and invisible. There, He was making a proclamation. This majesty stands out in overwhelming contrast to the wisdom of man who closed their hearts and minds to Jesus and the revelation about him. He thanks his father for his wisdom and the distribution of the gifts by hiding them from the wise and understanding.
According to the Scriptures, every person born is born into this state with this condition, the doors closed. Born in sin and enemies of God, they are unable through their downplaying of sin or their creation of a work-righteous system of salvation to justify themselves, to make themselves right before God. In their corrupted wisdom, they live in a false sense of security, still struggling to achieve it. But in their doubts, they return to their own flawed wisdom, unable to free themselves as they live in a pretend world of peace.
Now, with that same breath, Jesus gives thanks to his Father that he has revealed his gift to the little children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. The giving of the gifts, saving faith. Saving faith is not achieved through the intellects or merits of people but simply received through the preparation by the law and the revelation of the gospel as a gift by the Holy Spirit. It is the gift with the ability to trust in the words of works of Jesus for them.
This is in concert with Luther’s explanation of the third article of the Apostles’ Creed: I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way, he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.
So this gift of word is also connected with water and placed upon the children through holy baptism, for it is not based on intellect or upon emotions or upon merits. It matters not if one is an infant or an adult; both are brought into the kingdom through God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone, as revealed in the sacred scriptures alone.
In Jesus’s words, we can see the difference between God’s wisdom and the wisdom of the world. In other words, the good news about Jesus for some is given to them with the goal of filling them up with God’s grace, mercy, and peace, making them children of God. But they, through their own worldly wisdom and understanding, say no. For they are filled with their own wisdom and learned ideas, and thus God, finding them filled and satisfied with what they have in this world, cannot and will not give them anything; they reject the gifts of God.
While those who are called children are those who lack everything and realize the emptiness before God. Through the power of God’s Word and the working of the Holy Spirit, it has been revealed to them that they can do nothing to earn salvation before God. It’s the free gift. It’s the free gift through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross where he defeated sin, death, and the power of the devil. These are the words that are confessed in the corporate and private confessions of sin, and upon reception of absolution, God is filling the person up with his gifts.
God not only creates saving faith, but he sustains it through his means of grace of word and sacrament. How can Jesus say this prayer? Jesus explains, all things have been handed over to me by my Father. The Father is the source and he is the instrument. Martin Luther says, for neither would God deliver all things to one who was only man, nor would one who was only God receive them from another. For neither is it possible for one who is only man to be over all things, nor for one who is only God to be beneath God.
So as the Son is equal to the Father, but as man he is beneath the Father and receives all things from him. Jesus is God in the flesh on a mission to provide salvation for the world. As Jesus travels from town to town, he sees people struggling to keep the law through their own means. Their consciences are burdened with self-inflicted troubles and a religious system that hovers over them with its heavy rules and regulations. The more they’re aware of it, the more they struggle.
So Jesus says, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. This is the gospel invitation, the power of the word through the Holy Spirit drawing the hearer to believe and receive the gifts. The realization that works toward salvation are impossible for men, but will be accomplished through Christ Jesus, where he will make those who are his own right before God through the redemption won on the cross and distributed through the gospel. They will be at rest, for they will know that Jesus has done it all for them and promises never to leave them.
These are the words that you would hear in Psalm 23. Jesus says, 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. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Some will equate these words as exchanging one heavy load for another, but that is far from the truth. The faith and life of a believer in Jesus Christ has the yoke owner that gives and guides. God’s commands are an expression of God’s will in which the believer delights as the Holy Spirit leads and enables. The yoke, remember, this yoke gives rest for the soul.
But for us who are redeemed, we still need the continuance of these gifts, for our old sinful nature is still around us, as well as our dwelling in this sinful-filled world where the devil is prowling around seeking those to devour. Sometimes the wisdom of the world is whispering in your ears, while other times it’s screaming from the mountaintops. There will be struggles. We see the Apostle Paul in the Epistle lesson wrestling.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Paul was saying this: I am unworthy, I am empty, I am unable. But he immediately tells that he has been filled with God’s grace through Jesus Christ, his Lord. He has the gifts. Like Paul, we continue to look to Jesus, who fills us up. He fills us up with His gifts of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life.
And as we live in this world, He provides for us His comfort, His peace, and His hope as we walk by faith in Him. Jesus says, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Amen.
The peace which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
