Matthew 11:28-30

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

    Jesus invites all of those who are hurting, lonely, rejected, needy, down trodden, and sinful to come to Him immediately. There is no need to make an appointment. There is no waiting period. You do not have to go through anyone nor take a number. It’s almost as if Jesus is begging you to come. He is like the prodigal’s father who was waiting for his wayward son to come home. He is like the mother hen who is calling for her chicks to get under her protective wings during times of danger. He is like the old-time doctor who treated patients who had no money or insurance. Isaiah 55:1 “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” The worse your condition, the more He wants you to come! Are you weary, are you heavy hearted? Then flee to the open arms of Jesus. Come and He will give you rest from everything! Why do you wait in pain and sorrow while Jesus is saying personally to you. “Come unto me!” He calls you by name and says come now! 

    Whatever your problem may be, whatever your pain may be, whatever your sorrow may be, whatever your situation may be; Jesus says bring it to me and let me take care of it for you. Take it to Him in child-like faith. Don’t take it to the psychologist, to the church, to your pastor, to the grief squad, to your doctor, to your lawyer, to your boss, to your friend, or to the bartender! Your church may not and probably will not understand. The preacher is usually too unfeeling to really understand. Your co-workers probably will not understand. Your doctor has heard it all before and pays very little attention. But be assured that Jesus fully understands because He has already borne your problem on the cross. He knows your deepest hurts and your confusion. Therefore do what the old song says, “TELL IT TO JESUS, TELL IT TO JESUS, TELL IT TO JESUS ALONE!” Jesus not only bore the sins of the world. He bore individual sins as well. 

    We have seen the picture of Atlas holding up the world. But it was not Atlas or one of the heathen gods that held up the world, but it was, it is, and it will always continue to be Jesus. Hebrews 1:3 “...and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins,…” He did it by Himself! He did not have any help and He still doesn’t need our help today. He just needs our submission!

FIRST OF ALL—JESUS BEARS THE BURDEN OF SIN 

    Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The sins of the entire world were laid on the back of Jesus as He died on the cross. How foolish to struggle with the load of sin when Jesus says, come unto me. Bring your burden of sin to me. Only Jesus can give rest for the burden of sin. One can join fifty churches and live a good moral and a clean life. One can give all of his money to the poor. But you can never ever find rest until you take your burden directly to Jesus and Jesus alone. Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Aren’t you tired of the load? Doesn’t it get heavy and old day after day after day and year after year after year? It’s so unnecessary when Jesus says bring it to me and leave it with me forever! Quit picking it up! 

    Jesus healed the sick during His personal ministry. But He can to do even greater things than that. He came to heal broken hearts and sin-sick lives. He came to make you whole and well on the inside. He came to solve your personal sin problems and no one but Jesus can do that. Let Him do it and let Him do it now! He is waiting on you! Come on now!

JESUS BEARS THE BURDEN OF GUILT 

    Isaiah 53:4 “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” Sin creates guilt and guilt creates burdens. Some people are so sensitive that they even feel guilty about things which they never even did. Some go through life feeling guilty about their parent’s divorce. A guilty feeling regardless of the cause creates unbearable burdens. Regardless of what you have done or what anyone around you has done, carry all of those guilty feelings to Jesus and be free from them. Get rid of the excessive baggage at the foot of the cross. Don’t wreck your life and your health because of guilt. Yes, we are all guilty of sin, but the Lord wants us to be guilt free and light hearted. 

JESUS ALSO BEARS THE BURDEN OF GRIEF AND BEREAVEMENT 

     Jesus died of a broken heart. The nails in His hands and feet did not kill Him, but His emotional pain over His Father’s rejection literally broke His heart. So Jesus says to the broken hearted, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus did not come the first time to rule and reign, but He came to heal broken hearts. Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,” Is your heart broken? Carry all the broken pieces to Jesus. Even in this modern age, He is still the best heart doctor in the whole world!

SUS BEARS PHYSICAL BURDENS 

    Matthew 8:17 “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sickness.” Of course, this does not mean that Jesus will heal all physical disease. But it definitely means that He will bear all the emotional and mental burdens that accompany physical pain. Sickness brings physical burdens, but they need not trouble the soul. Jesus says bring those physical pains to me. Even in modern times Jesus is still the best medicine!

JESUS BEARS THE LITTLE BURDENS OF LIFE 

    Jesus bears the biggest burdens as well as all the small burdens of life. We sometimes fail to realize that many little burdens added together can create one big burden. There is the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Have you ever tried to find out what your problem was? Maybe it’s all the little problems that have piled up over a long period of time. No problem is too small for the Lord. Regardless of what the problem may be or regardless of the size of the problem, let Jesus have it. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

     How foolish it is to struggle through life when Jesus has already paid the price for your burden and offers to bear all of them for us. Jesus says get in the yoke with me. Jesus says walk beside me and I will pull the weight for you. He is the strong one, so let Him do all the pulling.

     Jesus offers rest in the soul! Is this not what everyone wants more than any thing else in life? You may say, I wish I was talented. I want to be successful or I want things to work out in my life. I want the world to change. I want money, houses and land. I want fame. Not really, you want rest in your soul. You just think you want all these other things because you think that they will bring rest to your soul. Jesus can and will give what you want most of all. You can have ... rest unto your souls... if you will only carry your burdens to Him and leave them with Him.