COME TO ME...

Matthew 11:25-30

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble of heart. This verse is one of the greatest verses in the New Testament. These words of Jesus are very important in our Christian life because they kind of summarize his mission in the world.

What does Jesus mean when he says: Come to me all you who labor? First, let’s look at the situation or the context from which Jesus is speaking. These words of Jesus come from the situation where the Pharisees have multiplied the rules and laws and have imposed them on the people. The Jewish religion and customs have become like a heavy yoke around people’s necks because of so many rules, rituals and regulations. Following all these rules has become a burden; a very difficult task. This was the situation that Jesus was addressing; proposing relief from the submission to the laws. In this verse, he is offering an invitation, a great appealing invitation: Come to me.

This invitation demands a spontaneous acceptance; a spontaneous response because it is an offer, a gift, a favor. "Come to me." Jesus does not say, "Come when you have washed and cleansed yourself." Rather he is saying: come as you are that you may be cleansed. He does not say, "Come when you have clothed yourself and made yourself beautiful." But he is saying: Come as you are that you may be made beautiful. Come naked as you are, and let me gird you with fine cloth, and beautify you with jewels. He does not say, "Come when your conscience is tender, or come when your heart is penitent, or when your soul is full of hatred for sin, and your mind is enlightened with knowledge. But he says: come to me all you who labor, you who are heavy loaded; come as you are with your burdens and you shall find rest.

It is an invitation to all of us overloaded with financial burdens, with physical burdens, with emotional burdens, with sorrow and grief, with the guilt of sin. Come to me that you may have rest. Yes, on this Sunday, this invitation is addressed to us. Come to me with all your burden and learn from me. This invitation obliges us to ask ourselves two questions: First, what burden am I carrying? What is my burden in life? Let’s pause for a moment. Let’s be personal now. In our own mind, what are some of the major burdens in our life that wear us down? Jesus invites us to come to him with all those burdens and we shall find rest.

Second, what do I do to find rest whenever I am burdened? Where do I get my rest? Listening to music or watching TV or going out for a beer or sleeping... Where do I get my rest? It is an important question and Jesus tells us to go to him when we want rest. Go to the Lord in prayer and you shall find rest. In our second reading we heard that we are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. Saint Paul clearly tells us that our interests are not in the unspiritual realm, but in the spiritual, since the Spirit of God has made his home in us. The way to be saved is to come to Jesus.

If we want to experience how spiritual we are, then we have to come to Jesus. It is a commitment to faith, to trust and to prayer that gives rest. To come to Jesus means to rely upon him. This exhortation is in the present tense. "Come" now; do not wait; do not remain; do not lie, but come now at once, immediately, just from where we are, come. Just the way we are, come to him, and we shall find rest.