Pentecost 6
Zechariah 9:9–12
Romans 7:14–25a
Matthew 11:25–30
Gracious God, our heavenly Father, Your mercy attends us all our days. Be our strength ands support amid the wearisome changes of this world, and at life’s end grant us Your promised rest and the full joys of Your salvation; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Jesus Christ, Our Savior, Is Our True Peace and Sabbath Rest
Though we have died with Christ in Holy Baptism, and we are raised to new life in Him, we find “another law waging war” in our body and life, that is, between our old Adam and the new man (Romans 7:23). By the Spirit of Christ, we “desire to do what is right,” but we are not able to do so because “nothing good” dwells in our sinful flesh (Romans 7:18). “Thanks be to God,” therefore, “through Jesus Christ our Lord,” who delivers us from “this body of death” (Romans 7:24–25). We rejoice in Him, our gentle King, who comes “righteous and having salvation” (Zechariah 9:9). He speaks peace to our embattled hearts, and by His blood of the New Testament He sets us “free from the waterless pit,” and He returns us to the stronghold of our Baptism (Zechariah 9:10–12). Though we “labor and are heavy laden,” He calls us to Himself and gives rest to our souls through His free and full forgiveness (Matthew 11:28), not because we are “wise and understanding,” but by the “gracious will” of God the Father, whom “the Son chooses to reveal” in love (Matthew 11:25–27).
Matthew 11:28 in the Lutheran Confessions
Pr. Andrew Yeager
There are two parts here: being weary and carrying heavy burdens refer to contrition, anxieties, and the terrors of sin and death; to come to Christ is to believe that on account of Christ sins are forgiven. When we believe, our hearts are made alive by the Holy Spirit through the word of Christ. Therefore these are the two chief parts: contrition and faith. Apology XII Repentance.44
Two conditions must be met for a person to qualify as a propitiator. First, there should be a Word of God from which we know with certainty that God wants to have mercy upon and to answer those who call upon him through this propitiator. Therefore, such a promise exists for Christ…no such promise exists for the saints. Therefore, consciences cannot establish with any degree of certainty that we will be heard if we call upon the saints. Such an invocation does not flow from faith. Then we also have the command to call upon Christ according to [Matt. 11:28], “Come to me all you that are weary…” which certainly applies also to us. Apology XXI Invocation of the Saints. 17.
For in this Sacrament he offers us all the treasures he brought from heaven for us, to which he most graciously invites us in other places, as when he says in Matthew 11 [:28]: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Surely it is a sin and a shame that, when he so tenderly and faithfully summons and exhorts us for our highest and greatest good, we regard it with such disdain, neglecting it so long that we grow quite cold and callous and lose all desire and love for it. We must never regard the Sacrament as a harmful thing from which we should flee, but as a pure, wholesome, soothing medicine that aids you and gives life in both soul and body. For where the soul is healed, the body is helped as well. Why, then, do we act as if the Sacrament were a poison that would kill us if we ate of it? Large Catechism The Sacrament of the Altar. 66-68.
This Christ calls all sinners to himself and promises them refreshment. He is utterly serious in his desire that all people should come to him and seek help for themselves [cf. Matt. 11:28; 1 Tim. 2:4]. He offers himself to them in the Word. He desires them to hear the Word and not to plug their ears or despise his Word. To this end he promises the power and activity of the Holy Spirit, divine assistance in remaining faithful and attaining eternal salvation. FC Epitome Election. 8.
The true and worthy guests, for whom this precious Sacrament above all was instituted and established, are the Christians who are weak in faith, fragile and troubled, who are terrified in their hearts by the immensity and number of their sins and think that they are not worthy of this precious treasure and of the benefits of Christ because of their great impurity, who feel the weakness of their faith and deplore it, and who desire with all their heart to serve God with a stronger, more resolute faith and purer obedience. As Christ says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” [Matt. 11:28]… FC SD VII Holy Supper. 69-70.
Therefore, if we want to consider our eternal election to salvation profitably, we must always firmly and rigidly insist that, like the proclamation of repentance, so the promise of the Gospel is universalis, that is, pertains to all people…Christ said, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11 [:28]). FC SD XI Election. 28.
Accordingly, the eternal election of God should be considered in Christ and not apart from or outside of Christ. For in Christ, the holy apostle Paul testifies, we have been chosen “before the foundation of the world” [Eph. 1:4], as is written, “He has loved us in his beloved” [Eph. 1:6]. This election is revealed from heaven through the proclaimed Word, as the Father said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well-pleased; listen to him!” [Matt. 17:5]. And Christ says, “Come to me, all you who are…carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” [Matt. 11:28].
Therefore, if people wish to be saved, they should not concern or torture themselves with thoughts about the secret counsel of God—whether they are chosen or preordained for eternal life—with which the accursed Satan is wont to attack and trouble upright hearts. Rather, they should listen to Christ, who is the “Book of Life” and the book of God’s eternal election for all God’s children to eternal life [Phil. 4:13; Rev. 3:5; 20:15]. For he testifies to all people without distinction that God wills all people who are burdened and weighed down with sins to come to him, so that they may be given rest and be saved [Matt. 11:28]. FC SD XI Election 65, 70.
Similarly, by instructing people to seek eternal election in Christ and in his holy gospel as in the Book of Life, this teaching gives no one cause either for faintheartedness or for a brazen, dissolute life. For this teaching excludes no repentant sinners. Instead, it calls and draws all poor, burdened, and troubled sinners to repentance, to the recognition of their sins, and to faith in Christ. It promises the Holy Spirit for purification and renewal [Matt. 11:28…] Thus, it gives the most reliable comfort to troubled, tempted people, that they may know their salvation does not rest in their own hands. FC SD XI Election 89.
Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest
Matthew 11.25
Ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ καιρῷ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν· Ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι, πάτερ κύριε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅτι [a]ἔκρυψας ταῦτα ἀπὸ σοφῶν καὶ συνετῶν, καὶ ἀπεκάλυψας αὐτὰ νηπίοις·
At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;
Matthew 11.26
ναί, ὁ πατήρ, ὅτι οὕτως [b]εὐδοκία ἐγένετο ἔμπροσθέν σου.
yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
Literally “for so it pleased you well”
Matthew 11.27
Πάντα μοι παρεδόθη ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός μου, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐπιγινώσκει τὸν υἱὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ πατήρ, οὐδὲ τὸν πατέρα τις ἐπιγινώσκει εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱὸς καὶ ᾧ ἐὰν βούληται ὁ υἱὸς ἀποκαλύψαι.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Matthew 11.28
Δεῦτε πρός με πάντες οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι, κἀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11.29
ἄρατε τὸν ζυγόν μου ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς καὶ μάθετε ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ, ὅτι πραΰς εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ εὑρήσετε ἀνάπαυσιν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμῶν·
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.
Matthew 11.30
ὁ γὰρ ζυγός μου χρηστὸς καὶ τὸ φορτίον μου ἐλαφρόν ἐστιν.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software
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