Let the Whole World Know (Matthew 11:28-29)

by Rev. Jeremiah Cheung

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If today, I tell you, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”, and after the worship service, many come to me and tell me their heavy burdens – financial problems, marriage problems, problems regarding their children, problems in their work, etc.; I tell you, they will be disappointed, because I cannot solve any of their problems. They will surely say, “You are a liar, you could not even solve my problem.”

But 2000 years ago, before a big crowd, Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” In these 2000 years, many with heavy burdens have come to Jesus, laid their burdens before him, and found rest in Jesus.

For Jesus is not a liar, he is the Son of God. Jesus can solve all our problems. This is what the whole world should know: “Jesus is the answer.” This is a statement we often hear, but if Jesus is the answer, what is the problem? Men are so pitiful, so ignorant that they do not even know what their problem is.

It is similar to being sick yet not knowing that one is sick. We are all afraid to hear the word cancer. Actually, many cancers can be cured if they are discovered earlier. Ninety-percent of cancers are curable; but too bad, many times people find out too late. When people don’t know that they are sick, they will not go see a doctor. Jesus is the answer, Jesus is the physician. But where are the patients? Where are the problems?

I. Weary and Burdened

Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Weariness and burdened – these are mankind’s problem. Why do humans always sigh? It is because there is unspoken sorrow inside. There is no one in this world who does not sigh. The young have their problems, middle aged have their problems, old people have their own problems, so all men sigh. Life is weariness and trouble. But if you ask, “Why is life so hard?” Many do not know why. They simply accept that life is so. But actually it was not meant to be so. When God created man, the Lord placed man in the Garden of Eden. Eden means happiness. The Lord had meant for man to enjoy a life of happiness, life was not meant for trouble and toil. Life was originally meant to be easy and happy, but because man sinned and disobeyed God, he received God’s punishment. Toil and trouble were the consequence of his sin.

Genesis 3 records that after the fall of man, both man and woman were punished by God. The man had to toil for his food. Man indeed has to work like an ox to feed his family. Life became hard. For the woman, it is worse. The woman has to go through pain to give birth to children, and she has to be ruled by her husband. Nowadays, because of financial needs, even women have to go out and work. Life is hard for men, and life is harder for women. Life is full of trouble and toil! Moses wrote Psalm 90. This 120 year old man described the years of our life as “but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away”. In other words, life is trouble, sorrow and meaninglessness.

Life is full of trouble and sorrow. At the beginning of the 21st century, the United Nation reported that suicide has become the third in the world. More and more people are committing suicide. When we open the newspapers, we often see news of suicide. People use suicide as a means to end their life. Marriage has its troubles. Singlehood has its troubles. Wealth brings its trouble. Poverty also has its troubles. Life is but trouble and sorrow. Moses said life is not only full of trouble, not only full of sorrow, but also meaningless. He meant we labor and toil all our life, yet it all comes to nothing. Such a waste of time and energy!

A fox passed by a vineyard and saw that the grapes were just ripening. Clusters and clusters of grapes tempted him, but the vineyard was protected by a bamboo fence. Nevertheless, he discovered there was a small hole through which he could go in. However, his stomach was too big to fit into the hole, so he decided to fast for three days. After three days, he went in and ate away happily. He ate the whole day through. But when he decided to leave, his stomach had expanded so much he couldn’t fit through the hole. Realizing that he would be in big trouble if the owner finds him, he decided to fast another three days. But this time it was harder to fast than the first time because he could see all the juicy grapes but couldn’t eat them! Isn’t life just like that? In the end, it is but empty and meaningless.

Dear friends, I do not know what heavy burden you are carrying right now – maybe you have financial problems, marriage problems, emotional problems, problems regarding your children, or maybe, you are carrying a heavy load of sin. Someone said: “There is only one kind of person in this world who does not have burdens and does not feel pressure, it is those who are lying in the caskets.” It is stressful to hear such a statement, isn’t it? Actually, pressure or stress isn’t all bad. Without pressure, man would have little motivation to grow. However, too much pressure is harmful. On bridges, there are signs on bridges that indicate how much load they can bear; if there is overloading, then it is dangerous. Every ship has its load limit. If it becomes overloaded, then there will be danger. Life is the same, some pressure is good but too much pressure is harmful. Nowadays, people are under too much pressure. We are all overloaded. We find no rest. So Jesus announced to the crowd: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

II. Jesus is the answer to man’s need for rest

Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Jesus tells us that we can find rest in him. Jesus did not say: “Come to church, all you who are weary and burdened, and the church will give you rest.” There is no religion in this world that can offer us rest (including Christianity). Many people think that to believe in Jesus is to believe in Christianity. To believe in Jesus is not the same as believing in Christianity. Believing in Jesus is accepting him as one’s personal savior.

When we share the gospel we are not sharing a religion. There are too many religions already (Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Shintoism), we do not need another religion. We are not sharing a religion, but the Gospel, the Good News. The Good News is Jesus Christ. We must tell the world to accept the Lord Jesus as our personal savior, then they will find rest for their souls. Someone used three words to define life: hurry, weary, bury. Ironically, we busy ourselves endlessly but we do not know what we are busy about. We weary ourselves but we do not know what we weary ourselves about. We are afraid of death yet we all have to face death. There is no peace in our hearts. Jesus is the answer to our need for rest, because only through Jesus can we face life’s hurry, weary and bury.

1. Hurry

Busyness has become the norm in the 21st century. When we meet a friend, we often ask: “Are you busy?” Your friend will then reply by telling you what he has been busy with lately. We tend to feel that busyness is normal. We feel a sense of accomplishment in being busy, so we feel `the busier the better.’ If your friend says: “I have not been that busy lately.” You will tend to find it a little strange. We think busyness is good, the busier the better. We have fallen for the devil’s lies and yet we are not aware of it! I ask you – is working hard important or knowing the reason you are working hard more important?

Of course, it is more important to know why you work hard. Some people work very hard. They work, work, work. But in the end, what have they gained? Some men work very hard to earn money. If you ask them why they are working so hard, they will say: for the family, for the wife. However, many, once they get rich find that they have already lost their family, their children can no longer be found in their homes, their wife have already left them. We must seek a balance.

Some people do not want to work at all, these are the lazy people. Some are forever waiting, and as a result, they lose opportunity after opportunity. We are not saying that we must not work, but we must know our priorities in life. Jesus said: “Come and I will give you rest.” When we come to the Lord, the Lord will make us understand what our priorities should be. We will not lose our direction even though we are busy. Although we are busy, we will not lose our purpose. When Jesus becomes our Lord, with His guidance, our life will not lose its direction and purpose. Is Jesus your Lord?

2. Weary

Weariness has become the disease of this generation. We are a weary people, because we do not know how to trust God. Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.” We humans worry about two things: First, we worry about life. Second, we worry about our daily living. We worry over our daily living- what we shall eat, what we shall drink, what clothes we shall wear. Life is a gift from God. If God gave us life, won’t he give us what we need for life and living?

The older we become, the more we worry. That is why it is difficult for old people to smile and laugh, because they have a lot of worries. On the contrary, we hear more laughter from the young, since they are more carefree and do not worry much. Young people have parents they can rely on. Whatever problems they have, they can take it to their parents, and the parents will find ways to solve them. As long as they trust their parents, they no longer need to worry.

Jesus said: The Heavenly Father knows your needs. Notice that Jesus did not say your wants, he said your needs. Wants and needs are completely different. Actually, we only have a handful of basic needs, but we have a lot of `wants’. Parents would understand this well. Our children have many `wants’ and these are not very necessary. One day, my children suddenly told me: “I want to learn to drive.” I replied: “You are too young.” Do you know what they really wanted? They wanted a car. But a car isn’t a need at their age. Someday, when there is truly a need, they don’t have to worry, I will do my best to provide for them.

If our earthly fathers comprehend this, how much more our Heavenly Father? Do we worry because we do not have a Heavenly Father to trust in? Jesus said: “Come to me and I will give you rest.” The Bible says: “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” When God becomes your Heavenly Father, what do you still have to worry about?

3. Bury

When Bill Clinton was president, he invited Billy Graham (world-renowned evangelist) to speak at a breakfast gathering in the White House. Dr. Graham mentioned a very important statement: “There are two problems in this life that man, including the most powerful men in the world, including the President of the United States, cannot solve; and that is the problem of sin. The consequence of sin is death. We cannot solve the problem of sin and death.”

Jesus said: “Come unto me and I will give you rest.” The Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Jesus Christ is the Gospel. Jesus Christ overcame sin and death, so Jesus declares: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” This was a declaration and also an invitation. In Chinese, the character for come is written in such a way that there is a character for cross and three characters denoting man. On the cross, there is a man, with two other men on each side of him. What does this portray?

Two thousand years ago, Jesus was crucified for our sin on the cross at Calvary. On Calvary, there were three crosses. Jesus was in the middle, and two thieves were on crosses on both sides of him. One of them was the last man Jesus saved while he was on earth, because the man was willing to come to Jesus. When he saw Jesus on the cross, he acknowledged that He was a righteous man, that He was the Son of God. The man confessed his sins to Jesus- he admitted that it was but just for himself to be crucified, that Jesus was being crucified for the sins of the world, so he told Jesus: “When you enter your heaven, please remember me.” Jesus immediately answered him: “Today, you shall be with me in paradise.”

Jesus died for us, but on the third day he rose again. His tomb is empty to this day, because he is no longer there. Today the Lord Jesus is inviting us, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Your life needn’t be `hurry, weary, bury’. Life can be full of meaning, confidence and hope. Come, and you will find rest. Will you come?