Pleasant Stone Devotional Meditation: October 18

“All things are delivered unto me of my Father; and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the son and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” ~ Matthew 11:27-28

These magnificent words of Jesus are usually not quoted together. But there is cause for great rejoicing here if we realize that they are not separated by the Holy Spirit as He directed Matthew to set them down. We separate “Come unto me, all ye that labour” and group it with the closing verses of Matthew 11 to make up the great-hearted invitation to Jesus to all suffering mankind. To all weary mankind. To all burdened mankind. This is one of my [Eugenia Price, the author’s] favorite passages as I’m sure it is one of yours.

But there is new cause for rejoicing when we look at the verse preceding “Come unto me.” In it Jesus declares His divinity and emphasizes His right to speak for the Father in revealing His intentions toward us. He is the Only one who can reveal the Father to anyone. “… neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him” In other words, I can see that this means Jesus will reveal the Father to whomever He pleases. If the Son does not choose to reveal the Father toyou, you cannot know the Father. Dare we be this literal? Yes. We must be. “No man cometh unto the Father but by me.”

Either Jesus is right or He is not who He claims to be! But, here is the reason for singing: In His own words Jesus includes me in the very next line. He includes you in the very next line. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Oh, that glorious “all”! God’s arms are open even to us. And we have Jesus’ own word for it.

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if ANY MAN hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him .. even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.”