Jesus's Appeal to us – Reactions To Jesus
Jesus‘s Appeal
It is easy to serve Jesus
After Jesus warned the people of Capernaum, he made an appeal to everyone to trust him completely.
28 Come to me all of you who are tired. You are like people who have worked for a long time. You are like people who have carried heavy things. Come to me. If you do that, you will find a place to rest. 29 Do what I teach you to do. Listen to my message and learn from me what is true. I am very kind and I do not make myself important. I will help you. Then you will have peace in your mind. 30 I will not tell you to do things that are too difficult. I will not tell you to carry anything that is too heavy for you.’
Matthew 11:28-30 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
Luke tells us when Jesus spoke these words. He had sent his disciples to the villages. They were to preach and to cure people. When they came back to him, they were very happy. They had been able to do wonderful things on behalf of Jesus. This is when Jesus spoke these words. He offers rest to all who are tired and anxious. The Pharisees tried to make people live by many rules. This could make people worry and feel anxious. Or people might know that there was sin in their lives. [That is, they did not do what God wants.] People often realised this when they were with Jesus. This could also make them tired and anxious. Jesus offers new hope to everyone who feels like this. All that they have to do is to trust him. It is also clear that they must feel sorry for their sin. Jesus offers rest to everyone like this. He helps them not to be anxious. He also says that it is easy to serve him.
Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to help us
Elsewhere, Jesus spoke again about this appeal. At a feast in Jerusalem he said this.
Streams of water that give life to people
37 The last day of the festival was the most important day. On that day, Jesus stood up and he spoke with a loud voice. He said, ‘If anyone is thirsty, he should come to me so that he may drink. 38 It says in the Bible, “God will cause streams of water to pour out from anyone who believes in me. Water that gives life will come out from inside that person.” ’ 39 Jesus was speaking about God's Spirit, who would come to people some time after that. Those people who believed in Jesus would receive God's Spirit at that later time. But God had not yet given his Spirit to people, because he had not yet raised Jesus back up to heaven.
7:39Many verses in the Old Testament speak about ‘water’ that gives us life. See Isaiah 44:3; 58:11 and Zechariah 13:1; 14:8. The Jews would read these verses aloud at the Festival of Tabernacles. John 7:37-39 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
Jesus came to bring good news from God to men and women. The Holy Spirit comes to us and changes us. He helps us to please God in our lives. Many people accepted what Jesus offered to them. The man at Gadara, who had demons and the woman at the well both accepted his offer. But there were also many people who did not like some Pharisees.
Reactions to Jesus
Jesus came to help people who needed him. They knew that they had sin in their lives. They wanted God to forgive them. They wanted God to give them power for a new life. Jesus came to die for people like that. His death paid the price so that God would forgive their sin. Now God could send the Holy Spirit to continue his work in us. The people did not completely understand these statements of Jesus until after his resurrection. There were also other statements by Jesus that the disciples understood only after the resurrection.
In this section we have seen different reactions to Jesus. This is still what happens when people hear about Jesus today. Each of us must examine our own reaction to Jesus' message. May God grant that all of us here may really trust Him.
Read: Luke 8-10
Bible study: Parable of the sower, Luke 8:4-10, Matthew 13:1-9, and Matthew 13:18-23.
