The disciple’s Teacher: “Come to Me”
“Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Matthew 11:28-30 is a passage that we often preach the Gospel from and to which we turn for comfort when the stresses of life bear in upon us. I think, too, that in these verses, the Lord teaches us about the foundations of discipleship. Over the next few days, I want to reflect on His words.
A disciple is a learner who follows. It is not “remote learning” via the internet. Disciples learn by being in the company of their Teacher. Their discipleship is developed by listening, considering, observing, understanding and living in the good of what they have learned. The Lord Jesus speaks of us as “my disciples”, and their characteristics include abiding in Christ’s word – the light of God (John 8:31-32), being in God’s family – the love of God (John 8:35) and by bearing much fruit – the life of God (John 15:8). One synonym of “disciple” is “adherent”. This, in turn, is connected with the word “adhesive”, meaning “sticking to”. The secret of true discipleship is sticking close to the Saviour (John 15:5).
Let’s start with the Lord’s words, “Come to Me.” John 1 gives us a great example of the first steps of discipleship: coming to Jesus. John the Baptist sees Jesus walking and says, “Behold the Lamb of God!” (v. 29). Two of John’s own disciples heard his words and at that moment felt the compulsion to follow Jesus. We often think of Christ’s call to follow Him, and this happened many times in the Gospels. But in John 1 we see the other side of discipleship – how seeing the Lord transforms our lives and compels us to want to follow him.
Interestingly, the Lord asked them what they wanted. Their first word to Jesus was “Teacher”. They had only just heard the Lord speak for the first time, “What do you want?”, but instinctively they submitted themselves to Him as their Teacher, and felt an immediate desire to be in His presence: “Where are you staying?” This is not the Lord asking them to follow, but them wanting to follow the Lord. It was the beginning of a life of “following”. It was not a distant or secret following. No, this was a wholehearted commitment to closely follow the Saviour. They fundamentally understood the need to be close to their Teacher.
Jesus said, “Come and see.” When the tabernacle and temple were completed in the Old Testament, the glory of God filled them, and neither Moses nor the priests could draw near. In John 1, the one who brought all things into being was walking in the world He had created. When two ordinary men followed Him, His first disciples, there was no distance or barrier, but an invitation to come close: “Come and see.” They responded to what is in the Lord’s heart towards all of us: “Come unto Me.” It is an invitation to receive salvation and life. He never ceases to appeal to us to draw near to Him. The challenge is to daily discover and experience the light, love and life we have in our Lord Jesus Christ and to learn to follow and become like Him.
