The irony of the situation is this: "He
was in the world, and the world was
made by Him, and THE WORLD KNEW HIM NOT" (John1:10).
The world did not recognize what God haddone in sending His Son into the
world. This was in spite of the fact
that God announced the coming of the
“Seed of the woman,” who would
bruise the head of the serpent, before
Adam and Eve were expelled from the
Garden of Eden (Gen 3:15).
Further, even though the Jews had
been prepared for the coming ofJesus, their Messiah, from the days of Moses (Deut 18:15,18), and
throughout the era of the Prophets (Isaiah thruMalachi) – 2,500 years – yet the Jews as a whole did not receive Him. It is written, “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not" (John 1:11). Instead, they conspired against Him, and were charged with His death. Peter told
them, “ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain" (Acts2:23). And again, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). Paul said of them, "Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and havepersecuted us; and they please
not God, and are contrary to all
men" (1 Thess2:15). All of this occurred even though John the Baptist announced at the
commencement of Jesus’ ministry,
"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the
world" (John 1:29).
Jesus offered the invitation of our
text knowing fully that He would be
rejected by the very people to whom
the words were spoken: "Come unto
Me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take
My yoke upon you, and learn of Me;
for I am meek and lowly in heart: and
ye shall find rest unto your souls"(Matt11:28-29).In a sense, the
Gospel, which is “the power of God
unto salvation” (Rom 1:16), is an
enlargement of that invitation.