Bible · NudgeRead the passage
Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
In the King James Version
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
What surrounds this passage
In Matthew 11, Jesus speaks to people carrying heavy burdens and invites them to come to him and learn from him. The invitation does not deny difficulty; it names Jesus as gentle and humble and continues into a way of life with him.
The verses on either side
- At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants.
- Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight.
- All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him.
- “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.
- Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls.
- For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
A question to sit with
What burden are you trying to carry alone?
Why this one, and not these
- Psalm 23
- It is a meaningful passage about God's care, but its wider imagery would require more contextual explanation than this first bounded anxiety record provides.
- Philippians 4:4-9
- It speaks directly to anxiety, but its exhortational language can be heard as pressure when presented without fuller pastoral context. It remains a candidate for a separately reviewed record.
- Isaiah 40:31
- Its emphasis is better suited to perseverance and renewed strength than to an immediate emotional burden. It may fit a separately reviewed weariness record.
Written about this passage
- Bible Verses for Anxiety and Overthinking: An Invitation to Rest
- Bible Verses for Financial Hardship, When the Money Will Not Stretch
- Bible Verses for Panic Attacks: Fearfulness and Trembling Have Come on Me
- Bible Verses for Stress: Pressed on Every Side, Yet Not Crushed
- Bible Verses for Worry: For the Person You Keep Turning Over, the Worried Parents of Scripture, and Prayers to Say by Name
- Is Anxiety a Sin? What Churches Mean by Sin, a Feeling Nobody Chose, and Jesus Troubled in Spirit
- Is Gambling a Sin? Casting Lots, Lotteries and Church Bingo, How Churches Differ, Help If It Has Gotten Heavy, and Matthew 11 for the Burden
- Is It a Sin to Not Go to Church? What Hebrews 10:25 Says in Its Setting, What Traditions Teach, and Matthew 11:28-30 for the Guilt
- Is It a Sin to Smoke Weed? What the Bible Says and Does Not Name, How Churches Read It, Cannabis and Anxiety, and Matthew 11 for the Burden
- Short Bible Verses for Anxiety: A Line to Carry, and the Passage It Comes From
- Should You Tithe on Gross or Net? What a Tithe Was, What Churches Teach, Free Money Help, and Matthew 11:28-30
- What Does the Bible Say About Anxiety? The Passages, the Words and the Question of Sin
- What Does the Bible Say About Rest? Rest for Your Souls, the Sabbath and a Rest That Remains
- What to say to someone who lost a loved one
- When Money Worry and Job Fear Keep You Awake: What the New Confidence Numbers Mean, Free Help Before Anything Goes Wrong, and Matthew 11:28-30