Comments on Matthew 11:28-30

v25-27  These three verses are a clarion call to come to the
Father by the Son (cf. v. 27, note the JST/IV on v. 27 in the LDS
KJV footnote), they summon all of the humble and "foolish" of the
world (cf. v. 25-26).  These verses draw heavily on OT rhetoric
and paraphrase a number of messianic OT passages.

v28  Jesus is summoning people to come unto him so he may
recommend them to the Father, and they obtain His rest, cf. D&C
15:6.

     "Come unto me", paraphrasing the summons found in Isa. 55:3. 
The Son is the only way to the Father, so one must go to him to
approach the Father.

     "all ye that labour and are heavy laden", this would be the
toil and cares of the world that people slave under, Isa. 46:1. 
We are told to abandon these things and approach the Lord, cp.
Ps. 55:22.  Naturally, people being cruelly oppressed would be
those who have the cares of the world imposed upon then, cp.
Mosiah 24:8-15.

     "I will give you rest", cp. Isa. 14:3.  The promise of the
covenant is to live in peace and comfort, with no fear of
oppressors, enemies, sickness, famine, cf. Lev. 26:3-12, Deut.
28:1-13.

v29  Jesus doesn't tell people that they don't have to do
anything once they are his disciples.  What they are doing is
trading a lifestyle of slaving after material things for a life
of slaving after spiritual goals.  This isn't easy, as Matt.
5:10-12 warns us, but the promises associated with it will land
your soul in a place of happiness and joy.  Jesus is telling
people that they are under a yoke regardless, so they need to
choose the yoke that will serve them best.

     "my yoke", the yoke is a symbol of servitude or slavery in
the OT when used metaphorically in reference to people, cf. Gen.
27:40, Lev. 26:13, Deut. 28:14.

     "ye shall find rest unto your souls", a quotation of Jer.
6:16.  This quotation is particularly poignant as they share the
same context as that of v. 25-27.  In Jeremiah 6 the Lord is
summoning a rebellious Israel that will not heed Him or His
prophets, and so is the case in v. 25-27 with the "wise and
prudent".

v30 paraphrases and compounds a number of messianic passages from
Isaiah, cf. Isa. 9:4, Isa. 10:27, Isa. 14:25.





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