“Come to Me” and “I Will Give You Rest”

²⁵ At that time, Jesus continued, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from clever and learned people and have revealed them to little children. ²⁶ Yes, Father, because this was pleasing to you. ²⁷ Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wants to reveal him.

²⁸ “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because 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.”

Matthew 12

Lord of the Sabbath

¹ At that time, Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick heads of grain and eat them. ² But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, what your disciples are doing is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

³ But he said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴ He entered God’s house and ate the Bread of the Presence, which was lawful only for the priests to eat, not for him or his companions. ⁵ Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath days, the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? ⁶ But I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. ⁷ Yet if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ ^[1] you would not have condemned the innocent. ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus Heals a Man With a Withered Hand

⁹ Going on from there, he went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ A man was there who had a withered hand. Looking for a way to accuse Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on Sabbath days?”

¹¹ He said to them, “Who among you, if you have one sheep that falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? ¹² How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Then he told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and it was restored, as healthy as the other one. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and plotted against him, considering how they might put him to death.

“Here Is My Servant”

¹⁵ Since Jesus was aware of this, he withdrew from that place. Large crowds followed him and he healed them all. ¹⁶ He ordered them not to tell others about him. ¹⁷ This happened to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: