“Then the disciple whom Jesus loved leaned back against Jesus’ chest and asked him, ‘Lord, who is it?’ Jesus replied, ‘It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread after I have dipped it in the dish.’ Then he dipped the piece of bread in the dish and gave it to Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son. And after Judas took the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, ‘What you are about to do, do quickly.’ Now none of those present at the table understood why Jesus said this to Judas.” —John 13:25–28
Leaning against Jesus, the beloved disciple is perfectly positioned to ask of the Master who will be the one to betray Him. Those who rest upon the Lord are privy to some of the deepest secrets of His heart.
All are invited to rest with Jesus. His call found in Matthew is not an exclusive one:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.” —Matthew 11:28–30
I can just imagine John’s head against Jesus’ chest. Rest is very important to God and it is a subject which is addressed many times in Scripture. God himself rested on the seventh day making it holy. He commanded man to rest, animals to rest, and even the land to rest. We who live in such a frenzied hectic world should take note of this. We put more and more on our plates filling our hours with work and more work yet getting less and less accomplished. We seem to be continually striving to drink from the empty cups of our own power, ever stuffing our emotions, acceptance, money, positions, and possessions into bags with gaping soul holes—always coming up unsatisfied.
However, it is God’s desire for us to be abiding, not striving or struggling. We are to be looking to Jesus and His power. He is our strength for service as well as our source of abundant unchanging joy.
Jesus clearly teaches that our strength is found in resting in Him! This sure truth remains—anything of eternal value is accomplished only through Him:
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me—and I in him—bears much fruit, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing.” —John 15:4–5
What does remaining or resting look like in real life? How is this intimate relationship with Jesus achieved? Certainly, it begins with our salvation in Christ, accepting Jesus as our Savior and Lord … but it was never meant to cease at that point. Our growth—our sanctification—is to continue throughout our lives. Resting consists of being in fellowship with God through His Word, through prayer, and through loving obedience to Him. It is secure and safe. It is a place of peace and hope and strength.
Become More
Never having given Christ lordship of his heart, Judas remained open to the advances of the adversary.
“Let us watch jealously over our hearts, and beware of giving way in the beginnings of sin. Happy is he who feareth always, and walks humbly with his God. The strongest Christian is the one who feels his weakness most, and cries most frequently, ‘Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe.’” —John Ryle
Further Reflection
“As to work, mine was never so plentiful, so responsible, or so difficult; but the weight and strain are all gone. The last month or more has been perhaps the happiest of my life, and I long to tell you a little of what the Lord has done for my soul … When the agony of soul was at its height, a sentence in a letter from dear McCarthy was used to remove the scales from my eyes, and the Spirit of God revealed the truth of our oneness with Jesus as I had never known it before. McCarthy, who had been much exercised by the same sense of failure, but saw the light before I did, wrote: ‘But how to get faith strengthened? Not by striving after faith but by resting on the Faithful One.’” —Hudson Taylor