Spiritual Coming to Christ

When Christ was on earth, many people came to Him, joined His company, and followed Him. Jesus invited large crowds to come to Him to hear His teachings. This outward and natural coming to Jesus, however, is not the implication of the text. This coming, as a matter of course, would come to an end when His journey on earth would end. Many of those who came to Christ were His enemies who were already accursed and who remained in their enmity without finding true rest. The coming in our text is a spiritual coming, not a coming with our feet, but a coming with our heart. Looking at it in a broader sense, the outward confession of the gospel-truth can be symbolized as a coming to the Lord Jesus. In the same sense it is said of the Gentiles entering into the church: “Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.”

There is also a coming to Christ by prayer. About this coming God said: “Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say My people, We are lords; we will come no more unto Thee?”

However, the coming here should, in the first place, be seen as a coming to Christ by faith. Therefore, coming is often interpreted as “believing.” “He that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.” “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

By coming to Christ we can become possessors of salvation. “Come unto Me, just come hither unto Me.” In the original text it is only one word—“Come,” a common word of appeal. In the Dutch translation the word “hither” (herwaarts) is added to it to emphasize the expression even more: “Come hither unto Me.” This Greek word is significant enough to be used as a command, an awakening, a prayer, a permission, and a desire. All these implications are intended here by Jesus.

It is an order and a command, a moral obligation which the gospel demands: “Come unto Me.”

It is an awakening for the spiritually inactive, for the fatigued and the meek, urging them: “Come, come, I will set you free.”

It is a petition, a prayer. Most tenderly Jesus expresses His faithfulness concerning the weary souls. They can most certainly rely on Him. “Oh, come, come hither.”

It is a royal permission for admission. Nothing should deter your coming: “I give you freedom; come unto Me, you who are heavy laden.”

It is the wish of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therewith He expresses His desire and willingness to save sinners. Oh, that is the delight of His soul: “Come hither unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden.”

Behold how Christ introduces Himself as the only Person to whom they should come. He strongly emphasizes it, saying: “Come unto Me.”

By doing this He is opposing the moral laws of the Jews. In those days many among the Jews were workers of self-righteousness. Christ calls all people to return, for man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.

He also opposes the sacrificial ceremonies of the Old Testament atonement by which natural Israel was seeking peace and reconciliation. These laws had to disappear under the new dispensation. Only Christ could fulfil the ministry of shadows.

He opposed the scribes and rabbis of those days. The Jewish nation was overburdened by them and did not find rest. Jesus bids them to come to Him because these preachers were inadequate physicians.

Finally, He opposes all those who are living without God and Christ. “Unto Me” means “Unto Me alone; I am perfect, all-sufficient, able, and willing.” There is no other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved. The Lord Jesus said of Himself: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.”

Divine Grace Given

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater.
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase.
To added affliction, He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
And our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
The Father’s full giving is only begun.

His love has no limit, His grace has no measure.
His power has no boundary known unto men.
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth and giveth and giveth again.

Rev. A Hellenbroek (1658-1731) was a Dutch Second Reformation divine well-known in the NRC for his catechism book.

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