We have seen the matter of the Bridegroom with four new things in Matthew chapter 9. Now we come to chapters 11 and 12. The bridegroom is the most pleasant person that anyone could deal with. How pleasant it is to deal with our Bridegroom! That is our enjoyment. Chapter 9 tells us how to be pleasant, while here in chapters 11 and 12 we learn how to obtain genuine rest.
All the passages in Matthew chapters 11 and 12 are closely connected. Notice the words "At that time" in chapter 11, verse 25 (King James Version). Throughout the entire Bible, little words like these are very significant. God's Word is very economical—there are no wasted words. Let us consider the words in chapter 11, verse 25, "At that time." At what time? At the time Jesus said that John came neither eating nor drinking. The religious people said that John had a demon, and that the Son of man, because He came both eating and drinking, was a glutton and a winebibber (Matt. 11:18-19). Then "at that time" Christ sounded out His call: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (v. 28).
Following chapter 11, in the first verse of chapter 12, we again encounter the same three words, "At that time." At what time? At the time Jesus sounded His call, at the time Jesus invited people to come unto Him and rest.
Following this passage at the beginning of chapter 12, we come to verse 38, which opens with a little word, "Then." All these little words join all the portions in these two chapters together. We may say, therefore, that these two chapters are one whole, showing us one thing—how to find rest.
Would you find full enjoyment? Would you be pleasant? Then be in the presence of the pleasant One; be in the presence of the Bridegroom. As long as we have our Lord Jesus, our Bridegroom, with us, we cannot but rejoice. Now from all these portions in chapters 11 and 12, we see something more—we see how to find rest.
Christians are accustomed to quoting Matthew 11:28, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden...," but they usually quote and use these verses in an isolated way. We need to put all the passages of these two chapters together in order to find the way to rest.