Context

This line is spoken by Jesus but written by Matthew in Matthew 11:28-30. 

Jesus drops this little gem at the end of a sermon where he praises John the Baptist and criticizes sinners. Yeah, he's covering a whole lot of ground. 

That's when he stresses the importance of being baptized, or saved, saying, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 

In that day, everyone labored and was heavy laden. There were no Real Housewives of Nazareth.

Basically, Jesus is saying that folks who put faith in him are gonna be able to take a load off. Even after Jesus has given the people all these hard-core instructions on how to live their lives, he wants them to know that doing all these good and noble things isn't actually hard. Those who walk the straight and narrow path to Jesustown aren't gonna feel oppressed by doing good. They're gonna be very light on their feet.

We guess it's good to be a good guy. Thanks, Jesus.

Where you've heard it

You'll usually hear people say this when they're referring to how awesome it is to believe in Jesus. Following J.C. is totally easy-peasy. Let's just not mention that whole death by cross thing, okay?

Additional Notable References: 

• Martin Luther King Jr. found inspiration in Jesus' words when he wrote, "I have learned now that the Master's burden is light." 
• Naturally, this verse is also the inspiration for gospel song, "I Will Give You Rest," sung by Shirley Miller.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

Jesus is basically offering to carry all your baggage, even the emotional stuff you pretend you don't have on your online dating profile. That's sweet of him.