And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
(Matthew 9:35-38 ESV)
Most of us want to minister to people like us, people who come from the same background, who make the same amount of money as we do, people who we can relate to. For those of us who say that we follow Jesus, we often miss and overlook those whom Jesus ministered to. We have a select group of people, whom we are comfortable with, and we surround ourselves with that type of person. But Jesus shows us a different picture. Jesus didn’t just minister to the people who he knew the best, he ministered to everyone.
Look back into the text, first Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, and he taught in their synagogues. Now, a synagogue was a place where the religious were. The Pharisees were there. People who were worshipping God were there. Those who thought that they had everything together and those who thought that they were following God; But Jesus went and taught them and he proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom. He spent time with individuals, sharing the gospel with them, building relationships. Jesus hung out with the Pharisees, he didn’t seclude with his disciples. Practically, for the modern Christian, this would entail us hanging out with other religious people, such as the Mormons, the Muslims, the Spirituals, etc. This is reaching out to people of other faiths and developing a relationship with them but standing firm on the gospel and proclaiming it. Also, this would even include worshipping with other Christians. Gathering together is important. Share the gospel with other Christians, and remember not everyone who comes to church on Sunday is a Christian.
Next, what we see in the text is crucial. “When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus cared dearly for people; he was moved with compassion for these people because they were lost. They had no direction, they had no shepherd. They were not Christians. 1 Peter 5:4 labels God as the Chief Shepherd. Jesus was burdened for them because they were lost, because they were harassed and helpless. These people would include the religious, the rich, the poor, the lame, the sick, etc.
In the last section, “He said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers in to his harvest.'” There are so many non-Christians ready to be harvested, the problem is that there is very few who will work to harvest them. There are very few Christians who seek out those who do not have a shepherd and share the gospel with them, building a relationship. It is hard work sharing the gospel with people, explaining it to them carefully, and helping them understand it. But Laborers work, and they work hard. Laborers aren’t lazy; they give everything that they have to work. So what does he tell his disciples, who were laboring? He tells them to pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers.
Overall based on Matthew 9:35-38, we, who follow Jesus, are compelled to do five things.
- Spend time with religious people, developing relationships, and sharing the gospel with them.
- Have compassion on those who are lost.
- Minister to the poor, the sick, the rich, the young, the old, the religious, the list goes on.
- Labor to harvest those who are ready to embrace the gospel.
- Pray earnestly to the Lord to send out more laborers and to harvest those who are ready.
And this is for all Christians, not just a select few, not just pastors, but all Christians.
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