Workers for a Kingly Harvest

Introduction

I saw recently in the news one dairy farmer reported that, because of Canadian dairy quotas, he had to dump 30,000 liters of milk down the drain. What a waste, what a shame that good food, good milk which could be used for such good, must be wasted in an attempt for the government to stabilize the industry. It is a shame when food must go to waste for any reason, for food is life and with so many starving in the world it should be a shame to us that such waste happens.

How much greater, than, the waste which is apparent in our country, in our world, in a different way. As of now there are many in this very city who do not know the Gospel, there are many who would willingly hear us out, many whom God in his sovereignty is calling to himself, many who have not heard the good news of the coming of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection. Far be it from us to partake in such a waste if there are not enough labourers in the harvest field of the world to bring the good news to every ear who will hear.

In our text we see what Jesus did, a ministry that continues throughout his earthly life, preaching the Gospel and displaying the healing power and authority which he is given. We read what Jesus saw in the crowds that he preached to, and how his heart went out to them as they were lost like sheep without a shepherd, and how he calls his disciples to partake with him in his ministry of compassion to a lost world.

What He Did (35)

First, let us examine what Jesus did. We are told that he went throughout all the cities and villages, probably those in the region of Galilee, preaching in synagogues and proclaiming good news. what was this good news? It was that the Kingdom of God had come, which means the King had come. Jesus proved himself to be this King; one with authority over sickness, demons, and even death. This kingdom was not one that comes with swords and armies, nor does it come through crafty diplomacy, but it comes through death and resurrection of the King. Of course, Jesus was not yet preaching his death and resurrection, but rather preparing the people by telling them of what life in the New Kingdom was like. How the hearts of those in it are changed, and how one may find this Kingdom by seeking God through Jesus Christ. He was the one who had come to fulfill the law by bringing a new Kingdom, and with it a new covenant, a new sacrifice, a new hope, bringing new hearts into people made new, preparing them all for a new world.

This is not the first time we see Jesus going about such ministry.

Matthew 4:23 ESV

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

This was the bread and butter of Jesus’ ministry. What we’ve seen in the sermon on the mount and the subsequent miracles are a taste of this ministry and what it aims at.

Where he went: all the cities and villages

Cities and villages. Jesus doesn’t only keep to largely populated areas, but aims to bring the Gospel everywhere where there is a synagogue to preach at. We are reminded that Jesus’ prerogative was to bring the Gospel to the Jews first, but it would also come to the gentile in due time (Romans 1:16). Already, the gentiles had seen miracles and one, the centurion, had greater faith than any in Israel.

There is no where that the gospel is not meant to go. It is a universal message, one which is meant to unite a remnant of all humanity in Christ.

What he did: preached the gospel of the Kingdom and healed

Jesus taught and preached, especially in Synagogues. Jesus teaches in a Jewish religious context how the law is fulfilled in him. The content of these sermons was likely similar to the sermon on the mount along with Jesus’ teaching on discipleship. The idea in this text is that the ministry which we have seen performed thus far is continuing as Jesus travels from place to place.

The Gospel is the summary of Jesus’ teaching. It is that the Kingdom of God has come, and here is how it works. Jesus, in proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom, also proclaims himself her King. The Good News of the Gospel has always been that the Kingdom of God has come in the humanity of Christ. If you were to ask the Apostle Matthew what the Gospel was, after all that we’ve seen him write about, he would no doubt reply that the Gospel is the Good News that the Kingdom of God has come and is open to those who come to the King in Faith.

Jesus does not yet teach about his own death, but it is implicit in his preaching. For the Kingdom to come sin must be dealt with. The sinful heart must be converted. A new and better high priest is needed. Christ would fulfill all these things in his life, death, and resurrection. The Gospel centers around him. Jesus is not ashamed to preach himself with great authority because he knew who he truly was and the significance of his coming to earth.

He taught the Gospel from the Scriptures. He came to fulfill the law, which means he taught that he himself was the true message of all the Scriptures before him.

Let us study the Scriptures, both OT and NT, diligently so that we may know the Gospel from its primary source. It is not good enough to have a summarized version in our minds, we must immerse ourselves in God’s word so that the fullness of the Gospel may be revealed to us every time we read it. To search the Scriptures faithfully is to go on a Gospel hunt and see Christ revealed through it.

But Christ also healed in his ministry. This proved his message came with great power and authority. No one could deny that powers beyond that of a mere man were with him. These were a testimony to those who heard him preach with authority that he indeed had God’s power, the Father’s seal of approval, in his ministry.

What He Saw (36)

Matthew takes the time to focus in on the attitude and heart with which Jesus ministered. He had eyes that were open to the woes of the flock of God’s people and a heart that swelled with compassion.

Eyes Open

Ezekiel 34:5–6 ESV

So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.

Many other OT scriptures reference God’s people before the coming of the Messiah as sheep that have no one to lead them. Often, their leaders are to blame when they take advantage of the sheep instead of leading them to God. Zecheriah in particular used the language of a shepherd to show just how abused and abandoned God’s people were:

Zechariah 11:17 ESV

“Woe to my worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! Let his arm be wholly withered, his right eye utterly blinded!”

Jesus has his eyes open to the real plight of his people. He reflects the heart of the Father, who had always had a tender and compassionate heart towards his people. It was he who said in Exodus 3:7

Exodus 3:7 ESV

Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings,

In this case, there is a lack of true ministers. The age of the Kingdom has come, but there are too few to gather the scattered sheep together into the united people of God under their King. While there was no shortage of people teaching and preaching, none of them were giving God’s people what they really need: the good news of the Kingdom. The news that the Kingdom had come, salvation was here, all the promises of God were coming true in Christ. So many teaching, so many telling the sheep to follow them, so few who actually direct them to Christ. God sees this need and is willing to respond to it.

Is it any different today, where many teach about the things of God but instead of teaching the Gospel, the things of the Kingdom and of salvation, teach doctrines of man, carnal traditions, and satanic theologies. How many others teach good morals but lack the Gospel. How many preach the Gospel but do so without power or consistency and end up staining the Gospel rather than promoting it to God’s people and to a lost world.

A Heart of Compassion

Not only does Christ see the needs of the people who are scattered like sheep, but it is evident that Jesus has a heart of compassion for them. They do not have the guidance of true minsters of God and thus they are not led with any unity. That being the case, there is little hope of them going in the right direction and there is no fellowship and help in the right way. They are harassed and helpless, meaning they do not know the right way to go and those who should be guiding them instead harass them. The sheep need, above all, a good shepherd, and this is Christ’s heart for them.

Christ has a heart of compassion for all who are left without true shepherding. He has this heard because he himself is the true shepherd, and how hurt the head shepherd is when he sees that his sheep have been abandoned and abused by those who were put in charge over them.

Christ’s heart of compassion often shows itself in areas we may not expect. Many of the Jews may not have thought of themselves as needing of shepherds, but that was their need. There may be times in our lives where we wonder where God’s mercy is, when in reality his heart of compassion is poured out over something you don’t even realize is the issue.

What He Said (37-38)

John Calvin takes these labourers to be pastors. It is, after all, in the context of preaching to Gospel chosen people that Jesus speaks this fact that the harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few. This makes sense because of the metaphor of the sheep being without a shepherd. The very word pastor means shepherd, and so if we look at how Jesus is mixing the metaphors here, we see that what the scattered flock needs are shepherds, labourers in the area of shepherding. This is what we are to pray for, the provision of biblical and godly men to step up, both as full time pastors and as lay elders, because the work is there but the workers are few. Calvin writes,

Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke Matthew 9:35–38

As no man will of himself become a sincere and faithful minister of the gospel, and as none discharge in a proper manner the office of teacher but those whom the Lord raises up and endows with the gifts of his Spirit, whenever we observe a scarcity of pastors, we must raise our eyes to him to afford the remedy. There never was greater necessity for offering this prayer than during the fearful desolation of the church which we now see every where around us.

We are not able to produce faithful ministers of the Gospel, we can only pray for them and get ready to receive them. God calls, and that is why we must ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers. We cannot presume to minister ourselves without the calling of God, only God, the master of the harvest, can prepare someone adequately for any ministerial work.

Godly ministers are a gift to God’s people, and the lack of ministers should drive us to desperate prayer, for they are a commodity only God can supply.

Ephesians 4:11–12 ESV

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

How can we pray such a prayer in our church? Perhaps you can lift up specific men in the church that you feel may have the gifting of leadership.

However, with God’s covenant people being in view here, there is still a place to see here a call for missionaries and evangelists. It was the covenant people of God to whom Jesus preached, but it they were blind to the truths of Scripture. They had not been led properly and were, for all intents and purposes, not familiar with the Gospel of the Kingdom. So Jesus, in his ministry, not only shepherds the people of God who have been left without a shepherd, but he evangelizes to them. He gives them good news they did not have before. The role of an evangelist is to seek the elect from outside the flock, those sheep currently straying about who have been called in God’s sovereign election to himself. They are to seek and save the lost, making disciples of all nations, bringing into the fold those who respond to the call of the Gospel and of discipleship.

God is doing through the gospel what he always intended to do. He is sowing good seed in the world, and preparing to reap a harvest of human lives recreated to reflect his glory.

N. T. Wright

Do we Believe in a plentiful harvest?

Believing in a plentiful harvest can be difficult in a world that seems to constantly reject biblical truth. Are we willing to believe that there is a harvest?

What is the harvest? In context, it refers not to the harvest time, but the harvest of souls into the Kingdom. The harvest without workers coresponds to sheep without a shepherd. How will the sheep find their way into the pen or to grazing without a shepherd? Similarily, how will the harvest come in unless there are workers to do the work?

Jesus is not only the great shepherd, but the Lord of the Harvest. He is harvesting by preaching the Gospel and displaying the power of his coming to the world around him.

However, Jesus is not content to harvest alone. He tells his disciples to ask the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers.

Ironically, the answer to this prayer comes in chapter 10 with the sending of the 12. Those who pray for such a thing must be ready to heed the call themselves. Are you ready to follow the Lord’s instruction to pray and perhaps be the answer to your own prayer?

“earnestly” means to ask with urgency because of a great need. It can mean to beg and plead. This shows us with what kind of heart we should approach these prayers. It instructs us not only to say a prayer, but to engage with the subject on a personally vital level. It should be very important to us personally that labourers go into the harvest.

Conclusion

Adopt a heart that values the salvation of the lost and the guidance of the sheep of Christ. As Christ had compassion, so should you.

Prayer earnestly for more pastors, evangelists, and missionaries.

Consider yourself and what role God may have you play in the advancement of the Kingdom.