The Disicple's Heart

Introduction

So far we have explored the Disciple’s Call, the Disciple’s Priorities, and the Disciple’s faith. I want to encourage you to go back and listen to any of the messages that you may have missed.

Today we will be exploring Matthew 9:35-37 as we consider the Disciple’s Heart.

In this passage we see the Lord Jesus moving about the cities and villages in the region. He taught in their synagogues and preached the gospel of the kingdom. He also healed many who were sick and diseases.

Throughout all of this, His disciples followed along and witnessed His activity among the people. As this season of ministry came to a close, Jesus reflects on what He has seen and makes a stirring statement to them regarding the harvest and the need of laborers.

In these few verses we can see the heart of the savior for the multitudes and it seems clear that His desire was that His disciples would have this same heart for the people.

Jesus knew that ultimately He would give His life and that He would ascend back to the father leaving the ministry He had started in the hands of His disciples.

This ministry has continued to the present day because faithful disciples have continued to have a heart for people and have carried on the ministry which Jesus initiated.

Having the heart of the savior will lead us to...

See as He Saw

The disciples may have looked out upon the same multitudes and saw people who were needy, who were sinful, who were foolish, who were unkind and who , to them, were utterly unlovable.

John 4:9 KJV 1900

Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

When you and I look out at the world, what do we see? Do we see those who are lost and those who oppose the Christian faith as enemies who need to be destroyed, as sinners who need to be punished, as fools who need to be corrected?

Do we see those who stand in direct opposition to what we believe as unlovable and irredeemable?

The heart of the savior caused Him to see the multitudes differently than others saw them. When he looked out upon the crowds of people, He saw people who were broken and hurting and who were in desperate need of a shepherd who would lead and care for them.

Jesus saw people who were distressed, who were scattered abroad (dejected). The result of the Pharisees religion had led to the disillusionment and abandonment of religion by a majority of the people.

Instead of caring for and leading the people, the religious leaders of the day had abused and looked down upon the common man.

Jesus saw the present condition of the people as the result of the abuses that they had endured and he saw the multitudes for what they were, people who needed someone to guide them to the truth and someone who would care for them not judging them on the basis of their present condition.

When we have the heart of our savior, we too will see the multitudes around us in a completely different light. Maybe it is time that we look at the multitudes through the eyes of our savior instead of the eyes of our flesh.

We must come to see even the most wicked and vile people in our world as sinners who stand in need of the savior. People who have been broken and abused by Satan, people whose only hope of recovery is for someone to care enough to love them to Jesus.

Feel What He Felt

It was not only what the savior saw, but what He felt as He looked out upon the multitudes. When He looked out and saw their present condition He was moved with compassion on them.

When we see the multitudes who are without Christ, some who are merely ignorant and others who are antagonistic to the Christian faith, what do we feel?

Do we feel angry, frustrated, or bitter towards those who do not believe as we do and who in some cases may even actively work in opposition to the principles of our faith?

As Jesus looked out upon the multitudes, his heart was broken for them. He was overwhelmed with emotion and not anger or hatred, but love for them and a desire to see them delivered from their present condition.

A valuable lesson for every disciple is communicated here. As disciples of Christ we are called to love people where they are not matter the depths of their sin or the strength of their opposition to Christ.

Jesus did not look at those who were in bondage to sin and pass judgement on them, rather He loved them and called them to Himself and to a new way of life.

Our hearts should be broken for those who are bound up in sin and especially for those who are actively opposing Christ. We too should be moved with compassion on them knowing that they stand condemned and many are totally unaware.

We will know that we have the heart of the savior when our immediate response is one of love and compassion, rather than one of hatred and anger.

Do as He Did

The final lesson to be learned is that the heart of the savior will lead us to do as Jesus did. Jesus spoke to His disciples with the multitude in view regarding a plenteous harvest that was ready to be reaped.

The great need of the hour was for laborers who would go out into the harvest field and labor for the master. Jesus himself spent His earthly ministry laboring in the harvest but His time upon earth was limited and the need would remain even after His ascent back to the father.

He communicates this need for laborers to His disciples and asks that they would pray to God for more laborers willing to enter into the harvest fields.

The statement that Jesus made was certainly true when He spoke it and is even more applicable today with a world that contains nearly 8 billion people.

In asking them to pray for laborers, Jesus was making them aware of the need, and as a result they would not only pray for laborers but they would ultimately become laborers themselves.

Matthew 10:1- Here we see Jesus sending out those who responded to the call to labor in the harvest.

If we see as the savior saw and feel as He felt, we will then be moved to act as He did. When we see the multitudes in desperate need of the savior, when we feel compassion for them and our hearts are broken for their condition, we will naturally respond by going out into the harvest to labor for the master.

It was the savior’s heart that caused Him to labor often from the early morning late into the night ministering to the needs of the multitude.

It was the savior’s heart that caused Him to travel throughout the region preaching and teaching them the truth.

It was the savior’s heart that caused Him to take the time for individuals like Nicodemus, the Woman at the well, the Blind Bartemaus and undoubtedly many others.

When you and I catch the heart of the savior we too will be willing to labor for those who are lost and broken. The apostle Paul certainly had the heart of the savior and it was this that led him to write to the Corinthian believers...

I Corinthians 9:19-23- I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some.

2 Corinthians 12:15 KJV 1900

And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.

If you and I are to be disciples, we must have the heart of our savior. We must remember that love in scripture is not a feeling but an action, and if we love as Jesus loves, it will be revealed in our behavior towards those who are yet lost.

Conclusion

This has been the path of many disciples down through the ages. They have first begun to see as Jesus saw, and then as a result they have begun to feel what Jesus felt, and in the end this led them to do what Jesus did.

Acts 17:16–17 KJV 1900

Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.

When you look out at the multitudes what do you see, what do you feel, and finally what will you do about it?

For far too long Christians have complained about the darkness that seems to be overtaking our nation and our world. We have griped and expressed our frustrations regarding the anti-god policies which have been promoted. We have spouted angry vitriol at those who stand opposed to our faith.

It is time that we allow our heart to become like that of our savior so that we may see as He saw, feel as He felt, and respond as He would respond to our present circumstances.

Will you go out into the harvest field and labor for the Lord? If you are already laboring, will you pray to God send forth more laborers?