Matthew 9:35-38

Introduction

Open in Prayer

Would you pray with me?

Lord, we thank you for the blessing of gathering with our brothers and sisters in Christ this morning. We thank you for the blessing of being able to meet in this new building. We thank you for the blessing of being able to know you and call upon you.

Lord, open our hearts and minds this morning by the power of your Holy Spirit as we read your Holy Word. Help us to hear and to understand.

In your name I pray, Amen.

Introduction Joe

Good morning.

I see a lot of familiar faces this morning, but if we haven’t met before my name is Joe Smysor and I had the blessing of being your Pastor of Students here at Cornerstone from 2011 to 2018. We’ve been gone for a few years, but I hope you know that we think of this church and this congregation often and you are always in our prayers.

If I remember right, my first business meeting after I started here at Cornerstone was the business meeting where we voted to purchase this land. To build this church. I’ve been looking forward to standing here, on this stage, with this church, in this building for the last 11 years. I am so excited to be here. I am so excited for you to finally be in this new facility. So much has changed and happened since we voted to move out here 11 years ago. We’ve seen pandemics and strife, we’ve seen weddings and baptisms, and we’ve seen the birth of new babies and the loss of brothers and sisters in Christ that we loved and cherished. God has moved in big ways in the life of this church, but at the same time I know you’ve also never stopped looking forward to this facility. This space. This church.

In a sense being in this building feels a little bit like crossing a finish line. You’ve worked towards this and longed for this for so long and now you’re finally here. But, this isn’t the finish line. This is the starting line. This is the starting line. This is the starting line for the future of Cornerstone and for the future of ministry in this part of Lawrence.

it’s my hope that today you’ll be encouraged for that next step. Encouraged for reaching new families and living out the Great Commission in East Lawrence and around the globe.

Introduce Passage

We’re going to spend most of our time together this morning looking at Matthew 9:35-38.

Despite Jesus’ ministry up to this point, there were many people in Israel, no doubt even in Galilee, remain unreached with his message. Jesus’ human emotions reflect a deep, radical compassion for this sea of humanity. His compassion increases because Israel lacks adequate leadership, despite the many who would claim to guide it. The Twelve begin to fill that vacuum, foreshadowing the institution of the church.

Henry Booth, wrote about this passage, “We seem here to be like men arriving at a new stage on their journey. At such a juncture they naturally ask, on the one hand, how far they have reached; and, on the other, what is required by them more. With regard to our Savior’s ministry, we shall find that both these questions are answered for us in the passage before us.” Booth continued, “Jesus’ compassion, evident throughout chapters 8–9, came to a great crescendo. Jesus saw beyond the physical diseases to the deeper tragedy of the people’s spiritual aimlessness.”

Matthew 9:35-38

English Standard Version (Chapter 9)

35 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. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Be Compassionate Like Jesus - Matthew 9:35-36

Ok, let’s unpack it a little bit… Let’s take a look at this verse by verse and piece by piece.

Matthew 4:23 “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.”

Mark 6:6 “And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.”

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Chapter 9

The language here is so identical with that used in describing the first circuit (Mt 4:23), that we may presume the work done on both occasions was much the same. It was just a further preparation of the soil, and a fresh sowing of the precious seed. (See on Mt 4:23). To these fruitful journeyings of the Redeemer, “with healing in His wings,” Peter no doubt alludes, when, in his address to the household of Cornelius, he spoke of “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil: for God was with Him” (Ac 10:38).

Verse 36 - “When he saw the crowds...”

Everyday we’re confronted with a hurting and broken world. We see it on the news but all too often we just turn it off. We see it in the faces of the homeless but all too often we just keep on going. We see it in our friends and family and all too often we avoid their pain. Our response as Christian’s is not to feel bad, though we should. Our response isn’t to tell them that we’ll pray for them, though we should and we should really follow through.

VERSE ABOUT WEEPINIG WITH THOSE WHO WEEP

Goff, living in the moment / taking time / compassion / haha, something

He had Compassion for them...

Let’s stop right here and make sure we get this right...

What is Compassion?

Merriam-Webster defines “compassion’ as a “sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it.”

Sympathy, empathy, and compassion are all pretty similar. Sympathy is feeling sorry for someone’s misfortune . Empathy is feeling what that other person feels. Compassion is empathy taken to the next level in that one understands and shares the feelings of another and has a desire to alleviate the suffering. Compassion is empathy plus action. Compassion is to see their pain, feel their pain, and then do something about it.

Jesus lived out radical compassion. The Gospel demands that we live with the same radical compassion.

Jesus describes this compassion in the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. There a lawyer asks Jesus what he must do to inherit Eternal Life and what it means to really love his neighbor.

The passage says, “

Luke 10:25–37 ESV

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

UNKPACK LUKE

So who is our neighbor? Who are we do love? Who do I need to show compassion to? Tim Keller described it this way, “We instinctively tend to limit for whom we exert ourselves. We do it for people like us, and for people whom we like. Jesus will have none of that. By depicting a Samaritan helping a Jew, Jesus could not have found a more forceful way to say that anyone at all in need - regardless of race, politics, class, and religion - is your neighbour. Not everyone is your brother or sister in faith, but everyone is your neighbour, and you must love your neighbour.

God wants us to care for those in need. We are to share with them what we have, whether it be clothing or food, time or money. Simply to feel sorry for such people is not enough.

...They were harrassed and helpless...

...Like Sheep without a Shepherd...

POINT 2 - Verse 37

POINT 3 - Verse 38

Matthew Homilies on the Verses

1. Where persons offer this prayer in sincerity, they make a solemn acknowledgment that God must do all the work. 2. They mean that, when God raises up men, they will furnish the means to convey them to the heathen, and support them when they get there. 3. When young men utter this prayer, they mean that, if it is the will of God, they are ready to become labourers. 4. When Christian parents offer up this prayer they express their willingness that their children should go.—Richard Knill.

Matthew III. Conclusion

Jesus can work miraculously in your life if you will depend on him—and sometimes he does this even if you do not.

Matthew I. The King’s Compassion for the Misguided Crowds (9:35–38)

The workers are few, said Jesus as he turned from the distressed masses to the dozen men around him. Our job is to pray fervently for more people to come and help, as we are moving boldly to be involved with the harvest.

Matthew 1. Opposition Predicted for the Disciples’ Mission (9:36–10:42)

“Send out” (from ekballō—recall under 9:25) could also be translated thrust out, and it could even refer to workers already in the field who “need to have a fire lit under them to thrust them out of their comforts into the world of need.”

Matthew I. The King’s Compassion for the Misguided Crowds (9:35–38)

Until now, Jesus had been training then primarily through their observations of his ministry, but his focus turned increasingly toward intensified teaching directed at them. These men and their spiritual offspring were Jesus’ plan for continuing his ministry to a lost world. If he failed to prepare his workers, his ministry would die when he left. This is instructive to every spiritual leader today—mentor and multiply. Do not just “perform.”

Mentor and multiply!

Psalm 78:38 “Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath.”

Col 3:12 “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,”

Not to be observed.

Matthew I. The King’s Compassion for the Misguided Crowds (9:35–38)

Our job is to pray fervently for more people to come and help, as we are moving boldly to be involved with the harvest.

Matthew (I. The King’s Compassion for the Misguided Crowds (9:35–38))

Jesus was physically moved by a stomach-wrenching empathy for the plight of his flock

CLOSING

other resources

A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life (The Destiny of the Human Soul)

The Destiny of the Human SoulChristians of all times have been deeply affected by Christ’s words in Matthew 16:26, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” John Flavel (1628–1691) observed that the human soul was specially created by God and thus has intrinsic worth and excellence, including the capacity for divine grace and glory. God prepared a place in heaven for souls that He purchased with the blood of His own Son. The actions of the soul have eternity stamped upon them, for every obedient action is a seed of joy and every sinful action a seed of sorrow. Flavel said, “The soul of man is the prize about which heaven and hell contend: the great design of heaven is to save it, and all the plots of hell to ruin it.”5 But though the soul is so precious, it may be lost forever in hell.The value of a human soul remains the same, regardless of one’s nationality or social status. Matthew Henry (1662–1714) noted of Christ’s preaching in Matthew 9:35–38, “He visited not only the great and wealthy cities, but the poor, obscure villages; there he preached, there he healed. The souls of those that are meanest [least] in this world are as precious to Christ, and should be to us, as the souls of those that make the greatest figure.… Jesus Christ is a very compassionate friend to precious souls.” Such considerations led the Puritans to value the souls of all their fellow human beings and to pray for the extension of gospel preaching to the entire world.

knill - Brethren, the heathen are perishing. Shall we let them perish? God forbid."

We have to live with radical compassion. We have to live with radical compassion because the need around us is great.

Church. We have to live with radical compassion. We have to live with radical compassion because _____

Cornerstone. We have to live with radical compassion because Christ has already shown us radical compassion