Matthew 9:36-39 Jesus' Model of Ministry; Where Do We "Grow" From Here?

Use Terrance Powell’s plea for the community...

The verses in this pericope is not the beginning of Jesus’ movement, it is a continuation of Jesus’ movement!

Jesus’ ministry is about MOVEMENT (WENT)

Stationary vs Mobile Ministry Jesus’s Ministry was not STATIONARY but MOBILE! A ministry on the move… We as a 21st century church must remain MOBILE not STATIONARY! There are restaurants and food trucks. Food trucks are a new phenomenon. They are as effective as whataburger. They are mobile

The SCOPE of Jesus’ ministry is vast (ALL) - NO LIMITS (LIMITLESS)

The ACTIVITIES of Jesus’ Ministry is TEACHING (didactic ministry), PREACHING (charismatic ministry), & HEALING (therapeutic ministry) - the TRIPOD on which our Lord’s Ministry stands!

Jesus is COMMUNICATING the Kingdom is WORD (teaching/preaching) (power word) & DEED (miraculous deeds)

Compassion - I am filled with tenderness

Souter, Alexander. 1917. In A Pocket Lexicon to the Greek New Testament, 239. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

HARASSED/WEARY/FAINT -to collapse (fatigue) v. — to collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack.

HELPLESS/SCATTERED -unable to defend oneself or to act without help

SCATTERED ABROAD -to be rejected ⇔ be cast off v. — to be rejected, conceived of as being thrown away.

Soanes, Catherine, and Angus Stevenson, eds. 2004. In Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

HARVEST -Harvesting (ingathering) is the culmination of the agricultural cycle followed immediately by the processing of crops and fruit into foodstuffs such as grain, wine, oil, and dried fruit. In a good year the season of ingathering was time for merrymaking...

HARVEST -harvest (yield) n. — the yield from plants in a single growing season; perhaps including trees also.

Borowski, Oded. 1992. “Harvests, Harvesting.” In The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, edited by David Noel Freedman, 3:63. New York: Doubleday.

PLENTIFUL -existing in or yielding great quantities; abundant...

PLENTIFUL -large adj. — above average in size, number, quantity, magnitude, or extent.

Soanes, Catherine, and Angus Stevenson, eds. 2004. In Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Compassion involves so identifying with the situation of others that one is prepared to act for their benefit. ... in Matthew compassion always addresses the physical needs of people, and so it will be in the ministry to which the disciples are called.

Nolland, John. 2005. The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text. New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.

Compare - John 4:35

John 4:35 KJV 1900

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

SEES the CROWD

effect of what Jesus sees is COMPASSION

CAUSE of His COMPASSION SEES THE CONDITION

SEES the COMPARISON - it flows from the RECOGNITION of the NEEDS

As he sees, observes, and recognizes the need Jesus “says to the disciples”

HARVEST language - URGENT NEED

the LORD’S PASSING

the LORD’S FEELING

the MULTITUDE was a lot of people…they included people who had been lifted, those who had received sight and new vision...

COMPASSION - not sympathy here, not mercy here, JESUS GOT INTO THE SKIN OF THE PEOPLE HE SAW - HE knows what we need because HE’S been in your skin...

ILLUSTR- Ralph Douglas West gave the illustration about a friend of his who had experienced the loss of a brother’s wife and child…one child was saved…the mother jumped in to save the other child and they both drowned…LOVE MADE HER JUMP IN…if you love the loss, you will jump in save them...