The Harvest is Plentiful, The Workers are Few Lesson for February 6-7, 2016 Pam Dollins Matthew 9:35-10:1-8 Introduction The words of Jesus in this passage are beyond thought provoking. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Where is the harvest? This is a question we all must ask the Lord to reveal to us as we long to have His set of eyes in all circumstances. I don t know about you but I don t always feel the harvest is so plentiful. In a society where it seems God is rejected at every turn, it can be discouraging as a believer to share one s faith with confidence that it is having any impact whatsoever. These can be discouraging times. Media, Politics, Corporate America, and current social issues can leave us feeling that there is a dwindling harvest and no listening ears for which might have the boldness to share the truth. Believers often feel more received in a third world country sharing the Good News of Jesus than in their own neighborhood where tolerance of sin is celebrated and faith in Jesus, coined religious fanaticism, is spurned as judgmental and narrow-minded, silencing the followers of Jesus. Yet, people are hurting. People need Jesus and need His healing power the same as ever before. We have the cure. As we look at today s passage, let s help our classes consider the harvest opportunity in their community and beyond. Background Passage Matthew 9:35-10:1-8 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. 36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then He *said to His disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.
10 Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him. 5 These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; 6 but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. Comments Matthew 9:35 shows us Jesus moving through the synagogues and seeing the condition of His people. They haven t even gotten to the remotest part of the earth yet. Jesus is examining the Jews first. They are in need of both spiritual and physical healing. Sin has had such an impact that there is, not only a spiritual separation from God, which is in desperate need of reconciliation, but the physical effects of the consequences of deadly sin are also causing suffering as well. The world that was once deemed very good by the creator God now shows the deteriorating effects of disease and sickness all preceding the imminent mortal death of God s most precious creation mankind. Jesus is the solution in both cases as The Great Physician. Not only is He proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom which will provide spiritual healing but He is also meeting the immediate needs for physical healing as well. Verse 36 We see Jesus deeply moved with compassion by what He sees: "The word which is used for moved with compassion (splagchnistheis) is the strongest word for pity in the Greek language.... it describes the compassion which moves a man to the deepest depths of his being." (Barclay) "The original word is a very remarkable one. It is not found in classic Greek. It is not found in the Septuagint. The fact is, it was a word coined by the evangelists themselves. They did not find one in the whole Greek language that suited their purpose, and therefore they had to make one." (Spurgeon)
The Good Shepherd is seeing His sheep in distress and He wants to alleviate their pain. How do we view people in our community, in our workplace, in our neighborhood even in our churches? Are we able to see beyond ourselves and see the hurt and the suffering? Let us pray for the eyes of Jesus to see what really matters. Let us ask Him to stir our hearts to have the love and compassion for others that He had in this passage. Verses 37-38 Jesus tells His disciples that the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few. He urges them to pray for God to send out workers into the harvest. Our prayers can move the heart of God. We should obey the word of Jesus and pray for help and aid to come to those who are hurting, suffering, and need Jesus. Are you praying for God to move and stir hearts to action? Pray today that God will call people to see His purpose and send them to those in need! Matthew 10:1-4 Jesus organizes the disciples and equips them. God does not call the equipped but He most definitely equips the called! Here they are first called disciples and then called apostles as they are first taught by Jesus and then sent by Him to serve the kingdom. These were ordinary men that had a variety of everyday occupations. They were not the most adequate by our standards and were likely not the team that you or I would have assembled. But Jesus picked His team and this should give us hope that we fit the bill as well not because we are adequate but because HE is adequate. Cross-reference 1 Corinthians 1:26 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to [the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 29 so that no man may boast before God. 30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, [v]and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.
Comments: God s selection is not by accident. He chooses the humble, the foolish, the weak to display His work so that none can boast. Our boasting can only be in Him. Do you deny the Lord s calling to act or to serve because you feel inadequate? Do you feel that there is surely someone more suited for the job? Did you know that your feeling of inadequacy makes you a perfect candidate? Consider now that perhaps your inadequacy is the perfect opportunity for the Lord s power and provision to be displayed! Verses 5-7 I love how Jesus demonstrates the importance of proper discipleship and instruction before sending out his twelve. It is so important to go out equipped with truth and wisdom, which only He can provide. Can you imagine a better mentor than Jesus? He sends them first to the synagogues. God made His covenant with Abraham that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through Him and we see this here. Even though the Jews were His chosen people, the apple of His eye, He was going to bless all of the peoples of the earth through Jesus. God promised Abraham in Genesis 17 that He would make an everlasting covenant between Him and his descendants. Then in Genesis 22, after Abraham obediently took steps in faith to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, God stops him and declares that will further bless all the nations of the earth through Abraham s seed. Though God made a covenant with His chosen people through Abraham, He would ultimately fulfill it through His OWN only Son Jesus! Cross-references: Zechariah 2:8 For thus says the LORD of hosts, "After glory He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye. Genesis 17:7 I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. Genesis 22:16-18 and said, By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your]seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of [their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall [i]be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Verse 8 He instructs them to do battle in both the physical and the spiritual realms as they will not only heal the sick but will cast out demons as well. Jesus has authority over ALL! What a magnificent demonstration of His power over sin AND death! Cross-references: Revelation 1:17-18 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Conclusion The harvest is plentiful and the workers are few. Are you praying that the Lord will raise up workers? Are you ready to be a worker? He not only does the calling but the equipping as well. He is in the business of overcoming both sin and death. Our fellow citizens are dying from the effects of both. We have the cure! We know Jesus is the answer and PRAISE GOD the gift of salvation was made available to both Jew and Gentile alike. Notes: New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation