Matthew 9:35-38
35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on 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 workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Question:
ReplyDelete- Why was Jesus first response to tell them to ask God to send out workers?
http://thirdmill.org/studybible/note.asp/id/43291 says:
ReplyDelete"Harvest" (Matt. 9:37-38) is often a metaphor for the end-time activity of God. That it is "plentiful" indicates that the "harvest" is not referring to the harvest time but to the harvest crop (as in Luke 10:2). It is not so much judgment that is in view here as the proclamation of the Gospel, the eschatological announcement that precedes judgment and urges people to repent and have faith.
Matthew mentions "workers." Not the angels sent to gather for judgment as in Matthew 13:49 but, as is made clear from what follows, the disciples who imitate Jesus by proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom (Matt. 10:7). It is interesting that Jesus did not yet command his disciples to go into the harvest as laborers, but to pray for God to provide laborers (Matt. 9:38). No one can do the work of the harvest unless he or she is first called to and equipped for it by God.
http://www.pneumafoundation.org/resources/articles/pray-laborers.jsp says:
ReplyDeleteThe Lord Jesus Christ Himself gave us the Great Commission—not as a suggestion—but as a command! "Then Jesus came to them and said, � All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:18-20).
Our response to this command is simply to do one of two things: we either go, or we send. If we are not doing one of these things, we are being directly disobedient to the command!
Are we 21st century disciples? I believe we are. As his disciples, it should always be our desire to pray what is on God's heart. Lost people are on His heart. So Jesus says to us, His disciples, in Matthew 9:37-38, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." This is not a prayer suggestion. It is a prayer command! We are to ASK the Lord to send workers! It is my belief that when we pray for the Lord to send missionaries to the lost, we ought to consider listening very carefully. It may be that He is calling us to respond. We are the Lord's hands and feet upon this earth. If we pray that He will send missionaries, He may wish to work through us to accomplish it! Some of us will go and the rest of us will send. We should never pray for others to do the sending unless we are going!
http://www.meditationforchristians.com/sec3yra24.htm says:
ReplyDeleteHere, Jesus is talking in a traditional rabbinic style. The "harvest" refers to those who are ready to receive the truth. It was customary for rabbis and their students to be called "reapers". Our Lord sees the desperate need for reapers, but they must be "workers". They are to labour and, in rabbinic talk, this means:
— not living off the work of others;
— not idle drones;
— not slaves to pleasure, much entertainment, or sin.
As Jesus said, those willing to work, that is, to be sent to work in this way, are few. He therefore instructs his disciples to (literally) beg, to plead to the Lord of the Harvest, to send labourers into the fields to gather the harvest. Such labourers are not those who are self appointed with their chosen career path and destination all carefully crafted and presented to the Lord for formal public endorsement. Our Lord calls for a different attitude in his disciples. They themselves must have been "harvested". They must be attuned to the genuine call from the Lord who looks for those who are willing not just to be sent, but (literally) to be "thrust forth" into his harvest field. The force in the "dispatch" of the labourer is God's compulsive love and concern for his lost creatures. Unless the disciples share this compassion, they will not be people of profound prayer; they will have no power to give effect to God's plans, and their teaching will be shallow and unspiritual.