Matthew 9:35-38
35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
Jesus did all he could. "Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness" But it was when he saw the crowds, the multitude of people, who needed to be saved from the eternal death camps he was moved.
If we are to see lives saved and won to Christ we need to see the harvest as Jesus saw the harvest of spiritually lost people dying and facing a Christ-less eternity. How did Jesus see the harvest?
- The harvest is plentiful.
Anytime I go on a road trip especially through Oklahoma I come across acres and acres of all kinds of produce. A lot of it is corn so tall that you can't see over it and so vast you can't see the end. I have also seen fields of watermelons, pumpkins, wheat and many other kinds of produce. People have huge garden full of tomatoes, carrots, radishes, peppers, lettuce and many other kinds of produce.
"Then he [Jesus] said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful'" (Matt. 9:37 NIV). The world is big. The crowds are huge. The number of spiritually lost and dying people is overwhelming.
In Jesus' day the population of the world was approximately 150 million people. Today's world population grows 150 million every two years. The world's population exceeds 6 billion people with the population of the United States over 300 million.
- The harvest is precious.
Not only was the harvest of people vast as Jesus looked upon it, but those people brought tears to his eyes. All those people, then and now, matter to him. Make no mistake about it: Jesus loves people. "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them" (Matt. 9:36 NIV). The word used for compassion is the strongest word for pity in the Greek language. It describes the love that moves a person to the depths of their being.
What would you regret most if son, daughter, or another family member died?
Jesus' heart grieves over every soul. God grieves because those who die without Christ never know how much he loves them.
- The harvest is perplexed.
Jesus described the crowd as being "harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (Matt. 9:36 NIV). Harassed meant that they were defeated by life. The toils and struggles had punched them in the stomach one too many times. They are down for the final count. Ready to quit. Helpless meant they were broken and without purpose. They were wandering aimlessly. People without hope, without meaning, without a reason for living. Like sheep without a shepherd meant they would follow any fad or guru or new idea or way even to their destruction. Sheep are dumb animals. They simply put their heads down and follow the sheep in front of them. If a guide or leader does not exist they will simply wander and wander and wander until they destroy themselves.
Those three thoughts, harassed, helpless, and sheep without a shepherd, are a fitting description of our society. They have no direction.
They are heading for destruction. They are walking down a path that Jesus referred to as "the broad road" that leads to death.
- The harvest is perishing.
On another occasion Jesus said to his followers, "Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest" (John 4:35 NIV). While I know little of farming, I do understand that ripened wheat takes on a golden hue when ready for harvest. However, if reaping is delayed, the grain begins to turn a pale white, and will soon fall over on the ground. To speak of the fields "white" unto harvest is to stress the imperative of getting into the fields before it is too late.
There is always a sense of urgency to bringing in the harvest.
Of the 6 billion people in the world, it is estimated that over thirty million people worldwide will die without Christ this year. And of the over 300 million people in this country, it is estimated that 41 percent of the people are radically un-churched. That means they don't go to church at all. Not at Easter or at Christmas or to weddings or funerals. They do not darken the doors of a church at anytime in the year. And if they were to die they would go to eternal punishment without knowing the love of Christ.
A farmer that is ready to pick what they have grown is sometimes overwhelmed by what lays ahead. Looking out at his field he is probably thinking if I don't get these fields harvest before the next storm I may lose my crop.
There is always a sense of urgency to bringing in the harvest.
- The harvest is priority.
Feel what Jesus feels. He is overwhelmed by his love for people as he sees the vastness of the crowds, the perplexity of their problems, and the sense of urgency in reaching them. Then Jesus says, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field" (Matt. 9:37-38 NIV). You need to know that the Pharisees, the religious leaders of Jesus' day, saw the common people as chaff to be destroyed and burned up; Jesus saw them as a harvest to be reaped and to be saved. The Pharisees in their pride looked for the destruction of sinners; Jesus in love died for the salvation of sinners.
Herein lies one of the great truths of the Christian faith: The harvest will never be reaped unless there are reapers to reap it. Jesus Christ needs men and women to bring in the harvest. Jesus' followers today need to see people as Jesus saw them - as plentiful, precious, perplexed and perishing.
Jesus is coming back soon and He wants to take everyone He can back with him. However, there are still millions of people that are next door, down the street, and in our town that are lost and dying.
What can we do?
We can take responsibility for our field. Think of all the people we contact everyday: family, friends, neighbors, work associates, the woman at the cleaners, the guy at the car wash, our tennis buddies, and our sewing club. That is our field. We are responsible for them.
It is time to get started. We must tell everyone that we know and can about Jesus dying on a cross for them.