Jesus first felt compassion and then said to pray to send more workers to the “harvest.” He then selected seventy followers to perform miracles in the places He intended to visit.
Please share your thoughts, your own application or questions in the comments at the end.
COMMAND 61: “…beseech the Lord …to send out workers…”
Mt 9:38; See also Lk 10:2 identical command and probably the same context
RECIPIENT:
His disciples (These were either the twelve or a larger group of followers)
CONTEXT: My notes about the context of this command
Mt 9:35-37 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.
36Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then He *said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few…”
COMMAND FULL TEXT:
Mt 9:38 “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
RESULT:
Mt 10:1 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.
DEFINITIONS: Key Greek Words – Removes ambiguity of the Bible text
(word: Strong’s # Greek pronunciation — definition)
beseech: G1189 δέομαι deh’-om-ahee — to petition or beg:
then: G3767 οὖν oon — certainly or accordingly
may send: G1544 ἐκβάλλω ek-bal’-lō — to literally or figuratively eject
workers: G2040 ἐργάτης er-gat’-ace — a workman or laborer
harvest: G2326 θερισμός ther-is-mos’ — reaping the crop
MY COMMENTS AND NOTES:
I think that its important to highlight that Jesus first felt compassion for the people and then did something about it.
In Matthew 10 the twelve disciples are named and I think these are the ones Jesus is commanding to pray for more workers In Lk 10 Jesus commands the disciples to pray for workers and then sends out 70 of them to visit the cities ahead of His arrival. Their job was to perform supernatural healing of the sick in order to prepare people to listen to Jesus’ message. I think that the harvest analogy simply refers the fact that people were being prepared to accept the message Jesus Himself was intending to bring to them. This message is commonly referred to as The Gospel Message.
Luke 10 says that Jesus also told the 70 to pray for more workers I wonder if Jesus was suggesting that if they asked then supernatural laborers would be sent to prepare the people to receive The Gospel Message. In that way the efforts of a small number of human workers’ would be multiplied.
Jesus also used the harvest analogy when He spoke to His main twelve disciples when they were surprised to see Jesus speaking to a woman at the well in a Samaritan city:
Jn 4:35 “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and {then} comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.”
I like to keep this blog as practical as I can with my comments and applications without being overly religious or using special Christian religious words that I call “Christianese.” When Jesus or His disciples talk about being saved or about the Gospel Message, the text just means what it says and the application is simply to become a Christian. If you would like to know more about the Gospel Message, here is a link:
MY PERSONAL APPLICATION: I encourage you to make your own application
I must demonstrate compassion with care for people. In addition to caring about their physical, mental and emotional well being I should also care about their spiritual well being.
I should ask God for compassion and wisdom in any situation where The Gospel Message might be presented.
Below, please share your comments , question or perhaps your own application for this command
© 2018 Christopher Carlson
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB