Matthew 9:35-38
35 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. 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.”
Today’s passage is short and concise. I wish to focus on one theme in each verse as follows:
v. 35: The content of our ministry
v. 36: The motivation for our ministry
v. 37: The present reality
v. 38: Our “main” task?
Verse 35 The Content of Our Ministry
35 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.
Without taking a lot of time, I just want to affirm that here Jesus clearly cares about peoples’ spiritual as well as physical needs. He preaches the good news of the kingdom through words. And he heals the sicknesses of people through miraculous power. His love for them included both a caring for their souls as well as for their bodies.
Verse 36 The Motivation for our Ministry
36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Jesus looks at the crowds and a great love for them overwhelms him. He feels sorry for them. He sees their tiredness and lostness.
Why do we do ministry and evangelism? Why do we work so hard at preaching this gospel and serving others? I know that we can all give the proper answer: in order that others may hear about Jesus and be saved; that they too may become worshippers of the true God.
Yet, I have sometimes had cause to ask myself why? What are my true motives?
We are human and so our motives will always be mixed. I often felt that my motives as a missionary were mixed. Did I really LOVE people….or was I working hard in order to be able to send a good report to our supporters and supporting churches back home? Was I truly acting from love…orwas I wanting to be seen as a good pastor or productive missionary? As a church, are we excited to reach out because of love…or is our real motive for evangelism the need to grow our membership so that we will be able to support our budget? None of these are bad things in themselves, but may fall short of our truly needed motivation for preaching the gospel.
It must be our great LOVE for the people around us. COMPASSION! Of course, we cannot produce or cook up this love on our own. It must be poured into us by the Holy Spirit. As we love God, and love neighbor, we begin to be transformed by God’s love in such a way that we, too, can begin to more powerfully reflect that love to those around us.
The crowds in Jesus day were not all tired and lost physically. Jesus saw through them to their spiritual state and saw how exhausted, tired and lost they were. Do we see our neighbors in the same way?
Jesus felt a great LOVE for the people. He did not try to start a church, a school, an institution, a denomination. His love for people drove him to teach and heal.
Verse 37: The Present Reality
37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”
This was the situation in Jesus day. Do you feel it also applies to us here in Seattle today? Do you feel that the harvest is great? I think all of us have felt the lack of laborers in our own church situation.
Are Jesus’ words about a great harvest accurate? I believe they are. We must be careful to understand what Jesus is saying. He did not count church members and say “the harvest is great”. He did not see the size of the church and say “the harvest is great”, he did not count the number of churches and say “the harvest is great”. He saw the people tired, exhausted, spiritually hungry, lost like sheep wandering around without a shepherd. If this is the “sign” of a great harvest, then we surely have one here too, at least…a potential harvest!
Verse 38: Our Greatest Task
38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
We close with the final need and that is the need of more laborers, as well as the need to pray to the Lord of the harvest, that He may send us more laborers.
There is a Pastor Fukuda in Japan who uses this “prayer” as a greeting when he speaks with his colleagues. Often he’ll begin his phone conversation with another pastor with “Hi, have you prayed Matt. 9:38 / Luke 10:2 today? Please remember to pray those verses with me today.”
The Greek word for “ask” in verse 38 is the same word used of the widow in the story of the unjust judge. Pleading, earnestly begging, unrelentingly asking… Have we prayed in this way for laborers?
Is it possible that sometimes God sends laborers but we do not notice or we reject them? Is it possible that we think all of the training for the laborers must be completed before they actually work in the field? Do all pastors need to be seminary trained? It’s a valid question. Is it possible that we are all meant to be laborers?
My parents both grew up in rural Minnesota. During harvest season in the Fall, all children were on “vacation” from school because they were all needed in the fields. All hands were necessary. Age was not an excuse. School was not an excuse! At harvest ALL had to be there. Little children were taught. Old people helped in whatever way they could. It was understood that the work simply couldn’t be completed in time if everyone wasn’t involved.
This is similar to rice-planting when I was growing up in Japan. The planting of rice seedlings into a muddy, flooded, prepared paddy or field is called “ta-u-e” or literally, “the planting of the field.” All family members are needed. 3-4 year olds may be too young to be of much help, but they are not too young to learn. Old people are not as strong. But they are still needed for encouragement in their own way. Everyone is necessary. All must step into the “tanbo” or rice paddy and plant the seedlings. Do we think of our ministry in this way too?
Of course the final point here is that there IS a Lord of the Harvest. It is not our field nor is it our harvest. The Lord of the Harvest will send laborers and will cause the work to be done. We don’t have to produce the harvest. Praise God! We do have to stay “out of the way” at times. We can’t produce a harvest but at times we can be a hindrance to the harvest if we have not correctly heard the Harvest Lord’s voice.
So relax. Take a deep breath. The Lord of the harvest will call you to just that right task, and give you all of the resources you’ll need to accomplish it. After all, it is God’s work and God’s harvest…and he promises to work with us! When we’re tired and exhausted, it’s often because we’re trying to do the work on our own. Jesus himself said “If you’re tired and feel burdened, come to me. Get into the yoke with me. That way, we can pull and work together. You’ll find that working with me is a light burden and a whole lot easier!”
(the above is a summary of the message shared during our worship on October 4, 2026.)
