Hidden in the familiar verses of Matthew
9:35-38 are a number of important missionary truths:
1. Jesus viewed the multitudes with compassion. Although the Jewish
multitudes were indeed sinners deserving the righteous judgment of God, Jesus related to
them as lost sheep, beaten, moving from one desperation to the next. Could it be that we
the church of today have become inordinately fixated on mankind's sinfulness rather than
on their lostness? Has this moral superiority smothered the spirit of compassion in us? We
must somehow recover the same spirit of compassion that motivated Jesus to ministry lest
we disqualify ourselves to be workers-together with Him.
2. Jesus acted redemptively towards the multitudes. Jesus, through his
incarnation, performed a brand new act in human history. He voluntarily came down from
heaven to earth. He, himself, visited every village that his three-year ministry
constraint allowed him. He was the divine initiator of the first ever Every Village
Crusade. Jesus modeled an entirely new image of the shepherd. In strong contrast to the
professional priest who demanded the "sheep" jump legalistic hoops, Jesus
himself led them directly to green pastures of grace and forgiveness first before he
demanded anything from them.
3. Jesus invited his followers to be partners with him in ministry. He
challenged them with the greatness of the harvest. He then challenged them with the
contrast between the hugeness of the harvest and the scarcity of workers. We understand we
are not to simply recruit more workers for God. Rather He directs our eyes to God the
Sovereign Lord of the Harvest. While people are important to the harvest the ultimate
reality is God himself. We are to pray that God will touch those He Himself wants to work
in the harvest. God Himself is the ultimate recruiter.
4. If the divine side of missions is the compassion of Jesus then the human
side is prayer. The book of Acts clearly linked the expansion of the church with prayer.
Acts 2, Acts 10 and Acts 13 all teach us that whenever there is much prayer, the imbalance
between the "hugeness of the harvest" and the "scarcity of workers"
will be corrected. Lord, teach us to pray today.
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