Title: Lord of the Harvest
Text: Matthew 9:35 – 10:15
FCF: We often struggle understanding how to properly make disciples
Prop: Because Christ establishes how the kingdom should be presented, we must make disciples like Christ did.
Scripture Intro:
[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Matthew chapter 9. We are just exiting the 2nd round of Narrative and entering the second of seven discourses that Jesus gives in the book of Matthew. Thinking back to the Sermon on the Mount, you may be thinking that it will take us absolutely forever to get through Matthew. Well there is a reason that the Sermon on the Mount is known as the greatest sermon ever preached. It is so full, and to be honest, even though there were 15 messages from those 3 chapters, we missed quite a bit. Still, as we look at other discourses, particularly this one, there are not as rich or dense. And while I can’t guarantee it, we will most likely be to the next narrative section in as little as a couple weeks.
After performing all these miracles and doing all these things, proving that Jesus had the authority and power that only the Lord of Lords could possess, he then lifts his eyes to the deep need of the people. He sees something there that elicits a human and even physical reaction. We see today the compassion, wisdom, and direction of our Lord. Look with me starting in verse 35 of chapter 9. I’ll be reading from the ESV but follow along in whatever version you prefer.
Transition:
For the sake of time today, let’s jump right into the text shall we.
I.) Jesus was motivated by compassion to preach the Kingdom to the Spiritually lost, we must make disciples like Christ did.
a. [Slide 2] 35 – And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.
i. Always we find Jesus preaching primarily
ii. And then authenticating that message and His own authority through miracles.
iii. This is primarily a transitional statement that Matthew uses to get from Narrative to discourse. He almost said the same thing verbatim before the Sermon on the Mount
b. [Slide 3] 36 – When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
i. Jesus, at some point along the way, in the timing of the Father, lifts his head to see the great multitude in Galilee.
ii. He is moved with compassion. The expression is something to the effect of – his guts were stirred.
1. Compassion in this sense, is a mix of mercy and pity for the people who are without any hope. It is a sense of deep regret and sorrow over their helpless and hopeless plight.
2. Of course we know that Jesus was the answer to what seemed hopeless. But we’ll get to that.
iii. Why was He pitying them? Why were they hopeless?
1. Because they were harassed. The word here has a root meaning to be flayed or skinned. It indicates that they were distressed, confused, afflicted and worn out.
2. Because they were helpless. The word here’s root is to be thrown down or to be cast down to the ground by drunkenness or mortal wound. It is to be spoiled. It is to be without hope or lost.
3. Jesus isn’t simply seeing their physical states, being ill, diseased, and demon possessed. Although true, this is not what Jesus saw. How do we know that? Well let’s keep reading.
iv. Like Sheep without a shepherd
1. To Jewish ears, which is exactly who Matthew is writing to, they would have recognized the comparison between themselves being sheep. Or at least they should have.
2. It was a common expression in the Old Testament. And every instance of this is to communicate the Spiritual condition of the Israelites.
3. Isaiah 53:6 says that all of us like sheep have gone astray – or left our fold, and our shepherd.
4. Obviously sheep without a shepherd are helpless and harassed. They are open to attack from predators and they are bound to get lost with no one to save them.
5. However, there are other layers to this. Jesus’ compassion is rooted not just in the need of these people, but in the failed vision of lost sheep. What good are sheep who have no shepherd? What purpose do they serve other than to be food for predators?
6. Sheep without a shepherd is not only a danger to the sheep, but it is a disappointment to the Shepherd. They were meant to live a life of ease, protected from danger, always being fed, and producing wool. A purpose that they could have fulfilled, but instead they roamed the country side being picked off one by one by wolves and other predators. They were free of the shepherd but they were infinitely less because of it. Harassed and helpless.
7. Jesus’ compassion is bound to the eternal sate of man being created in God’s image to be what He had called them to be, and what had become of them? They wander aimlessly, surrounded by cliffs and predators, and they don’t even realize the danger.
v. Micah 5:4 tells us that God will send a Great Shepherd with the power and authority of YAHWEH Himself and He will call once again the flock of God to himself. And He will secure them and they will have peace. Peace… with God. And Jesus plans to do exactly that.
vi. But He knows, being God and man, that He cannot possibly reach each one of them on His own, nor was it God the Father’s plan for Him to attempt to do so. Read on.
c. [Slide 4] 37-38 – Then He said to His disciples “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few: therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
i. Jesus presents a problem to His disciples. The problem is this…
ii. Harvest time had come. In the interpretation here there seems to be some disagreement among commentators. And it centers on the idea that harvest in the old testament tends to be both speaking of salvation and speaking of judgment. Whereas here, a surface level interpretation, and perhaps the interpretation you are familiar with, is only of salvation.
iii. So, much like God told Paul before going into Corinth, some would interpret this to mean that Jesus is saying that there are many people who are ready to be saved, they simply need a laborer to go and collect them.
iv. Testing that, perhaps well entrenched interpretation, leads us to one uncomfortable theological conclusion
1. That if the only thing standing in the way of people getting saved is the fact that no one preaches the gospel to them, we are left to wonder – are there people who are ready for salvation that will not ultimately get saved simply because they never heard the gospel?
2. Would a Sovereign God risk losing souls for His kingdom because he has too few followers?
3. The context that immediately follows disagrees… because it says
v. That God the Father is the Lord of the harvest. Not in the sense that He is the Master of the season of harvest, but that He is the master over the act of reaping.
1. You see, in their time they would go out and thresh the grain, sift through the chaff and pick out the grain. Then they would burn the rest.
2. So God is like the Forman in charge of hiring and sending out enough laborers to sift, sort, and gather the grain that has been cut down.
3. Which leads us very naturally to a reorientation of what this harvest is.
vi. This harvest is the final sifting of judgment. The crops are souls. And the God of the harvest is rescuing souls from the ultimate end of the harvest which is the gathering and burning of all that was not worthy to be reaped.
1. The Forman is not simply in charge of saving the grain of the harvest but destroying the waste also. For the whole harvest, the Lord needs laborers.
2. We might be tempted to see that the laborers are being lazy and need to be chased out of their comfort to go into the fields of harvest and labor. In fact, many preachers have used this as a call for Christians to not be lazy about sharing their faith.
3. However, in this passage Jesus clearly indicates that the laborers are in short supply. Showing us that to send out a laborer probably has the idea of hiring more laborers. So the fact that a person is a believer and that they labor for the master of the reaping are linked. In other words there is no such thing as a laborer who does not labor.
4. But this leads us to a pretty uncomfortable conclusion. That we, the laborers, play a part in God’s judgment as well as in His salvation.
5. Everyone is ok thinking we have a part in the salvation of a person, but judgment?
6. But the Lord’s harvest is not simply to populate His Kingdom but to install His Kingdom too. Which means to put down all that oppose.
7. I want you to keep all this in your mind as we continue through into chapter 10, because if you are really struggling to agree with this, it may make more sense by verse 15.
8. [Slide 5] And it is in a judgment context that the compassion of Christ makes the most sense. He feels compassion not for their earthly plight, but for their eternal plight.
Application:
[Slide 6 (blank)] And today there are many who are being lied to by their religions.
And sadder still
There are hundreds of thousands in Churches across this nation being told a half-gospel. That God simply wants to be on your team. He wants to bring you to His heaven. He doesn’t want to change you, he just wants to love you.
Thousands are massaged with humanistic theology that tells them that the chief end of man is his own happiness and that God desires that too. He desires that we be happy. That is why He sent Christ, so that in this life, or in the next we can be happy.
Still more are given this idea that they have committed some minor offenses against God, and that they simply need to ask His forgiveness and He will give it to them forever. And that nothing they do afterward will count against them because He has forgiven them. That simply believing that He did what He claimed to do and was who He claimed to be pardons them from all their future wickedness because a prayer was prayed and God’s hands are tied.
They are lost and they don’t know they are lost. The judgment is approaching and they don’t even know it. And what is worse, is that even if they did, they would think they are safe from it.
If this doesn’t trigger in you any emotional turmoil if you cannot feel in your heart a sense of deep anguish over the state of mankind – then one of two things are going on in you. Either you don’t truly understand the wickedness of man, or you don’t understand the Masterpiece that God intends to make all whom He saves. Because if you understood both what we were and what God is making you to be… you must feel compassion.
We are the laborers. We are the tool that God is using to bring His Kingdom. Not in the sense that He is waiting for us to complete the work, but that He is allowing us the opportunity to help Him complete the work. And if you are not moved to compassion as Jesus was – then you may not be a laborer at all.
Transition:
[Slide 7] And the laborers in the field are few. God sends us out to the field for the harvest. And now Jesus will prove that he is also the Lord of the harvest, and delegate his own laborers into the field.
II.) Jesus preached the gospel of the Kingdom to the Lost by the means of delegation, we must make disciples like Christ did.
a. [Slide 8] 1 – And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction
i. So who is the Lord of the Harvest? God the Father. But Jesus is now sending out his disciples to labor in the fields. Jesus and God the Father are one. A veiled claim to divinity here.
ii. Jesus gives them His authority to do the miraculous but for a greater purpose. More on that in a moment.
b. [Slide 9-10] 2-4 – The names of the 12 apostles are these: First, Simon, who is called Peter and Andrew his brother. James the son of Zebedee and John his brother. Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.
i. From Mark we know that Jesus sent them out two by two. A strategy not invented by Jehovah’s witnesses or Mormons, but by Jesus. And Matthew’s pairings are probably how they went out.
ii. While we won’t spend time elaborating on each individual disciple I will mention a couple things for clarity.
1. Thaddaeus is also known as Judas son of James or Judas not Iscariot
2. Some translations say Simon the Cananaean or Cananite. A Cananaean was a member of a group who fought for the liberation of Roman rule in Palestine or… Canaan. They were also known as Zealots. Which means that this is Simon the Zealot from Luke and Acts.
c. [Slide 11] 5a – These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them
i. Jesus is accomplishing the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom through his disciples
ii. He is doing this through delegation.
iii. We have the image of the twelve – a replacement for the 12 tribes of Israel. Israel who was supposed to bear witness and be the instrument of bringing people to God, were instead, now the lost ones that God would have to send others to rescue.
iv. We have the foreshadowing of the church and their grafting in to the nation Israel as they seek to do what Israel could not.
v. And thus, He establishes the paradigm for all future evangelistic endeavors. A global community representing His Kingdom both spiritually and physically.
Application:
[Slide 12 (blank)] If you are a leader, or have had a leadership role, delegation is not simply because there is a need that you cannot meet. Delegation is actually a chance to develop others into leadership roles. Similarly, making disciples is delegated to us not because God is incapable but because God is loving and Kind.
The church is given this opportunity. All of us. Not just those with the spiritual gift of evangelism. Not just pastors. Not just the extroverts. Not just missionaries. Everyone who is a believer is a laborer in the field.
As such we cannot conclude that it is the responsibility of only some to make disciples. But of all. At work, at school, at the gym and family gatherings, you are His representative on earth. The judgment is coming and we are in the 2000 year breath before the end. We have no guarantees when it will end. It is time to go and be part of what God is doing.
Transition:
[Slide 13] We have seen that Jesus’ compassion for the lost sheep of Israel is obvious and his wisdom is exemplary. He knows that, being a man, even a man that is also God, He cannot do all that must be done. So for the sake of the laborers before Him, he sends them out, dependent on one another to preach the gospel. But it is not without instruction. He sends them with a certain protocol to follow.
III.) Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom to the Lost with a mode of operation, we must make disciples like Christ did.
a. [Slide 14-15] 5b-6 – “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
i. Jesus’ exhortation to his disciples before they leave is what follows in the rest of chapter 10. These are his final instructions before they depart for their missionary efforts in Galilee.
ii. He initially begins with the mode of operation that they are to follow.
iii. Later he will give them warnings of what to expect, encouragement to trust God, understanding of what their message means, and what their message will do in the hearts of others. But for today we will only concern ourselves with the mode of operation for the disciples.
iv. First we see that Jesus instructs his disciples to not go purposely to Gentile or Samaritan land. So what does this mean?
1. Gentiles are non-Jews. Pagans. With perhaps understanding of the Jewish God, but no love for Him.
2. The Samaritans are half Jew half Gentile people. The Jewish people were commanded not to intermarry with non-Jewish people, but they have been disobeying this command for centuries. So it isn’t surprising that there are people groups that are made up of mixed races.
3. Both of these were despised by the Jews, and perhaps Matthew is risking a great deal by relaying this information to a primarily Jewish audience. They would no doubt conclude that this meant that they were justified in their feelings since Jesus seemed to share it.
4. However, Matthew is probably trying to help his readers to see that they have absolutely no excuse for not believing. Because Jesus concentrated on them with his evangelistic efforts.
5. Another thing we must understand about what Jesus was saying is this. They were in Galilee at the time, which is a land surrounded by either Gentiles, or Samaritans. What this essentially meant for the disciples is that they were to focus their efforts on Galilee and Galilee alone.
6. This means that this mission, was a relatively short term mission.
v. One thing we’ll wrestle with throughout this section is if Jesus’ instructions are descriptive or prescriptive. Meaning, is he saying this only to His disciples in this situation, or is He saying it as a pattern for all future disciples to follow. The primary determining factor in this… is the rest of the bible. So, in this case, is this descriptive or prescriptive?
vi. Kinda both. We know that we are to take the gospel to the Jews first, then to the Gentiles. And that is exactly what Jesus is advocating. Because later he tells them to go into all the world. But never going to Gentiles is clearly an instruction for His 12 disciples at this time.
b. [Slide 16-19] 7-10 – And proclaim as you go, saying, “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand”, Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give, without pay. Acquire no gold or silver for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.
i. Another element of the journey is specifically what they were to be doing.
ii. Listed in order of priority, they are to mimic Jesus’ ministry. First to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of heaven, and second to authenticate their message through miraculous deeds. All of which Christ has already done.
1. Obviously we should be preaching the gospel too
2. But as far as authenticating our message, this is no longer needed since we have the providential miracle of the complete Word of God.
3. Note – This is a BIG topic that we simply don’t have time for today. Are sign gifts still around? Maybe if you come to the Membership class reboot, you’ll find out.
iii. The third element of their mission was to do all of this free of charge. In Foundations we will soon be learning of a priest who offers his services for a charge, and as we have already learned of prophets for profit Baalam – Jesus tells them that they received this power from Him without charge, so use it ,without charge.
1. This is certainly a prescriptive element.
2. Those in ministry ought not charge for their ministry… more on that in a minute.
iv. The fourth element of this mission, is to not over prepare. He tells them that rather than packing two of everything so you are prepared for every disaster, to instead depend on God to supply
1. This is a tricky one. I want with all my heart to say that it is prescriptive in that we need to not prepare but just trust Him.
2. However, later, in Luke, Jesus tells them to take their extra bags of money for their never ending mission.
3. Therefore, this is probably just given to the disciples as added instruction for this specific trip.
v. The fifth element of the mission, perhaps to assuage their concerns about what they would eat and how they would survive, is to assure them that they would be supported along their journey by those whom they ministered to.
1. By way of very brief application here – I just want to point out that this is indeed how the church should operate. I am your servant and minister. I am here to preach to you and teach you God’s word both in word and deed. And the church is not to pay me but to support me. And churches and pastors can abuse this in two specific ways.
2. The most common is when a church severely underpays their pastor. If an assembly, by whatever means they are able can support their pastor, and other ministers of their church, they should.
3. However, there is another less common abuse of this practice and it is treating the position of the pastor much like you would the CEO of a company. Evaluating his performance and giving him raises and cost of living raises and like any good CEO if the business grows, he gets a bonus right? The fact of the matter is that the only question that should be asked of a pastor and his wife when looking at his salary is do you have what you need? If the need is being met or over met it should be adjusted accordingly. Because pastors are not there to make money they are there to serve their people and to do so without being distracted by need.
4. I feel like I have to say that this is in no way a veiled complaint. Our family is well supported and you have our assurance that if we ever need less we will ask for less.
c. [Slide 20-23] 11-15 – And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
i. The final element of the mission is what we were alluding to before. Jesus is now describing how a laborer is to sift through the chaff and grain.
ii. Now all these verses need to be read together because they help us to interpret the others.
iii. For instance, what does it meant that someone is worthy? Well Jesus defines it in verse 14. A worthy house and worthy people are ones that receives them and or listens. It is actually not talking about conversion but simply being cordial. People who take you in and allow you to speak, give them the message and continued teaching.
iv. But what about the people who do not receive them or listen?
v. Shake the dust from your sandals. What does that mean? It is actually a Jewish custom. Bidding them Shaloam is bidding them peace but shaking the dust from your sandals is a bidding of curse. It is judgment. It is a sign that you have done all you could but they are unable to be helped.
vi. You see when we communicate the message of the kingdom of heaven, we are taking salvation and judgment to whomever we meet. Why?
vii. Because what is revealed to a person of the redemptive plan of God, they are held culpable for in judgment.
viii. Shaking the dust from their sandals is a sign that the people they were leaving had doomed themselves to be judged because they rejected the message of God.
ix. So laborers for the harvest bring both salvation and judgment because they bring the message of God, which brings both hope and condemnation. It is good news, with inherit bad news.
x. And the more people hear the message of the Kingdom of heaven and reject it, the more condemnation they bring upon themselves. So Jesus instructs them to stop giving them that message.
xi. Sodom and Gomorrah were utterly destroyed and the smolder of their cities rose up for centuries to follow. They were not really warned much about the coming judgment. Only Lot and his family received warning of the impending doom. And even they lingered and were barely saved from destruction.
xii. But for these cities, who will receive not only a message of judgment but also of deliverance, if they are to reject it, the punishment will be more severe.
Application:
[Slide 24 (blank)] How much more so today? Today every person you ask on the street, if you ask them who Jesus is, they have an answer for you. From various backgrounds and various points of view, people know who He is. They understand something about him.
Many would even be able to summarize the basic teaching of his work on earth. That he died on the cross for the sins of mankind.
So let me ask you something. If the cities of Galilee were guaranteed a more harsh judgment than Sodom and Gomorrah because more was revealed to them, than imagine what the punishment will be of a nation whose founding was rooted in Christian teachings. Imagine the judgment a society will reap when the 10 commandments are posted on government buildings, or at least they were. Imagine the judgment that would come upon a nation with half a million churches, all of which teach or at least pretend to teach from the bible. Imagine the judgment that falls on the nation that knows the truth of the gospel but denies its power, believes in the right things but are still lost inside. Imagine the judgment upon such a nation!
My friends we ought not be so cavalier in our presentations of the gospel. We ought not be so careless with our presentations of the truth. Because with every tract, with every formulaic presentation, with every single sermon, we increase the severity of the rejector’s judgment. The most dangerous place you can seat yourself on a Sunday morning is in a church where you will hear the gospel.
Then do we stop sharing the gospel? Of course not. It is still the life giving hope unto salvation to all who believe. The word of God is a double edge sword. It cuts and severs, but where the blade strikes is entirely up to the one being struck. If they resist, repel, fight or flee they may just move themselves to their own destruction. But if they stand with arms held open, surrendering all to the righteous rule of the kingly swordsman, he will drive his blade deep into their heart and sever from them the hold of sin on their lives. He will cut the chains of darkness, and free them from their wicked rebellious nature.
But we must know what we wield my friends. It is an instrument of destruction. Either the destruction of sin’s strong sway or the destruction of the sinner who wants to leave unchanged.
That is why we must not offer pearls to swine nor what is holy to dogs. That is why we preach our message to those who will listen humbly, but for those who arrogantly resist… stop at the law. Stop at their judgment. Because the more they know while being unwilling to hear, the more they are held accountable for.
Transition:
So how can we condense all we’ve learned down to some simple points?
Conclusion:
[Slide 25a] First we must have the appropriate motive for engaging a person with the truth of the gospel. The compassion of Jesus. His heart that saw the terrible fate that awaited those who were unaware of its coming. A desire to save them not simply from judgment but from themselves. To be the sheep of the Good Shepherd. To fulfill their design to bring glory to their King. This too should be our motivation.
[Slide 25b] Second we see the need for reliance on one another in this endeavor. No one here is the great discipler that all others send their hard cases to. We are all responsible to witness, teach, train, exhort, advise, counsel and rear others to be Christ-Like.
[Slide 25c] Finally, we see the proper protocols for making disciples. Jews first then gentiles, To preach the word but not to profit from it, knowing that God will supply through His people, and to preach and teach knowing that we take both the message of salvation and the message of judgment to the lost.
Ultimately it comes down to making disciples as Jesus did.
These three points from today are so important because they are three areas that we struggle when it comes to evangelism.
Many witness to others out of a sense of duty or obligation, to fulfill their self-imposed or pastor imposed quota for the month. Still others who do feel legitimate compassion, are compassionate about the wrong things. They don’t see the people’s actual plight in that they are desperately wicked before a holy Judge – but that they are going to hell. That is like seeing a serial killer given the sentence of execution and being overwhelmed with compassion that he is going to the chair. His problem is not that he is going to the electric chair, his problem is that he is guilty of many crimes. Your compassion should be directed not at his end but the life that brought him here. We do not bring the lost salvation from hell, we bring them Christ who took their hell so they might live to bring God glory.
Many think out of duty or arrogance that winning the lost is up to them. They don’t rely on anyone, they don’t seek anyone’s help. They think they can raise their children on their own, or can be the leader their wife needs with no outside help. They forget that they too are in need of discipling.
Finally, many flippantly take what is holy and they put it before those who will not receive it. They take pearls and they cast them before people who are not humble enough to listen. Their logic is that it is a numbers game. If they share the gospel with 1000 people you are far more likely to win 1 or 2 to the Lord. When in reality, if you listen to the spirit’s leading and wait to share the gospel in its fullest, when the soil is ready, not only will the Lord bless you with fewer no’s but he may even bless you with more yes’s. Because remember – you aren’t the one winning them to Jesus. God is the Lord of the reaping. You are merely the sythe.
[Slide 26 (end)] So may we imitate Christ!
Be overwhelmed with compassion over the plight of mankind.
Be dependent on one another to make disciples
Be cautious with our dangerous gospel of salvation and judgment. That we be precise laborers.
