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.”

Commentary

Vs.35 The Lord Jesus having been slandered by the Pharisees who said He was casting out demons by the ruler of demons now embarks on a massive “evangelistic crusade”, for He goes into all their cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. Notice that He is neither discouraged nor dissuaded from doing His Kingdoms Work simply because of the Pharisees opposition to Him. Indeed there is no region where the Lord Jesus Christ does not venture into to take the Gospel there. And so while it is that He is teaching in the synagogues or preaching in the streets the Gospel of the Kingdom, which He is also healing every sickness and every disease among the people, something which Satan would never do! Though he might perform some lying sign, wonder or miracle either directly or through one of his own to deceive people, but he would never heal and cure all the afflicted, sick and demon tormented people that He came into contact with, that is something the Lord Jesus Christ does, for He is the Person and Power of God, doing all His Wonderful and Merciful Works by the Holy Spirit of God. For the Lord Jesus Christ comes to bring us life, by first restoring us back to God, and transforming our persons and lives so that we might have life in all its fullness, but Satan only comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy. 

Vs.36-38 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.”

When the Lord Jesus saw all the multitudes of people He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Here the heart of the Savior for everyone is revealed to us all, a heart of compassion that He wants to instill in us as well. Now here in Matthew the Lord Jesus is not just seeing the immediate crowds around Him, but He is looking at all the people who down through the ages have need of salvation through Him alone. For in Marks Gospel Mark declares basically the same thing except there Mark refers only to the immediate crowds, for he says nothing of the multitudes being weary and scattered, but rather there he mentions only the multitudes around Jesus, and so there the Lord Jesus seeing them like sheep with no shepherd begins to teach them many things. But here in Matthew it is revealed to us that the Lord Jesus had a far greater vision than just the immediate crowds around Him at that time for here the Lord Jesus says 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.” We then as Christ’s disciples have work to do, and it’s not just any sort of work, rather it is gathering up the harvest of souls whom God touches and moves and draws to Himself through His Son’s Word that is everywhere in every generation. Now even though the harvest is great and truly ripe for harvest, sadly as the Lord Jesus reveals the laborers are few. Yet it us Christ’s body of believers to whom He has assigned this most important work to do. Therefore the Lord Jesus says that we are to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. For in praying to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest, we ourselves not only regain a right focus on what we should be doing, but we ourselves just maybe be chosen by God to be His laborers in His harvest field! equipped and empowered by His Spirit for the glorious task at hand and thus enter into the most significant and glorious work done on earth, because it alone has eternal significance and value (see John 4:34-38).

Scripture Quotations

The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.