Matthew 9:35-38 The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Laborers Few

We are living in the times of the harvest. Christ’s harvest. What does it mean to live in the times of the harvest? It means that we are living in times when the fruit is ready to be picked up because it is ripe. There is a season to sow and there is a season to water, but now is the season to reap! The fruit the Scripture is referring to is people. All kinds of people regardless of ethnicity, color, socioeconomic status, gender, even religion. Every man, woman and child!

What is it particularly that makes them ripe? What is it that makes them ready to be picked up? The ripeness refers to the spiritual condition of people. People are ready to listen to the message of the Gospel because they are hungry and thirsty for God. Just like the people in the Scriptures, people today are harassed, helpless, and like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus saw the people as harrassed. Harrassed by the religious leaders who would place great burdens upon them and did not want to move it themselves (Luk.11:46). People are disillusioned with every form of religion, but there is a spiritual hunger in their souls. Jesus saw them as helpless. They did not have the knowledge or resources to escape the legalism that was imposed upon them. They did not have the power to be set free. People today have opted for no religion or to make up a religion for themselves to satisfy their yearning, but the truth is that there is no satisfaction.

Jesus saw them as sheep without a shepherd. The leaders of Israel had gone astray and could not serve as guides to the people. This fulfills Ezekiel 34  where the Lord tells of the wicked shepherds who would use and abuse Israel (Ez.34:2-6). But the Lord promises to be our shepherd! (Ez.34:15).            The ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy is found in our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the good shepherd who would lay down his life for the sheep (Jn.10:14). People who are in relationship with God can exclaim like David in Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” God wants to gather all the peoples of the world into his kingdom and he began the work through his Son Jesus Christ while he was on this earth.

What are the means to gather the harvest?

1.              Proclaiming the Gospel

We are all responsible to proclaim. (The priesthood of all believers 1Pe.2:9). While preaching is definitely one way to proclaim the good news, it is not the only one. We proclaim through our rituals and ceremonies (1Cor.11:26). More importantly, we proclaim through our personal witness (Acts 1:8).

2. Performing good works We’ve been created for good works! (Eph.2:10). How seriously are we to take good works? We are to be devoted to them (Titus 3:8). Good works are for others to see and give glory to God (Mat.5:16). 3. With compassion But before moving into action, we must be moved in our inner being. The word translated compassion is a form of splagcni÷zomai, which means “properly, to be moved as to one’s bowels, hence, to be moved with compassion, have compassion (for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity).” This sympathetic pity is a necessary precursor to good works.

Jesus proclaimed the Gospel while performing good works moved by compassion. And so should we. God has given us example on how to work in the harvest. He has chosen you and me as the means to accomplish this great task of gathering people into his kingdom. It is not optional! It is a must! We are all laborers in the kingdom of God. It is not the job of the pastor. It is not the job of the evangelist. It is the job of the whole body of Christ. To follow Jesus is to be a laborer in his harvest proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom while performing good works moved by compassion.

Father, grant me to be a good laborer in the harvest of your Son. Fill me with compassion to do good works and proclaim the gospel of the kingdom.

Acts 9:19b-25 Saul Proclaims Jesus in Synagogues

After the amazing encounter that Saul had with the resurrected Christ, he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues. Jesus impacted his life so powerfully that he could not hold back from proclaiming him. He went directly to the synagogues to share Jesus. What has been the impact of Jesus upon my life? Am I willing to proclaim his name? or am I still hiding in the shadows afraid of what people may think of me? Paul did not care one bit what his own fellow Jews would think of him. All that mattered was to proclaim Jesus and it was a priority, not just an accident. Am I making the proclamation of Jesus a priority in my life?

His message was simple: "He is the Son of God." Referring to Jesus as the Christ, the promised one, the Messiah. Paul set out to prove that Jesus was the one the Jews were waiting for and he used the Scriptures to do so. He even confounded the Jews with his message, he amazed many with the power of his argument. It is not enough for me to believe that Jesus existed. It is not enough to believe that he was a good man, a healer who was concerned for the sick. It is not enough to believe that Jesus was a prophet with a powerful message and wisdom that no one could oppose. It is necessary that I believe and proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God, God incarnate, God among us, the Christ who died for my sins, resurrected from the dead, and now at the right hand of the Father.

Saul's conversion and message is one of the most powerful evidences of our Christian faith even today.  How do you explain the change of heart of a man who was learned in the Law and was set against the Church willing to kill Christians to defend his beliefs and spare the world from such heresies? How do explain the behavior of a man willing to risk his status and reputation among his fellow Jews to the point of risking his own life? The transformation of a man like this is due to the power of the Gospel, the reality of an encounter with Christ himself. There is no other way to explain it.  Jesus Christ touched Saul's life and changed it forever!

The Jews were amazed and confounded by Saul's conversion and preaching, but still they plotted against his life. The man who went to Damascus with authority to capture and drag Christians back to Jerusalem to be judged, became a believer himself and his life was in danger. The hunter became the hunted, not because the original prey became the hunter; he abandoned the other hunters to join the prey. Saul was lowered in a basket through a hole in the wall to avoid a certain death in the hands of the Jews. Am I willing to take such risks for the sake of my beliefs? Am I willing to accept the fact that while in this world, Christians will always be hated and hunted given the opportunity? Christians are like sheep in the midst of wolves. Would I rather be a wolf?

Father, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus Christ to the world. Help me understand clearly his work on my behalf on the cross so that I may proclaim him without fear or reservation. Fill me with boldness and courage to proclaim his name. Help me stand firm in my faith until the end. Amen.