The Harvest is Plentiful

Matthew 9:18-38
Key verse 9:37-38

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

In this passage, we see many people coming to Jesus for help. All of these people had one thing in common: they all had problems that they could not overcome on thier own. They also had another thing in common: they believed that Jesus could help them. Through these cases, we see not only Jesus' power and authority as the Son of God, but we also learn something important about faith. Let's take a look.

Look at verses 18-19:

18While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him and said, "My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live." 19Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.

in verse 18, we see a ruler who came to Jesus for help. In today's terms, this man was probably something like a mayor or member of Congress.  As a ruler, he must have enjoyed a good life by most standards. Most rulers are wealthy people. This man probably was able to buy almost whatever he wanted whenever he wanted to. As a ruler, was responsible for making important decisions that affected peoples' lives. He had power, and people recognized him as a powerful man. When he went to a restaurant, he probably didn't have to wait long to get a seat; at a special event, he had the seat of honor. People always addressed him as "Sir." People envied him because of his wealth and power. But one day something terrible happened that changed everything for this man. 

When his precious daughter died, everything that he once regarded as important became meaningless. He could not imagine living without her. Normally, when someone dies, that's the end. There is no choice or option available to those who are left behind--they must find a way to deal with the loss. This father, however, did not accept his daughter's death. He was not willing to let go. His heart searched for a better answer, and it came to him like a flash: Jesus! 

While Jesus was on his way to help raise the ruler's daughter from the dead, another person with a terrible problem came to him.

Look at verses 20-22:

20Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."
22Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.

This woman who came to Jesus was not as bold as the ruler. Instead of asking Jesus to heal her, she reached out and accessed Jesus' healing power secretly. She hoped that Jesus would not notice.Why did she do this? Perhaps she was afraid that Jesus would not be willing to heal her. Maybe she believed in the saying: "Sometimes its better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission." Her great point, however, was her faith. She had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. Twelve years ago it was the year 1997. Do you remember what you were doing twelve years ago? Can you imagine suffering from a sickness from then until now? None of the doctors could help her. The bleeding problem must have drained her of her strength; it probably also made her "unlcean" under the Jewish law. Yet, after so long, she did not give up hope. Instead, she found hope in Jesus. She was convinced that all she needed to do was touch the edge of Jesus' cloak--not even Jesus himself.

After she touched him, Jesus turned and saw her. What would you have thought if you were in Jesus' place? Maybe you would rebuke the woman, saying, "Why are you being so sneaky?" But when Jesus saw her, he didn't see a sneaky woman; he saw a daughter of God who put her hope fully in him. So he gave her a loving and gentle word: "Take heart, daughter, your faith has healed you." Jesus saw this woman's faith and commended her for it.

Look at verses 23-26:

23When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, 24he said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him. 25After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. 26News of this spread through all that region.

When Jesus arrived at the ruler's house, there were a lot of people there making a lot of noise. They were official mourners. Their job was to cry and shout and play sad music because of the tragic death of this girl. When Jesus saw this noisy crowd, he told them, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." Jesus told them to go away because they didn't belong there. They didn't have faith and they didn't even care that much for the girl who had died. When they heard Jesus' words, they laughed. To them, it was a laughing matter; but not to Jesus. Jesus had the crowd put outside. Even though it seemed that the situation was so urgent that there was no time to lose, Jesus first got rid of the unbelieving people. Only then did Jesus turn to the girl. What did Jesus do? He took the girl by the hand and she got up. This is just how you might wake up a girl who is sleeping. For Jesus, overcoming death is as simple as waking someone up. Jesus' power over death shows that he is the Son of God with all authority and power. This is why Jesus is the hope of the world.

Look at verses 27-31:

27As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!"
28When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"
"Yes, Lord," they replied.
29Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"; 30and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no one knows about this." 31But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.

Here we again see people coming to Jesus to help them out of a humanly hopeless situation. This time, two blind men followed Jesus, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" They kept doing it: "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" They didn't care if they were annoying because they believed and knew that Jesus was able to help them. They put their hope in Jesus, just like the ruler and just like the woman who had been subject to bleeding.

Jesus heard their cry and brought them indoors to talk to them privately. Jesus asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" Jesus' question shows the importance of faith. "Yes, Lord," they replied. They truly believed in Jesus' ability. Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you." And their sight was restored. This was an amazing miracle. But Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no one knows about this." Perhaps Jesus did not want the word of this miracle to get out too much because the people would come to him only for healing rather than hearing the word of God. Nevertheless, they went out and spread the word about him everywhere. Why didn't they obey? They had faith to be healed but not faith to obey! We tend to think that faith to be healed is great faith; but this passage suggests that absolute obedience to Jesus takes greater faith.

Look at verses 32-34:

32While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. 33And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel."
34But the Pharisees said, "It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons."

Not only did people come to Jesus with terrible physical problems, but they also came with spiritual problems. This man who was brought to Jesus had both kinds of problems. He was physically unable to speak because he was spiritually controlled by a demon. For Jesus, however, getting rid of the demon was as easy as healing the sick and raising the dead. When all the people saw this, they were amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel." All of these things were the clear evidence of who Jesus is. If you saw what Jesus was doing, what other conclusion could you come to than that he is the Son of God? Yet, amazingly, the Pharisees came up with an alternative theory: "It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons." These men were so blinded by their sinful desire to hold onto their glory and honor as religious leaders that they intentionally rejected the truth of who Jesus is. Though the Savior of the world was standing in front of them, they accused him of being a servant of Satan.

Look at verses 35-38:

35Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

Here we have a summary of Jesus' ministry. It focused on three things: teaching in the synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. Jesus' ministry was so powerful that he was like a spiritual giant who overcame every obstacle with ease.

Through this passage, we see that Jesus found the vision of the harvest out of the vision of sheep without a shepherd. The fact that the people were harassed and helpless shows that life was not happy. They were not doing so well living by sight rather than faith. They were ready to accept the gospel message by faith if only someone would bring it to them.

 One word: The harvest is plentiful

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