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Outline 015 of 100 · Matthew

The Lord of the Harvest

Matthew 9:35-38 — Christ's compassion moving His people to prayer and mission

Hands-free narration of this study — good for the car.

Synopsis

As Jesus moved through cities and villages teaching, preaching, and healing every sickness and disease, Matthew pauses to record His inner response: 'when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.' This compassion is not sentimental pity but the moving cause behind His entire ministry, revealing the heart of God toward the harassed and helpless. Jesus does not respond to the need by immediately sending workers Himself but by teaching His disciples to pray: 'pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.' The image of harvest suggests urgency — ripe fields do not wait — while the shortage of laborers reveals that the limiting factor in mission has never been the size of the need but the scarcity of willing workers. Strikingly, in the very next chapter Jesus sends out the Twelve, showing that the prayer for laborers often becomes the means by which the one praying becomes the answer to their own prayer. This passage calls believers to see people as Christ sees them and to respond first in prayer, trusting the same compassion that moved Jesus to move us into mission.

  1. I. The compassion of Christ

    • Moved by the multitudes' condition
    • Fainted and scattered, as sheep without a shepherd
    • Compassion as the source of ministry

  2. II. The harvest and its urgency

    • "The harvest truly is plenteous"
    • Ripe fields awaiting response
    • Urgency implied by the harvest image

  3. III. The shortage identified

    • "The labourers are few"
    • Not a shortage of need, but of willing workers
    • The limiting factor in mission

  4. IV. The call to pray and then go

    • "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest"
    • Prayer preceding sending
    • Chapter 10: the Twelve sent out immediately after
The appeal

Christ still looks on scattered, shepherdless multitudes with compassion, and He calls you first to pray for laborers. Will you pray earnestly today, and be willing to become the answer to your own prayer?

Key points

  • Christ's compassion for the harassed multitudes is the driving motive behind mission.
  • The shortage in gospel work is laborers, not the size or ripeness of the harvest.
  • Prayer for laborers often becomes the means God uses to send the one who prays.

Key passages

  • Matthew 9:36
  • Matthew 9:37-38
  • Matthew 10:1
  • John 4:35