Following Jesus: The Harvest
Passage: Matthew 9:35-38 Preacher: Mark Kingston
Until now, Matthew has walked us through the ministry of Jesus up close: healing by healing, moment by moment. But here, he zooms out and gives us the wide-angle view. This is the big picture of what Jesus has been doing and what He now invites us to step into. Let’s take a look…
First, Jesus went. He didn’t stay safe. He didn’t build a platform or a program in church and wait for people to show up.
No - He went out, to where ordinary people were. He went into towns, villages, alleyways and homes. He went into the ache of real life.
And when Jesus went, He saw. He didn’t see statistics or labels or “the lost” or problems to be solved. He saw real people with real needs. People who were beaten up, weighed down and cast aside by a world and a religious system that had not been kind to them. The text says he saw them as “harassed and helpless, like sheep with no one to lead them.”
Now note how Jesus responds to what he saw: he felt deeply for them. The Greek literally means, “gut wrenching compassion”. This wasn’t polite pity but a deep ache for them.
All that comes next flowed from this deep compassion Jesus felt for the people he saw. Matthew tells us that he did three things: He taught, He proclaimed and He healed.
He taught the people about what life is like in the Kingdom of God - how life is when you live it God’s way. He proclaimed, explaining that this Kingdom wasn’t a distant hope, but a present reality, breaking into our broken world. And he reached out and healed, showing that his words weren’t empty promises, but full of power. The Kingdom of God isn’t just an idea. It’s happening, right now.
This is the moment Matthew reveals a big surprise: this isn’t just Jesus’ work. Its ours too. Anyone who follows Jesus is called to go as he did. To see as he saw. To feel as he felt and to heal as he healed. Jesus looks at us - you and me - and says, “You’ll do what I’ve been doing. In fact, you’ll do even greater things!” (John 14:12)
This is the handoff. It’s Jesus passing us the baton. The Kingdom of God isn’t something we get admire or hear about each week in sermons. It’s something we called to do.
Ok - one last thing. When Jesus looks at this crowd of people - needy, lost, broken, disguarded - He calls them “the harvest.” His harvest. God looks at the people and says, “They’re mine and they are ready for the Kingdom. The harvest is plentiful!”
The problem isn’t the harvest. It’s the lack workers - people prepared to follow Jesus into the crowds and welcome them into the Kingdom. It’s like he looks at his followers and challenges them to stop playing safe. To get unstuck.
So Jesus says, “Ask the Lord of the harvest to “ekballo” (to thrust or propel) more workers out.” This isn’t a gentle nudge. This is a holy shove! So…will you go? Will you ask God to help you to feel what Jesus felt, and empower you to do as Jesus did? The harvest is ready, and the King is calling…
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
When Jesus looked at the crowd, He didn’t see failures or outsiders. He saw people who were harassed and helpless, and His heart broke for them.
Have you ever felt like part of that crowd? Maybe you feel worn down by life, weighed down by questions, wondering if anyone really sees you. What’s it like to imagine Jesus looking at you like that: not with judgment, but with deep, aching compassion?If you imagine yourself in that crowd, and Jesus turned to you and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Matthew 20:32), how would you answer?
What’s the ache, the insight, the hope or the healing you long for most right now? What might it look like to bring that honestly to Jesus?Jesus models Kingdom mission through three actions: teaching, proclaiming, and healing.
This is what it means to be sent into the harvest fields. We share the story of God’s Kingdom, we announce that it is breaking in now, and we embody it through acts of restoration, healing, and hope. Which of these three feels most alive in your life right now? Which one feels missing, unfamiliar, or maybe even uncomfortable?Jesus went. But so often, we stay.
Why do you think church can become a place of comfort and sameness instead of a sending place? What do you fear about stepping out? What do you sense God might be inviting you into?Jesus didn’t start with strategy. He started with compassion.
Have you ever asked God to help you see people differently - not as problems, but as His precious harvest? What might shift if we began each day with a prayer like, “Jesus, help me see other people and feel for them like you do”?
