The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest

Vincent van Gogh, Green Field, 1889, National Gallery of Prague

 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.  But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.  Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.  Now the names of the twelve apostles are these:  first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

- Matthew 9:35-10:4

Yesterday we read that when Jesus left the home of the ruler of the synagogue in Capernaum, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"  And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."  And their eyes were opened.  And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.  As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.  And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke.  And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"  But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons."

 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.  But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.  This phrase, like sheep having no shepherd, is a very significant one for the Gospels, and for the ministry of Jesus.  Mark uses it when Jesus begins ministering to the people He feeds in the wilderness (Mark 6:34), and we know, of course, that Jesus will call Himself the true Shepherd (see John 10).  The phrase is drawn from the Old Testament (Numbers 27:17; 3 Kings 22:17; Ezekiel 34:5).  My study bible comments in the context of our recent readings in Matthew, in which He's referred to Himself as Physician to the sick, that Jesus does not condemn sinners but instead sees them as lost sheep, who need to be found and brought home.  Compassion, it notes, means "suffering with."   If the people are like sheep without a shepherd, then it is the leadership which has failed them, and this is therefore an accusation against them.  Religious leaders have the duty of shepherds, but instead they have behaved as wolves (see, for example, 23:4).

Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."  My study bible suggests that the harvest gives us an image of those who are ready to accept the Kingdom.  It says that Christ is both the Sower and the Lord of the harvest.  Christ's disciples are sent not to sow, but to reap what He had sown by the prophets (see also John 4:35-38).  My study bible also notes that how many are sent to harvest is less important than with what power they go into the harvest (see the following verses in today's reading).

And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.  Now the names of the twelve apostles are these:  first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.   My study bible notes that the terms disciples and apostles are used interchangeably for the twelve.  The Greek word for disciple means "learner," and the word from which we derive apostle means "one sent out" (as on a mission).  Jesus gave them power to do specific things, while Christ's works are done through His own power.   My study bible also notes  that the names of the Twelve are not the same in all lists, as many people had more than one name.  Here in Matthew, their names are given in pairs, which suggests which ones traveled together on their first "missionary journey, " as Mark tells us that they were sent out two by two (Mark 6:7).   This list of the Twelve is reported in all three Synoptic Gospels; in each case Judas is listed as the one who betrayed Christ.

What does it mean to be a good shepherd to the people?  If Christ thinks of us as sheep -- some of whom are lost -- then what does that say about religious leadership in general?  A shepherd leads the people and protects them from predators.  So what is a good shepherd in this context?  First of all, a shepherd puts himself on the line for the sake of the well-being of the sheep.  He cares for his sheep.  In John's Gospel, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep" (John 10:11-13).  Once again, in a deep sense, we continue to see the conflict between serving God and serving mammon, as a good shepherd is contrasted with hirelings, and with wolves.  A hireling works for money, and has no love for the sheep.  He will not put his life on the line.  A wolf is merely predatory, and takes advantage of opportunity to prey on the vulnerable and weak or helpless.  In John 10, Jesus goes on to say, "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd" (John 10:12-16).  A good shepherd has a relationship of love to his sheep.  Moreover, the sheep are intimately known by name, and they know their shepherd.  This is a connection that can only come from the real trust present where love is.  And that becomes our bottom line in our faith.  Who do you trust with your life?  Whose word do you trust to guide you?  Where is the safe place to put that trust?  In the Greek of the Gospels, the word for "faith" has as its root the word that means trust.  We live in a world that sometimes seems to be filled with predators who are supposed to be in positions of responsibility.  But in the context of our faith, we read about the One who has compassion for the sheep who really do need a shepherd.  Christ has come into the world as Incarnate Son, but we can't minimize His willingness -- even as fully human being -- to go to the end, to His utmost, for the sheep.  This is love that cannot be minimized.  We can't simply ascribe it to His divine origin, and we can't minimize the voluntary nature of that love, nor the sacrifice He will make as a human being for that love.  And it is in this voluntary love that we find the deepest roots of our faith, what it means, and what Jesus teaches.  That is because Christ consistently suggests to us that a true love of God -- putting love of God first in our hearts -- will render us loving volunteers as well.  He expresses this is the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), especially as He teaches, "Go and do likewise" (Luke 10:37).   In the Sermon on the Mount, He has taught us, "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets" (see this reading).  In the Jewish tradition, there already existed the teaching, "Do not do to others what you don't want them to do to you."  But Jesus changes this by turning it into an affirmative, pro-active choice for expressing love and mercy, in the context of the love we already know from God (see especially 22:36-40).   In a certain sense, He asks each of us to step up to the plate when opportunity presents itself for us to also follow Him, and be "good shepherds."  This is what it means to be a laborer for the harvest.  Christ's response to this deep need is to invest His disciples with the power to cast out demons, and to heal, and also to send them out to preach the good news of the gospel.   Do you know someone who needs some guidance?  Is there someone who needs a little protection?  Do you know a person who's helpless and needs some assistance?  Or do we respond by being predators, or taking advantage?  Do you know those who are weary and scattered?  What does it mean to you to have compassion?  There are times when even a smile becomes a way to help, and to give support and love.  A friend of mine recently shared this story about a man who seems to have become a voluntary example in his job, turning it into so much more by being a shepherd to some little ones, and being much more than a hireling.  Christ urges His disciples to become leaders by doing so.  Let us consider our Good Shepherd, and how He calls on us to step up and be His disciples, laborers for the harvest, and to use the power of love which we're given through faith.