A Heart For The Harvest

 Matthew 9:35-38 (ESV) 

The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Laborers Few 

35And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.37Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;38therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” 

Introduction: Robert Pierce, founder of World Vision, once prayed, “Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.” 

I. Go where Jesus went: “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages…” (Matt 9:35) 

The first thing we observe about Jesus’s work is that He went to where people were rather than waiting for them to come to Him. Jesus did not remain stationary, supervisory, or passive. He went. This parallels Matthew 4:23: “And he went throughout all Galilee…” Jesus kept going (kept moving, kept entering places). And Matthew emphasizes all cities and all villages. Not some. Not the convenient ones. Not the familiar ones. Not the “favorite hangout places.” 

Jesus is not a supervisor watching workers from a distance. He is not a teacher seated behind a desk waiting for students to come. He is the Shepherd who goes. 

- Christ’s compassion sends us beyond comfort zones, beyond familiar circles, and beyond selective ministry. Missions begin with movement (movement toward people, toward need, toward the lost). 

Illustration: Can you still recall the place where Christ found you? You are thankful that there was “someone” God used to shine gospel light in that place.

II. See what Jesus saw: “He saw the crowds…” (Matt 9:36) Jesus does not simply see a blob of colors, a mass of 

numbers, or disruptions to His schedule. He sees people, 

image‑bearers weighed down by affliction. 

Jesus sees their condition and their needs (aching needs). 

A. “Harassed” (lit. “flayed,” torn and mangled skin and flesh) - battered, troubled, distressed (poor, sick, and hungry). 

B. “Helpless” (lit. “thrown down”) – they are exhausted, unable to rise. A lot of people today are harassed by anxiety, depression, and loneliness. People are helpless under addictions, broken families, and economic pressures. They are searching for identity, meaning, and hope, but there is no one to help them. 

Consider the irony here: Jesus goes to synagogues, to places with religion, teachers, and rituals. Yet He teaches and preaches because there is a famine of the Word. They have pastors, but no pastor. They have shepherds, but no shepherd. They have teachers, but no teacher. 

Application: It’s hard to see the real needs of people (our friends and loved ones) when they seem to be happy and content. We don’t see them crying out, but deep within, they are. We see kindness from others because they are our friends, but we don’t see the true state of their hearts. We don’t see spiritual deterioration. May Christ’s compassion help us see people not as interruptions or statistics but as souls. May God sharpen our eyes so we can truly see the people around us. 

III. Feel what Jesus felt: “He had compassion (σπλαγχνίζομαι) for them…” (Matt 9:36) 

The word σπλαγχνίζομαι (compassion) refers to being moved in the viscera (to feel in the gut/entrail). It is not mild sympathy. It is visceral pain, like when a loved one suffers, you feel it in your stomach, or when your child is hurting, you want to take their pain. Jesus feels their pain as His own. 

Interestingly, the word “compassion” is unique to Christ. The verb is used almost exclusively of Jesus in the Gospels:

- “When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” (Matthew 

14:14; See also 15:32; 20:34) 

- “Moved with pity (σπλαγχνίζομαι), he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, ‘I will; be clean.’” 

(Mark 1:41) 

- “And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’” (Luke 7:13) 

Application: The truth is sobering. We do not go, not simply because we do not know what to say, but also because we do not feel. We lack compassion (indifference and apathy). We know the message but we lack the motivation. 

IV. Pray what Jesus prayed: “Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest…” (Matt 9:38) 

Jesus modeled this. Before choosing the Twelve, He prayed all night (Luke 6:12). 

Before sending workers, He prayed for workers. But what do we pray for? Pray that needs will be met and pray that God will raise up workers. “Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great.” (Joel 3:13) 

- “Harvest” is a language of judgment or gathering (bringing in those whom the Father has given to the Son). 

Application: Prayer is participation. Prayer aligns our hearts to the task. Prayer aligns our hearts with Christ’s heart. 

V. Do what Jesus did: “And he called to him his twelve disciples… and sent them out.” (Matt 10:1–5) 

Jesus does not merely pray for workers; He makes workers. He sets apart the Twelve and sends them.

Application: Be the answer to your own prayers. David Livingstone said, “Sympathy is no substitute for action.” 

You can work at a coffee shop and not drink coffee. You can 

work at a gym and not be fond of exercising. You can work at a bookstore and not read books. But you cannot be a Christian and not share the gospel. 

- Jesus as the Shepherd and the Sheep: Jesus could not only observe suffering, but he also plunged himself into it. He was the one about whom Isaiah prophesied: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7) 

- “Some men’s passion is for gold, some men’s passion is for art, some men’s passion is for fame. My passion is for souls.” (William Booth) 

- Pass it on! (It only takes a spark to get a fire going and soon all those around can warm up in its glowing. That's how it is with God's love once you've experienced it. You spread His love to ev'ryone. You want to pass it on.) 

- Guilty sinners, graciously saved, and gratefully serving and sharing the Gospel! 

Discussion questions: 

1. What inhibits you from moving toward the people to share the Gospel? 2. When you look at your neighbors, coworkers, or classmates, do you see them as Jesus saw them: weary, harassed, and in need of a Shepherd? 3. How can you join BCI in praying and acting so that workers are raised up for His harvest? 

Rev. Jerome David/September 27, 2026 

Leading People To A Life Of Commitment And Productivity In Christ