Many people, thousands! That's what Jesus saw wherever He went, in the big cities and in the little villages alike. In fact, on this tour through Galilee , He was going through all the small side stops. He healed some; He answered questions; one time He preached a sermon to well over 5,000 people. But He had a problem.
Even though He is the Lord, He didn't have time to talk to everybody, and some wouldn't come to hear Him. Others listened for awhile, and then left. There were so many to reach!
As He saw the great numbers of people He grew sad. “Such a large harvest of souls for the Lord,” He told His disciples. “But there are few workers to gather it in. Pray God to send more help to gather in the entire harvest.”
Jesus saw the crowds of people like a crop of ripe corn standing in a field, waiting to be harvested. But He had only Himself and a few disciples to go to them with the good news of salvation. More help was needed. Think of the problem this way.
You are to fix breakfast for 6 people. You have one big box of Corn Chex, plenty for 6. You have 6 bowls. You pour the cereal into the bowls. You're ready, right? But wait, you've only got 1 spoon. Plenty of food, but 1 spoon! What to do? You could have each person take a bite and pass the spoon, or they could take turns eating. But there's a better solution than that. Get more spoons!
The Gospel of a Savior who has compassion on all, took care of all sin, and gives the joy of peace with God is like that big box of cereal. It's food enough for everyone's soul. All need Him to survive eternally. But more “spoons” are needed, people who can give this good news to others. If there are only a few pastors and Christians who tell others about the redeeming love of Christ, it's like having breakfast with only one spoon! Many will have to wait. Will they miss out completely? No, it's still God's harvest and He's in charge. But He needs Christians of the same mind as He is. So, Jesus teaches us first to pray, O Lord, Send More Help! Then He wants us to get busy and be willing to work, too.
But first, He wants us to pray. So let's do that right now: “Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for sending Your apostles and prophets out into the world with the gospel. Thank you for those pastors, teachers, fathers, mothers, and fellow Christians who have taught us the truths of salvation in You. We are glad to know You as our Savior through their witness. Without their witness, we would still be lost in sin. Continue to bless those who told us, so they can tell more. Send more gospel workers into the world, trained in the truth of Your Word, willing to go to work in the great harvest for You. And use each one of us to tell another at home, in the neighborhood, at school, or at work of the hope that we have in You, the Savior. You have asked us to pray. So we beg You as you taught us. Hear us and answer as You have promised, for we know that You deeply desire to bring people in; for Your name's sake. Amen.
I. You deeply desire to bring people in.
Yes, dear friends, the Lord Jesus deeply desires to bring people in. In fact, His desire is so great, that you can almost hear a sadness in His voice when He looks at the great number who need help. Our text put it this way: “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Harassed and helpless. That's the way it describes the people He saw. The Greek words are blunter than that. Literally, they say that He saw them “flayed” and “thrown down.”
Picture a sheep wandering alone in the wilderness. It passes through a heavy patch of thorns that grabs it, cuts into its flesh, and leaves it bleeding. Then it stumbles across rocky ground. The stones at its feet offer no solid footing and slip, causing the animal to fall. It gets up, falls again; gets up, falls again, leaving it bruised and hurting. Exhausted it remains lying prone on the ground, too tired, too drained to go any further. That's what Jesus saw in the faces of the crowds that were streaming to Him.
He still sees it today, in your life, in my life, in the lives of everyone here, and throughout the world. Why? What's the cause? Sin, it flays us alive. Is there anyone who hasn't been exhausted by sin's effects in life? It leads other people to mercilessly beat up on you as they seek to get their own way. It causes sickness and the pain of nauseating illness that can leave you weak and helpless. It arouses temptations that hound you, worries and concerns that drive you to the brink of despair, and so on. The effects of sin in this world leave your body and soul exhausted and bleeding – sheep harassed, helpless and without a shepherd to care for them!
What breaks Jesus' heart the most is the lack of true spiritual guidance that religious leaders don't give. They fail to proclaim the comfort of the Gospel to people who are bruised and hurting. Instead, they are like the Pharisees who just put demands on the people. “Do this, do that, do more to be a true Christian. Give more money, give more time, give, give, give. You should be this way, you should be that way, and then maybe God will forgive you.” That's not preaching the Gospel, dear friends, that's Law and all the Law can do is cut your soul to pieces. St. Paul says, “It kills you” (2 Co.3:6). The Law does not cure the problem.
Christ does. As St. Paul said this morning, “At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly….God demonstrates His love for us in this; while we were still sinners, Christ died for us….Having been reconciled, we shall be saved through His life!” (Ro.5:6f).
Cut, flayed, exhausted left for dead by the Law's and people's demands! Healed, restored, renewed, instilled with life by the Gospel's promises! That's good news for tired, bleeding sheep to hear. It gives them comfort, joy, and strength knowing that the Savior deeply desires to bring them into His flock. There they will find rest for their souls as He cares for them and guides them.
Dear friend, this is for you, and it is for all the other tired and bleeding sheep in this world. The Lord Jesus wants you and them to have it. But unless more “spoons” are out there dishing it out to people, they can't enjoy it.
The first thing Jesus wants us to do about it? Simply pray: Oh Lord, Send More Help. And He will do it. Why? Because He deeply desires to bring people in.
II. We are willing to work for you.
And to begin doing that He then commissioned His closest 12 disciples as apostles sent on a mission to represent Him. Our text continues: “He called His twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” It then names the twelve and continues: “Jesus sent them out with the following instructions…Go to the lost sheep of Israel . As you go, preach the message: the Kingdom of heaven is near…Freely you have received, freely give.”
It comes down to this. “Preach: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is near!'” In other words, the long-awaited Messiah, heaven's King, the Savior who was coming to help a sin-ravaged world, had arrived. His name was Jesus. What a powerful message! It was enough to awaken and strengthen faith. It made the crowds eager to see Him. With that message Jesus sent out His disciples.
I wonder how they felt about it. After all, this was something new to them. They'd not done this on their own before.
Do you remember what that was like – your first day on the job? What did you feel like? What happened?
The first real job that I ever had was working as a cook in an A&W drive-in. Three of us were in the kitchen – one frying hamburgers and other meats on the grill, one deep frying French fries, onion rings, chicken and fish, and one applying all the condiments, wrapping, and calling out the orders when finished. You've grilled hamburgers before. But have you ever done 30 at a time? You've prepared French fries. But did you have to keep the baskets full and get sprayed with hot oil? And have you ever wrapped one hamburger after another – fast? I can't even wrap a birthday package very well, let alone hamburger after hamburger after hamburger – on a time schedule. I remember coming home that night hands aching, ears ringing, and skin burning with the heat of the grill and oil. First days on the job are taxing.
The disciples' first day on the job was more than just about hamburgers; it was about souls won or lost for eternity. Think they were overwhelmed with the work? Perhaps, but they went and worked with Jesus' promise of blessing behind them. And a good thing He sent them otherwise you and I wouldn't be here today, rejoicing in our Savior. That made them willing to work for Him.
And now, dear friends, it's our turn. Yes, God sends pastors, teachers, and missionaries out into His harvest field. Beg Him to send more. And ask Him to give you a willing spirit to work for Him , too. We all feel overwhelmed! But the Lord is with us; He is compassionate and kind; and He gives us a tool that cannot fail – His all-powerful Word. In fact, He doesn't give us anything that we can't handle. He even encourages us by letting us see some of the results of our labors in the church. All with the intent that we, like the Twelve, are willing to work for Him.
So, we might change our prayer to reflect that: Lord, Send More Help; send us, too. God grant it in our lives for Jesus' sake.