Then saith he to his disciples, The harvest [is] great and the workmen [are] few;
Jesus looks at worn-out, unshepherded crowds and calls them a harvest. Three questions follow: whose harvest is it, why are the workers so few, and what does He tell us to do?
The crowds were not short of religious activity. One writer weighs what that counted for, and what the field really needed:
It is full of solemn meaning for us today that the Lord in that day looked on Israel as an unkept, unfed flock. "When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." And yet — though this was the judgment of the Great Shepherd — there was much religion then. There were many sects. People kept the feast-days. There was plenty of stir in everything that might mark a day of public religious decency and devotion. And yet, in the eyes of Him Who saw them as God saw them, Israel was without a shepherd. In the mind of the Lord of the harvest it was a sowing time, not a reaping time. The servants had to go into the field with the plough and the seed, and not with the sickle.
The older translation this writer quotes reads "fainted" where the ESV has "harassed." He explains the word, then asks what the sight stirred in Him:
In Matthew 9:36 the crowds "fainted (or were tired and lay down), and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd." What moved the innermost heart of our good and tender Shepherd at that sight? Here it was not the momentary outward want, but the spiritual need of those starving sheep of Israel.
Rejection had already set in, and it did not stop Him:
The spirit of an unpardonable apostasy was already showing itself. But Jesus had not finished His work of goodness in Israel. He goes through the villages and the small towns, teaching, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing… The wickedness of His enemies was no obstacle to His work at that time; the harvest was still abundant, the labourers few. Oh, how much the heart can still feel this! He still wishes to do His work, to have His sheep. Our part is to pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers.
The next verse calls the harvest His. That ownership decides who may put workers into it:
No part of Scripture says that man sends out the preacher: God keeps this right in His own hands. So our Lord here below told the disciples to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest. He was man, and could pray and tell His disciples to pray. But He was God, Emmanuel, Jehovah, Messiah. So as Lord of the harvest He could and did answer the prayer: He made His twelve disciples apostles and sent them out on their mission.
One writer looks at the verb in the next verse — "send out" in the ESV — and at what it means for the worker:
The word translated "send forth" is ek-ballo in each of these Gospels. The Lord of the harvest Himself is the One who sends forth, or thrusts forth, these labourers. It is not left to the labourer's own choice whether he will go or not. No man, not even a mission board, has the authority to send forth these labourers… And if the Lord of the harvest sends forth a labourer, He makes Himself responsible for that labourer's support and care.
He gave them one thing to do about the shortage:
"PRAY." Oh, how beautiful! In the fourth chapter of John it was, Look; here it is, Pray. He is, so to speak, saying, I will take you into fellowship with Me in the work. I do not know whether they did pray, but in any case He sent out twelve… Oh, dear friends, the labourers are indeed few. Do we pray like this?
He did not wait for them to finish asking:
This whole chapter shows the Lord as Lord of the harvest. He not only tells them to pray for labourers to be sent into the harvest; He also anticipates the prayer Himself. "Before they call, I will answer."
One writer answers a fear no one needs to have:
The Lord of the harvest has never yet found too large a supply of labourers. We need not, then, fear that possibility. The opposite has always been the trouble — plenty of work and few workmen, fields white to harvest and a shameful scarcity of reapers. This is to our shame.
- Compassion sees. He looked at busy, religious crowds and saw exhausted sheep with no shepherd. Their need was spiritual.
- Compassion counts. What He saw He called a harvest, still abundant while His enemies opposed Him — though the field first needed the plough and the seed.
- Compassion owns. The harvest is His. Scripture gives no man the right to send a preacher, and the One who thrusts a worker out also pays his way.
- Compassion asks. He asked one thing: prayer. Then He answered it Himself, sending out twelve.
- Compassion still waits. The workers have never yet been too many, and the shortage is to our shame.
supplicate therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth workmen unto his harvest.
Jesus looked at the crowds of Israel and saw lost sheep, scattered and worn down. His answer was to hand His disciples a prayer. Who are they praying to? What are they asking for? And is that prayer still ours today?
The command to pray grows out of what Jesus felt when He looked at the people. And He did not wait for the prayer before acting Himself.
The Good Shepherd felt such sympathy for the distress and weakness of the lost sheep of the house of Israel that He wanted others to work with Him. Together they would quickly gather those who were scattered. And He is Himself the Lord of the harvest, so He went straight on to send out labourers into the harvest.
Jesus points the prayer at "the Lord of the harvest". Who is that, and who may send a preacher? One writer answers from what Jesus did next.
In no part of Scripture is man said to send out the preacher: God keeps this right in His own hands. So our Lord said here on earth to the disciples: "Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest." Then He called His twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority over unclean spirits... These twelve Jesus sent out. He was man, so He could pray and tell His disciples to pray. But He was God — Emmanuel, Jehovah, Messiah. So as Lord of the harvest He could answer the prayer, and He did: He made the twelve His apostles and sent them out on their mission. He died, but He is risen and alive for evermore, and from on high He has given gifts to men.
The word behind "send out" is forceful. It is the same word used for casting something out, and it has a sharp edge for anyone who thinks an organisation can appoint a workman.
The word translated "send out" in Matthew 9:38 and Luke 10:2 is ek-ballo, "I throw out." The thought is forcibly sending someone out, the way a boy throws a ball out. The ball has no say in it; the force and power all come from the one who throws it. The Lord of the harvest Himself is the one who sends out, or thrusts out, these labourers. It is not left to the labourer's own choice whether he will go or not. No man, not even a mission board, has the authority to send out these labourers... And I need hardly add that if the Lord of the harvest sends out a labourer, He will make Himself responsible for the support and care of that labourer.
The word for praying here is just as strong. It is not a mild wish tucked into a list of requests.
There are a number of words used in the New Testament for pray, but this is the strongest of them all. It is deomai; it might be translated "beseech" or "supplicate."... I wonder how many of us obey the Lord's command (for it is a command) given to us in these verses. I wonder how often in our own private prayers we beg the Lord of the harvest to thrust out labourers... Is it for this reason that the labourers are so pitifully few?
The call to pray for workers is itself a kindness. It brings the disciples into the work before He sends any of them anywhere.
"PRAY." Oh, how beautiful! In John chapter four it was, Look; here it is, Pray. He, so to speak, says, I will take you into fellowship with Me in the work. I do not know whether they did pray, but anyway He sent out twelve... Oh, dear friends, the labourers are indeed few. Do we pray like this?
Time has not fixed the shortage. Looking at the world around him, one writer turned the verse into a searching question.
Evil abounds under the profession of Christ's name, and even where the Spirit of God is working, wholehearted servants of God are all too few. Who stirs himself up to take hold on God about it? Who prays to the Lord of the harvest, that He will send out labourers into His harvest? — as the Lord Himself directed in Matthew 9:38. May God Himself stir us up, instead of hiding His face from us, if we fail to stir ourselves up in this matter.
- Compassion starts it. Jesus saw lost sheep, scattered and in distress. He wanted others working with Him to gather them, so He told them to pray.
- The Lord owns it. The harvest is His; sending preachers is a right God keeps in His own hands, and no man or committee holds it.
- "Thrust out" is the word. Ek-ballo means the Lord throws the labourer out, as a boy throws a ball. The Sender then takes responsibility for the labourer's support and care.
- "Beseech" is the word. Deomai is the strongest word for prayer in the New Testament, and Jesus gives it as a command. Maybe workers are few because this prayer is rare.
- Praying makes you a partner. In John 4 it was "Look." Here it is "Pray." He invites us into fellowship with Him in a harvest that is still plentiful and still short of hands.