Matthew 9:35-38--The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Laborers Few

​Matthew 9:35-38 English Standard Version (ESV)
Listen:  https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Matt.9.35-Matt.9.38
The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Laborers Few
35 And 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. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

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This seems to be the capstone of the passages about the early part of Jesus' ministry.  Jesus saw the world in a very different way than the disciples or even the religious leaders of the time.  The people He was looking at were people with many needs and He had compassion on them, but their greatest need was that they were all going to die at some point very soon (especially in terms of eternity) and there were were too many people that needed to know the good news for Jesus to do it all on His own while He was limited by time and space.  He tells His disciples to start praying for God to spend more laborers into the harvest knowing full-well that by the end of His time here on earth, He would be sending all but one of them out as these laborers.

The time is right and the fruit is ripe for the picking....if you let it sit for too long, it might rot on the vine.  It's that way with making the decision to repent and believe the gospel too.  People seem to think they have forever to make a choice, but we know that people who put off their choice and refuse the harvest when the time is right and the fruit is ripe have made their choice....they would rather that they rot than be picked at the right time to be a good harvest that is pleasing to the Lord.  Who would want a harvest of grapes that had been rotting on the vine?  I'm choosing grapes as the symbol for the people that choose not to believe on purpose....I'll come back to this in a second.

Therefore it is imperative for us as the laborers in His fields to have a keen eye for the spiritual and to be listening to the Holy Spirit so that we are aware of every opportunity that is given to us and to see when the wheat is ripe for harvest.  There will one day be another kind of harvest though.  Let's compare this text to that of Revelation 14:14-20 (I'm switching versions here just to choose one that has distances in "miles" instead of "stadia" or some other unit that you may not think in)

Revelation 14:14-20 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
(No audio Bible available for this version yet)
The Earth Is Harvested
14 I looked and there before me, sitting on a white cloud, was one who looked like the Son of Man. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple. This angel called to the one who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and gather from the earth. The time to harvest has come, and the fruit on the earth is ripe.” 16 So the one who was sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth. And the earth was harvested.
17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven. This angel also had a sharp sickle. 18 And then another angel, one with power over the fire, came from the altar. He called to the angel with the sharp sickle and said, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the bunches of grapes from the earth’s vine. The earth’s grapes are ripe.” 19 The angel swung his sickle over the earth. He gathered the earth’s grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s anger. 20 The grapes were squeezed in the winepress outside the city. Blood flowed out of the winepress. It rose as high as the heads of the horses for a distance of 200 miles.

So, with that in mind, Jesus wants the people that He sees to be a part of the first harvest that we see in this passage in Revelation--the harvest of grain where saved are gathered up.  But there is another harvest that is coming where those who have lived a life of rebellion will also be harvested and will be trampled in the winepress of the wrath of God.  We'll get back here when we talk about the book of Revelation, but I just wanted to draw the connection now.  Pray for people to be part of the first harvest of grain so they will not have to be part of the harvest of grapes here, and don't just pray for God to send someone else, but as you pray, allow God to change you and prepare you to go out wherever you to go to see those who He has prepared to be ripe for harvest, and take every opportunity that is given to you.