Jesus always had a refreshing perspective to the happenings on earth. For instance, on this particular occasion according to Matthew's account, Jesus looked at a multitude that was being ravaged by diseases, looking confused and desperate and his read was that this was a ready and bountiful harvest.
"Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.He said to his disciples,“The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”
Matt 9:35-38
The second time that same exact phrase is referred to is in the gospel of Luke as Jesus was giving his 72 disciples their matching orders.
"The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. These were his instructions to them:“The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields."
Luke 10:1-2
Looking at these two accounts side by side provides a very refreshing understanding of the phrase that may contradict most of what we were taught in church.
Firstly, let us start with the confusion in the crowd. Where was that from?A closer scrutiny of the text shows that a few verses earlier,
"As they were going away, behold, a dumb demoniac was brought to him.And when the demon had been cast out, the dumb man spoke; and the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.”But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”
Matt 9:32-34
Hence, we can deduce that the source of the confusion may have been as a result of the leadership vacuum that was created after Jesus had clearly demonstrated his authority which seemed divinely conferred, but the Pharisees had gone out and instigated some devastating rumors about Jesus' credibility as a servant of God by labeling Jesus as a member of the occult. So now the people did not know who to follow. Up until Jesus challenged the Pharisaical system, the religious leaders of the day had the monopoly of being considered to be the custodians of truth but here was a man who outwitted them at every turn and then he demonstrated more power than ever. This I was the source of confusion.
Another thing that we deduce from the two texts is that from common knowledge we know that before there can be a harvest, there must have been seed sown and tended to maturity. So for any talk of a harvest at all, sowing of seed must have preceded this discussion. In Matthew describes in verse 35;
"Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness."
Matt 9:35
Where as in Luke it is pre-empted. He is sending his disciples to do the sowing of seed in the places where he would later come to usher in the harvest.
"The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit."
Luke 10:1
We are fully aware of the parable of the sower (Mt 13:1-23) where Jesus likens the seed to the word of God which is sown in different type of soil before eventually growing to maturity.
We can therefore surmise that the sowing of seed happens at the time when the gospel is being preached and diseases being healed and then the harvest follows.
Also worth noting is the order of the stories in Matthews account is that the parable of the sower is goes first and then it is quickly followed by the parable of the wheat and tares, which I discuss in more detail below.
Laborers
Going by the way Luke records it, we can make the case that the laborers in question are not the same as the disciples whom Jesus was addressing. This is because he directs these disciples to 'ask the father to send his laborers into this harvest'.
He is clearly referring to another crop of laborers.
To the disciples the instruction is to pray for God to send laborers and also to go ahead into the villages to sow seed by preaching the gospel and healing the sick. It is apparent that the harvesting is a different assignment altogether.
You may remember that in John's account while describing how people are converted, Jesus told his disciples that
'no one comes to him unless the father draws them to him'
Jn 6:44.
And just for good measure, a look at the parable of the wheat and tares (Matt 13:24-30) which comes after the parable of the sower, makes it very clear that the entities who are put in charge of the harvest are indeed angels and not people.I think the scarcity of the laborers is directly linked to the little frequency of asking that is happening.
Having said that, it is important to note another important task that humans are tasked with besides sowing the seed/preaching the gospel.The Lord has entrusted to us the responsibility of asking the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest.' This is our part of the collaborative assignment. Especially at a time like this, where the prevailing circumstances seem to be quite similar to the circumstances that Matthew describes in his account. The masses are being ravaged by disease(COVID-19) which is causing some trepidation and a yearning for better leadership is rife, therefore we can make the same conclusion Jesus made; 'the harvest is indeed plentiful'.
The onus is therefore on us to proceed and ask of more laborers to be dispatched into the harvest. The father is relying on us to hold up our end of this collaboration.
I am reminded of a precedent in the Bible where just before his arrest, Jesus addressing Peter, says that if he wanted to he could have asked the Father who would send a legion of angels to come to his aid instantly (Mt 26:53).
This is now our prerogative as the representatives of Jesus on earth right!
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