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Gospel of Matthew Chapter 10 The Harvest Field

by Paul George  
5/31/2008 / Bible Studies

Matthew 10:1-8

Matthew's message is that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, God in human flesh. He is the promised King, Savior, and Deliverer. He came to fulfill the promises and covenants of the Old Testament, and to redeem the world.

In the first nine chapters of his gospel, Matthew presents evidence verifying his claim about Jesus. Chapter 9 concludes with some responses to those truths.

The Response of the People

Matthew 9:31 They went out and spread the news about Jesus throughout the land.

The Response of the Religionists

Matthew 9: 34 The Pharisees said Jesus was casting out demons by the ruler of the demons.

The transition

Matthew 9:36 Jesus felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.

On seeing the vastness of the multitude and how lost they were, Jesus remarked to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few" (Matthew 9:37). The harvest is a reference to God's ultimate judgment. Jesus refers to the harvest in His parable of the wheat and tares. In the parable of the wheat and tares the landowner told his servants to let the wheat and tares grow together until the harvest. In the time of the harvest the reapers will gather up the wheat and tares. They will burn the tares and put the wheat in the landowner's barn.

Jesus saw the people moving like sheep to the slaughter. He realized there were few who could warn them, and that He had to enlist others to assist Him. Therefore, He asked the disciples to pray for more workers (Matthew 9:39). Then in Matthew 10 Jesus makes them the answer to their own prayers.

Very interesting, what does that say to us when we ask the Lord to do something we can do for ourselves.

From a human viewpoint the disciples did not have the qualifications you think they would need to change the world. However, it was not what they were that was important, but what God made them. In the process of their training, Jesus molded them into what they needed to be to change the world.
Beginning in Matthew 10:5 our Lord instructed the disciples for a short-term mission. Included in His instruction is timeless information that would benefit them for the life of their ministry. It also stretches beyond them to every person the Lord sends out.

One of the tragedies of contemporary Christianity is that people who claim to represent Jesus Christ do not represent Him at all. They represent themselves. If we are going to touch the world with the reality of Christ, we must understand what He told His first missionaries.

The Commission

The disciples received a direct commission.

All of us have been commissioned in some sense, some as evangelists, pastors, and teachers, but we all are bound to obey Jesus' call to represent Him in this world. The effective representative of Jesus realizes he is under divine orders. He is committed to obeying the Word of God. Your commission is from the Lord. You are a soldier and He is the commander. You are in court and He is the judge. You are the student and He is the teacher. You are the patient and He is the doctor. More than anything God wants our obedience.

The Command of Jesus

Jesus told the twelve, "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go preach saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons; freely you received, freely give'" (Matthew 10:5-8 NASB)

At this particular time, Jesus was limiting the gospel to a specific place and people, but it was not a permanent command. This plan illustrates how God gives people a central focus and very clear and limited objectives.

There are at least three reasons Jesus limited the disciples' ministry to the lost sheep of the house Israel.

The first reason, the house of Israel was God's chosen people. The covenants, the promises, and the law were given to them. According to God's plan, they were to be offered the kingdom first. John the Baptist came to them and said, "Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2 NASB). That meant it was imminent and available. Then Jesus Himself came and said likewise (Matthew 4:17). Now Jesus was commanding the disciples to give the people that same message. Had the Jewish nation embraced their Messiah, His internal rule in their hearts and His external rule on earth would have come together at that time.

The second was the background of the twelve. The twelve were hardly up to the task of reaching their own people, let alone trying to reach the Gentiles and Samaritans. They could not instantly overcome their lifelong biases and prejudices toward them. With the exception of Peter's declaration to a God-fearing man named Cornelius (Acts 10) and Philip's witness to an Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8), no one made a dent in the Gentile world until the ministry of Paul.

Paul was of the tribe of Benjamin, zealous for the law, and trained under a highly respected rabbi. He also came from a Gentile area and was familiar with Gentile culture. As a result, he was able to bridge the gap in reaching the Gentiles. However, the twelve were not up to that, they did not have the background so they could not build the bridges. If they had gone to the Gentiles or Samaritans first, they never would have been able to come back to the Jews. The Jews would have written them off as the enemies of the house of Israel.

The third reason was the focused objective of Jesus

One thing that will frustrate people in ministry is not having a clear objective. You can easily become diverted without one. An effective ministry will have a clear objective. Know your gifts. Discover what God has equipped you to do and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. In a church with many ministries, many people find themselves lost in the middle. They eventually do nothing or a little of everything. That is not the plan. Do one thing, and do it well. Our Lord clearly kept in mind the focus of His ministry.

The message of Christianity can seem confusing when listening to different preachers. Many of them preach all kinds of doctrine. The average unbeliever who turns on the television finds that it is virtually impossible for him to know the real message.

Satan is not stupid. The best way to render the gospel of no effect is to make sure no one knows what it is.

The message the twelve were commanded to preach was, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The rule and reign of God is imminent and available to every person. Our focus must not change from that. We do not know how long we have before the Lord comes, so we need to be proclaiming the kingdom with urgency.

Retired pastor,Church of the Nazarene

Author of web site Exploring God's Word

www.thewordofgodonline.net

New American Standard Bible

King James Version

The World English Bible

Sermons and Bible studies preached and taught by author

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