(22.) On Christ as the Lord of the Harvest

(22.) On Christ as the Lord of the Harvest.

“And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom, and curing all kinds of disease and every weakness and infirmity. When He saw the throngs of needy people, He was moved with compassion and pity, because they were bewildered – harassed, distressed, dejected and helpless – like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. So pray the Lord of the Harvest to thrust laborers into His harvest.'” (Matthew 9:35-38).

Jesus and a few of His followers were with Him as He toured an area with many towns and villages. He continued His ministry of teaching and healing, and He couldn’t help but notice the needy crowds of people who were coming to Him. He noted that the people were like sheep without a shepherd – aimless, weary, confused, hurting, without direction. Then Jesus observed that these needy people were like a ripe field waiting to be harvested. There is much work to be done to bring in the harvest, Jesus said. There is an abundance of people ready to follow Me into the Kingdom, but I need more workers in the fields. The workers don’t have to do the sowing, they only need to reap what has already been sown by the prophets and the Scriptures. This message of Jesus anticipated what would happen very soon: the naming of the Twelve to be His laborers in the harvest. They know now what their job will be: reaping a harvest of souls for Jesus’ Kingdom. Soon after Jesus words about the harvest, Jesus answered His own request by naming the future Apostles. Jesus is the Lord of the Harvest, and He just hired a few of His workers. With Christ as the Lord of the Harvest, there are a few observations to make:

The Lord owns the land. 

• “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for He founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.” (Ps. 24:1-2).
• “Every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mind. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.” (Ps. 50:10-12).
• “The whole earth is mine.” (Ex. 19:5).
• “The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.” (Lev. 25:23).

The Lord hires the workers. 

• “‘My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest?’ I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying, ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.'”  (John 4:34-38).
• “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place where He was about to go. He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the Harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.”  (Luk 10:1-2).

The Lord makes the crops grow. 

• “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” (1 Cor. 3:4-6).
• “He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”  (Matt. 5:45).

The Lord rejoices in fruitfulness and a full harvest. 

• “He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs; there He brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle. They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest; He blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and He did not let their herds diminish.”  (Ps. 107:35-38).
• Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they well bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.” (Ezekiel 47:12).
• “He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”  (Ps. 1:3).
• “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. You did not choose me, but I chose you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.”  (John 15:8, 16).
• “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might.” (Colossians 1:10).