Catch the Vision for the Harvest

Matthew 9:36 shows how Jesus interpreted the need for the harvest—why it needs to be done: “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them.” This verse gives a window into the heart of Jesus. His was a heart of compassion. If we’re to have the type of ministry that Jesus had, it will be because our heart is becoming like the heart of Jesus. We too will have a heart of compassion.

The compassion of Jesus is a common theme that keeps coming to the surface in the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew 14:14 says, “When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.” Again, in Matthew 15:32, Jesus said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” And in Matthew 20:34 we read, “Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.” What we discover is that compassion is at the heart of Jesus and all that He does.

Compassion is a pretty strong word. You would think that the reason for Jesus’ compassion would be because of the sicknesses that He encountered. Everywhere He turns He meets people who are blind, epileptic, paralyzed or even dead. That is certainly worth our feeling compassion for them. Watch even a little T.V. and an ad comes on showing pictures of people somewhere who are suffering many things. It is an attempt to raise money to help these people. It is hard to watch and you can’t help but feel compassion for them. It pulls at the heart strings. It makes sense to be moved with compassion when we encounter the sick.

But what moves Jesus isn’t the physical illnesses that He encountered. Matthew 9:36 goes on to say, “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.” What moved Jesus was the great spiritual need of the people. Without Jesus, their lives had no center, their existence seemed aimless, and their whole experience was one of futility.

The prophet Micah wrote: “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel” (Micah 5:2, as quoted in Matt. 2:6). And through Ezekiel, God said: “Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd” (Ezek. 34:23). But Jesus saw the situation as similar to what Ezekiel had said earlier in the same chapter: “My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them” (Ezek. 34:6).

So Jesus saw the people as distressed and dispirited; as harassed, confused, bothered, and unable to help themselves. This, even more than the illnesses He encountered, moved Him with compassion. Like Jesus, we must be moved with compassion by the spiritual need of the people we know and encounter. That is the vision for the harvest that we must catch.

If we are to serve like Jesus served, we must have a heart that is becoming like the heart of Jesus—one filled with compassion for the lost. There are people around you who are “like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36b). Look around you and see people the way Jesus sees them, and feel compassion for them the way He does. They are the harvest! Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. Their salvation is why outreach is needed. Catch the vision for the harvest and witness for Christ at every opportunity. Amen.

Know the Work of the Harvest

Keep praying for my wife Barbara. We didn't get the news we hoped for last Friday. Turns out that the original diagnosis of lung cancer, a third type of cancer since 2014, was wrong. When they removed the cancerous nodule from her right lung and analyzed it, it turned out to be the same cancer as was in her bile ducts in the liver. She has a new liver and on that front is doing well.

They assume that because that cancer had escaped her old liver and gone to her lung, that those cancer cellls are now throughout her body. However, nothing shows up for now, meaning these cellls are inactive or dormant. They can remain dormant for many years. That is how we will pray. No further treatment for now. They will keep testing and watching. Who knows? Maybe nothing shows because they got it all. God knows. We will keep trusting Him. He has a plan, and for now that is her continued work with the kids and ladies at church. PTL!

Now to today's Bible Insight: Do you understand the need for outreach? In this passage, Jesus teaches us about the need for outreach by telling us about the harvest. We are to be prepared to dive into the mission of rescuing those who are perishing, even when it is inconvenient and dangerous. Here Jesus challenges us to look out and take a specific action when we see those in need of a Savior.

This is a pivotal passage. It could be called a hinge passage. A hinge is the swing point between two objects. It holds the two objects together. This passage holds together Jesus’ ministry with our ministry. That is why this Scripture is so important, because it is all about us having a similar ministry to Jesus.

Until now, the Book of Matthew has been all about Jesus’ ministry. Jesus has been traveling all throughout Galilee, teaching and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. Not only that, He has been healing diseases and casting out demons. Epileptics, paralytics, and a mother-in-law have been healed! Jesus calmed a storm. The blind have received sight. A young girl has been raised from the dead. Even the mute are speaking again.

As the crowds watch this, they rightly say, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel” (Matt. 9:33). That is what you call an understatement! Can you imagine what it would have been like to see this? It would have been incredible! Yet that is what has been taking place, until now.

But now something happens. Until now it has all been about Jesus ministering in power. But a strange thing happens immediately after this passage. In Matthew 10:1 we read, “Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.”

It is at this moment that Jesus makes the switch from preaching and teaching and healing Himself, to commissioning His disciples to go out to preach and teach and heal. So when Jesus makes this statement about the harvest, He is about to commission His followers to do what He has been doing. He preached; now they are to preach. He taught with authority; now He is about to send them out to teach with authority. He has driven out evil spirits and healed all kinds of diseases and sicknesses; now He is about to empower them to drive out evil spirits and heal all kinds of diseases and sicknesses. So this pivotal passage is key.

In Matthew 9:35, Jesus shows you the work of the harvest that needs to be done. It says that “Jesus was going through all the cities and villages.” Cities of that day were distinguished by having high surrounding walls for fortification, whereas villages had no wall (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew 8-15, [Moody Press: Chicago, 1984], 103). During His time spent in Galilee, Jesus visited “all” of these cities and villages.

So this is an overall summary of Jesus’ ministry in chapters 8 and 9. There the work of Christ was teaching, preaching, and healing—Synagogue-teaching, gospel-preaching, and disease-healing. The church today continues Christ's work. Or more accurately, Christ continues to do His work through the church. It is not first you and me, but Christ who does His work through us.

Look at the Book of Acts. It begins: “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach” (Acts 1:1). “The first account” is the Gospel of Luke, which recounts Christ's earthly ministry. The second account is the Book of Acts, which recounts Christ's continuing work through the church. In the first account Christ “began to do and teach.” That means in the second account Christ continued to do and teach. The pattern in Acts is that Christ continues working through the church!

So Christ continues His work of teaching, preaching, and healing through the church, or through us today. As we follow Christ, and as we are led by Christ, He continues to do His work. It is by Christ working through us that we teach, preach, and heal—yes even heal! We pray for those in need and God does great things. In James we read: “Pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5:16, NASB). Know the work of the harvest and follow Jesus in doing that work, and the Lord will accomplish much. Amen.

The Proof of Genuine Faith—Obedient Life

Barbara came through surgery well. The cancerous nodule is gone. She looks to be cancer free again. We are waiting for the results of tests to prove so. Thanks for all your prayers. Keep lifting Barbara up in prayer as she recovers from her surgery. God bless every one of you.

Now to our Bible insight for today: We pick up where we left off in James 2:20-26. In these verses, James has another imaginary conversation in which someone confronts him and demands evidence for what he has just said. He is very direct and blunt in his response: "But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?" (v. 20, NASB).

The definition of "foolish" is "empty." It refers to a deficiency that is intellectual, moral and spiritual (Strong's Concordance; biblehub.com). Those who rest only in head knowledge are spiritually bankrupt. In verses 21-25, James gives evidence of genuine faith through two examples that were very familiar to all his readers: Abraham and Rahab.

Abraham's action with Isaac is an example where faith works—not dead, but active; alive! "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.' And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only" (vs. 21-24).

Verse 21 is explained in verses 22-24. Do not isolate verse 21 from those verses or you will misinterpret what James is saying. The explanation: faith and action work together—because they are inseparable. Justifying faith has a certain quality—a vitality that makes it the producer of good deeds—it is action-producing!

Faith is the means of obtaining salvation, but by its very nature it produces good deeds. If it doesn't, it is incomplete (v. 22), "dead" (v. 17), and "useless" (v. 20). What Abraham did when he offered his son in Genesis 22 was the out-working of his faith as described in Genesis 15. It proved his faith was complete—alive, and useful!

Rahab's action is quite a contrast to what Abraham did, but it also proves that faith without works is dead. "In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?" (v. 25). She is unlike Abraham in almost every way, yet her faith moved her to risk her life to protect the spies. As a result, she was declared righteous, not because of what she did, but because her good deed proved her genuine faith. Her faith led to her good works.

"For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead" (v. 26). Genuine faith shows itself in good works. If you are saved, you will do good works. If your faith is genuine, you will serve your brother in Christ. You will use your gifts and skills for his benefit. An obedient life proves that your faith is genuine. Amen.

The Mark of Genuine Faith—Changed Life

Checking in from Rochester, Minnesota. Yes, Barbara is back at Mayo Clinic. More concerns than we thought. She has a few nodules in her right lung. Most are nothing, but one is slowly growing. A biopsy shows it to be cancer, but different than the bile duct cancer she had in her liver. The surgeon is concerned about the looks of second nodule near this cancerous one. He is sure it too is cancer.

Tomorrow, Tuesday August 8, she goes into surgery to have both cancerous nodules removed. This is her third different type of cancer in four years: Breast cancer in 2014, bile duct cancer in 2016, and now lung cancer. The first two have been beaten. Pray that this lung cancer will also be beaten through successful surgery tomorrow.

Now to today's Bible Insight: “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?” (James 2:15-16). The mark of genuine faith is that you do what you can to meet the needs of people. If your faith is genuine, you are a doer of the Word and not a hearer only. You act upon your faith by helping others according to how God has gifted you.

A believer is in dire need in this passage. He has genuine needs—not wants. This may have been the actual situation that some were facing in their fellowship. “Without clothes” is literally “naked” (KJV). It is hyperbole. They are in need of clothing, which they cannot afford, and even “daily food.” “Do not give them what is necessary for their body” (v. 16b) literally means “does nothing about his physical needs” (NIV), whatever those needs may be.

The church can offer words that sound quite spiritual and kind: “Go, I wish you well” (NIV) is better translated “Go in peace” (NASB), which is a standard Hebrew farewell. Literally it means, “Get some warm clothes and eat your fill” (A.T. Robertson). A modern paraphrase might be: “Catch you later, pal. I hope things go well with you. Try not to worry. Keep warm. I hope you can scrounge up enough food.” The problem is there is no offer to help, no tangible assistance. Such a response reveals fake faith.

The final phrase of verse 16 in the Phillips translation says: “What on earth is the good of that?” Again, the answer is obvious. James does not call this “limited, or little, or immature.” Instead, in no uncertain terms, he makes it clear that this is faith that is good for nothing. It is a worthless facade.

“Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself” (v. 17). Living faith goes hand in hand with good deeds. One who is truly saved, walks in the good works God has prepared for him. True, genuine faith is not indifferent to the needs of others, especially the needs of your brother in Christ. You get compassionately involved with your brother and provide clothing or food or whatever he needs. As God has given you the ability, help your brother financially, fix his plumbing, rebuild his front porch, or repair his car; whatever his “physical needs” are, take care of them.

“But someone may well say, ‘You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works’” (v. 18). James illustrates his point with an imaginary conversation between two people. “Show” means “to bring to light, display, or exhibit” (eagleflight.org). So genuine faith is made known only by what it does in terms of changes in one's behavior and values. We can't say, “Oh, my faith is private.” Genuine faith is visible, so it cannot be demonstrated apart from actions. Genuine faith is marked by a changed life that shows itself in how you live and what you do.

“You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder” (v. 19). This should surely shake you to the core! When the Jews saw the words “you believe that God is one,” they would immediately think of Moses' proclamation in Deuteronomy 6:4—“Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.” That was foundational! James says, however, that mere acknowledgment of God's existence as a living God is not enough. It takes more than correct theology to prove genuine faith. Why? Listen to this!

Demons have their religious facts straight, and they even “shudder,” but they do not have genuine faith. A “shudder” is literally “a rough, uneven surface” (Ibid). Demons get goose bumps when they think of who God is! They believe in Him. They believe He exists! Their theology is impressive and they know more about truth than all of us combined. Yet even though they have correct beliefs, their demonic character is unchanged. They do not love the only God, whom they acknowledge. Their belief does not produce peace or friendship with God. It produces only fear.

Theirs is only head knowledge—mental assent to the truth—but it does not go to the heart. There is no real saving faith in them. Our belief is quite different. It goes to the heart and is true, genuine, saving faith. And such genuine faith always shows itself in a changed life that does good deeds for others.

If you have genuine faith, it will show itself through a changed life. Genuine, saving faith is known by its works, its good deeds, but it is also known by its transformation into Christ-likeness. A changed life, a life being transformed into the image of Christ, is the mark of genuine faith. Amen.