The plentiful harvest
Compassion for the crowds
Jesus looked at the crowds and saw something that moved him deeply. When he saw the multitudes, the text says, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. And out of that compassion came a vision and a command: the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
Notice where the mission begins: in seeing people the way Jesus sees them. The crowds others saw as a faceless mass, or a nuisance, or simply background, Jesus saw with compassion — harassed, helpless, lost, like sheep without a shepherd. The active life of mission and mercy flows from this kind of sight; before we will labor for people, we must see them, really see them, as Jesus does.
And the first response Jesus commands is not action but prayer: pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers. The mission is so vast and the laborers so few that it must begin on our knees, asking God to raise up workers — and often, the one who prays that prayer sincerely becomes part of its answer. The harvest is still plentiful and the laborers still few. Ask God for eyes to see the crowds as Jesus sees them, and to send laborers — and be ready to be sent yourself.
“Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborers into his harvest.”
— Jesus, to his disciples — Matthew 9:38 (WEB)
See the crowds with the compassion of Jesus, and pray the Lord of the harvest for laborers — ready to become part of the answer yourself.
“When he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, as sheep without a shepherd.”
The crowds blur into background — a mass, a nuisance, faces we have stopped truly seeing — and from that dullness no compassion and no mission can rise. The interior work is to ask for the sight Jesus had, who looked at the same harassed and helpless people and was moved; and then, before any strategy, to take the vast need to our knees, praying for laborers and bracing to become one.
This week, ask for Jesus' eyes toward the people around you, seeing them with compassion rather than indifference; and pray earnestly for the Lord of the harvest to send laborers, holding yourself open to be sent.
Indifference does its work quietly, letting people thin into a faceless crowd until nothing in us stirs to help them. But eyes that see with the compassion of Jesus cannot stay on their knees for long — a soul moved by the plentiful harvest prays the Lord to send laborers and so often becomes the very answer it asked for.
The mission of the active life begins not with a strategy but with a way of seeing. Jesus looked at the crowds — the same crowds others saw as a faceless mass or a nuisance — and was moved with compassion, because he saw them as harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Before we will labor for people, we must see them as Jesus sees them, with compassion rather than indifference.
And out of that sight comes a surprising first command: not go, but pray. The harvest is plentiful and the laborers few, so Jesus tells us to ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers. The vast need of the world is to be met first on our knees — and often the one who sincerely prays for laborers becomes part of the answer. The harvest remains plentiful and the laborers still few. Ask God for eyes to see people with his compassion, and for laborers to be sent — and be willing to be sent yourself.
- Do I see the crowds as a mass and a nuisance, or with Jesus' compassion?
- Have I begun the work of mission on my knees?
- Am I willing to become part of the answer to my own prayer for laborers?
Lord, I see the crowds as a faceless mass, not with your compassion for harassed and helpless sheep. Give me your eyes. Move me to pray the Lord of the harvest for laborers, and make me willing to be sent as part of the answer. Amen.