The Harvest Is Ready

Matthew 9:35-38

Anyone who has ever had a vegetable garden or some fruit trees knows that the vegetables and fruit need to be picked at just the right moment.  If the gardener is lazy or too busy with other things, and the crop is not picked at the right time, the produce is lost and wasted.  There is often just a short window of ripeness to get the fruits and vegetables at their best.  If one picks them too early the crop is not good, and if it’s too late the crop has rotted.  In our reading from the Gospel of Matthew, we read Jesus’ words of a ripe harvest, and the need for workers to bring that harvest in.

As our passage opens, Jesus has been going around from village to village preaching and teaching the people, and healing the sick (vs. 35).  The gospel message that He and His disciples preached was that the promised and long-awaited Messiah had come.  Jesus’ healing miracles were a sign that His teaching was true.  These people were spiritually lost.  For ages they had wandered away from the true worship of the Lord God, just like lost and wandering sheep (vs. 36).  Jesus felt compassion on these lost people and sought to bring them back to God.  He is the Good Shepherd.

Several times in the Old Testament, God speaks of His people of being like wandering sheep, sheep that are lost without a shepherd.  Verse 36 is reminiscent of Numbers 27:16-17, where Moses prayed to the Lord to set someone over the people to guide them so that they would not be like sheep without a shepherd.  The prophet Ezekiel also preached of the condition of people who do not have good spiritual shepherds, and how, without a proper shepherd, they would wander away to become victims of predators (Ezekiel 34:5-6).

As Jesus looked out over the crowds of people, He turned to His disciples and told them that the harvest was plentiful (vs 37-38).  These people were ready to hear the Gospel message of salvation, to turn from their sins, and return to God.  They were a ripe harvest, but God needed people to go forth and tell them His message.  He needed workers.  As Paul stated in his letter to the Romans, people need to hear the Gospel, but they can’t hear unless the message is preached, and the preachers need to be sent (Romans 10:14-15).

This is one of the greatest missionary passages in the New Testament.  The world is a great spiritual harvest of souls, all of who are in need of hearing the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.  As He states here, God needs laborers to gather this harvest into the storehouse of heaven.  The Lord will prepare His harvest by ripening lost hearts into hearts that are ready to accept Jesus as Savior, and bring forth fruits of righteousness.  Are we prepared to harvest these souls?  Are we ready to help people with their burdens, and share the hope of Jesus?  There are so many people today who are at a point in their life where they are ready to hear about Jesus.  Don’t walk away from those who are receptive to the Good News of Jesus.

Jesus asks us to pray to the Father that He would send laborers for this harvest (vs. 38).  Believer’s prayers participate in the fulfillment of God’s plans.  Our prayers are important, and this is something important and dear to God - the salvation of souls.

Why do we hesitate and delay in telling others the message of salvation through Jesus?  The fields are ripe now.  The harvest is ready now.  We need to stop thinking that there is no hurry, that we can wait for a more opportune time.  As I mentioned at the start, if we wait too long to pick the crop, the vegetables will spoil on the vine.  If we wait to tell someone about Jesus, they may die and end up spending eternity in hell.  There is no better time than now.  The world needs to hear the Good News of Jesus today!