In this section Jesus culls (separates) out to himself twelve disciples, who are willing to go to the Gentiles, who are willing to be persecuted by the Pharisees, and who are willing to walk the Narrow Way. He does so by walking-the-talk. He plays out the contents of the Sermon On the Mount, while coming down the mountain.
And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;
At the core of the Sermon on the Mount is compassion (Matthew 5:7).
Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Jesus dismissed any piety that is not done for the purpose of others. His purpose was not to bring glory to himself, but rather to heal the bodies and souls of others.
But note too that this fruit bearing is not from oneself. If compassion is the core of the Sermon on the Mount, then prayer is the foundation (Matthew 6:5-15).
therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
If we try to do this on our own, we will run out of fruit! We need the bounty of our Eternal Father. To emphasize this, Jesus sent them out with nothing, so they could experience our Father’s good gifts (Matthew 7:9-11) at each and every house.
No comments:
Post a Comment