Seeing The Need

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Seeing the Need

Matthew 9:37 KJV 1900
Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
Matthew 9:36 KJV 1900
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
Matthew 9:36 KJV 1900
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
Matt 9.
Look what he said to peter - vs 37
matt 9.3

A. Christ’s Commission (9:35)

1. Where He Went (9:35a)

Jesus went everywhere and to all classes of Jewish people. He made His way to the cities where great numbers of people faced the problems of urban living. Jesus went to these centers of government, finance, higher education, industry, art, sports, science, religion, entertainment—and crime. He also went to the villages, the little out-of-the-way hamlets where a man’s world was his cottage, his cow, and his field of corn. Those places were just as important to Jesus as the cities.

Nobody was too sophisticated for Jesus; nobody was too parochial. He was just as much at home with cultured and educated Nicodemus as He was with outcast Zaccheus. The Lord visited the home of Simon the leper as willingly as he visited the home of Simon the Pharisee and that of Simon Peter. All men were equally on His heart.

2. Why He Went (9:35b–c)

a. To Teach Everyone (9:35b)

Jesus was attracted to the synagogues, for they were natural gathering places. There He could meet the people who came to worship, sing Psalms, and hear Scripture. There He could teach and preach the gospel of the kingdom to everyone who came.

b. To Reach Everyone (9:35c)

He healed everyone who came His way with a need. Matthew repeated the word “every”: “Jesus went about … healing every sickness and every disease” (italics added). (Let all so-called faith healers take note.) It was vitally important to reach everyone. The leaders were hardening their hearts, but the common people were still undecided. The time had come to increase the scope of His ministry.

B. Christ’s Compassion (9:36)

The Lord saw the multitudes of mankind and He was moved by the misery of mankind. His heart went out to one and all. They were weary—“they fainted,” Matthew wrote. (The word translated “fainted” is sometimes rendered “were harassed.”) They “were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd”—they were lost, lonely, in peril, and defenseless. The Lord was stirred by their plight. His response was not merely an intellectual assessment of the situation of the earth’s millions. His response was that of a tender Shepherd, the great Shepherd of the sheep. The blind men had called Him the Son of David and so He was; but David, though the author of the twenty-third Psalm, was not as great a shepherd as his distant Son is.

The Lord saw lost people as having no real goals. They were “scattered abroad”—like sheep. Sheep are neither strong, nor smart, nor swift. They are somewhat stupid, having a propensity to go astray and wander aimlessly farther and farther away. Lost sheep have no goal, no instinctive sense that will bring them back to the fold. Jesus saw lost people as sheep wandering here and there through life, with no sense as to where it all leads and where it all ends.

He also saw them as having no real guides, “as sheep having no shepherd.” What did they have? They had the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and rabbis. But those men were as lost as the people they were attempting to lead.

The world is the same today. People blinded by communism and humanism are wandering in a spiritual wilderness. Millions will perish cherishing the false creeds of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam or wander into eternal darkness listening to false teachings within Christendom. No wonder we read of the Lord’s compassion.

Each man, woman, boy, and girl living on earth is an object of His heartfelt concern. He could not see a poor woman struggling in loneliness and growing despair for twelve years with a debilitating and distressing disease without wanting to help her. He could not see a poor demoniac unable to speak for himself and not do something about it. He could not look down from Heaven at lost humanity and not say to His Father, “Here am I; send me.” He yearns over all the children of men and so should we.

C. Christ’s Compulsion (9:37–38)

1. The Problem (9:37)

The Lord crystallized the problem. “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.” They still are. To the crying shame of the church, untold millions are still untold. Even now thousands of language groups are without a single verse of Scripture and thousands more have only the barest minimum of Bible texts in their tongue.

2. The Prayer (9:38)

What was the Lord’s solution to the problem? “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” The Lord of the harvest is the Holy Spirit. It is His work to send—ours is to go. It would be better to stay at home than to go without being sent (see Acts 13:13 for the classic New Testament example, John Mark). The Lord of the harvest is to be implored that He will send forth laborers. He is only too willing to grant that kind of request, but let the petitioner beware—he may be the first to be sent. If the Holy Spirit sends, it is far better to go than to stay at home.

Part 2

Peter was with Christ the public ministry was now kicking into gear.
Peter was with Christ the public ministry was now kicking into gear.
Peter saw what Jesus saw.
There were multitudes
There were hurting people
They were looking for answers
Would Peter catch this vision?
Would he be moved by the directionless crowd or would they just be in the way.
Peter saw the Commission

I The Commission Matt (9:35)

Matthew 9:35 KJV 1900
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
He was preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom.
They would come from everywhere. Yes, they had physical needs and these needs drove people to Christ.
Cities and villages
Synagogues
Healing Sickness and Disease
Peter would have to be taught that the gospel was for everyone.

a) Where He Went (9:35a)

1. Where He Went (9:35a)
All the cities and villages .....
Peter was at the beginning to learn not to be respecter of person.
We feel more comfortable with some than others.....
Look the geography included all areas.
cities, villages

The unfair treatment of a person or group in preference to another. Favouritism is shown in Scripture as causing division both in the family and in the church. It is warned against in the administration of justice. The human tendency to partiality is contrasted with God’s impartial dealings

James 4:8 KJV 1900
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
James 2:8–9 KJV 1900
If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
James 2
Jesus went everywhere and to all classes of Jewish people. He made His way to the cities where great numbers of people faced the problems of urban living.
Jesus went to these centers of government, finance, higher education, industry, art, sports, science, religion, entertainment—and crime.
He also went to the villages, the little out-of-the-way hamlets where a man’s world was his cottage, his cow, and his field of corn. Those places were just as important to Jesus as the cities.
Nobody was too sophisticated for Jesus; nobody was too parochial.
He was just as much at home with cultured and educated Nicodemus as He was with outcast Zaccheus.
The Lord visited the home of Simon the leper as willingly as he visited the home of Simon the Pharisee and that of Simon Peter. All men were equally on His heart.

b) Why He Went (9:35b–c)

2. Why He Went (9:35b–c)

To Teach Everyone (9:35b)
Jesus was attracted to the synagogues, for they were natural gathering places. There He could meet the people who came to worship, sing Psalms, and hear Scripture. There He could teach and preach the gospel of the kingdom to everyone who came.
To Reach Everyone (9:35c)
He healed everyone who came His way with a need. Matthew repeated the word “every”: “Jesus went about … healing every sickness and every disease” (italics added). (Let all so-called faith healers take note.) It was vitally important to reach everyone. The leaders were hardening their hearts, but the common people were still undecided. The time had come to increase the scope of His ministry.

Peter also saw the need!

II Christ’s Compassion Matt (9:36)

The Lord saw the multitudes of mankind and He was moved by the misery of mankind.
His heart went out to one and all.
They were weary—“they fainted,” Matthew wrote.
(The word translated “fainted” is sometimes rendered “were harassed.”)
Tired - scattered going nowhere .......
ired -
They “were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd”—they were lost, lonely, in peril, and defenseless.
Stirred by plight -
Stirred by plight -
The Lord was stirred by their plight.
What stirs us into action -
What makes you move?
Have you ever been stirred?
Many believe that in the USA alone the majority of people are sheep w/o a Sheppard
His response was not merely an intellectual assessment of the situation of the earth’s millions. His response was that of a tender Shepherd, the great Shepherd of the sheep.
His response was not merely an intellectual assessment of the situation of the earth’s millions. His response was that of a tender Shepherd, the great Shepherd of the sheep.
His response was not merely an intellectual assessment of the situation of the earth’s millions. His response was that of a tender Shepherd, the great Shepherd of the sheep.
His response was not merely an intellectual assessment of the situation of the earth’s millions. His response was that of a tender Shepherd, the great Shepherd of the sheep. The blind men had called Him the Son of David and so He was; but David, though the author of the twenty-third Psalm, was not as great a shepherd as his distant Son is.
The Lord saw lost people as having no real goals.
The Lord saw lost people as having no real goals.
They were “scattered abroad”—like sheep. Sheep are neither strong, nor smart, nor swift.
hey were “scattered abroad”—like sheep. Sheep are neither strong, nor smart, nor swift.
They were “scattered abroad”—like sheep. Sheep are neither strong, nor smart, nor swift.
They are somewhat stupid, having a propensity to go astray and wander aimlessly farther and farther away.
Lost sheep have no goal, no instinctive sense that will bring them back to the fold.
Lost sheep have no goal, no instinctive sense that will bring them back to the fold.
Jesus saw lost people as sheep wandering here and there through life, with no sense as to where it all leads and where it all ends.
He also saw them as having no real guides, “as sheep having no shepherd.” What did they have?
He also saw them as having no real guides, “as sheep having no shepherd.” What did they have?
They had the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and rabbis. But those men were as lost as the people they were attempting to lead.
Illustration -
The world is the same today. People blinded by communism and humanism are wandering in a spiritual wilderness.
Millions will perish cherishing the false creeds of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam or wander into eternal darkness listening to false teachings within Christendom. No wonder we read of the Lord’s compassion.
Each man, woman, boy, and girl living on earth is an object of His heartfelt concern.
He could not see a poor woman struggling in loneliness and growing despair for twelve years with a debilitating and distressing disease without wanting to help her.
He could not see a poor demoniac unable to speak for himself and not do something about it. He could not look down from Heaven at lost humanity and not say to His Father, “Here am I; send me.” He yearns over all the children of men and so should we.

III Christ’s Compulsion (9:37–38)

1. The Problem (9:37)
The Lord crystallized the problem. “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.” They still are. To the crying shame of the church, untold millions are still untold. Even now thousands of language groups are without a single verse of Scripture and thousands more have only the barest minimum of Bible texts in their tongue.
2. The Prayer (9:38)
What was the Lord’s solution to the problem? “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”
The Lord of the harvest is the Holy Spirit. It is His work to send—ours is to go. It would be better to stay at home than to go without being sent (see for the classic New Testament example, John Mark).
The Lord of the harvest is to be implored that He will send forth laborers. He is only too willing to grant that kind of request, but let the petitioner beware—he may be the first to be sent. If the Holy Spirit sends, it is far better to go than to stay at home.
The Holy Spirit will send for His labors
What Am I asking you to know?
Look at people as sheep without a shepherd.
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