Scripture Readings: Matthew 9:35-10:8
Matthew 9:35-10:8 is a beautiful movement from the heart of Jesus to the hands of His disciples. It reminds us that before Jesus gives us a task, He reveals His heart. He sees a weary and wounded world with compassion and then invites ordinary people to become part of His mission. The same invitation still echoes today.
(Slide 1) “When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them…” Jesus did not merely notice the crowds; He truly saw them. Others may have seen inconvenience, social problems, or a burden. Jesus saw lost sheep, wounded hearts, spiritual hunger, and people in need of a shepherd. He sees people differently with compassion.
The Greek word for compassion describes a deep, gut-level emotional response. God’s mission begins not with duty but with compassion. Before Jesus sends His disciples, He teaches them to see people through His eyes.
(Slide 2) Matthew describes the crowds as “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (9:36). Who are the harassed and helpless around us today? The lonely, the grieving, the anxious, the overlooked? To different degrees, we all know what it feels like to be burdened, forgotten, or afraid. Christian mission begins when we learn to see people as Jesus sees them.
(Slide 3) Interestingly, Jesus does not say that the harvest is poor or that people are uninterested. He says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (vv. 37-38). The problem is not the harvest but the shortage of workers.
(Slide 4) Jesus does not simply see a harvest; He sees people. The mission of the Church is never merely about growing numbers, filling programs, or completing tasks. It is about loving the people Jesus loves and seeing them through His eyes. The harvest belongs to God. Jesus calls God “the Lord of the harvest.” We are workers, not owners. Our responsibility is faithfulness; the results belong to God.
(Slide 5) Before sending His disciples, Jesus tells them to pray for workers. They are first called to Jesus before they are sent by Jesus. Being with Jesus always comes before working for Jesus. Ministry without intimacy eventually becomes empty. Mission flows out of relationships.
Remarkably, those who pray become the answer to their own prayers. Matthew 10 begins with the disciples becoming the very workers they were asked to pray for. Prayer and mission belong together. Often, we pray, “Lord, send someone.” God gently replies, “I am sending you.” Let us pray not only for ministry but also for willing workers and ask God to make us available for His work.
The list of disciples in Matthew 10 is wonderfully ordinary: fishermen, a tax collector, political opposites, imperfect people. The power of ministry was never in the disciples themselves. Their authority came from Jesus. The focus is not on the greatness of the workers but on the greatness of the One who sends them. God does not merely call the qualified; He qualifies the called.
(Slide 6) Jesus sends His disciples before they are fully mature. Peter will still misunderstand. James and John will still be ambitious. Thomas will later wrestle with doubt. Yet Jesus sends them.
In verse 8, Jesus says, “Freely you have received; freely give.” These words capture the heart of Christian ministry. The disciples had received grace, forgiveness, mercy, and authority. Now they were to share what they had received. The Gospel is not a possession to keep but a gift to pass on. The Christian life is not a reservoir but a river. God’s blessings are meant to flow through us to others.
Perhaps one of the simplest examples of this truth can be found in an op shop or second-hand shop. Many of us have donated clothes, books, toys, or household items we no longer need. Once, they were gifts that served us well. Yet rather than storing them away, we place them into someone else’s hands, where they can bring warmth, dignity, comfort, and joy.
God’s grace is never meant to be stored away like forgotten treasures in an attic. A kind word, a listening ear, a helping hand, an act of generosity, or a prayer offered in faith may seem small to us, but in Jesus’ hands they become gifts of grace to someone who desperately needs them.
Likewise, the comfort we have received, the forgiveness we have experienced, the encouragement that strengthened our faith, and the stories of God’s faithfulness woven through our lives are not gifts to keep to ourselves. They are God’s gifts entrusted to us so that others may find healing, renewed hope, and the courage to rise again.
In God’s kingdom, we never truly lose what we give away in love. Grace shared becomes grace multiplied. Having freely received God’s grace, we are called to freely give it to others in His name. May we become not reservoirs of grace, but channels through which God’s grace reaches the world.
(Slide 7) Many Christians quietly wonder, “Am I gifted enough? Am I experienced enough?” The disciples remind us that Jesus delights in using ordinary people. In every situation, God is our provider. When He calls and sends us, He also equips us with heavenly gifts. Mission is not asking Jesus to join our work; it is joining Jesus in His ongoing work.
Before Jesus gives a commission, He reveals His compassion. The disciples are sent not merely to do Jesus’ work but to share Jesus’ heart. Compassion without mission remains incomplete, and mission without compassion becomes duty. We are sent because we have first experienced the compassion of Christ ourselves.
In today’s passage, Jesus saw the crowds, felt compassion, prayed for workers, called ordinary disciples, and sent them into the harvest. He invited them to continue what He had already begun.
Jesus never intended His followers to remain spectators. Those who have experienced His compassion are invited to become instruments of that same compassion, proclaiming good news, bringing healing, and sharing hope.
The answer to the world’s need is not bigger crowds but more disciples. Jesus did not respond to the crowds by creating a larger event. He saw people with compassion and raised disciples. God’s strategy for reaching the world has always transformed people.
(Slide 8) The mission of Jesus becomes the mission of the disciples. Jesus’ disciples become participants in His ministry. They move from watching to serving, from learning to doing, from being cared for to caring for others, and from receiving grace to sharing grace. That is the journey of discipleship. Let us join this beautiful journey, receiving, sharing, and giving in the love of Christ.
Perhaps today, Jesus looks upon our crowded, hurried, and often weary world with the same compassionate eyes. And perhaps He looks at us not with disappointment, but with love and asks, “Will you join Me? Will you share the compassion you have received? Will you extend the grace that has changed your life? Will you help care for those who feel lost and alone?”
The harvest is still plentiful. The Good Shepherd is still calling. May we answer with willing hearts: “Here I am, Lord. Send me.” And may God make us the heart that love, the hands that serve, the voices that encourage, and the channels through which Christ’s compassion flows into a world still longing for hope. Amen.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
(Ref. Bible, commentaries, theological books, UCA materials, and a Vanderbilt Divinity Library Resources)Top of Form