Scripture Reference: Matthew 9:35-38
“No one cares for me” is the statement that many people in our world are saying. Hundreds of years ago, the psalmist wrote, “For there is no one who acknowledges me . . . No one cares for my soul” (Psalm 142:4). That is the attitude of many in our world today. Against that backdrop, God sent His Son Jesus to journey from heaven down to earth to show us that God really cares. God in heaven is vitally concerned about you.
If someone were to ask me to summarize the whole ministry of our Lord in one word, I would use the word compassion. This is a word of Latin origin, coming from com, meaning “with” and passion, meaning “to suffer.” Our redeeming Savior suffers with us. As a matter of fact, He was tempted in all points as we are, yet He was without sin. He knew what it was to be hungry, weary, thirsty, tired, and even angry. He even comprehends what it is like to die, having died for our sins on the cross of Calvary.
The Gospel of Matthew records that when Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion because they were like sheep with no shepherd. They were like a field white unto harvest with no reapers. That describes the desperate condition of our world today. The word “weary” in verse 36 has reference to a corpse that is laying by the side of the road, flayed and mangled. The word “scattered” in the same verse, means to lay prostrate with deep, mortal wounds. This is the way men and women are, apart from God.
When Jesus saw the multitudes in this desperate condition, He encouraged His disciples to lift up their eyes, saying that the fields were white unto harvest. “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
This is the pressing need of the church today. You and I as Christ’s church need to lift up our eyes to the desperate spiritual condition of men and women, boys and girls in our world today.
I. The Waiting Harvest
When the Pharisees looked at people, all they could think of was that they were contemptible sinners. On the other hand, when Jesus saw the crowd, He saw them as sheep who had no shepherd. The unregenerate are not able to quote the beautiful twenty-third Psalm with any form of assurance. The Lord has never really become their Shepherd.
One of the greatest things the church of the Lord Jesus Christ can do is to reexamine its purpose for existence. Jesus never saw a hungry man that He did not want to feed. He never saw anyone who was sad that He did not want to comfort. He never saw a lonely person that He did not want to befriend. He never saw a sick man that He did not want to heal, and He never saw a sinner that He did not want to save. The church could do and is doing many wonderful things, but we must ask ourselves, “What is the church’s chief purpose for existing?” The chief purpose of the church of Jesus Christ is redemption.
When our Lord saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion. He did not see them as they were, but He saw what they could become. We must look at the world through the eyes of our Savior.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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