Friends, in this week’s edition of Bible Study Sunday, we turn our attention to Matthew 9:35–38, a passage that reveals the heart of Jesus, His compassion for weary people and His call for willing laborers. As we read today’s passage, we’re invited not only to see the need around us, but to pray, listen, and consider how God may be sending us into His harvest.
Matthew 9:35–38 (ESV)
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; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
1. Jesus Goes Toward the People
Matthew tells us that Jesus didn’t wait for people to come to Him. He went to them.
Cities.
Villages.
Synagogues.
Streets.
Jesus moved intentionally into places of need. Teaching. Proclaiming. Healing. His ministry wasn’t one-dimensional. Word and deed walked together. Truth was spoken, and compassion was embodied.
This matters for us.
Faith is never meant to stay still.
2. Compassion Begins With Seeing
Verse 36 is the heart of this passage:
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them…”
Jesus didn’t just notice the crowds. He saw them.
He saw their exhaustion.
Their confusion.
Their vulnerability.
“Harassed and helpless” paints a picture of people worn down by life, systems, religion, and broken leadership. “Sheep without a shepherd” isn’t an insult. It’s a heartfelt lament.
Compassion is born when we stop managing people and start seeing them as Jesus sees them.
3. The Right Response to Our Great Need Is Prayer
Jesus acknowledges the reality:
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”
There is no shortage of need.
There is no shortage of brokenness.
There is no shortage of people longing for hope.
What is in short supply are people willing to enter the field and meet people where they are because of whose they are.
Notice what Jesus asks first.
He doesn’t say, “Do more.”
He says, “Pray.”
Before action comes alignment.
Before sending comes surrender.
We pray not to be informed, but to be transformed.
4. The Prayer That Changes Us
Here’s the quiet truth of this passage:
When we pray for laborers, we often discover that we are the answer.
The prayer reshapes our hearts.
It opens our eyes.
It softens our resistance.
The same compassion that moved Jesus begins to move us.
And suddenly, the harvest isn’t abstract anymore. It has faces. It has names. It has stories.
Reflection Questions
- Where do you see Jesus intentionally moving toward people in this passage?
- Who are the “harassed and helpless” in your own context right now?
- What might God be stirring in you as you pray for laborers?
- Are there places you’ve been avoiding that Jesus may be inviting you into?
Our Closing Prayer
O Lord of the harvest,
Teach us to see as You see.
Break our hearts with what breaks Yours.
And as we pray for laborers,
Make us willing to be sent.
In Jesus’ Name we pray.
Amen.
Until my next post…
Be salty, stay lit.
Rainer Bantau —The Devotional Guy™
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Amen!
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Yes, indeed. 🙏
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He sees us in all our mess and loves us through it.
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