From Judge to Disciple

By Dean Collins

Here is a representative sample of the people Jesus paid attention to in one community:

A paralytic

A tax collector

Sinners

A ruler's dead daughter

A woman struggling with an illness for 12 years

Two blind men 

People with no status. Those who were basically avoided by some groups and others who were seen as an annoyance based on their jobs or lack of health.

The established religious leaders had created structures to avoid any contact or responsibility for most people, and the ones they tolerated had a lot of hurdles to jump to gain a nod of approval.

But Jesus brought a fresh approach to the people of his day. He went where the religious crowd wouldn't go and interacted with the "unclean," which by the established rules of the day made him unclean. Jesus met people where they were. Whether societal outcasts due to health, social status, or political power, Jesus met them where they were. And his compassion wouldn't allow him to ignore them, let them flounder, or leave them as he found them. Rather, Jesus brought love to the loveless, hope to the hopeless, health to the sick, and life to the dead, both those who had already physically died and those who were dead in their sins, even though they may not have fully understood their current or eternal lifelessness.

Matthew tells us that when Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He didn't apathetically look away like the religious leaders of the day. Jesus leaned in. And then he told his disciples the harvest is ripe, but the harvesters are few so pray hard for the Lord of the harvest to deploy more people to go and do what you have seen me doing.

It's hard to pray that prayer in earnest and not feel Jesus moving your heart to action. We either pray and participate, or we watch and ignore. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground according to Jesus. We can be alive and active or dead, stuck in our judgement and cynicism.

It's harvest time. Let's get back to the harvest fields.

Lord, open our hearts that we might see the harvest fields that are right in front of us. We join you in praying earnestly that you send out more laborers into the harvest field. Move us into action today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Your Time with God’s Word
Matthew 9:2, 9-13, 18-20, 22-25, 27, 29-30, 36-38 ESV

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