Jesus is Lord of the harvest. He sends us to be sacrificial partners

By Dean Collins

Consider this multiple choice question:

As followers of Jesus we are to…

A. Go because Jesus told us to go
B. See where Jesus is going currently and join him
C. Pray that Jesus would send out others
D. All of the above

I’m going with D as my final answer, though I think I could defend the first three options. In Luke 10 Jesus appointed 72 others as his disciples and sent them on a mission trip. These 72 are in addition to the 12 disciples we are familiar with in the Gospel records. We don’t have a list of the names, though some of the 72 are likely among the characters in stories from the Gospels or the Acts of the the Apostles.

In this case Jesus was sending the 72 ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he planned to visit. This was a common practice of Jesus. He sent some ahead of him when he was went through Samaria on the way to Jerusalem. He sent some ahead of him to prepare for the Passover meal and Last Supper. God had sent John the Baptist ahead of Jesus to prepare the people’s hearts for him. In some ways Jesus was just using God’s preparation script.

Go ahead

Every day we have an opportunity to go ahead of Jesus, bringing and offering his peace wherever we find ourselves. We never truly know the hearts and minds of those we encounter as we enter restaurants, retail shops, meeting places, or sports arenas. We may see a few familiar faces and likely many strangers as we go through any day of our lives. What if we consider that every encounter is a step of preparation for Jesus to engage with the people we see? What if we believe our behaviors and words are to plant seeds of preparation for the work of Christ in their lives?

Since the Bible tells us again and again that Jesus came to offer forgiveness and restoration to all, we must assume that by his resurrection power and presence he will make himself known everywhere. So we must pay attention to the evidence that he is somewhere present every place we go. We may be going ahead of Jesus in some encounters, but just as likely we may be joining Jesus in the work he is already doing in someone’s life as we interact with people today. Our prayers should be that our interactions support the work of Christ that is already at work with those we see.

Pray earnestly

When Jesus sent the 72, he told them to pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. For as long as I have been associated with Christian universities I have heard church leaders complain that the Christian colleges are failing to train enough ministers for local churches. This passage in Luke’s Gospel seems to suggest that the responsibility for the right amount of ministers for kingdom work is on all of us. We are all called to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

The other thing we often miss in this passage is a clear understanding about ownership and stewardship. Jesus is the Lord of the harvest. It is never our harvest because it isn’t our farm. The earth and everything in it is the Lord’s, and our prayer is to the owner of land and harvest to send more laborers into his harvest. None of us can manufacture the workforce, but we can pray for Jesus to provide adequate workers to join him in the work of harvesting.

Partner sacrificially

As followers of Jesus, our work includes the work of preparation along with the work of partnership with Jesus in the work he is already doing. We know that as we surrender ourselves daily to Christ, we pray that he would provide more workers for his harvest field. 

And one more thing. Jesus told the 72, and I believe this applies to all of us as well, that we go out as lambs in the midst of wolves. At first glance this may be startling to consider. Lambs don’t really stand a chance against wolves. But let’s not forget that Jesus is the good shepherd. Good shepherds never abandon their sheep. They are relentless in defending the flock and determined to go find anyone that accidentally wanders off. 

We are in good hands as we follow Jesus and join him in the amazing work of kingdom harvesting.

Your time with God’s Word
‭‭Luke‬ ‭10:1-3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Photo by Warren Wong at www.pexels.com

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