The Work of the Harvest

"The Harvesters" by Pieter Bruegel the Elder,

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Two readings from Matthew:

Matthew 13:10-17
10The disciples came to Him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
11He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 13This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
" 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.'
16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

This is right in the middle of the parable of the sower, before Jesus gives the disciples the explanation of what the parable means. I find it interesting that He basically tells them that they already have understanding given to them, even though they don't realize it. They understand more than they think they understand.

I think sometimes we are like this; we ask God continually to tell us what we already know. Thankfully, He often obliges. But it is important to remember that He is not asking us to do anything He has not already equipped us to do.

Here's the second passage:

Matthew 9:35-38
35Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then He said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

I notice here that He doesn't order them to do the work of the harvest. (Unlike other times in the Gospels, such as when He says, "YOU give them something to eat," before the feeding of the 5000.) He asks them to pray to God to send workers.

The work of the harvest is hard, and He wants us to WANT to do it before we begin.

I am reminded of Isaiah 6, which (not coincidentally) Jesus was quoting in the Matthew 13 passage. This passage is often referred to as "The Call of Isaiah," but as it was pointed out to me recently, Isaiah was not called. He volunteered!

Isaiah 6:8
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Right after that, in Isaiah 6:9-10, come the verses Jesus quoted about how people will not listen and they will not understand. That's the bummer of the work of the harvest: it is a calling to deliver a message that no one wants to hear, that people will actively close their ears to. But we are asked to pray that God will send workers to do this.

And we are challenged to answer His call with "Here am I. Send me!"

I'm still working on the praying part, personally...