Discipleship and the Task (9:35-10:4)

When Jesus says to His disciples. “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few; pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into the harvest,” who is He talking about?

When people read this passage today, they often think of it in the context of missionaries or pastors or other professional workers. But Jesus was talking to His first followers in a time when there were no such workers. The workers for the harvest had to emerge from the harvest. And so, they did.

Jesus names twelve followers to be His apostles, His “sent out ones.” In the next lengthy discourse, Jesus will clarify the nature of the “sent out ones’” mission. Coming on the heels of all of the proceeding stories of discipleship, the commissioning of the twelve serves to further clarify Jesus’ idea of discipleship. It builds upon the sermon on the mount, explaining how citizens of the Kingdom of God are to do His bidding in the world.

And here we also see how this applies to us. We too are disciples. We too are living in a harvest. We too are called out to do God’s bidding as workers in the harvest…