Matthew 9:37-38 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Some time around 2002 I was meditating on this passage of Scripture and what the Lord revealed to me astounded me. So much so that I sobbed over the revelation. What would illicit such powerful emotion? In 1998 I had read a book entitled, Surprised by the Spirit, by Dr. Jack Deere. Through it I reasoned that it wasn’t right for me to remain in the denomination believing, and practicing things contrary to traditional expectations. Unbeknownst to me, at the time, the Lord had a different perspective from mine own. Yet I left, with no intentions of returning. Fast forwarding to 2001 I had a recurring dream, three times in a row, in which my Mom was waking me. Following the third, and final time, I simply prayed, Lord if you are trying to tell me something You need to make it clearer than this. And He did. He revealed that my Mom symbolized the denomination that birthed me and He wanted me to return. The revelation shocked, and startled me. After a great deal of prayer Jackie and I made plans to return – which was a miraculous event in and of itself. (I had a reputation for being charismatic) When I returned I kind of kept the things of the Spirit a secret, or some would say, in the closet. In other words I attempted to behave according to traditional expectations. All of this began to shatter when I went on a mini retreat to seek the Lord and He revealed to me the meaning of the aforementioned passage. When reading Scripture context is everything. For years I had missed the context of this passage thus missing the impact of Matthew 9:37-38. The context is revealed in the preceding passage headings beginning in chapter eight: Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy, The Faith of the Centurion, Jesus Heals Many, Jesus Calms the Storm, Jesus Restores Two Demon-Possessed Men, Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man, Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman, and Jesus Heals the Blind and the Mute.

Matthew 9:36 is where the full impact of the context reaches a crescendo: When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Mt. 9:36) Get this. The Chief Shepherd is in their midst and they are like sheep without a shepherd? How can this be? Jesus’ point isn’t that they don’t have a shepherd. His point is that He sees the need to multiply the shepherding, or in other words the shepherds or laborers. Is there a connection, hebraically, between the two words that would have stood out to the disciples? I decided to google it by typing, Is there a connection between the biblical hebrew words for shepherd, and laborer? Googles answer: Yes, there’s a strong conceptual link in Hebrew, as the root word for “shepherd” (ra’ah – רעה) also means to tend, feed, care for, or be a companion, which connects to the idea of serving or caring for others, though the specific word for “laborer/hired worker” (sakhir – שָׂכִיר) is distinct and often used in contrast to the selfless shepherd, highlighting themes of justice and contrast between paid work and covenant love. 

All the things the Chief Shepherd had done, from the beginning of chapter 8 of Matthew to the end of chapter 9, Jesus expected His little “shepherds” or “sheep dog – laborers” would do. All the things: heal, do miracles, cast out demons, raise the dead, teach, preach, calm storms, etc. ALL means ALL!

Why did I sob that day in 2002? I said to the Lord, Why do you keep showing me these things and I never get to see them happen? Six years later I witnessed the answer to that prayer. The Lord used me to perform a miracle for a Ukrainian woman who could only shuffle and drag her feet using a walker. After four attempts at prayer – she walked without a shuffle, and her daughter folded up that walker, hung it over her shoulder – and mother and daughter walked home rejoicing in God’s goodness. Jesus is looking for laborers, or under-shepherds, like Himself – who do what their Chief Shepherd does. Remember Paul’s words in Galatians? My little children, for whom I am again suffering birth pangs until Christ is completely and permanently formed (molded) within you,…(Gal. 4:19) Remember Ephesians 4:12-13? His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church),¹³ [That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.

The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and she “labored” giving birth to Jesus in being the handmaiden (bondservant) of the Lord. Paul labored until Christ was fully formed in the Galatians. Jesus is still laboring, for you and I in prayer, until we reach the fullness of sons and daughters of the Most High God; fully participating in His Father’s business. Are you laboring? Is Christ being formed in you? Are you manifesting the Son of God? Are you participating in being a manifest son or daughter of God? Have you answered the call? Are you an answer to Jesus’ prayers? Are you His under-shepherd, sheep dog?