Matthew 9:35-38 NASB
[35] Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. [36] Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. [37] Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. [38] Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” …
Over the last 43 years I have heard many sermons, and have read many teachings on Matthew 9:37, and almost every time they were speaking about evangelism. Evangelism, of course, is certainly an important part of the ministry of harvest, but if you look at the context in these verses above, you will notice that evangelism is not the topic, or if evangelism happens it is simply the consequence of the signs and wonders of the kingdom being released into the lives of broken humanity. Jesus preached the good news of the presence of the kingdom, and then he manifested that good news by healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. In verse 36 it says that Jesus saw the people, and felt compassion for them, because they were mangled, and cast aside. It’s the enemy who does that, and the announcing of the kingdom is the announcement that the reign of darkness is over, and that the reign of God is now prevailing. The language of verse 37 is literally “The harvest is truly, or indeed plentiful.” Jesus is saying that there are a lot of broken people around us who need a supernatural encounter with God, but even though the harvest is plentiful, the workers are few. You would think that the next thing Jesus would do would just be to tell his disciples that he is sending them out, but instead he tells them that they must beseech the Lord to send out workers into the harvest. Isn’t that interesting? I believe this is about heart issues among his followers. Jesus wants us to ask for workers to be sent out, and I don’t believe this is just them praying for other people to go; instead, I believe it first starts with asking the Lord to send us personally out into the harvest to bring heaven to earth everywhere the enemy has mangled and cast aside human beings. That’s a great thing for you to pray personally, and it seems to be a prerequisite if you and I are going to begin to move an extravagant signs and wonders. The word “beseech” literally comes from the word “bind,” and therefore carries the idea of binding yourself to something that you won’t let go of. In other words, it carries the idea of passionately pleading with the Lord to please send me as an instrument of supernatural encounter into a world of brokenness. One other interesting thing I want you to see here is that Jesus refers to himself as “the Lord of the harvest,” and refers to the harvest as “His” harvest. Though the devil caused the destruction, the Lord says that the harvest of broken and hurting humanity belongs to Him. He didn’t cause the brokenness, but he claims the broken people as His. See the enemy has gained a victory in the lives of these people who were sick and diseased (I believe this refers to all kind of sickness, which includes emotional and mental sickness), and Jesus is confronting that place in the lives of these people, and taking back that which the enemy has stolen, because Jesus believes that all the broken people belong to Him.