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Tag: The Gospels

Sheep in the midst of wolves

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Matthew, What’s new?.

What does it mean to be sheep in the midst of wolves (Matthew 10:16)?

As Jesus readied His twelve disciples to go out and minister, first He gave detailed guidelines for their early mission (Matthew 10:5–15), and then He prepared them for opposition and persecution: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16, ESV).

Jesus knew that His messengers would encounter fierce resistance, so He immediately dismissed any idealistic notion of what it meant to be His servant. He told them that persecution and betrayal would come from unexpected places and all kinds of people, even family and friends (Matthew 10:21–22, 34–36). Jesus also knew that many would respond to the disciples’ message, so they had to go. To be as “sheep amidst the wolves” is the Lord’s fitting imagery portraying how we obey His call and take the message of salvation to receptive souls scattered amid a crowd of hostile challengers.

Reflecting the character of meek and gentle sheep, our message is one of love and compassion. Luke 10:3 uses the language of “lambs among wolves,” emphasizing the dedicated vulnerability that ought to exemplify Christ’s servants, messengers, missionaries, and evangelists. We are to go out clothed with grace, mercy, kindness, and humility—“innocent as doves”—but also with wisdom, truth, and integrity—“wise as serpents.” We keep our attitude and actions pure and harmless and our eyes wide open, “alert and of sober mind” because our “enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

The future peaceful reality of sheep and wolves living together in harmony (Isaiah 11:6; 65:25) is not yet our reality. The apostle Paul testified to church leaders, “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock” (Acts 20:29). To His disciple Timothy, Paul wrote, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).

Jesus desires that we be fully prepared to be hated and treated poorly just as He was (Matthew 10:25). Yet we can find comfort and encouragement in our struggles, knowing such ill-treatment is a sign of our close fellowship with Jesus (Acts 5:41; 2 Corinthians 11:16–33; 12:1–10; Philippians 3:10–11).

Sheep are defenseless animals. Unless they stay near their shepherd, these animals have no hope of surviving against a pack of wolves. Jesus, who is “the great Shepherd of the sheep” (Hebrews 13:20), assured His disciples repeatedly that He would care for His sheep, leading, guiding, protecting, and laying down His life for them (John 10:1–16, 26–30).

Even though we will face persecution in our mission to follow and obey Christ, He encourages us not to fear: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:28–31).

Matthew 10:16 was not the disciples’ first exhortation to expect persecution as servants of God’s kingdom. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10–12). Honor in God’s kingdom is a blessing reserved for those who actively seek to advance His righteousness and serve the King.

Initially, the “wolves” in Jesus’ analogy included the Pharisees and Jewish religious teachers who violently persecuted the early church. But the caution to be like sheep amidst the wolves is relevant to believers in every age who must live as Christ’s ambassadors in a dark and unreceptive world. Without our Shepherd, we are defenseless and in danger. But with Jesus, we are promised protection and peace (John 14:27; 16:33; Psalm 3:5–6; Matthew 6:25–34; 11:28; Romans 8:28, 35–39).

Sheep without a shepherd

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Matthew, What’s new?.

What is the significance of sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36)?

The role of a shepherd is to watch over, feed, protect, guide, comfort, and sustain the flock under his care. Spiritual leaders have a similar responsibility toward the people entrusted to their oversight. While Jesus traveled the countryside ministering to the crowds, He felt deep concern for the people because they lacked spiritual guidance and pastoral care from their leaders: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).

A shepherd theme twines throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament, the Lord’s people, the Israelites, are portrayed as a flock of sheep, and God is their loving, caring Shepherd (Psalm 23; 100:3; Jeremiah 23:3; 31:10). God expected Israel’s leaders to be spiritual under-shepherds to His flock (2 Samuel 5:2; Numbers 27:17). Sadly, they failed at their duty (see Ezekiel 34). The prophets declared, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These people have no master’” (Kings 22:17; see also Isaiah 56:11; Jeremiah 10:21).

The shepherd theme continues in the New Testament, with Jesus portrayed as the “Good Shepherd” (John 10:11; cf. Isaiah 40:11) and the “Great Shepherd” (1 Peter 5:4). The people swarming toward Jesus are like sheep without a shepherd because their spiritual overseers, Israel’s religious leaders, have harassed and abandoned them. In Matthew 9:36, the verb translated as “harassed” (skyllomai in the original Greek) means “to be afflicted, troubled, grieved, bothered, annoyed.” “Helpless” comes from a verb that means “to be thrown down, rejected; thrown away, cast off.” This word speaks of the utterness of the people’s abandonment by their leaders and its thoroughly damaging effect. Jesus was profoundly moved when He looked into their faces because He saw people who were wholly disheartened, demoralized, and discouraged.

In Matthew 9:36, Jesus fulfills the prophecy of Ezekiel 34:2–6: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. . . . You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty. So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal. They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them” (NLT).

Sheep without a shepherd scatter easily, wander into dangerous territory, and become lost (Isaiah 53:6; Zechariah 10:2; 13:7; Matthew 26:31; John 10:12). Like sheep, we all need a shepherd to guide us along the right path (Psalm 23:3). Without a shepherd we will eventually starve and die. Therefore, a truly good shepherd never leaves his flock unattended (John 21:15–19). And if even one of his sheep goes astray, he will “leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost” (see Matthew 18:12–14). Jesus, the perfect Shepherd, lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:15).

In sharp contrast with the biblical depiction of a good shepherd, Israel’s leaders received this scathing indictment from Jesus: “They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. Everything they do is for show. . . . And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues” (Matthew 23:4–6, NLT). Jesus goes on to call them “hypocrites” who “shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces” (Matthew 23:13, NLT). Instead of shepherds, they are “blind guides” only looking out for themselves (Matthew 23:16).

The apostle Paul instructs church leaders: “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). Instead of leaving people as sheep without a shepherd, God’s Word calls true spiritual leaders to “care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example” (1 Peter 5:2–3, NLT).

Shepherds patterned after the example of Jesus Christ are self-sacrificing servants, willing to lay down their lives for the sheep (John 15:13; 1 John 3:16). They provide spiritual nourishment and guidance and rule people justly and with love.

Harvest is plentiful

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Matthew, What’s new?.

What does it mean that the harvest is plentiful (Matthew 9:37)?

Matthew 9 lists a number in incidents, in somewhat “rapid fire” fashion, that involve Jesus ministering while the Pharisees are being critical:

verses 1–8 — Jesus heals a paralytic.

verses 9–13 — Jesus calls Matthew, a tax collector, and is chided by the Pharisees for spending time with “sinners.”

verses 14–17 — The Pharisees criticize Jesus and His disciples for not fasting enough. Apparently, Jesus’ followers are too social.

verses 18–26 — A woman with chronic bleeding is healed, and Jesus raises a young girl back to life.

verses 27–31 — Jesus heals two blind men.

verses 32–34 — Jesus heals a man unable to speak, but the Pharisees say He heals by demonic power.

All of these incidents lead to the final section of Matthew chapter 9, verses 35–38: “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’”

Jesus could have spent every waking hour healing and teaching. There was no shortage of people who needed the gospel of the kingdom proclaimed to them. In His earthly existence, He was limited by His human body. He could not be everywhere at once, nor could He meet every need. He grew tired and hungry. Practically speaking, He needed others to go out and preach the gospel. People are the harvest—lost souls waiting to be saved and brought into God’s kingdom. The problem was not that there were not enough people to harvest, but that there were not enough laborers to do the work.

If a man owned a farm, there are two problems he might encounter when it came time to harvest. The first is that he might hire a lot of people to work in the fields but there would not be enough work to keep them busy. The second might be that there is so much to harvest that he just can’t find enough people to do the work.

The same set of problems could be evident in any church or Christian ministry. There might be so many volunteers and donors that the needs are fully met and many of the helpers just stand around with nothing to do. On the other hand, there might be so many needs that everyone who turns out to work is stretched to the max, with many needs remaining unmet. In reality, the second scenario is far more common, and the first is virtually unheard of.

In Matthew 10, Jesus sends out the disciples to begin the harvest. That pattern continues with the “Great Commission” in Matthew 28. All Christians are supposed to be working in the harvest. The problem is not that there are not enough needs to meet and souls to harvest but that there are too few workers to do all that needs to be done.

In Christian ministry, we need to pray for more workers to go out into the harvest fields to work. Practically speaking, instead of praying for more people to be saved, we should pray that more people actively share the gospel. When praying for a lost loved one, we should pray for him or her to encounter more believers who will reach out with truth and love. If we are dissatisfied with the way things are, we need to pray that God will send us out to make a difference. If any Christian is not involved in gospel ministry, it is not because there is nothing for him to do; rather, is that he has chosen to sit on the sidelines instead of joining in the work that surrounds him. The harvest is plentiful.

May God use this small article to motivate Christians to join the harvest workforce!