The command in Matthew 9:38 to pray for labourers for the harvest flows from the preceding verse, which stresses the immense work required for the harvest (Matthew 9:37). The Lord of the harvest is God the Father, and just before sending out his disciples in Matthew 10:1–42, Jesus first commands them to pray to the Father for more labourers. He thus spiritually prepares his disciples to embrace the same calling as he did, even in the midst of the most difficult circumstances.
The labourers sought here are needed to distribute Jesus’ divine power to the people, to reveal how great the yield of God’s harvest of grace is in this time. As such, Jesus calls his disciples, in Matthew 9:38, to pray to send out workers into his harvest. The verb Jesus uses, ekbalēi (send out
), is striking. This is not about just sending people out into Israel to proclaim the gospel, for Jesus could have sent out others at other times to this end. Rather, this is about equipping people to become God’s labourers to distribute the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit. Only God can equip people for this by guiding them in the Spirit. The disciples are therefore commanded to make Israel’s need and God’s compassion the focus of their prayers.
The command in Matthew 9:38 to pray for labourers for the harvest directly flows from the preceding verse, where the immense work required for the harvest is highlighted (Matthew 9:37). The Lord of the harvest is God the Father, and just before sending out his disciples in Matthew 10:1–42, Jesus first commands them to pray to the Father for more labourers. He thereby wants to spiritually prepare his disciples to embrace the same calling as he did, even in the midst of the most difficult circumstances.1
The labourers sought here are additional means of distributing Jesus’ divine power to the people. More labourers are needed to gather the fruits from the field of the Spirit and to distribute them for healing, so that it can be revealed to everyone how great the yield of God’s harvest of grace is in this time. As such, Jesus calls upon his disciples, in Matthew 9:38, to pray to send out workers into his harvest. The verb Jesus uses here, ekbalēi (send out
), is striking. This is not about simply sending people out into Israel to proclaim the gospel, for Jesus could have sent out others at other times to this end. Rather, this is about equipping people to become God’s labourers in the work of distributing the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit. Only God can equip people to this end by guiding them in the Spirit. The disciples are therefore commanded here to make Israel’s need and God’s compassion the focus of their prayers.2
37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;