Parables about
the Harvesters
JOHN 4:35-38
35 [Jesus said,] "You have a saying, 'In-4-months, we will have harvest.' But I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields ready for harvest now.
36 Already, God is hiring people to go harvest them for eternal life. One person plants-seeds. Another person harvests. Both joyfully celebrate together.
37 Here the saying is true, 'One person plants, and another person harvests.'
38 I sent you to harvest food that you didn't plant-seed. Others people did the hard work, and you enjoy the benefits of their work in your harvest."
MATTHEW 9:37-38
37 Jesus said to His disciples, "The field is big and the harvest is ready, but only a few workers go for harvesting them.
38 Pray to the Lord, who owns the harvest, that He will send more workers into His harvest."
The Planters = The Harvesters = The Harvest = Application to me: |
This parable about the harvesters is so short, so easy, so simple, I almost skipped over it.
But this story is so important, we must not ignore it.
Jesus said, "Open your eyes and look:
The field is big and the harvest is ready... NOW!
The Field = ??
The Harvest = ??
This is not hard.
But this story is so important, we must not ignore it.
Jesus said, "Open your eyes and look:
The field is big and the harvest is ready... NOW!
The Field = ??
The Harvest = ??
This is not hard.
The Field = the world
The wheat that is ready for harvest...
The Harvest = people
Which people?
People who don't-yet know Jesus...
but they are ready to know Him,
if only someone will invite them.
The Harvesters = the "inviters"
We already saw the stories Jesus told about planting seeds.
Remember: The Seed = God's Word,
The Seed is the story about Jesus --
His suffering, death, and resurrection.
The Seed is the Good News that
Jesus accepted for Himself all the punishment
that our sins deserve,
and because of that,
God forgives us,
and He wants a relationship with us.
Jesus wants us to scatter that Seed in the world.
And if we do that, our work is not finished.
Many people will reject God's Word --
like the seed that falls on hard ground.
But His Seed will grow in some people's hearts.
And if we invite them, they will answer "Yes!"
And they will trust Him.
Sometimes we scatter seed -- share the Good News about Jesus,
but we never see any success in our work.
We don't know if that Seed grew or not.
Sometimes when we invite someone to trust Christ,
they answer "Yes!"
and we have joy in harvest work.
The Bible said, "One person plants-seed,
and another person harvests it."
But the seed-planter and the crop harvester
are not competing against each other.
They are working together for the same purpose,
the same goal,
because the harvest is not ours,
but His -- God's.
Spiritual farm work is not the same as the world's farm work.
In the world, the seed-planter should have the right to harvest.
He did all the hard work,
so he should enjoy the benefit for his work.
But if one person plows the soil, plants the seed,
feeds and waters the plants, and pulls the weeds,
then another person comes and harvests the crop,
that's not fair!
That's called "stealing."
But on God's farm, we are workers for Him.
The Seed is His.
The crop is His.
The harvest is His.
If one person tells people about Jesus,
and later another person invites those people to trust Jesus,
and PAH! they do trust Him,
The Lord, the planter, and the harvester all rejoice together.
But, Jesus says, He has a problem.
He has a huge farm,
but He says He doesn't have enough workers.
He wants more seed-planters.
He wants more crop harvesters.
Who will go into the world and plant-seed?
Who will go into the world and harvest?
When God asked Moses,
he answered, "No, not me! I can't talk well."
When God asked the prophet Jeremiah,
he answered, "No, not me! I am too young."
When God asked Jonah,
he answered, "No, not me!
Those are bad people. I don't like them."
When God asked Isaiah and Peter,
they both answered, "I am a terrible sinner!"
But God did not accept "No" from any of them.
He forgave Moses,
and Jeremiah,
and Jonah,
and Isaiah,
and Peter.
God gave them all His Holy Spirit.
In His power,
following His leading,
they went,
they planted-seed,
and they harvested.
But now Moses is gone.
Jonah, Jeremiah, Peter, and Isaiah
are all gone.
Who will now go and work in the field,
plant-seed, and harvest?
Jesus said that He wants us all to do two things:
(1) He wants us to pray
that God will send more workers into His field.
(2) He wants us to join them,
planting-seed -- sharing Jesus,
inviting the harvest.