After celebrating some of the great feasts of our faith – Pentecost, the Trinity and the Body and Blood of our Lord – we now return to ordinary time, time ordered by God for our salvation. And, we return to hearing from the Gospel of Matthew, the gospel that is featured throughout this liturgical year. The passage we hear this evening follows Matthew’s presentation of our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. Great crowds are following Jesus now as he goes from town to town because they were impressed by his teaching and his astonishing healing powers. This evening’s reading begins with Jesus being moved with pity as he sees all the people in need of God’s blessings. So, he commissions the twelve disciples to do something about it. All the disciples are named and then Jesus gives them some initial instructions for their mission. In our curiosity, we may want to keep reading quickly through chapter 10 to see what happens next. We’ll hear more from this chapter on upcoming Sundays but there are some important lessons to be learned from this evening’s passage that we don’t want to miss. So, let’s take a closer look.
When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them. We’re all familiar with that word: “compassion.” It’s used a lot these days as we hear about the struggles of so many around the world and in our own neighborhood and, in our sympathy for them, want to alleviate the suffering. But in the New Testament, this word is almost always used exclusively to describe God (and of Jesus). There is only one time it is used of another human being and that one – appropriately enough – is the Good Samaritan. That tells us that this word is an important detail in the story. The whole reason for the mission on which the disciples are sent is the compassion of the Son of God. If we are mission-minded, we might learn something from this. Mission does not begin with God’s anger that some persons are sinners. Mission does not begin with humanly-constructed goals for institutional growth. Mission does not come primarily from our obedience to God’s commandments to go and make disciples. Mission starts with God’s compassionate care for us.
When we hear that Jesus was moved with compassion for the crowds, it is because they were troubled and abandoned. Why? Because they were “like sheep without a shepherd.” Not just needy in general – depressed, sick or discouraged or, as we hear on other occasions, because they need to eat – but needy because they didn’t have a good shepherd, a good ruler, a good master. It is a very specific need.
The image of a shepherd was a common biblical image for the political and religious leaders of Israel. Jesus here is speaking of a basic need that people have; a good leader. God has provided them with this good leader, this Good Shepherd – Jesus. Now, notice what happens when the compassion of God is confronted by a huge need. We know all about huge needs around the world. They’re the result of horrible wars, millions of refugees, diseases that seem out of control. We usually speak of these as tragic or catastrophic and bemoan them. But Jesus looks at the need of the people and sees it as an opportunity: “The harvest is abundant” we hear him say. He likens the great need to a great crop that needs to be harvested.
It’s important to reflect on this response today in our conversations about the Church. As we experience a decline in those who belong to any religion, some moan about our society’s increasing secularism, individualism and materialism. Others get very worried specifically about the very low percentages of Christians in the world. But, as we see in today’s gospel, this is not a new phenomenon and for true followers of Christ this means an opportunity. There are people who need to hear the gospel! The harvest is abundant.
And, what is needed? Laborers. Workers. More workers are needed to bring in the crop. Who will volunteer? But, notice how Jesus responded. He did not start by asking for volunteers from among the disciples or anyone else. How did he respond? “The laborers are few; so ask the Lord …”. The need is great, so pray to God to do something about it. We may think that we can do it ourselves but we see here that we do not make ourselves into missionaries; God does. We are to ask God to do it. It is not our mission after all; it is God’s. Prayer gets our wills aligned with God’s will. That is absolutely necessary if God is going to give us authority over anything and if we are going to be successful in doing his work. As we continue our Eucharistic Revival, let’s make sure that when we spend time before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, we include this intention in our prayers: send out laborers for your harvest, Lord!
Notice another detail in this passage. Jesus speaks of laborers, workers. Jesus doesn’t say we should pray that God will send heroes or all-stars or experts or innovators, but workers. These workers are not to sow but to reap; they don’t have to invent but complete. Basically, workers need to be willing and able to do what needs to be done. That is what Jesus says to pray for: workers that God will send out to make disciples.
Then, as if in answer to this prayer, Jesus – God himself – provided laborers by summoning his twelve disciples. And he didn’t call them because of their superb qualifications but instead it says that he gave them divine gifts: authority to heal and cast out evil spirits. Jesus gave them gifts to do what he was doing – ministering to people’s total well-being.
Next comes a very interesting detail, so small that we might easily read right past it. “These are the names of the twelve apostles.” Did you notice? Everywhere else in Matthew’s Gospel the twelve are called “disciples,” but here, just this once, they are called “apostles.” That means the “sent ones.” The twelve here are called by a functional term connoting not status but mission. That’s something to remember when we think about the Church as being apostolic: not only that it is ruled by successors to the apostles but that we today like those twelve are part of Christ’s ongoing mission.
Then look at that list of names. We know very little about most of them but we remember that several were fishermen, surely not highly educated people. Christ’s mission is carried out by simple men transformed by grace, not by saints with degrees behind their names. Only one name includes his former occupation: Matthew the “tax collector,” as if to underline God’s amazing grace working even through someone as despised as a tax collector. Small details, but reassuring to those of us who don’t think that God could have any use for persons like us.
Our passage finishes with just the beginnings of Jesus’ instructions to his disciples before they go out. Jesus begins to tell the twelve what they are to say and do. “Proclaim the good news,” which is, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The disciples are to proclaim that God’s kingdom is here, right here in our midst. It’s not a message only of repentance or of coming doom but one of joy and excitement. It’s good news! Jesus, in his compassion, is here with us, here and now
This is God’s word for us today, we who are the kingdom of priests, the holy nation that we hear about in today’s first reading. The compassion of Christ; the plentiful harvest and the need to pray for laborers; Jesus’ gifts for mission; his calling ordinary people to be disciples; the emphasis on the continuing mission of Christ. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. In a world that needs good news so desperately, let’s proclaim this message with joy!