Day 26 - The Harvest

Luke 10:1-2 (ESV) After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.  And he said to them, “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.

(READ Luke 10)
They were walking in the countryside—in fields of ripe grain that bent back and forth with the least gust of wind—in the wide open spaces of Galilee. No towns here. No crowds, no buildings, no noise. Jesus’ disciples took heads of the grain, rubbed it between their hands, and ate the kernels (Luke 6:1). They were each familiar with the Jewish festivals that celebrated the harvest—and the God of the good harvest. Snooping Pharisees witnessing the scene challenged Jesus. Why was he allowing his followers to work on a Sabbath day?

People who block God’s blessing are never far from any of us.

So when, sometime later, Jesus sent seventy-two of his followers out on a mission of proclamation and healing, they understood what he meant by “the Lord of the harvest,” who is looking for workers to bring in the long-awaited crops of the divine farmer.

The sending of the seventy-two—which happens to be the number of known nations at that time—was Jesus’ signal that all of his followers would be recruited as workers to go into all the nations. Jesus was calling his followers, then and now, to join him in two great actions: healing and proclamation.

“Heal the sick.” Miraculous physical healing in Jesus’ time is the pattern for all mission-minded healing initiatives. There is no end to the number of ways today we can support the healing of people who are ill or marginalized or abused or depressed or enslaved.

“Tell them ‘The kingdom of God has come near you.’” We promote healing because King Jesus broke into the world to signal that the power of God really is going to set all things right in the end, and so we get to start setting things right now. It is time for harvest, which is possible only because God has brought women and men and children to a point where the goodness is ready to break out.

PONDER:  What roadblocks do we need to get over so that we will commit to being God’s workers in the field of the world?

REFLECTION or DISCUSSION:
After reading Luke 10, picture a field ready for harvest.  What would happen if no one ever went into that field to reap the harvest?  What would the results be?