Through the Eyes of Love, Part Two

By Tim and Amanda York

As you read through the Gospels, it becomes apparent Jesus displayed a great love for everyone He met. As He journeyed through deserts, villages, and cities, He demonstrated His love in tangible and substantive ways. He showed no partiality between Jews and Gentiles, men and women, rich and poor.

Matthew 9:35-38 describes Jesus’ love as persistent as He “went about all the cities and villages.” In other words, He was not content to minister only in His hometown or “preferred” locations. He ministered to all the cities and villages. How far does your personal ministry reach? Admittedly, not everyone is called to the traveling-style ministry of Jesus, but do you reach beyond the familiar?

Matthew went on to inform us that Jesus went into these cities and villages “teaching and preaching.” Both words are interesting in the original language. Teaching (διδ?σκων) means to provide instruction while preaching (κηρ?σσων) describes heralding or proclaiming truth, especially in a religious sense. This passage clearly drives home the point that Jesus went to all these locations with the purpose of instructing the people and proclaiming the good news of the gospel.

Matthew concluded his broad summary of Jesus’ ministry by saying Jesus healed every sickness and disease among the people. Jesus not only traveled and preached, but He also healed individuals as part of His loving ministry. While we do not wield the same authority over sickness Jesus did, we can learn from His example of helping people. Meeting the physical, mental, and emotional needs of people creates an environment where they hear the truth of the gospel in a different way. The familiar adage is true: people don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.

Are you in touch with the needs of your community? How do you alleviate the hurts of those around you? Are you consumed with your own pain and needs, or are you focused on the pain of others?

As North American Ministries church planters, we look for every viable opportunity to interact with those we hope to reach. This interaction makes us aware of the hurts and issues these individuals face. Amanda has focused on families in our neighborhood, befriending a Muslim woman from Yemen who lives two doors down. This friendship has provided multiple opportunities to meet their needs. In fact, Amanda is the only American woman to whom this lady has been permitted to speak by her husband.

Many hurdles existed between the two (language, religion, culture), but Amanda noticed the children playing with a flattened soccer ball and with a simple act of kindness found a way to demonstrate the love of Jesus to this family. Now, our neighbor fixes dinner for us at least once a week, and she and Amanda spend time together as friends talking about life.

More From Matthew

Matthew moved from the general ministry pattern of Jesus to specific details. Verse 36 says, “But when he [Jesus] saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”

Matthew strategically moved from the what of Jesus’ ministry to the why. Why did He travel to all the cities and villages? Why did He take the time to teach and preach? Why did He heal every sickness and disease? The answer is clear: “He was moved with compassion” (?σπλαγχν?σθη). His heart went out to them. The literal meaning of this Greek word is “to feel in the bowels.” As Americans, we describe our emotions as coming from the heart, but the connection between our stomach and our feelings is not totally lost on us. We’ve all described “gut-wrenching emotions” or experienced feelings that literally made us “sick to our stomach.”

Matthew explained that Jesus looked at the Jews, and what He saw and heard from them created such strong emotion that He felt it in His stomach. When you consider the culture around you or observe the lives of the people in your town, what emotions do you feel? It’s easy to feel anger or disappointment towards the lost world, but was this what Jesus portrayed? Absolutely not. He felt compassion.

What was it about their condition that stirred these deep feelings? These people were lost. They lacked good spiritual leadership. The Pharisees and Sadducees had abused their authority as spiritual leaders in Israel by exploiting the poor and rigging the religious system to keep them in power. Jesus looked upon the people and felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

These counterfeit religious leaders pretended to be the shepherds of Israel, but they lived in stark contrast to Jesus, the real Good Shepherd. Jesus’ concern for the spiritual wellbeing of people is apparent on every page of the Gospels.

This passage concludes with two famous statements. In the first—the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few—Jesus changed the metaphor from shepherding to farming but the heart of the passage remains the same. This “harvest” clearly refers to unbelievers in the context, the same people for whom Jesus felt compassion.

Jesus emphatically acknowledged insufficient laborers to bring in the robust harvest. The problem was not that people wouldn’t believe in Jesus; the problem was an insufficient number of workers. The clear implication is the world is ripe with those ready for the gospel, but the work stalls due to insufficient workers. Have you ever considered how plentiful the harvest is around you?

In the famous statement completing the passage, Jesus urged His disciples, “Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into the harvest.” With the harvest ready and waiting, Jesus made it clear we are to pray for more workers. What do you think is the connection between your prayers and God sending out laborers? How do you think praying for laborers affects the way you engage those around you?

Our church seeks every possible means to demonstrate care and compassion for our community. We host two events annually, a family carnival and an Easter egg hunt. Both are free of charge and designed to bring joy to those who attend. We also adopt a section of local highway, provide free lunch for employees of local businesses, provide breakfast to schoolteachers, and offer the Financial Peace University course, along with many other tangible demonstrations of Christ’s love. We do this because we are convinced this was the ministry Jesus modeled.

Remember, Matthew started this passage by describing Jesus traveling throughout the region healing, teaching, and preaching. However, simply doing good was not enough. Jesus loved on people as He presented the truth to them. The concept of sending laborers into the field is an interesting one, especially when this illustration is brought into the real world through discipleship.

For too long, the modern church has viewed evangelism and discipleship as separate exercises. That thought process goes something like this: evangelist reaches the lost one (conversion) and a teacher comes along and disciples them (sanctification). However, this two-pronged approach is foreign to Scripture. Acts 18 offers a fitting example of the correct approach. In verse 8, Paul preached and many of the Corinthians “heard, believed, and were baptized.” Yet three verses later, in verse 11, we learn Paul stayed in Corinth 18 months, teaching the word of God among them.

The Great Commission requires all believers to “go and make disciples of all nations,” very different from “go and make converts.” The heart of the Lord of the Harvest is that all nations become disciples of Jesus. Could it be the laborers are few in our generation because we have failed to disciple properly those who decided to follow Jesus? Could our prayer for more laborers be answered by taking seriously the command to make disciples?

Who discipled you and what did that process look like? Who is currently discipling you and how teachable are you? Who are you actively discipling? How closely are you monitoring their life for the purpose of feedback and intentional spiritual growth?

Our church has adopted a three-point strategy in the discipleship process of our people. The first step comes in Sunday Celebrations, where we try to be quite conscious of our audience. For those who haven’t surrendered to Christ, we seek to expose them to Scripture so they come to know the truth.

The second step is small groups. These small groups are based around the Sunday sermon, so the text is driven deeper. Small group discussion centers around the head, heart, and hands as it relates to the passage. “Head” questions are information-based—what we want them to know. “Heart” questions are emotional and internal and focus on what we want them to feel. “Hands” questions are action-related and explain what they should do.

The third step in our discipleship strategy is “d-groups.” This term is not unique to us, and you can find various models for these gatherings. D-groups consist of three to five people who spend 18 months studying the entire Bible together. They journal every day, memorize Scripture, hold one another accountable, and work toward the goal of starting their own group when the current group completes the study. D-groups are slow to start, but once you see the ripple effect of the second, third, and fourth generations, the methodical pace of discipleship is well worth the benefits!

For too long, the church has neglected the commission to “go make disciples.” The number of believers who go through daily life without engaging others with the gospel is frightening. As we see the world around us in turmoil and pain, we can’t stand by and watch others spiral into eternity without Christ.

Pray fervently that God sends workers into the harvest. Ask Him to open your eyes to the harvest around you.

About the Author: Tim and Amanda York are church planters in Depew, New York, near Buffalo. They were commissioned by North American Ministries to plant a church with an emphasis on the large Deaf population in that area. Tim and Amanda have three sons, Bryson, Haddon, and Judson.