Jesus’ statement that “the harvest is plentiful” in Matthew 9:37 is rich with meaning. At a basic level, Jesus was observing that there were many people ready to hear and respond to the good news of the kingdom of God. The “harvest” represents people’s hearts and their openness to the gospel message.
To unpack the meaning further, we need to look at the context of Jesus’ statement in Matthew 9. In verses 35-38, we find Jesus traveling through the towns and villages teaching, preaching, and healing. He had compassion on the crowds who were “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (v. 36). Jesus recognized their spiritual hunger and saw their need for the truth and care he could provide.
But Jesus also realized that the need was too great for him and his disciples alone to meet. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few,” he observed (v. 37). More workers were needed to join in proclaiming the message of the kingdom to the receptive crowds. So Jesus instructed his disciples to “ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (v. 38).
In calling people to prayer for more Kingdom workers, Jesus used the metaphor of a ripe harvest waiting to be gathered in. A plentiful harvest represents the crowds ready to receive the gospel. But without enough workers to reap the harvest, much of it could go to waste. Jesus wanted his disciples to recognize both the great opportunity for spiritual harvest before them and the urgent need for more laborers to accomplish the task.
This agricultural metaphor would have made perfect sense to Jesus’ original audience. They knew that a successful harvest required several essential elements – fertile soil, sufficient rain and sunshine at the right times, and most crucially, an adequate number of workers to gather the ripe crops before they spoiled. A plentiful harvest was useless without enough laborers to reap it.
So what did Jesus mean when he said “the harvest is plentiful”? A few key lessons emerge:
- Jesus saw people as ready to receive the gospel message. Their hearts were “ripe” and open to the Kingdom of God.
- There was an urgency to reaching people while they were receptive. The window of opportunity would not last forever.
- More workers were immediately needed to proclaim the gospel effectively to the waiting crowds.
- Jesus’ followers should persistently pray that God would raise up laborers for the urgent spiritual harvest before them.
This passage remains very relevant for Christians today. Vast swathes of humanity worldwide are still spiritually lost and waiting to hear the message of salvation. The fields are still “ripe for harvest.” But there remains an ongoing need for more laborers – both lay people and full-time Christian ministers – to join in the task of Kingdom proclamation.
So Jesus’ observation should continue to prompt prayer for more workers, urge His followers to look on the crowds with compassion as people precious to God, and kindle in believers a passion to participate in the urgent mission of reaching the lost. The harvest is still plentiful today, may we pray to the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into his harvest!
1. People were ready to receive the gospel
The core truth of this passage is that Jesus saw the crowds following him as ready to embrace the message of the Kingdom. Their hearts were open and receptive to all that he offered – healing for their diseases, freedom from bondage to evil spirits, comfort in their distress, and hope for their future. The fields were ripe for spiritual harvest.
Jesus described the people he ministered to as “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). They were weary, aimless, lacking guidance and care. Jesus had deep compassion on them because he saw their need was great. The common people of Israel were ready for the divine Shepherd to lead them to salvation.
Not everyone in Israel was responsive to Jesus’ ministry. The religious leaders often opposed him. But among the crowds who came to him were many open hearts, convicted of their sin and desperate for God’s mercy. As Jesus taught about the Kingdom and demonstrated its power, he saw a readiness to embrace his message.
This “ripeness” for the Gospel was a work of God’s grace. Through centuries of prophetic witness, the sacrifice of the Temple, and deep longing for redemption, God had prepared Israel as fertile soil for the seed of the Kingdom. The fields were white for harvest when the sower and reaper of souls arrived – Jesus the Messiah, God’s Son and Chosen One.
2. Urgency to reach people while receptive
Jesus knew there was an urgency to reaping the harvest when people were responsive. If the disciples failed to proclaim the Kingdom message widely when crowds were ready to receive it, the opportunity could pass. Fields ripe for harvest could rot on the vine if not reaped in a timely manner.
Windows of spiritual receptivity do not remain open forever. Jesus understood that peoples’ openness could shift over time, based on circumstances and leaders influencing them. There was urgency to mobilize a spiritual harvest while conditions were ripe.
This same urgent timing applies today. We cannot assume that people or nations will remain open to the Gospel indefinitely. Believers must be diligent in reaching the lost when their hearts are soft and responsive to God’s truth. The fields may not stay “white for harvest” perpetually. Wise laborers prioritize spiritual reaping when it is ripe.
At the same time, only God knows the full timing and circumstances when people will embrace salvation. Our job is not to prejudge when receptivity exists, but to remain faithful in sowing gospel seed far and wide. When God has prepared hearts for harvest, it becomes evident in their response. We must be ready as His laborers.
3. More workers needed to reap the harvest
Central to Jesus’ exhortation was His recognition that more workers were needed to reap the plentiful spiritual harvest before them. The people were ready, but there were too few laborers to reach them effectively. The great opportunity required more reapers.
Jesus commissioned the Twelve Disciples earlier in Matthew 9, giving them authority to preach, heal sickness, and drive out demons. But a dozen men were not enough to harvest the vast crowds coming to Jesus. Witnessing in pairs (Mark 6:7), they could only cover so much ground in proclaiming the Kingdom.
Laborers were few because very few were willing to leave home and livelihood to serve as Kingdom reapers. It required sacrifice of comfort and security. It meant enduring hardship and persecution. Many avoided this cost of discipleship. But Jesus knew more reapers were essential for the plentiful harvest at hand.
The need for workers remains great today. Billions globally and in our own communities have not heard or understood the gospel. Vast fields remain untouched. We should pray as Jesus commanded for God to send out more workers into the ripe harvest fields around us.
4. Pray for God to send out workers
Realizing the vastness of the harvest and scarcity of workers, Jesus directed His disciples to pray that God would send out more reapers. Only the Lord who sovereignly calls and appoints laborers could provide what was needed.
Prayer remains the essential starting point for meeting workforce needs in Christian ministry. Only God can recruit, gift, and direct the workers He wants to deploy. No promotional efforts or strategic planning can take the place of prayer as the means to ask God to send laborers.
dependence on the Lord of the harvest is a key lesson. The harvest belongs to God, not to us. Ministry workers belong to God, not to our institutions. Our part is to ask the Lord of the harvest – who wants abundant reaping even more than we – to provide the workers needed for ripe fields.
Earnest prayer demonstrates that we recognize this harvest is ultimately God’s, not ours. He alone can produce the results. May our frequent prayer for workers reflect our reliance on the Lord who sends 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.” (Matthew 9:37-38)
5. People’s hearts as “ripe fields”
We have seen how Jesus used the metaphor of a ripe crop waiting to be harvested to describe the crowds following him. Their hearts and lives were the fields; the gospel of the kingdom was the harvest.
This agricultural metaphor would have resonated strongly with Jesus’ original audience. Most people in their agrarian society were familiar with farming and harvesting. They could picture field after field ready for gathering grain or fruit. A plentiful harvest represented provision, security, and wellbeing.
But ripe crops not reaped in time would quickly spoil and go to waste. Farmers understood that squandering a plentiful harvest through lack of workers would mean hardship, even ruin. It was unthinkable.
Jesus invoked this logic to demand urgent action in the spiritual realm. People ready to embrace the Kingdom were like ripe grain. To leave them unreached could result in terrible loss – eternal souls perishing for lack of the gospel bread of life.
His disciples needed to see both people and ministry like a farmer viewed fields and harvest. Open hearts required timely laborers, or the opportunity could pass. What farmer would ignore ripe crops going to ruin for lack of workers? Kingdom laborers could not remain idle either.
This agricultural metaphor should expand our vision as well. The world’s 7+ billion people are the fields; eternity hangs in the balance. Will we ask the Lord to send workers to gather in souls before the window of opportunity closes? The harvest is still plentiful; the need for laborers remains great.
6. Act urgently while opportunities exist
A significant application of Jesus’ teaching here relates to acting with wisdom, strategy, and urgency to reach people when they are open to the gospel. Just as farmers must reap fields when their crops ripen, soul harvesters must be ready to evangelize during periods of unique receptivity.
We see this principle at work from the earliest days of church history. The apostles and early believers responded urgently when windows of opportunity opened to spread the gospel within and across cultures:
- Jewish pilgrims visiting Jerusalem for Pentecost – 3000 believed (Acts 2:41)
- Samaritan villagers – many believed when Christ was preached (Acts 8:5-8)
- The Ethiopian eunuch – reached during his Jerusalem pilgrimage (Acts 8:26-39)
- Cornelius and the “God-fearing” Gentiles – embraced the gospel when preached (Acts 10)
- Lydia and women by the river – believed and were baptized (Acts 16:13-15)
- The Philippian jailer – was ready to be saved (Acts 16:27-34)
In each case, God had prepared hearts to receive the seed of the gospel. Wise laborers recognized and acted on these unique opportunities. The harvest was plentiful in concentrated moments, demanding availability and focus from Kingdom reapers.
This pattern continues in missions today. God opens unique windows of receptivity, often in the wake of tragedy, societal change, miracles, or new freedom. Laborers who are tuned to the Spirit’s leading can reap spiritual harvest that otherwise may be lost. We must pray for wisdom to recognize and urgently seize ripe opportunities around us.
7. Participate in God’s harvest mission
Jesus’ exhortation remains relevant for all believers. It is easy to think that reaping God’s spiritual harvest is solely for those called to vocational ministry. But Jesus’ words should stir every disciple to recognize their personal responsibility to advance God’s mission.
As those given new life through faith in Christ, we have each received mercy that we did not deserve. A ripe field existed in our own heart that God graciously gathered into His Kingdom. We experienced firsthand being brought in from darkness, transformed to bear good fruit in season.
Having freely received, we are called to freely give (Matthew 10:8). Our Lord invites us to partner and participate in His continuing mission to reap precious souls. We may not be primary harvesters as full-time ministers, but we can certainly assist – praying, giving, witnessing, and discipling others toward faith.
Ask the Lord to open your eyes to the fields ripe for harvest all around you. Co-workers, neighbors, relatives, and nations abroad need workers to go to them with the bread of life. Purpose to be a laborer, however small your role may be. The plentiful harvest continues. God desires every willing hand.
8. Workers empowered and sent by God
A final lesson relates to how workers are empowered for ministry. When Jesus saw the crowds as a plentiful harvest needing more laborers, His solution was prayer to the Lord of the harvest to “send out workers.”
Jesus recognized that only God could appoint, equip, and direct the workforce needed for Kingdom harvest. This remains true today. Spiritual gifting, passion, wisdom, and empowerment for ministry come only from the Spirit whom the Father sends in Jesus’ name (John 14:26).
The qualifications Paul gave Timothy and Titus for church overseers emphasize character and Spirit-produced virtue, not worldly charisma or credentials (1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:6-9). God uses the “weak and foolish” things to display His surpassing power (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).
This does not negate the importance of theology training and ministry skills development. But at its foundation, Kingdom ministry relies on the Spirit’s gifting and enabling. Academics and professionals cannot substitute. Ministry that bears eternal fruit flows from abiding in Christ (John 15:5).
Let us heed Jesus’ command to pray for more laborers. Only God can raise up more workers from the harvest field itself – equipped with compassion, faith, and power from on high. May we see more disciples sent out into the harvest, for God’s glory and the salvation of many. The fields are still ripe.