Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20130213.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Matthew: Jesus As Israel's Messiah And His Kingdom
Part XIV: Christ As Israel's Messiah By His Authority, Matthew 8:1-11:1
K. Christ As Israel's Messiah By His Response To God's Afflicted Flock
(Matthew 9:35-38)
  1. Introduction
    1. In Ezekiel 34:1-31, God's prophet denounced Israel's false shepherds, her kings and false prophets who did not protect or provide for His people's needs, and he also predicted God's own Good Shepherd's arrival to restore Israel, detailed predictions to be fulfilled in the Messianic Kingdom.
    2. Consequently, Israel had become "scattered because there is no shepherd" (Ezekiel 34:5), leaving them as defenseless sheep to become a "prey" to their destructive foes (Ezekiel 34:8).
    3. Jesus Christ saw this state of Israel's people in His day, He was deeply moved over it, and He worked as the Good Shepherd, the Messiah to correct it in line with Ezekiel's prophecy in Matthew 9:35-38:
  2. Christ As Israel's Messiah By His Response To God's Afflicted Flock, Matthew 9:35-38.
    1. When Jesus went about all the cities and villages of Israel, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom and healing all their diseases, multitudes of people followed Him, Matt . 9:35-36a.
    2. When He saw the multitudes, in fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy on God as Israel's Good Shepherd (Ezekiel 34:11-31), Jesus reacted as the Old Testament had predicted, but with an added application to us:
      1. Jesus was "moved with compassion on them," Matt. 9:36b, the verb "moved with compassion" being splagchnizomai, "moved as to the splagchna, the entrails, intestines," Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 770; Moulton & Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Grk. N. T., 1972, p. 584).
      2. Since the intestines were considered the seat of one's emotions (Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich), Matthew reports that the Lord Jesus was very deeply emotionally moved at the plight of the multitudes He saw.
      3. What so galled Jesus was the distressed state of so many as noted in Ezekiel 34:5-8, Matt. 9:36c,d,e:
        1. Jesus saw that the people were "weary, harassed" (eskulmenos, perfect passive participle of skullo, Ibid., p. 765). The participle is a perfect passive, revealing that failure on the part of Israel's leaders to direct the people to the blessings of God due to their self-centered abuse of the people for their own gain and fame had led to their wide abuses of the people, Matt. 9:36c. (cf. Matthew 23:2-7, 14)
        2. Jesus also saw that the people, likened here to sheep, were figuratively "lying down" (erriptoun, perfect passive participle of hripto, Ibid., p. 743-744), Matt. 9:36d. The perfect passive participle reveals that, as sheep when attacked by predators out of sheer fear lie down helplessly before their attackers, Israel's leaders had intimidated the crowds into submission, cf. John 7:12-13; 9:18-22.
        3. Jesus thus saw the people as sheep without a providing, protecting shepherd, Matthew 9:36e.
      4. Accordingly, the Lord Jesus reacted with a great appeal to His followers on discipling, Matt. 9:37-38:
        1. Likening the needy crowds to a harvest field of souls in need of being gathered in from the field of the oppressive world to the safe grain bins of God's salvation and blessing, Jesus observed that the harvest of needy souls was "much" and "great" ( polus, Ibid., p. 694-696), Matthew 9:37a. The need to save people from oppression and fear in God's grace was as expansive as it was intense.
        2. Yet, the workmen (ergates, Ibid., p. 307) for the task were few (oligos, Ibid., p. 566), creating a need for more qualified workmen to address the vast, deep needs of the throngs, Matt hew 9:37b.
        3. Jesus then offered the solution in Matthew 9:38: Christ's disciples, including we followers of Christ today, are to "beg" (deomai, Ibid., p. 174) the Lord of the harvest, God the Father, to "send out, away" ( ekballo, Ibid., p. 236-237) workmen (ergates again, Ibid., p. 307) into His crop that is to be harvested (therismos, Ibid., p. 360). In other words, Jesus urged His people to beseech God the Father to send forth to those very needy throngs believers to disciple them into God's salvation!
Lesson: The world is full of throngs of very deeply oppressed individuals in need of salvation from oppressive false religions into God's rich grace, but the workmen to accomplish this task are few. Christ calls us to beg God in prayer to send out workmen to address this colossal need.

Application: May we see the need of the world's lost throngs, and may we heed Christ in addressing it.