06/14/2026

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, to him who loves us and has washed us clean from our sins with his own blood and made us to be a kingdom of priests to serve God and his Father.

To him be all glory and honor and dominion forever and ever.

Amen.

So it's the third Sunday after Pentecost, and summer is just about here.

But fall is only a season away.

It's just around the corner.

And fall suggests that there is a harvest time.

When those whose planted fields are ripe and they're set out to reap what was sown during the springtime.

What a beautiful metaphor our Lord Jesus uses when he's discussing his purpose and his plan for his apostles in the Gospel of Matthew.

What else is necessary but for the harvest to be harvested?

But it's interesting.

Jesus has specific and direct instructions, and these instructions are not for everyone, but only for the twelve apostles.

And why the specificity?

And why only the apostles at this point?

And what about their ministry instruction?

Why only the house of Israel?

What are they to preach and do?

Maybe a better question is this.

Who here is really doing the doing?

Is it them?

Or is it Jesus through them?

Just as the Father sent the Son, so then does the Son send out the twelve.

And the twelve are Jesus' apostles, his sent ones.

And Jesus is sending them forth because when he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.

So herein lies the truth behind what Jesus is doing.

Our compassionate Lord sends out laborers into his harvest to reap what he himself has sown.

Sometimes it's difficult for us to understand our Lord's words and his actions in Scripture.

We often think of ourselves in light of the text, and most often we're guilty of asking, well, what about me?

We want to know where we fit into the picture or where we stand out.

And in the case of this particular text in Scripture, we want to know why Jesus only sent the disciples, the apostles, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and not the Gentiles, which means us.

Make no mistake, you too are lost, harassed, and helpless.

You're a sinner because of your inborn sinful nature, all the sins you have committed since.

You two are helpless against the infirmities of the world, bad days, even persecution of the world against Christians.

You two are harassed by the devil and all his lies in your daily lives.

And without Jesus, you two are a sheep without a shepherd.

You too need healing and salvation.

Each of you, as baptized members of the body of Christ, you also need to repent and drown the old Adam daily, just to be raised up to the new man in Christ by his Holy Spirit.

But this text isn't about you, it's about what Jesus is doing.

Jesus' sending here is unique in this gospel lesson.

It's specific because he has a specific purpose in mind.

God's plan is perfect, and he knows exactly what he's doing.

Salvation is definitely for all of mankind, but here, here in this text, he brings us along according to his own timeline, according to his own plan and purpose, not ours.

And it was the same with the twelve disciples.

Jesus had many disciples, not just twelve or twenty-four, but many, many more.

And a vast majority of Jesus' disciples had been with him for some time now and watched as Jesus had gone along, just like the text says, throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every affliction and disease.

His disciples witnessed his miracles, his authority, and his compassion.

They were catechized under his instruction.

They were his students, he was their rabbi.

And as they continued to witness these things, they witnessed the people who would come to believe in Jesus.

He was the Messiah.

He was the Holy One of God, the one prophesied to come.

And they listened to him.

In Matthew's gospel, the apostle records Jesus having compassion.

And then, and then saying to his disciples, 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.

All right, first of all, this word compassion is very unique.

Because in its original language in the New Testament, it has a special connotation to it.

The Greek word for it means to be moved by someone's inward parts, by the guts.

It's thought that the liver, the stomach, the intestines were all the seat of one's emotions.

And that's what this word means.

To be deeply moved to compassion by one's insides.

It's God that has compassion for mankind and moves him to send his only son to be our Savior.

And here, Jesus, the Son of God, is so deeply moved with compassion because of the state of his people, because they were stricken, smitten, and afflicted, they were harassed and helpless.

So Jesus instructs his disciples to pray.

But it's not because their prayers contain some kind of magic power.

Or that if he got enough people praying, it would change the direction of the universe.

And not because their prayers could somehow persuade God to relent and maybe do something he wasn't really willing to do in the first place.

So why then would he command them to pray?

So that in their prayers they too would see the desperate state in which sin had crippled mankind and sentenced them all to death, and therefore share in this compassion that the Lord has for his people.

They needed the gospel.

Just as you too need the gospel.

As Christ has compassion, so they must also be united with him in his compassion for his people.

Make no mistake, Jesus is the Lord of the harvest.

Isn't that interesting?

However, because Jesus and the Father are one, Jesus is the one who responds directly to his own instruction to pray.

And then he calls out the twelve from among his disciples to be sent out into the harvest.

And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal every disease and every affliction.

Then in the very next phrase, Saint Matthew calls them the twelve apostles.

That means sent ones.

They're ambassadors.

These twelve are sent as ambassadors of Christ for reconciliation.

They didn't go of their own accord by their own decision, nor did they act on their own authority.

But rather they are sent on behalf of Christ with Jesus' authority.

And we know it's Jesus' authority, because he tells his disciples at the end of Matthew, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

And so this is the authority that the apostles go out with.

And what are they to do, by the way?

Well, none other than what Christ Himself has done, proclaiming the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, casting out demons.

They are ambassadors of Christ.

They go out doing as Christ did.

They are sent out as workers to the field of the harvest.

But in this text, Jesus defines the perimeters of their harvest, their missionary journey, if you will.

He tells them, Go nowhere among the Gentiles, enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Don't forget, Jesus had already gone throughout all the cities and villages, teaching and preaching repentance and spreading the gospel.

Now they are sent to gather what was already sown.

You see how that works?

The apostles proclaim the same kingdom of heaven is at hand, because only Jesus brings the kingdom of heaven with him.

Where the king is, there the kingdom is also, as the king brings both judgment and reconciliation.

The harvesters harvest with the very same message that the field was sown with, that grace, mercy, and peace had come to them in the person and work of Jesus, just like it comes to you.

Jesus continues to do the doing through those who are sent.

The ones who heard Jesus, they hear his sent ones.

If they receive the apostles, they have received Jesus.

The apostles are to preach the same message.

Jesus' message is the apostles' message.

Their message of repentance and forgiveness, given on account of Jesus, on account of the Christ, is the purpose.

So this is the same grace that Jesus speaks about at the very end of this text.

You received without pain, give without pay.

But make no mistake, this is not about them earning their living by preaching the gospel.

We know this because a few verses later in the chapter of Matthew, Jesus instructs the twelve to take no money with them because the laborer deserves his food.

Because they're supposed to be supported by the hearers of their ministry.

So when Jesus says, you received without pain, give without pay, he's telling the apostles to give what they have received freely by grace.

That is, the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God through Christ who sent them.

With this same word and work of Jesus, they harvest the people who are ripe to receive the gospel and bring them to the Lord of the harvest.

All right.

But Pastor, what about the Gentiles?

What about their need for a Savior?

What about us?

Make no mistake, you're not forgotten.

Our Lord is compassionate.

Saint Matthew records Jesus' final commission to the apostles just before the ascension.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

Dear baptized, God's compassion was not only towards the house of Israel, but to the Gentiles as well.

God's compassion has been made known through all of mankind, through the whole of time, and our Lord, well, he's had compassion on you this very day.

As you witnessed our Lord's compassion for Matt.

For as he is gathered amongst the Lord's baptized here and renamed with the name of Christ, he has reminded all of you of your sinful, harassed, helpless state from which you cannot pull yourself out of.

For he also baptized all of you and washed away your sins and delivered to you his Holy Spirit, and he has gathered you into his harvest.

This message is for the unchurched and the church alike.

That while we are still sinners, Christ died for us.

And this is why our Lord sends harvesters out into the harvest.

This is why you sent the apostles on their missionary journey then, and this is why our Lord sends workers out into his harvest now through his church to preach salvation through Christ alone.

People need the gospel.

They need Jesus.

They need Christ and Him crucified for the forgiveness of sins in word and sacrament.

You need to hear that you are forgiven on account of Jesus.

Therefore, I tell you all of your sins are forgiven you in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

Now the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Amen.