Then said he to his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few;
The harvest.
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Luke 10:2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.
but.
Psalm 68:11 The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.
1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
2 Corinthians 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
The harvest is plentiful
The metaphor of the harvest is rich with Old Testament imagery, often used to describe God's gathering of His people (e.g., Isaiah 27:12, Joel 3:13). In an agrarian society, the harvest represents a time of abundance and fulfillment. Spiritually, it signifies the readiness of people to receive the Gospel. Jesus is indicating that there is a vast number of people prepared to hear and accept the message of the Kingdom. This phrase underscores the urgency and opportunity present in Jesus' ministry and the ongoing mission of the Church.
But the workers are few
This phrase highlights a critical issue: the lack of sufficient laborers to gather the spiritual harvest. Historically, this reflects the small number of Jesus' followers at the time compared to the vast population needing to hear the Gospel. It also serves as a call to action for believers to engage in evangelism and discipleship. The scarcity of workers is a recurring theme in the New Testament, urging the Church to pray for and raise up more laborers (see Luke 10:2). This shortage emphasizes the need for commitment and dedication among Jesus' followers to fulfill the Great Commission.
– Jesus is addressing those already committed to following Him, reminding us that revelation often comes after relationship.
– Cross references woven in:
• In John 15:15 Jesus also speaks intimately to His disciples, calling them friends and revealing the Father’s will.
• Luke 10:23-24 shows another moment when He turns privately to the disciples to explain kingdom realities.
– Takeaway: when Christ speaks to His own, it is both instruction and invitation to action.
– Jesus describes the world as a ripe field ready for gathering souls into God’s kingdom (John 4:35, “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest.”).
– Plentiful means abundance:
• Isaiah 60:3 foretells nations coming to God’s light.
• Acts 2:41 records three thousand harvested in one day after the Spirit empowers witness.
– Practical implications:
• God’s saving work is expansive, not scarce.
• We should expect openness and fruit when we proclaim the gospel.
– The contrast highlights shortage on the human side, never on God’s side.
– Supporting passages:
• 1 Corinthians 3:9, “We are God’s fellow workers,” underscoring our role.
• Romans 10:14-15 asks how people can believe unless someone is sent.
– Causes of few laborers can include fear (2 Timothy 1:7), distraction (Mark 4:19), or ignorance of the need (Ezekiel 33:6).
– Encouragements:
• God multiplies impact through even a few willing servants (Judges 7:7).
• He equips those He calls (Hebrews 13:20-21).
Matthew 9:37 declares that while God has prepared a vast harvest of souls, He looks for committed disciples to bring it in. Jesus speaks directly to His followers, assuring them the opportunity is enormous yet underscoring the urgency of more laborers. The verse challenges every believer to see the abundance, feel the need, and step into the Lord’s field with confidence that He has already made it ready.
(37) Then saith he unto his disciples.--No where in the whole Gospel record is there a more vivid or more touching instance of the reality of our Lord's human emotions. It is not enough for Him to feel compassion Himself. He craves the sympathy of His companions and disciples, and needs even their fellowship in prayer. A great want lies before Him, and He sees that they are the right agents to meet it, if only they will pray to be made so; or, to put the case more clearly, if only they will pray that the work may be done, whether they themselves are or are not the doers of it.The harvest truly is plenteous.--This is the first occurrence in the record of the first three Gospels of the figure which was afterwards to be expanded in the two parables of the Sower and the Tares, and to reappear in the visions of the Apocalypse (Revelation 14:14-19). We find, however, from the Gospel of St. John--which here, as so often elsewhere, supplies missing links and the germs of thoughts afterwards developed--that it was not a new similitude in our Lord's teaching. Once before, among the alien Samaritans, He had seen the fields white as for the spiritual harvest of the souls of men, and had spoken of him that soweth and him that reapeth (John 4:35-36).
Verses 37, 38. - The utterance is given word for word (except one transposition) at the beginning of the address to the seventy in Luke 10:2. But while serving there as an introduction to the rest of the speech, the reason for it is so much more self-evident here that St. Matthew seems to have recorded it in its original connexion. Our Lord himself, feeling the shepherdless condition of the people, desires to call out the interest of his disciples in it. He wants them to realize both the need of the people and the possibility that lay before the workmen. Changing the metaphor, he bids them pray him, who alone has the right and power, to send more workmen to reap these fields. Verse 37. - Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest - of human souls (John 4:35-38). Truly. So also the Revised Version; too strong a rendering of μέν. Is plenteous (cf. Matthew 10:23; Bengel), but the labourers are few. Who besides himself? John the Baptist, some who had been healed, e.g. the Gadarene demoniac (Mark 5:20, possibly also the blind men of ver. 31), and perhaps a few unknown true believers. Not the twelve, for these are evidently distinguished, and only to be included under the labourers spoken of in the end of the next verse. If, however, the utterance was originally spoken to the seventy (vide supra), the reference would be to the twelve.