Jesus' Great Compassion Leads Laborers Forth, Matthew 9:35-38, Acts 1:1-8

When Jesus is healing and teaching in the Gospel of Matthew, we hear of his looking upon the crowds with compassion and calling upon his disciples to pray for God the Father to raise up laborers to go into this harvest of people who need the Good Shepherd. This passage is part of our readings for World Mission Sunday and reminds us that as we pray for laborers, the Lord can call us into the very work we are praying for.

Image: Sent to Sheep without a Shepherd, picture by Lawrence OP, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, no changes made. Image location: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/50003858018/

Jesus' Mission, Our Mission, Matthew 9.35-38

In our Gospel today, Jesus goes about teaching, proclaiming, and healing. He does this as he looks upon the crowds with deep compassion. How does this come down to us today? What does Jesus’ response teach us about our own condition? What does Jesus’ actions toward our condition mean for us in response?

Image: Jesus preaching before a crowd, woodcut. Part of the Wellcome Collection. Image location: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christ_preaching_before_a_crowd._Woodcut._Wellcome_V0034716.jpg and https://wellcomecollection.org/works/svbe5hgz?wellcomeImagesUrl=/indexplus/image/V0034716.html License: CC BY 4.0, No changes made.