Here are the notes and discussion questions from last nights LightHouse:
1. What is the gospel?
2. What is compassion? What are we to show compassion for and why?
We all know that the gospel is good news and yet we find evangelism hard. Do I have to say something or is simply living a good life enough? What do I say to someone who asks what happens if they don’t believe? Is it loving or necessary to talk about sin and hell?
1. Catching compassion
‘Speed of the leader speed of the team’ it’s one of those phrases used in our society isn’t it, **what does it mean?
But it is also a phrase that is true in the bible. When Joshua dies Israel enters the spiritual dark ages without his leadership, until God raises up judges who rescue Israel and lead them to God, but then that judge dies Israel fall back until again they cry out for rescue and God sends another leader and so on. We see it again in Kings, godly kings lead Israel to faithfulness and evil kings lead Israel to wickedness and idolatry.
Again and again the bible describes Israel as being like sheep and its leaders as shepherds, the shepherd’s job is to guard and lead the sheep. As Jesus sees the crowd **how does he react to them(36)? “he had compassion on them” Jesus is deeply moved by the state of the people **why? “because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” They aren’t being guided to God or protected and kept. But Jesus doesn’t just pick this farming imagery out of the air.
Turn to Ezekiel 34:1-6 God speaks against Israel’s leaders who don’t care for the sheep but themselves, who haven’t healed or strengthened the sick and who have failed to seek the lost. So (7-13)God is against the shepherds, God will judge and hold them accountable. But wonderfully God also promises that he himself will be his peoples shepherd, he will seek and rescue the lost, he will heal the sick and provide.
As Jesus uses that phrase sheep without a shepherd he is comparing the religious leaders of his day with those of Ezekiel’s day. Just as in Ezekiel’s day they have not sought the lost, just look back at 9v3 where they are horrified at Jesus forgiving sins, or 9v11 where they are appalled at Jesus welcoming Matthew, or v34 where they accuse him of being demon possessed. Jesus comes as the shepherd with God’s compassion for the lost sheep and his desire to shepherd and tend Israel on his heart, and Israel’s leaders reject him.
It isn’t the first time that Jesus has been spoken of as a shepherd, 2:6 “But you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” Notice the connection between kingship and being a shepherd. God’s king was to be like a shepherd in his care of his people. 26:31 as Jesus predicts Peter’s denial he quotes Zechariah “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.” Jesus is the Shepherd King who will be struck, the shepherd whose compassion for his people and desire to see the lost found will ultimately lead him to the cross.
Jesus here sees Israel’s need, they need Jesus as shepherd because they are lost and wandering and in danger.
But (37)there is a second problem **what is it? “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” Here is the second problem Israel need to know about Jesus, in order to do that workers need to go out into the field and work. The religious leaders won’t point to Jesus in fact they oppose him and Jesus can’t reach everybody himself. Just look at v35 where has Jesus been? "all the towns and villages...” But that is just Galilee and there are hundreds more where he has not been so there need to be more people to tell about Jesus or they never will hear about Jesus.
Do you see how Jesus sees Israel? They are not spiritually ok, they are not nice people and therefore safe, they desperately need to hear about him, they desperately need telling that the shepherd king has come just as God promised.
How do we see our nation? How do we see our neighbourhood or village? Or friends? Do we share Jesus compassion? Are we moved by their need of Jesus? We need to see as Jesus sees – sheep without a shepherd, people in desperate need of hearing the gospel. Not swallow the lie of our multicultural society that there is no truth and everyone will be ok in the end.
Only if we see people as they really are in all their need will we be filled with compassion for them. If we think they are ok then we won’t feel compassion for them. The harvest is ready but we won’t go out with the good news instead we will make excuses not to go. We are to share God’s compassion for the lost.
2. Compassion that compels
But notice that Jesus doesn’t just feel bad and lament the situation he finds himself in. He is not like so many people today who see the images on their news screens of disaster and devastation and feel bad say ‘oh that’s horrible’ and then turn over to be entertained on a different channel instead. Jesus compassion moves him to action, he does three things, **what is the first one (v38)?
a. Prayer
Jesus tells his disciples to pray. A right response to realising the spiritual need of people to hear about Jesus is first and foremost to ask God to send out workers. The order is important, Jesus isn’t saying do nothing as we’ll see but he is saying we must bring that need to God. Compassion drives us to pray. Now we know that God shares our concern and compassion, in fact as we pray we are simply showing that we share his concern and compassion for the lost.
It is not that we pray and then do nothing but that we do nothing without prayer. And notice **what we are to pray for? Workers, we are to pray for people not programmes, it is people who tell others about Jesus. Prayer must be our first resort and reaction. Compassion leads us to pray to God whose heart beats in love for the lost, to ask him to send out workers.
I think sometimes we don’t pray because we aren’t convinced prayer works. Have you ever stopped and thought about how utterly amazing it is that the gospel got from Matthew 9 to here, to you? Have you thought about how utterly unlikely it is and how God has worked so you have heard the gospel? The twelve go out across Galilee, then after Jesus resurrection at Pentecost the Holy Spirit’s empowered preaching sees the church grow, that early church continues its mission driven out by persecution. Then down through the centuries thousands have given their lives to pass on the good news of Jesus to others who in turn passed it on. Then you think of the work of the reformation, of men like Wycliffe to translate the bible into a language even the plough boy could understand, then others who gave their life to stand for the gospel in Britain. It is utterly astounding that the good news of Jesus goes from Matthew 9 and 12 men in Galilee to us today and across the world. And what is the one constant, it is prayer. God does above and beyond what we can possibly imagine as he spreads his gospel through his people, some significant enough in the worlds eyes to be recorded in history but millions who quietly took their stand, passed on the gospel and went home to glory. That ought to fuel our praying. Prayer is key to the spread of the gospel.
b. Appointed to proclaim
**What happens next? (1-8)Jesus appoints and authorises the Apostles to be the very workers that he has told them to pray for. In a very real sense they are the answer to their own prayers. They are to go to the lost sheep and tell them about Jesus, that the shepherd king has come (7)to tell them the kingdom is near because the king is here. And they are to do all the signs that Jesus has been doing as proof, not to point to themselves but to authenticate their words which point to Jesus.
That poses a question doesn’t it, is that the norm? Should we be healing, casting out demons etc... as we share the gospel? As we read that didn’t you think that would make it more effective? Wouldn’t more people listen? Lets deal with the last question first we’ve seen in Matthew gospel that the miracles are witnesses to the truth of who Jesus is and that sometimes they are a distraction to people who want miracles not the message.
We also need to recognise that this, in Matthew 10, is a significant in-breaking moment for the kingdom, this is the initial proclamation to a people who have been waiting for the Messiah and it is fulfilling bible promises to people who are looking for these signs. The Apostles are also foundational to the church, it is their words we have in scripture their testimony and witness. We do not have modern day apostles in this sense.
Biblically just as there is heightened opposition to Jesus so around Jesus ministry there is a heightened sense of the miraculous. Reading the Old Testament simply makes you more astounded at the sheer amount of miraculous activity that Jesus does and authorizes. In Jesus ministry something unique is happening. Even in Acts the miraculous seems to tail off, in letters to the churches Paul, Peter, James and John do not seem to expect the same level of miracles.
Now miracles do happen and it is right for us to pray for them, but we ought not to expect them on this scale, and they are not necessary to authenticate the gospel for us.
And the big point is that the miracles always point to Jesus that is their purpose to proclaim that the shepherd king is here to the lost sheep of Israel.
c. Pattern of proclamation
Jesus also gives a pattern of ministry. **What reaction are the Apostles to expect? Acceptance or rejection and they are to respect such reactions though they are aware of the fearful results of them(15). They are not to keep on hammering away at those who reject the good news until they accept it they are to move on.
But it also sets a pattern of provision. Where the good news about Jesus is welcomed those who welcome it are to provide for those preaching the gospel, hence the apostles not taking provisions. It is right that we who have heard the good news and responded to it provide for those who work to preach the gospel, we do so to free them up to proclaim Jesus well.
Jesus compassion for the lost sheep leads him to multiply ministers and to prepare the harvesters. He equips and trains his disciples to reach the lost. Because understanding the gospel, its need and its consequences produces compassion which compels us to pray and to proclaim.
1. What dulls our sense of compassion and urgency about sharing the gospel?
2. Are we to proclaim the gospel in word or deed? Why?
3. “I work hard to pay the minister to do the work of proclamation, he is the professional, so that I don’t have to.” What would you say to someone who said this?
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