Go into all the world!

I have been reflecting upon an article that Boyce Mouton wrote many years ago on Matthew 9:38. After meditating a bit on this scripture, I have some comments for YOUR reflection on this verse.

“pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send
forth laborers into his harvest…”

W. E. Vine in his “Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words” list 12 different Greek words all of which translate the word “send”.


In the text, Jesus asked His disciples to pray to the Lord of the harvest to “send” forth laborers. He chose to use a form of the Greek word, “ekballo” which means “throw” and “ek” before it signifies “out”. Therefore, we gather the meaning as “to throw out”. Thayer says it signifies “an included notion more or less of violence”.

This is the word the Holy Spirit uses to describe Jesus’ actions in “casting out” the moneychangers in Matthew 21:12; the word used in describing the way that Paul and Barnabas were driven out of Antioch in Pisidia (Acts 13:50); the way that Sarah wanted Abraham to cast out Hagar (Gal. 4:30); to describe the way that Jesus was “driven” into the wilderness (Mark 1:12); the way that Rahab sent out the spies (James 2:25).

So, you might be asking, ‘what’s all the fuss about in this one word?’ Well, this then is the way that our Lord sometimes “sends” forth laborers into the harvest. He finds us so utterly complacent that it is difficult for Him to get our attention.

If we are honest with ourselves, we must say that body of Christ, the church, is very complacent now days about sharing the gospel and moving into the “fields that are white unto harvest”. The Lord Jesus, therefore, lovingly increases the pressure until He gets our attention. He makes us uncomfortable. He doesn’t share in our complacency. So, He nudges, pushes, shoves until we are so uncomfortable we must act. Ultimately we are apt to find ourselves literally “thrown out” into the harvest.

Do you remember in the book of Acts how the Lord God used this strategy in moving the body of Jesus Christ, the church, out from Jerusalem into the world? In Acts 1, Jesus commanded them to “be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth”. Acts 1:8

So, after about 10 years of the Christians just hanging around Jerusalem, God turned up the pressure. In Acts 7, Stephen is stoned. In Acts 8:1 it says, “a great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem, and all the believers except the apostles fled into Judea and Samaria.” (NLT)

So, if we find ourselves very complacent, satisfied and stagnant, then be ready for some action some, on purpose pressure, from the Lord of the Harvest. He is ready, able and willing to “send” forth laborers into His harvest…WITH PRESSURE AND ON PURPOSE!

I am praying for you.