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Gospel: Mt. 9:32-38
A demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus,
and when the demon was driven out the mute man spoke.
The crowds were amazed and said,
“Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”
But the Pharisees said,
“He drives out demons by the prince of demons.”
Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness.
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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There’s nothing that pained the Lord more than human suffering. Throughout his life, Jesus was moved in his very innards with pity for those who were sick, weak, hungry, sorrowful, and lost.
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Consider his reaction to the widow of Nain. Seeing her son being carried out of town to his grave overwhelmed the Lord with such sadness that he interrupted the caravan and touched the man’s coffin, commanding him to come back to life.
Or at the sight of lepers who, banished from society, incited fear in everyone who saw them. Instead of running away from such fearful creatures, Jesus embraced them, skin to skin.
And in today’s Gospel, Jesus is moved with pity for the “crowds,” who represent not a single individual, but all of humanity. I can only imagine how troubled he must’ve felt that he didn’t have the time to minister to every individual on a case-by-case basis.
But instead of throwing his arms up in surrender – as we are sometimes tempted to do ourselves – Jesus turns to his disciples inviting them to participate in his ministry.
“The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few,” he says, “so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”
This marks the beginning of Jesus sharing his power with his disciples, a decision you might say driven by God’s compassion for and pity on humanity.
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Here we find the beautiful, yet deeply challenging, truth of Christianity: Jesus only lived long enough in this world to model for us how we are to respond to suffering.
Not like the religious authorities of his day, who turned religion into a handicap and refused to help the weak and vulnerable in society. Rather, we are to become limbs of Christ himself, continuing the work he started.
Unfortunately, so much of the pain and suffering in this world continues – not because God is unaware or deaf to the cries of the poor – but because some allow a film of indifference to cover their eyes.
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It’s been said a “saint” is simply someone who allows Christ to work through them.
May we all be “saints,” allowing the compassion of Christ to stir us in our innards, allowing his power and mercy to come alive through us. What might that look like today?
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Image credits: (1) The Calling of the Apostles, Domenico Ghirlandaio (2) Jesus Follower (3) The Essential Challenge of Christianity, Word on Fire