Harvest: What is the Harvest?

So I think it is pretty clear that the Harvest is people; or better yet the souls of the lost.  But who are the lost? Is it the murderer on death-row?  What about those who are alcoholics? Is the man or woman addicted to sex and drugs lost? The answer to put it frankly is......DUH. But that is just the tip of the iceberg.  The word "Lost" actually means, in this context, without Jesus.  Again that sounds so basic, does it not.  But is it really?

You see, Jesus came during a time when people were so caught up in doing good deeds to get to heaven (sound familiar?).  They were not "evil" people, but they failed to realize that their hope, in good deeds, was misplaced.  In the first reference passage (Matthew 9:35-38) Jesus refers to them as "sheep without a shepherd" (v. 36).

The prophet Isaiah put it in words that, I feel, make a ton of sense. In Isaiah 53:6 it says: "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way".  Can you not see what Isaiah was trying to tell us here?  He was saying that being lost is not being "evil",  but instead it is going against Gods' way and choosing our own path.  That means ANY path that isn't Gods'.

Now that we understand what a lost soul really is; does it not bring to light a couple of things? First it shows us that yes the murderer, drunk, rapist, prostitute, and the drug addicts are lost. But so are our friends at school or work, the man we pass on the street, even the person that does great charity work. If they have not accepted Jesus and repented for their sins they are lost.

So how are the lost the harvest? This can be put like this: That no matter how great a persons life may seem, they are always looking and yearning for something better. And guess what, we know what is the best path and that is Salvation in Christ Jesus.

The Harvest: Introduction

The Harvest, what is it and is it ready to be harvested?  These two questions are very basic, yet at the same time we do not pay as close attention to the answers as we should.  But why is this topic so important? What does it have to do with us as the church?  In the upcoming posts I will be going through these questions and giving my thoughts on them.  These thoughts will not be some random thing in my own mind, they are fed and based on the Word of God.  These words that you will read are inspired by the Holy Spirit.  I will be focusing on four passages of scripture. Three of them are from the very mouth of Jesus and the last one is from the Book of Revelations. 



³⁵ Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”  -  Matthew 9:35-38


¹ After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. ² He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.  -  Luke 10:1-2

³⁵ Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.  -  John 4:35

¹⁵ Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.”  -  Revelation 14:15

Please read the context that these were written as well as meditate on them.