Bible Passage: Matthew 9:35-10:8
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: June 18, 2023

Due to a technical difficulty – we were unstable to record the June 18 worship service. We apologize. The printed sermon is below.

Bulletin June 18, 2023

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

When he saw the crowds, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were troubled and downcast, like sheep without a shepherd. (v. 36)  This is indeed an endearing description of Jesus.  Can you picture what it describes?  Wherever Jesus went, large crowds would gather.  The sick and the diseased and the crippled would come, hoping to get their moment with Jesus.  When Jesus saw these suffering people, his heart went out to them.

The word translated as “moved with compassion” is splanchnidzomai.  Its root is “splanchna.”  Your “splanchna” are your innards, your guts.  A really rough translation of the word might be “to feel it in your gut.”  Jesus felt it in his gut when he looked at the suffering people. They were troubled and downcast like sheep without a shepherd.  The words for “troubled” and “downcast” mean “skinned” and “scattered.” He felt it in his gut because he knew better than anyone that all this suffering was the result of sin in this world.

Jesus wanted to be a shepherd for these skinned and scattered sheep.  So he ministered to them.  And not only did he personally minister to them, but he established the ministry that continues to minister to skinned and scattered sheep.  It is the Ministry that Pushes Sin Back.

Just listen again to the description of Jesus’ ministry to skinned and scattered sheep:  Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. (v. 35)  We notice first of all that Jesus’ ministry was a busy ministry.  He moved about.  He traveled.  The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost!

And wherever he went, he found hurting and suffering sheep.  Jesus encountered people with leprosy and paralysis.  He found blind and deaf sheep.  The root cause of all this suffering was always the same:  sin.  The curse of sin is why viruses infect our bodies and our imperfect immune systems sometimes cannot fight them off.  Sin is why mutations sometimes exist on certain genes in human DNA and cause birth defects or diseases later in life.  The curse of sin is why sometimes cells begin to grow out of control in our bodies and become malignancy, malignancy that is sometimes terminal.  Sin is why accidents can happen and spinal cord damage occurs so that arms and legs become paralyzed.   All of this suffering is due to sin in the world.  This suffering broke Jesus’ heart.  So he pushed it back.  With a word, with a touch, he healed broken bodies.  His was a ministry of undoing sin.

But Jesus’ ministry was more than must ministry to the body.  It was, more importantly, ministry to the soul.  Our text tells us that Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom.  He preached good news.  He undid sin with Good News!  We think of the story of the man who was paralyzed and whose friends let him down through the roof on ropes right in front of Jesus.  Jesus was moved in his guts as he looked at this man.  And then he said the most caring, compassionate thing possible.  My son, be of good cheer!  Your sins are forgiven!  Good news!  He healed the man’s soul.  He pushed back this man’s guilt.  Jesus dispensed forgiveness for souls because he himself would fill a reservoir of forgiveness with his own blood, shed on Calvary’s cross.  And in this reservoir there is forgiveness enough for every sinner!  This was the ministry of Jesus!  Pushing back the guilt and curse of sin wherever he went!

So great is Jesus’ compassion for skinned and scattered sheep that he provided a ministry to serve them moving forward.  In our text, Jesus calls attention to the magnitude of the work.  The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Therefore pray that the Lord of the harvest will send out workers into the harvest. (v. 37-38)  Maybe the disciples nodded, “Yup, we should do that.”  Then Jesus says, “Come here.  Prayers have been answered!  You’re the answer!”  And he sends them out.

Did you notice the instructions Jesus gave them?  First of all, their’s was a “limited” call.  Just go to Israel at this time.  The global command would come later.  As you go, preach this message, ‘The kingdom of heaven is near!’ Heal the sick.  Raise the dead.  Cleanse lepers.  Drive out demons. (v. 7-8)  It was ministry that sounds and looks an awful lot like Jesus’ own ministry.  It was to be ministry that pushes back sin.

That is the gospel ministry to this day.  Oh, it is true, the early apostles had authority to do miracles.  These miracles got people’s attention so the apostles could give them the Gospel.  We do not look to ministers today for miracles.  But we do – and should –  look to them for the Gospel of the Kingdom.  And that is what ministry is to be about.  It is ministry born of splanchnidomai, guts that hurt for lost souls!  It is the proclamation of Jesus.  It is dispensing forgiveness from that limitless reservoir of his blood.  It is ministry that pushes back sin, and death, and the devil.

Did you notice who the “ministers” were in our text?  They are named by name.  Look at who they are!  There’s fishermen, and a tax man, and a political zealot.  These are just ordinary guys called by Jesus to bring the Gospel to skinned and scattered souls.  Jesus does the same to this day.  There is nothing angelic or spectacular about ministers.  We are just ordinary people who preach good news that pushes sin back.  We are as much recipients of Jesus’ forgiveness as those to whom we preach.  My young brothers in Jesus, have you thought about being a pastor?

We notice Jesus’ concluding words.  Freely you have received, freely give. (10:8) The ministry was never meant to be a sideshow attraction.  “Step right up and pay your money!”  The ministry is not pay-per-view.  It is about Jesus.  Jesus, freely received.  Jesus, freely given.  Jesus, who has reconciled us to God, and has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation.

Amen.