In Matt 9:35-38, the Lord is busy. He is traveling from city to city, preaching in synagogues and healing people.  

As He ministers to the crowds, we are told that He was: “moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.” 

In making this comment, the Lord was making an observation about the failures of Israel’s leaders. They should have been shepherding the people, but the reality was that the people were suffering due to the absence of sound leadership. Like vulnerable sheep, the people were spiritually in need of guidance but weren’t finding it in the synagogues or the temple. Institutional religion was failing them. In response, the Lord turned to His disciples and made a profound statement: 

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matt 9:37-38) 

The issue was not what was to be metaphorically harvested. There were people—the potential harvest—who were willing to listen, and their need was great. The problem was the shortage of leaders, or “shepherds.” The Lord lived in a time when the religious leaders were corrupt, evil men who weren’t taking care of the people, but instead using them to serve their own interests. Of course, we have similar issues today. How should we respond?

The Lord provided the example. He turned to the disciples and instructed them to pray. This stands in contrast to how people usually respond to this issue. Instead of recruitment or marketing schemes, the Lord called for prayer, so that the Father, or “the Lord of the Harvest,” would supply the right leadership. The Lord didn’t tell the disciples that they needed to organize a new program or build a pipeline for recruits. This would have undoubtedly brought many people seeking the job. Instead, He told the disciples to pray that God would supply good shepherds. 

There is nothing new under the sun. The problems the Lord faced, that the prophets faced, and that we face today are the same. If we look to the spiritual leaders of our day and assume that they are all solid shepherds, spiritually healthy and faithful, we are saying that our situation is better than that of those in the past. We need to face the fact that we are no exception. The Lord’s words speak to the fact that good and godly shepherds are scarce.  

The people of Jesus’ day were surrounded by scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and teachers of the Law. This is noteworthy, for the issue was not a lack of leadership, but a superfluity of the wrong kind of leadership. We can find leaders; the question is whether they are qualified to lead.  

Biblically, this is the norm rather than the exception. From the prophets to the Gospels, God consistently indicts leadership for corruption, self-interest, fear of man, and failure to care for the flock. To assume that our generation is the exception to the rule, that a surplus of faithful leaders surrounds us, is not optimism; it is naïveté. Scripture trains us to expect that true shepherds will be few, costly to find, and often opposed by the religious establishment. 

Sadly, the result is that the multitude suffers. If we look around today as the Lord did in His day, we will find a similar situation. For example, most in Christendom do not teach the assurance of salvation. The result is that many in the pews live in fear and doubt. Most “shepherds” teach that repentance and works are required for eternal life. The result is that people are under a works-based framework and are unaware that eternal life is a gift. As we look out upon the world, the same suffering and lack of guidance permeate it. The laborers are few. 

How should we respond to this very real problem? The solution is the same one Jesus taught His disciples: Pray to the Lord of the Harvest! He is moved with compassion for the flock, and our Good Sheperd desires that His sheep be taken care of properly.