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.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” 

Matthew 9:35 – 38

As Jesus healed the sick he proclaimed “the good news of the kingdom.”  As I see it, his healing ministry opened the door to a deeper understanding of what was happening.  Certainly the healings were wonderful but what Jesus proclaimed was ever more so. He spoke, again and again, of the good news of the Kingdom.  This was the central theme of Jesus’ ministry.  Healings are good but all are temporary, of course.  That which stands eternally is the kingdom of God.

Matthew notes that the people “were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus offered them life in the Kingdom he came to establish. It is for just such people.  He offers to be their shepherd, like a new flock of those who need God desperately and who are hungry and thirsting after righteousness.  Nothing in Jewish life at the time even faintly resembled the kingdom that Jesus came to establish.  There were many “schools of thought” and “points of view,” all competing for attention. Some saw salvation as throwing off the yoke of the Roman Empire.  At the other end of the spectrum were those who, like John the Baptist, saw withdrawal as the way to go.  It certainly did resemble a restless field of sheep who had many little shepherds, but no Shepherd of all.  Jesus is offering them an invitation to come to his flock where he takes care of all.  That is the Kingdom that he both proclaimed and established.

Jesus knew how difficult it was going to be to establish this Kingdom of God.  He could not possibly do it alone.  So, as chapter 9 closes Jesus enters a new phase of his ministry in which the Kingdom of God could begin to take shape in the minds of the people who were hurting and needy.  His call goes out for laborers to enter this new harvest.