Show Don't Tell: Matthew 9:35-38

Instead of saying "Jesus had compassion on the crowds," see what he saw. Jesus goes through all the towns and villages, teaching, preaching, healing. Everywhere he looks: crowds. But he doesn't see numbers or problems or interruptions. He sees sheep without a shepherd—harassed, helpless, stumbling, vulnerable to wolves. Something moves in his gut: compassion. The Greek word means his intestines churned. Then he turns to his disciples: "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." Fields white for harvest, grain falling unharvested. "Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." The solution to overwhelming need? Prayer for more laborers. The disciples are about to become the answer to their own prayers.