2 And he said to them, The harvest indeed [is] great, but the workmen few; supplicate therefore the Lord of the harvest that he may send out workmen into his harvest.
But when he saw the crowds he was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed, and cast away as sheep not having a shepherd. Then saith he to his disciples, The harvest [is] great and the workmen [are] few; supplicate therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth workmen unto his harvest.
for, for this we labour and suffer reproach, because we hope in a living God, who is preserver of all men, specially of those that believe.
[And] I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me power, that he has counted me faithful, appointing to ministry him who before was a blasphemer and persecutor, and an insolent overbearing [man]: but mercy was shewn me because I did it ignorantly, in unbelief. But the grace of our Lord surpassingly over-abounded with faith and love, which [is] in Christ Jesus.
For the rest, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, even as also with you;
*I* have planted; Apollos watered; but God has given the increase. So that neither the planter is anything, nor the waterer; but God the giver of the increase. But the planter and the waterer are one; but each shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are God's fellow-workmen; ye are God's husbandry, God's building.
And he said to them, Go into all the world, and preach the glad tidings to all the creation.
And I will give you shepherds according to my heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy; and say unto them, unto the shepherds, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the shepherds of Israel that feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool; ye kill them that are fattened: [but] ye feed not the flock. The weak have ye not strengthened, nor have ye healed the sick, and ye have not bound up [what was] broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought for that which was lost; but with harshness and with rigour have ye ruled over them. And they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, and were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill, and my sheep have been scattered upon all the face of the earth, and there was none that searched, or that sought for them.
Do not ye say, that there are yet four months and the harvest comes? Behold, I say to you, Lift up your eyes and behold the fields, for they are already white to harvest. He that reaps receives wages and gathers fruit unto life eternal, that both he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice together. For in this is [verified] the true saying, It is one who sows and another who reaps. I have sent you to reap that on which ye have not laboured; others have laboured, and ye have entered into their labours.
But we beg you, brethren, to know those who labour among you, and take the lead among you in [the] Lord, and admonish you,
And God has set certain in the assembly: first, apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers; then miraculous powers; then gifts of healings; helps; governments; kinds of tongues.
But [as] fellow-workmen, we also beseech that ye receive not the grace of God in vain:
But to each one of us has been given grace according to the measure of the gift of the Christ. Wherefore he says, Having ascended up on high, he has led captivity captive, and has given gifts to men. But that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same who has also ascended up above all the heavens, that he might fill all things; and *he* has given some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints; with a view to [the] work of [the] ministry, with a view to the edifying of the body of Christ;
For all seek their own things, not the things of Jesus Christ.
but I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow-workman and fellow-soldier, but your messenger and minister to my need,
Let the elders who take the lead [among the saints] well be esteemed worthy of double honour, specially those labouring in word and teaching; for the scripture says, Thou shalt not muzzle an ox that treadeth out corn, and, The workman [is] worthy of his hire.
Take thy share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one going as a soldier entangles himself with the affairs of life, that he may please him who has enlisted him as a soldier. And if also any one contend [in the games], he is not crowned unless he contend lawfully. The husbandman must labour before partaking of the fruits.
Paul, prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timotheus the brother, to Philemon the beloved and our fellow-workman,
but Christ, as Son over his house, whose house are *we*, if indeed we hold fast the boldness and the boast of hope firm to the end.
And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, *I* am Jesus whom *thou* persecutest: but rise up and stand on thy feet; for, for this purpose have I appeared to thee, to appoint thee to be a servant and a witness both of what thou hast seen, and of what I shall appear to thee in, taking thee out from among the people, and the nations, to whom *I* send thee, to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me.
And I will come down and talk with thee there; and I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, and thou shalt not bear it alone.
And Elijah said to the people, I, only I, remain a prophet of Jehovah; and Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
And the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go against Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up, and the Lord will give it into the king's hand. But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah besides, that we might inquire of him? And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Jehovah; but I hate him, for he prophesies no good concerning me, but evil: [it is] Micah the son of Imlah. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, all ye beasts in the forest. His watchmen are all of them blind, they are without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs that cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber: and the dogs are greedy, they know not to be satisfied, and these are shepherds that know not how to discern: they all turn to their own way, every one for his gain, even to the last of them: Come, [say they,] I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to-morrow shall be as this day, [and] much more abundant.
whose possessors slay them without being held guilty; and they that sell them say, Blessed be Jehovah! for I am become rich; and their own shepherds pity them not.
For the kingdom of the heavens is like a householder who went out with the early morn to hire workmen for his vineyard.
[it is] as a man gone out of the country, having left his house and given to his bondmen the authority, and to each one his work, and commanded the doorkeeper that he should watch.
And having called together the twelve, he gave them power and authority over all demons, and to heal diseases,
Those then that had been scattered went through [the countries] announcing the glad tidings of the word.
And as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.
They therefore, having been sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and thence sailed away to Cyprus.
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: There was a certain Macedonian man, standing and beseeching him, and saying, Pass over into Macedonia and help us. And when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go forth to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to announce to them the glad tidings.
Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, wherein the Holy Spirit has set you as overseers, to shepherd the assembly of God, which he has purchased with the blood of his own.
And he said to me, Go, for *I* will send thee to the nations afar off.
And the court which [is] without the temple cast out, and measure it not; because it has been given [up] to the nations, and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty-two months. And I will give [power] to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [and] sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.
Epaphras, who is [one] of you, [the] bondman of Christ Jesus, salutes you, always combating earnestly for you in prayers, to the end that ye may stand perfect and complete in all [the] will of God.
Whereunto also I toil, combating according to his working, which works in me in power.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Luke 10
Commentary on Luke 10 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 10
In this chapter we have,
Luk 10:1-16
We have here the sending forth of seventy disciples, two and two, into divers parts of the country, to preach the gospel, and to work miracles in those places which Christ himself designed to visit, to make way for his entertainment. This is not taken notice of by the other evangelists: but the instructions here given them are much the same with those given to the twelve. Observe,
Upon this occasion, the evangelist repeats,
Luk 10:17-24
Christ sent forth the seventy disciples as he was going up to Jerusalem to the feast of tabernacles, when he went up, not openly, but as it were in secret (Jn. 7:10), having sent abroad so great a part of his ordinary retinue; and Dr. Lightfoot thinks it was before his return from that feast, and while he was yet at Jerusalem, or Bethany, which was hard by (for there he was, v. 38), that they, or at least some of them, returned to him. Now here we are told,
Luk 10:25-37
We have here Christ's discourse with a lawyer about some points of conscience, which we are all concerned to be rightly informed in and are so here from Christ though the questions were proposed with no good intention.
Luk 10:38-42
We may observe in this story,