Bible
Study
Jesus’ Spin
on Harvest Fields
First, let’s establish that the concept of
harvest is biblical. It’s a term you’ve
probably heard a lot at church, but I encourage you
not to accept any teaching about Jesus, God, and
the Bible just because someone tells you it is true,
even your pastor. Check it out for yourself! Here’s
how to check out the concept of harvest:
Look up the word “harvest” in
the back of your Bible in the concordance. If you’re
not familiar with a concordance, it looks similar
to a dictionary, except that a concordance show you
where key words are used in the Bible instead of
defining the words. If your Bible does not have a
concordance, find a friend who has one, or use a
Bible from your church library or campus ministry
that has one. You can also buy a small concordance
to put in your Bible at most Christian bookstores.
How many times does the
word, “harvest” occur
in the Bible? In the New Testament
_________________________________________
In
my New International Version, I find 15 occurrences
of the word. In the New American
Standard, there
are 26 occurrences. The best way to check out the
meaning of a word is to read through all the passages
that use that word and compare the way the word
is used. If you have time, please read all the
verses. If time is short as you near mid-semester,
focus on the uses of “harvest” in the
gospels.
Read
John 4:35. Write this verse below in your own
words. ___________________________
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_____________________________________
Did
you write something like, “Are you expecting
the harvest to come sometime in the future? Open
your eyes and see that the harvest is ready
right now!” That’s the general idea that
Jesus was communicating to His disciples. Where
was Jesus when He said these things? (Hint:
Look at the verses from 4:1-35. You might even have
headlines or maps in your Bible to give you a clue.)
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
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Jesus and His disciples were in the
region called Samaria. It’s where Samaritans
were from like the Good Samaritan in Jesus’ parable,
though most Jews did not think of Samaritans or
Samaria as “good.” What else do you
know about Samaria?
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
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Samaria was known at this time as
1. a land of religious hostility – just read
John 4:19 as an example.
2. a land of racial bigotry – see John 4:9.
3. a difficult place
Now turn to Matthew 9:36 – 37. When
Jesus said this, to what area was he referring? (Hint:
it’s the area he was ministering in at the
time. John 9:1 gives a clue).___________________________________
Jesus was in the region where his hometown was. His
hometown was Nazareth and the region was Galilee.
That’s like saying he was ministering all
over North Texas and his hometown is Dallas. What
do you know about Galilee? See Matt. 4:15
and John 1:46 for a few ideas._____________________________
__________________________________________
Galilee was
1. a land of heartache because the boot of Roman
oppression was heavy there.
2. a land of utter contempt. Galileans were considered
rebellious and breakers of the Jewish law.
3. a difficult place.
Finally, read Luke 10:1-2. Where
was Jesus directing the attention of His disciples
on this occasion? You
may only be able to find the answer to that question
in a commentary on Matthew, but your church library
or your pastor would have that resource if you’re
up to the challenge.__________
__________________________________________
For those of you who choose to save commentary research
for another Bible study, Jesus was sending his
disciples to the region on the other side of the
Jordan called Perea.
What kind of place was Perea?
1. a neglected place – neither priest nor
prophet would go to this place. In fact, the primary
reason
people went to Perea was to avoid having to go through
Samaria on their way from Judea to Galilee.
2. a forgotten land – the Aboth of Rabbi Nathan
states that Judea presented the grain, Galilee the
straw, and Perea the chaff. See Matthew 3:12 as a
reminder of what chaff was good for.
3. a difficult place
In these passages, Jesus refers to
three distinct regions of the world in which he lives,
Samaria,
Galilee, and Perea. What do all three regions
have in common?____________________________
______________________________________
None of these areas were hotbeds
of response to His message, yet Jesus still called
them “harvest
fields.” The point is clear. Jesus sees harvest
fields all across the earth, among people groups
that are responding to the gospel and even in those
areas that we would call difficult – or even
dangerous – places. And the bottom line is
that Jesus is calling us to all those places.
Your campus is a harvest field where God wants you
to labor for His glory during school terms, but what
about in between semesters and during the summer?
Will you pray to God to send out laborers to the
harvest fields as Jesus asked us to do? And will
you ask God to show you the harvest field(s) to which
He would send you in your out-of-school days and
weeks?
“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent
me, I am sending you.” John 20:21 |
