WORN OUT

Matt.9:35-38 – Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 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.

Jesus was under constant attack because of His miracle ministry. In this passage Jesus was teaching, preaching, and healing; this is pretty much what gospel ministry is all about. The preaching and teaching was somewhat tolerable for the leaders of the Jews, it was just those blasted miracles they couldn’t tolerate. Matthew gives a glimpse into the damage wrong teaching can do in this passage. He said that the people were weary and scattered because of what they had been taught. The word weary is skullo and had implications of being worn out partly because of the bad teaching they were receiving from the religious leaders. Here is how Robertson’s Wordbook describes this.

“Were distressed and scattered (ēsan eskulmenoi kai erimmenoi). A sad and pitiful state the crowds were in. Rent or mangled as if by wild beasts. Skullō occurs in the papyri in sense of plunder, concern, vexation. Used here of the common people, it describes their religious condition. They were harassed, importuned, bewildered by those who should have taught them; hindered from entering into the kingdom of heaven, laden with the burdens which the Pharisees laid upon them…”

This sounds all too familiar in today’s world. There are famous bloggers who spend their time trying to discredit ministries that have a supernatural touch on their lives. They attack everything from spiritual gifts, praying in the Spirit, women in ministry, or anything that has any sense of the supernatural upon it. If you want to cause a real stir just get filled with the Spirit and have a few miracles happen, the bloggers and Pharisees won’t be far behind.

How did Jesus respond to the resistance? Well basically He did nothing different; He continued to teach the Word of God, preach the gospel of the kingdom, and heal the sick as well as cast out some demons. How are we to respond today? Find some hurting people and minister to them by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. When people are worn out that’s all they need.