They were like sheep without a shepherd!

Matthew 9:35-10:1,5,6-8

Jesus traveled around through all the cities and villages of that area, teaching in the Jewish synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And wherever he went he healed people of every sort of illness. And what pity he felt for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn’t know what to do or where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd. “The harvest is so great, and the workers are so few,” he told his disciples. “So pray to the one in charge of the harvesting, and ask him to recruit more workers for his harvest fields.” Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of sickness and disease. Jesus sent them out with these instructions: “Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but only to the people of Israel—God’s lost sheep. Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure the lepers, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!

Food for thought!

As he saw the crowds, Jesus' heart was filled with pity for them, because they were worried and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Worried and helpless were the people Jesus saw. Whenever we are worried and helpless, we resemble a sheep without a shepherd.


Sometimes we worry so much as if we don't have a shepherd; we worry as if tomorrow is the end of world. This is why Jesus, when he sent his disciples he told them to tell the people that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. What does this mean? It means that Jesus is very close to all of us. Jesus is the kingdom of God in person. And he says that he is very near to us, very close at hand.

Why is this so? It is because Jesus cannot stay indifferent when he sees us in our struggles, in our problems, our messes. The gospel says, "traveled around through all the cities and villages of that area, teaching in the Jewish synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And wherever he went he healed people of every sort of illness. And what pity he felt for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn’t know what to do or where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd." Jesus moved around because he had been moved by what he saw.
Jesus is so near to us that we don't have to worry as sheep without a shepherd. Consider what he says in Matthew 6:25-34

“So my counsel is: Don’t worry about things—food, drink, and clothes. For you already have life and a body—and they are far more important than what to eat and wear. Look at the birds! They don’t worry about what to eat—they don’t need to sow or reap or store up food—for your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. Will all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothes? Look at the field lilies! They don’t worry about theirs. Yet King Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as beautifully as they. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you, O men of little faith? “So don’t worry at all about having enough food and clothing. Why be like the heathen? For they take pride in all these things and are deeply concerned about them. But your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well that you need them, and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to. “So don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.