Jesus preaches throughout the country. He went into large wealthy cities and into the poor, obscure villages. He preached and healed both rich and poor. He taught in the synagogues. He had compassion on them, but in a spiritual way. His concern was that they were ignorant with a lack of spiritual vision.

Listed in today's reading is the verse containing "sheep without a shepherd"…can you imagine a field of sheep with no direction and no shepherd?

This would be a sad condition of those who are without Christ. Sheep when they have gone astray are helpless and exposed to danger. They are not capable of finding their own way. They need shepherds to bring them into the fold and give them direction and protection. Jesus spoke of false shepherds who not only led the sheep away from the fold but they also fleeced the flock. They didn’t feed them. They didn’t nourish them with the word of truth.

“Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
People obviously wanted the teaching that Jesus was giving them. They needed it, they desired it, and they went out of their way to get it. There were probably only a very few teachers who were teaching the truth.

Jesus sent out his disciples. There was work to be done.  There is work to be done now as well. Are there enough laborers to do the work?  Jesus sent the disciples out into the field as an evangelistic training exercise in preparation of going out later as apostles.

Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes."
This is an urgency, not only for the disciples then, but for us today and a great urgency for us to lend support to Moshe in Israel as he continues to go "through the cities of Israel".

“Shake the dust” is mentioned. When we are unwelcome, at times we need to just walk away.

Jesus sent the disciples out as sheep among wolves. He warned them of the dangers involved. They could expect from this warning that they would be as a helpless sheep among a herd of ravenous wolves to be devoured and destroyed. But because He sends them forth, He will protect them. Be aware of the dangers but be meek and mild.

Jesus says to be afraid of the one who can kill the soul - the total essence of a person. Who can kill the soul? Rejecting Jesus and salvation through Him...that will kill our souls - the second death.

Jesus calls His disciples “little ones”. Is that because they were “babes in the faith” even at this point?

John the Baptist is beheaded. He had completed his mission on earth. Herod thought Jesus was John the Baptist who had risen from the dead - Herod was a Sadducee: and the Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead. They also denied the existence of angels. So Herod was shaken by Jesus. This says he didn’t know much about Jesus or the prophecies that He and John the Baptist were fulfilling even though Herod was raised a Jew.

As we reflect on the Scripture readings for today, let's take to heart the words of the Lord of the Harvest, let's go out as workers into His harvest field!