Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. 36 At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; 38 so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.
1 Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.
As Jesus continued his ministry of proclaiming the Gospel, teaching, and healing throughout the towns and villages of Galilee, he felt compassion for the crowds. He was deeply moved because their spiritual leaders had failed them. They were like lost sheep without a shepherd (Num. 27:16-17) and it was his responsibility as the Good Shepherd (Jn. 10:11) to nurture and care for them. But the divine Incarnate Son of God (Mt. 16:16) was physically limited by his humanity and needed disciples to also preach about the Kingdom of Heaven and minister to the people (Mt. 10:7-8). If the harvest is not reaped it will rot in the field so men are needed to reap the harvest. The disciples must pray to God for more harvesters of souls, and true spiritual leaders to guide the people.
Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom of Heaven and now started to build the people of God, his Church. Twelve disciples were singled out, given the power and authority to heal and cast out evil spirits. Jesus gave them a share in His divine power and empowered his closest followers to continue his work. They became the core of the Church. The number 12 corresponds to the 12 patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel and symbolizes the restoration of Israel.
Almighty God, out of your abundance of mercy, we pray for you to send true spiritual leaders to teach your divine truths to believers needing pastoral guidance. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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