Jesus saw value where others did not. Not everyone would see the lost as worth finding or sheep needing a shepherd but He taught those priorities.
Matthew 9 is Jesus seeing the crowds as ‘harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd, but seeks to change that situation by sending disciples into these harvest fields.1
In Matthew 13:44, Jesus compares the LORD seeing the value of those not yet in relationship with Him with one finding a hidden treasure and paying everything to redeem the lost.2
In Matthew 13:45, the comparison is to a merchant of pearls, finding great value in one and giving all to redeem it to Himself.3
In Matthew 13:47, Jesus speaks of the harvest and the need to ultimately separate those who accept the kingdom of God from those who won’t.4
Jesus concludes these parables with a declaration that the disciples need to understand the LORD’s values,
“Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” 5
It is in this context that Jesus calls and appoints disciples into the harvest fields,
“And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.6
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.7
And while the twelve apostles were sent, there were at least seventy-two disciples sent ahead of Jesus not only saying what He said but also healing and setting free those who would listen. God does not limit calling the lost to Himself to an elite group but all who were willing to be discipled of Him, to speak His word and have His authority within them were sendables.
But, Jesus was clear that being His disciple and doing His harvest work could and likely would have personal costs in addition to seeing the lost found—it was about the harvest and not their personal comfort or ease:
Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road … And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 8
Jesus concludes this teaching with the cost of identifying with the LORD in entirety, that there is a cost to serving the LORD just as Jesus had a cost.
So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.9
While it is not the goal to be divisive, Truth is different enough from Popular or Familiar to cause separation. When you accurately identify with the LORD, you may not identify with what has been part of your past. You are a changed agent and not everyone likes change.
