Passage: Matthew 9:36; John 4:34
The Big Idea
What motivates us to share the gospel? Look at what moved Jesus: compassion for the lost, a sense of purpose, the love of the Father, a sober awareness of judgment, and the joy set before Him. As His life fills us, His motives become ours. And it helps to remember a few freeing truths: God is already at work preparing people, prayer is the catalyst, the results depend on the soil and not the sower, and most people come to Christ because a friend simply invited them.
Five Things That Moved Jesus
1. Compassion for the lost
When Jesus saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36).
- He told His disciples to pray that the Lord of the harvest would send out workers into His harvest field (Matthew 9:37-38).
- Then He chose and sent out His disciples (Matthew 10:1-5).
How do we gain this heart of love for people? Paul says we don’t need anyone to write to us about loving one another, because we ourselves have been taught by God to love (1 Thessalonians 4:9). Love for people is something God teaches us as we spend time with Him.
2. A sense of purpose
When Jesus’ disciples found Him talking with the Samaritan woman at the well, they were surprised, and they urged Him to eat. He said His food was to do the will of the One who sent Him and to finish His work (John 4:27, 31-34).
What was His Father’s will? That God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life; and that God didn’t send His Son to condemn the world, but to save it through Him (John 3:16-17).
How do we develop that sense of purpose? Peter says we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own possession, so that we may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once we weren’t a people, but now we’re God’s people; once we hadn’t received mercy, but now we have (1 Peter 2:9-10).
Let the Word develop your passion. When you see who you are in Christ, you’ll see why you’re here.
3. The love of the Father
Jesus prayed that He had made the Father known to His disciples and would continue to, so that the love with which the Father loved Him would be in them, and He Himself in them (John 17:26).
- Jesus gave us the love He Himself had experienced.
- We can only give away what we’ve received.
How do we grow in our experience of the Father’s love? Jesus said whoever has His commands and keeps them is the one who loves Him, and the one who loves Him will be loved by His Father, and Jesus will love him and show Himself to him. If anyone loves Him, he’ll keep His word, and the Father and Son will come and make their home with him (John 14:21, 23).
As we walk with Him and trust His word, we experience His love more and more, and it overflows to others.
4. A sober awareness of judgment
Jesus said not to fear those who can kill the body but can’t kill the soul, but rather to fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Matthew 10:28). Paul said that because he knew “the fear of the Lord,” he tried to persuade others (2 Corinthians 5:11).
How do we develop a healthy awareness of the stakes? By meditating often on God’s Word, including the passages that describe His judgments. The more we understand what Jesus rescued us from, the more urgently we’ll want others to be rescued too.
5. The joy set before Him
Hebrews tells us to look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising its shame, and is now seated at the right hand of God’s throne (Hebrews 12:2).
- The joy before Jesus was us: a redeemed family with Him forever.
- Are we willing to endure the shame of possible rejection for that same joy?
Hebrews continues: consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you won’t grow weary or lose heart (Hebrews 12:3).
Keep your eyes on Jesus!
Things to Understand
God’s providence is at work
In almost every situation in the book of Acts, God was working behind the scenes, preparing the way: an Ethiopian official reading Isaiah just as Philip arrived (Acts 8:26-35), a Roman centurion praying just before Peter came (Acts 10), a woman whose heart the Lord opened as Paul spoke (Acts 16:14).
Jesus said He sets before His people an open door that no one can shut (Revelation 3:8).
- Doors are opportunities.
- He’ll use you if you make yourself available.
- You don’t have to manufacture your own opportunities.
Prayer is the catalyst
God has entrusted the growth of His kingdom and His family to us here on earth. He asks us to pray for workers (Matthew 9:38) and to pray for specific hearts.
What an amazing privilege!
He wants us to seek Him for the power and movement of His Spirit.
The results depend on the soil
In the parable of the sower, the same seed produced different results (Mark 4:1-20). One kind of ground produced nothing. Two others produced only temporary growth. Only one bore lasting fruit.
Where does the responsibility lie?
- With the seed? No.
- With the sower? No.
- With the soil? Yes.
The sower’s job is to sow. If someone rejects the message, the sower hasn’t failed (Ezekiel 3:17-19; Matthew 10:14; Acts 13:44-46).
The positive side is this: every time we sow the seed, we’ve been faithful! That frees us to discover the joy of sharing God’s Word for its own sake. There’s joy in sharing Christ (we have good news!) whether or not people receive Him (we’re glad to serve our Lord this way!).
Often one sows and another reaps
Jesus said one sows and another reaps (John 4:37-38), and Paul said one plants, another waters, but God gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).
And here’s something encouraging. One widely cited survey asked thousands of church members what brought them to Christ and to their church. A small percentage mentioned a special need, a program, liking the pastor, or simply walking in. But the overwhelming majority, around three out of four or more, said: a friend or relative invited me.
So What Do We Do?
Be a caring church family. People are drawn by love (John 13:35).
Make a list. Write down five to eight people you’d love to see come to know Jesus. (Husbands and wives can share a list.) Keep it where you’ll see it every day.
Pray daily for:
- Opportunities to do good to them.
- Wisdom in those opportunities.
- Boldness to say what needs to be said.
- That they’ll hear the truth.
- That their hearts will be open and receptive.
Do loving things for them.
Invite them! Invite them to church. Invite them to study the Bible with you in your home.
Remember: it’s God who gives the growth, by His grace. We’re simply being faithful to serve Him the way He asks. Pray for boldness. Seek to please God, not people. Humility and faith.
Grace Takeaway
Jesus was moved by compassion, purpose, His Father’s love, the stakes of eternity, and the joy of a redeemed family. As His life fills us, those same motives start to move us. You don’t have to open hearts or produce results; God prepares the way, the Spirit works through prayer, and the growth is His. Your part is to love people, pray for them, and invite them. The rest is grace.
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