Harassed and Helpless Harvesters

When Jesus heals two blind men and warns them not to tell, they tell everyone. When he heals a mute man, the crowds are wowed, but the Pharisees think he's in cahoots with evil. We might expect Jesus to be frustrated by these divergent reactions to his ministry. Instead he has compassion for the "harassed and helpless" crowds. He sees us as sheep needing a shepherd, and like a harvest field needing laborers to gather us in. It turns out that the Good News of his kingdom is about more than healing or even forgiveness. Jesus wants us to become sheep who shepherd, harvested harvesters, and followers who lead.