In Matthew 9:37, Jesus says to his disciples: "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field."
There is a double-sided quality to harvest in the New Testament. One side conveys a sense of separation, division, and judgment. In this sense, the harvest is what happens at the end times, and wheat is gathered and taken into the barn, and weeds are gathered and burned.
The other side though, is festivity. Harvest itself is an indication of abundance, of rest at the end of labor, of feasting at the end of fasting. In an earlier post, we explored how much of the tabernacle is arranged to show that Israel is God's bride. Meeting with God for Israel has a romantic connotation. Furthermore, the tabernacle is often referred to as a "tent of meeting" or a tent of festivals. The same Hebrew word is used in Genesis 1:14 when God makes lights in the sky that will indicate "sacred times." A list of these festivals is given in Leviticus 23: sabbath, passover, festival of unleavened bread, offering the firstfruits, festival of weeks, festival of trumpets, day of atonement, and festival of tabernacles. These are all "trysts" between the bride Israel and bridegroom God. The tabernacle and all of its rites and rituals communicated the deep purpose of marriage between Israel and God. And this is a picture of Eden, of being restored into God's presence. It is a garden where love blooms.
This is more clear if we look at prophetic testimony about Israel's return from exile: it is consistently presented as a festival time when God will truly re-establish his garden-kingdom in Israel. Amos writes: "'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills, and I will bring my people Israel back from exile. They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,' says the Lord your God." (Amos 9:13-15)
When Jesus comes he recapitulates the festival times of the tabernacle. Amos was describing a kingdom yet to come. Jesus comes saying the kingdom has drawn near. Jesus taught his disciples not to be anxious about anything for the body - money or clothes. This is harvest logic. It's a time of abundance. The harvest is here! The kingdom is near! In Matthew 10, Jesus calls his twelve disciples and gives them authority to drive out impure spirits. This has a military connotation, but the battle is not against flesh and blood. Jesus says: "As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons." (Matt. 10:7-8) Jesus is a warrior for rest, abundance, and festivity.
Jesus is asked why his disciples don't fast. Jesus says:
"How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." (Matt. 9:15-17)
Peter Leithart writes:
"Jews fasted in anticipation. Fasting meant waiting, and specifically waiting for the feast to begin. But once Jesus has come, the time of anticipation is over; the time of waiting has reached its end. With His coming, everything begins to change. He comes as a man who has authority over the wind and the sea. He comes "before the time" to triumph over the demons. He comes to forgive sins. He comes to welcome tax gatherers and sinners, to heal the sick, and to preach that compassion is better than sacrifice. With the coming of Jesus, the feast of the kingdom has begun. He has come to make all things new." (Jesus as Israel, 195)
Finally, we need to see that this festive community is not just something the disciples go out to create. It is not just a message they proclaim, but something that they already are. It is their community - a new type of people. Throughout the gospel of Matthew, Jesus is forming a new Israel, a community built around 12 new tribes, who will represent a righteousness beyond the scribes and Pharisees. In other words, they won't merely suppress flesh-inspired behavior, but will live in such a way as to overcome the flesh. They don't merely try to control the evil effects of sin and flesh, but go on to seek reconciliation and reunion in love. Jesus and his disciples are a picture of Eden.
No comments:
Post a Comment