After Matthew records a flurry of miraculous healings and resuscitations (chapters 8 and 9), Jesus' mission to Israel, God's "lost sheep," would appear to be well underway. But at the conclusion of chapter 9 and the beginning of chapter 10, Matthew's Gospel finds Jesus, rather than celebrating any of these recent miracles, lamenting over what yet needs to be done.

It is Jesus' overwhelming compassion for these "harassed and helpless" shepherdless sheep (9:30) that motivates this next step in his ministry. Jesus' role as shepherd reflects the messianic expectation and the personal history Matthew has recorded about him (see Matthew 2:5-6). Yet instead of fully claiming this shepherding identity at this moment, Jesus turns to a new image - that of the harvest.

"Harvest" is a problematic refe…