Bonhoeffer: The Harvest, the Messengers and the Word

Bonhoeffer’s chapter divisions seem so arbitrary to me!  What is only 16 pages in my text is broken into four short chapters:  The Harvest; The Apostles; The Work; The Suffering of the Messengers.  These chapters cover Matthew 9: 36 through10: 25, which is the sending of the Apostles to preach the gospel to the Jews that the kingdom of God is at hand.  However random the divisions seem, there is a distinct theme to each—that of lost sheep needing a shepherd, the power of Christ in the Apostles, the Word and work of Christ which come with His power, and that of the certainty of the call to proclaim the gospel even in the face of persecution or rejection.  

Several statements stood out to me, statements that seemed particularly true and particularly Lutheran in their emphasis, an emphasis on the Word of God.  

“Their work is to be Christ-work, and therefore they are absolutely dependent on the will of Jesus. Happy are they whose duty is fixed by such a precept, and who are therefore free from the tyranny of their own ideas and calculations.”

“It is not our judgement of the situation which can show us what is wise, but only the truth of the Word of God.  Here alone lies the promise of God’s faithfulness and help.  It will always be true that the wisest course for the disciples is always to abide solely by the Word of God in all simplicity.” 

And later in the same chapter:  “It is all part of God’s plan and the will of Jesus, and that is why they will be given power to make a good confession and deliver a fearless testimony even in the hour when they make answer before thrones and judgement seats.  The Holy Ghost himself will stand by their side, and will make them invincible.  He will give them ‘a mouth and a wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to withstand or gainsay.’ (Luke 21: 15).  Because the disciples remain true to the Word in their sufferings, the Word will remain true to them.  To self-sought martyrdom this promise would not apply, but there is no doubt whatever that it does apply to suffering with the Word.”

It is the Word of God, the command of Jesus Christ spoken to the disciples here in these chapters of Matthew and then later to all of Christ’s church on earth, which gives us power.  It is not a matter of “figuring it out” on our own; we as the Church of Christ have been given clear instructions in His Word.  The Apostles in Matthew 9-10 were given clear instructions; for them, the Word was to be preached only to the Jews and not the Gentiles, and they were to preach that the kingdom of heaven is near and to do miracles, the same kinds of miracles which Christ Himself did—healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead.   

In Matthew 28: 18 – 20, Jesus gives a new command, one for His whole church on earth:  “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Bonhoeffer emphasizes the obedience expected of the Apostles, and therefore by extension, by His disciples in all eras:  that of obedience to the command of Christ, to His Word.  Bonhoeffer’s statement that we are therefore “..free from the tyranny of their own ideas and calculations” is significant.  We don’t have to make this up—the commands of Christ are clear, as are His promises to be with us.  

I have read critiques of modern Christian evangelizing which accuse segments of the modern Christian church of diverging significantly from the essence of the call of Christ.  The pure emphasis on proclaiming the Good News of salvation through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ has become diffuse, clouded by overtones of law and works-righteousness, the strings attached to the gospel message that imply human righteousness is required to perfect it.  The command to teach and baptize is obscured by altar calls and an expectation for a significant emotional conversion event.  Reliance on the Word is replaced by self-help books and sermons on building a better marriage or achieving inner peace.  The centrality of the Word is replaced by emotive songs of generic praise.  The Church of Jesus Christ seems to have oftentimes forgotten that His Word and His command is sufficient to bring people to saving faith.  It is the Word of God which has power to inspire faith, to feed faith, to expand faith.  Everything we build should be upon the Word of Christ; we are therefore both freed from the tyranny of our own ideas and also confident in the effective power of what we build upon.  A house built upon the firm foundation of the Word of Christ will not fall when storms come.  A church built upon the firm found of the Word of Christ will endure, and will be successful in carrying out the charge of Christ to make disciples.   

Bonhoeffer states that “…Jesus never called his disciples into a state of uncertainty, but to one of supreme certainty.  That is why his warning can only summon them to abide by the Word.  Where the Word is, there shall the disciple be.”  We abide in the Word of God; we let it direct our actions, show us true wisdom, and feed our faith.  In the same section, Bonhoeffer advises—as he has in prior chapters—that those preaching the Word be sensitive to where the Word is rejected or received; the human being proclaiming the Word has no authority to force, but rather to follow where the Word is received and welcomed.  “But if the Word carries on the battle, the disciple must also stand his ground.”  Our human wisdom must “never lead [us] along a path which cannot stand the test of the Word of Jesus.”  We must constantly test all things against the Word, as the good Berean Christians did.

Bonhoeffer draws a parallel between the signs which the disciples were empowered to perform, signs which confirmed their message, to the power of Christ given to His Church.  “The kingdom of God, Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins, the justification of the sinner through faith, all this is identical with the destruction of the devil’s power, the healing of the sick and raising of the dead.  The proclamation of the apostles is the Word of the Almighty God, and therefore it is an act, an event, a miracle.  It is the one Christ who passes through the land in the person of his twelve messangers and performs his work.  The sovereign grace with which they are equipped is the creative and redemptive Word of God.”  The Christian Church on earth has the power to proclaim forgiveness of sins and to proclaim the hope of everlasting life by faith in Christ—these are the miracles of the Word given to us.  The sign is the sign of Jonah—that of Christ raised from the dead on the third day.  

Bonhoeffer began this discussion by calling our attention to the “the harvest”, the people who stand ready and anxious to hear the Word of salvation.  Jesus has compassion on them because they are sheep without a shepherd; He sees them as a harvest of ripened grain ready to be brought into the storehouses of eternity.  Bonhoeffer picks up on the “sheep without a shepherd” statement and paraphrases Ezekiel 34 in much of this chapter; these are sheep who have not been led to fresh waters nor have they been protected from the wolf, these sheep have not been led gently but have been lorded over by bad shepherds.  The Gospel message comes to these lost and anxious sheep as fresh, clear water and green pastures; it is truly the Good News, and it is received with joy and faith by many.  The workers sent out into this harvest are promised success—the Word will be received, hearers will come to faith. But simultaneously, those who proclaim the Good News will be reviled and demonized.

Bonhoeffer bookends this discussion in his chapter on “The Suffering of the Messengers.”  They will come the lost and neglected sheep and will indeed make disciples, but they will suffer much in the world as that Word is also rejected. Jesus says this is the truth in Matthew 10: 16-25.  We should expect to suffer in this world.  Bonhoeffer describes it this way:  “The messengers of Jesus will be hated to the end of time.  They will be blamed for all the divisions which rend cities and homes.  Jesus and his disciples will be condemned on all sides for undermining family life, and for leading the nation astray; they will be called crazy fanatics and disturbers of the peace.  The disciples will be sorely tempted to desert their Lord.  But the end is also near, and they must hold on and persevere until it comes.”

The risk to the messengers is to lose hope, to despair, to be anxious and fearful, to become like the lost sheep without a Shepherd.  We must hold fast to the Word in good times and in bad, to be prepared for persecution and hopelessness by trusting in God and in His promises fulfilled in Christ. The Good Shepherd has come to bring salvation to His people; He has given us His Word and Spirit, and the charge to make disciples, as well as the promise to be with us.  The harvest is plentiful and the workers are few; pray that the Lord of the harvest send workers into the field and that He grant them success and perseverance in His Word.

1)      How have you observed the centrality of the Word of Christ to be obscured by elements of human invention, or observed the Word of God to be entirely pushed aside in favor of human wisdom and human priorities?  Read Matthew 7: 24-29 and consider the foundational nature of God’s Word in Christ.

2)      Read Matthew 16: 1-4.  Is there in your mind and heart a desire for a miraculous sign, beyond the promises of God’s Word and the sign of the resurrection of Christ?  Confess this as doubt and sin before God and ask that He both forgive you, and strengthen your faith.

3)      Jesus tells His disciples in Matthew 10: 19 and 20 not to worry about what to say, when their message is challenged or they experience persecution.  He promises that they will be given wisdom as to what to say, through His Holy Spirit.  We have that Spirit as well, given to us in our Baptism and speaking to us in the scriptures.  As you spend time in the Word of God, God’s Spirit is in you, strengthening your faith and giving wisdom to proclaim the Good News.  Consider how you might incorporate more time reading God’s Word, and pray that God empower you to do so.