For The Sake Of The One

Jesus calls his people not only to follow him, but to participate in his mission for the sake of one more person who does not yet know him. The heart of God has always moved toward real people with names, stories, pain, and a need for forgiveness, hope, and new life in Christ. This mission is not about building an audience. It is about building an army of disciples who understand that every person matters to God.

Matthew 9 shows Jesus moving through cities and villages, teaching, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing. Matthew calls the people “the crowds,” but Jesus does not reduce them to a category. Jesus sees them. The difference between looking at people and seeing people changes everything. Jesus sees distressed and downcast sheep without a shepherd, people whose sin and brokenness are real but are not the only things true about them.

Jesus sees beneath the behavior that others find irritating, immoral, messy, hostile, or irresponsible. The alcoholic is not merely destroying a family. The angry atheist is not merely hostile. The person trapped in sexual sin is not merely a moral issue to win. Jesus sees people made in the image of God, people who are lost and need someone to lead them home. Sin still matters, but sin cannot become the only thing Christians see.

Compassion follows sight. Categories are easy to dislike, labels are easy to dismiss, and complaints are easier than sitting across the table to hear somebody’s story. But people become harder to dismiss once they have a name. Jesus calls his disciples to see a harvest where others see an interruption, an inconvenience, or a problem. The harvest remains plentiful, while workers remain few.

Jesus first tells his disciples to pray for workers before he sends those same disciples into the harvest. Prayer changes the heart before it sends the hands. Jesus calls his church to begin with a simple prayer: “Help me see the people I have stopped seeing.” A lifted head, a kind word, an unhurried moment, and honest attention can remind a weary person that they have been seen.

Paul then brings that same question to the Lord’s Table. Communion cannot be separated from the way believers see and treat people for whom Christ died. The body and blood of Jesus confront pride, judgment, cynicism, and every habit of reducing people to politics, sexuality, addiction, choices, or failure. Jesus sees his people as needy sinners saved by grace, and that grace gives them eyes to see one more.

---

Key Takeaways

• 1. Seeing comes before compassion and action. Jesus did not begin with a strategy for the crowd. Jesus saw the crowd, and compassion rose from that sight. A heart that stays distant from people will struggle to feel what God feels for them. Attention is often the first act of love. [41:36]
• 2. Sin is not the whole story. Jesus never pretends that sin does not matter, but he refuses to let sin become the only thing visible. Broken behavior may reveal fear, hurt, confusion, or a person who does not know how to get home. Truth without compassion turns people into problems instead of neighbors. [39:59]
• 3. The harvest is people, not interruptions. Jesus sees opportunity where his disciples could have seen inconvenience. The person at the counter, the quiet coworker, and the difficult neighbor may all be someone Jesus is pursuing. A few unhurried seconds can carry more weight than a rushed day imagines. [45:33]
• 4. Examine the heart before judging others. Paul directs believers to examine themselves before coming to the Table. Pride and cynicism can make Christians skilled at identifying what is wrong with others while becoming blind to hardness in their own hearts. Communion levels every false distinction because every believer still needs grace. [56:33]
• 5. Grace gives eyes for one more. Jesus saw his people when they were lost, and he still sees them in their ongoing need. The body broken and blood shed for sinners leave no room for looking down on anybody else. Gratitude for being seen by Christ becomes a prayer to see one more person as he does. [1:01:43]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [25:03] - Children Learning Scripture
• [26:28] - The Vision for One More
• [29:05] - Building an Army, Not an Audience
• [30:39] - How Many People Did You See?
• [33:54] - Jesus Sees the Crowds
• [37:59] - Sheep Without a Shepherd
• [41:15] - Seeing Produces Compassion
• [43:35] - The Harvest Is Plentiful
• [46:20] - Pray for Workers, Then Go
• [47:56] - Help Me See People Again
• [49:39] - A Simple Moment at Starbucks
• [53:13] - Examine Yourself at the Table
• [58:29] - Grace for Those Who Need Jesus
• [1:01:28] - Jesus, Help Me See One More
• [1:13:10] - Leave With Your Eyes Open

Bible Reading

Matthew 9:35-38
“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” [33:57]

1 Corinthians 11:23-29
“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.' For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.” [53:13]

Colossians 3:12-15
“Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” [01:13:42]

Observation questions

1. In Matthew 9:35–38, what activities is Jesus doing as He travels through the cities and villages, and what does He notice about the crowds?
2. What words does Matthew use to describe the people Jesus sees, and what picture does “sheep without a shepherd” create? [37:57]
3. According to Matthew 9:37–38, what does Jesus say is plentiful, what is lacking, and what does He tell His disciples to do first? [46:38]
4. In 1 Corinthians 11:23–29, what does Paul tell believers to do before they eat the bread and drink the cup, and what problem in the Corinthian church makes this instruction especially important? [53:52]

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus saw people’s sin and brokenness, yet He responded with compassion rather than treating them as problems. How can believers hold to the truth about sin while also seeing the hurting person beneath the behavior? [39:52]
2. Why might Jesus tell His disciples to pray for workers before sending them into the harvest? What might prayer change in a believer before that believer tries to serve or reach someone else? [46:50]
3. Paul connects examining oneself at the Lord’s Table with the way believers treat other people. What does this connection reveal about pride, judgment, and Christian unity? [54:28]
4. Colossians 3 calls God’s people to put on mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love. How do these qualities help a believer see people as Jesus sees them rather than through labels or irritation?

Application questions

1. Think about the places you regularly go—work, school, stores, restaurants, practices, or your neighborhood. Who is someone you often pass by or overlook? What is one simple way you could slow down and truly notice that person this week? [47:56]
2. Is there a person you have mainly defined by their politics, choices, addiction, sexuality, anger, or failure? Without ignoring what is true, what might it look like to ask God to help you see that person as someone made in God’s image and loved by Jesus? [57:33]
3. When someone is difficult, quiet, rude, or frustrating, what is your usual first reaction? How could curiosity, patience, or a simple question help you look beneath their behavior? [48:46]
4. What tends to keep you from seeing people—busyness, your phone, fear, cynicism, being in a hurry, or something else? What practical change could help you create a few unhurried moments in your week? [52:05]
5. Before focusing on people who seem far from God, what pride, judgment, resentment, or hardness of heart might Jesus be asking you to examine in yourself? [57:12]
6. Communion reminds believers that they also needed—and still need—the grace of Jesus. How does remembering God’s grace toward you change the way you speak about or treat someone who does not yet know Christ? [59:14]
7. Who is “one more” person God may be bringing to mind right now? What would it look like to pray for that person by name and take one loving, appropriate step toward them this week? [01:13:19]