The Great Harvest

Jesus is the herald who announces the Good News and inaugurates the Kingdom, the process that will culminate in the final harvest.

Jesus proclaimed the imminence of God’s Kingdom and called men and women to repent and turn away from unrighteousness in response to this new reality. He is the Messiah who inaugurates the redemptive act of God, and this will conclude with the great harvest of souls when Christ returns “on the clouds of heaven.”

What began in the ministry of the Nazarene must move forward to its divinely ordained conclusion when Jesus returns to the Earth. The mission of the Church is to complete this task under the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit:

• “And he answered and said, He that sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world. The good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one. And the enemy that sowed them is the devil. And the harvest is the end of the age. And the reapers are angels” – (Matthew 13:37-39).

• “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. And then all the tribes of the earth will mourn. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, AND THEY WILL GATHER HIS ELECT FROM THE FOUR WINDS, FROM ONE END OF HEAVEN TO THE OTHER” – (Matthew 24:33-31. Compare Isaiah 11:12).

• “Now, we implore you, brothers, concerning the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to him…” – (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2).

[Wheat - Photo by Paz Arando (Buenos Aires) on Unsplash]

The Messiah planted the seed that will produce the great crop of “wheat,” but it must grow and expand throughout the period between the initial planting by Jesus and the day of harvest when he returns. After his resurrection and exaltation, the mission of proclaiming the Gospel was given to the Church, the Body of Christ.

As Jesus declared, “the end” will not come until the mission of preaching the Good News to the nations is completed, and he assigned this task to his followers – (Matthew 24:14):

• “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations” – (Matthew 28:18-19).

• “Thus, it is written, that the Messiah should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem” – (Luke 24:46-47).

Before his ascension to Heaven, Jesus commanded his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received the gift of the Spirit. The Spirit is necessary if Christ’s followers are to become effective witnesses of the Gospel. After receiving the Spirit, his followers were to take the Good News of salvation to the nations:

• “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. AND YOU WILL BE MY WITNESSES, both in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and Samaria, and to THE UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE EARTH” - (Acts 1:8. Compare Luke 24:44-49. Note the verbal allusions to Psalm 2:8, Isaiah 43:10, 52:10).

The mission of the Church began in Jerusalem, but it did not end there. The Book of Acts documents the rapid spread of the new faith in the eastern half of the Roman Empire, and the Book concludes with Apostle Paul preaching the Gospel near the city of Rome to Jews and Gentiles alike - (Acts 28:17-31).

The outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost was the beginning, not the end, and it certainly was not a one-time or transitory event. The call to believe the Gospel is for all men and women throughout the current age, and this announcement must be heard among the nations until the Day of the Lord:

• “And Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” - (Acts 2:39-39).

• “AND IT WILL COME TO PASS IN THE LAST DAYS, SAYS GOD, I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL FLESH. <…> THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS, AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND NOTABLE DAY OF THE LORD. AND IT WILL BE THAT WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED” - (Acts 2:15-31, citing Joel 2:28-32).

STARTING IN JERUSALEM

Because the Spirit was given on the Day of Pentecost is also symbolic. The feast was originally based on agricultural cycles and celebrated the annual grain harvest by offering the “first fruits” of the future full harvest in the Temple. The offering of the “first fruits” did not indicate a separate harvest, but it was a foretaste of the fuller crop that would be harvested at the end of the growing season.

Not coincidentally, the Apostle Paul refers to several of the congregations that he established as the “first fruits” of their respective provinces. Similarly, the Book of Revelation describes the priestly company of 144,000 men as the “first fruits” of God and the Lamb. The completed “harvest” is found in New Jerusalem, which is portrayed as overflowing with citizens redeemed from every nation - (Romans 16:5, 1 Corinthians 16:15, Revelation 7:9-17, 14:4, 21:24, 22:1-5).

The passage in Acts 2:4 emphasizes that all the disciples “began [‘archomai’] to speak in tongues as the Spirit was giving them utterance.” The Greek verb echoes Christ’s instructions for the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received the Spirit:

• “Thus, it is written that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning [‘archomai’] from Jerusalem” - (Luke 24:47).

The disciples who received the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost were the first fruits, the beginning of the coming harvest that the Son of Man will reap when he returns to gather his elect. The period known as the last Days commenced, and therefore, the Gospel must be proclaimed to all nations, “to the uttermost parts of the Earth” – (Matthew 24:31, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2).

This understanding is confirmed by the Church’s first recorded act after receiving the Spirit. Peter stood up and declared that the outpouring of the Spirit was in fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy (“In the last days, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh”). From that point forward, anyone who called on the name of the Lord would be saved - (Acts 2:16-21. Compare Joel 2:28-32).

The Apostle Peter summoned the crowd of Jewish pilgrims to repent, believe the Good News and be baptized, and to receive the gift of the Spirit. About three thousand individuals responded in faith and were added to the Church. The harvest of the last days was now underway - (Acts 2:38-41).

And so, the great harvest of the Earth began on the Day of Pentecost with the outpouring of the Spirit. Beginning from Jerusalem, the proclamation of repentance and remission of sins began its journey to the remotest parts of the Earth. This process will not cease until the Day of the Lord when Jesus arrives to gather his elect at the conclusion of the present age.

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[Citations of Old Testament passages in this article are based on the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (see the links here and here). Text printed in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament. The Septuagint is represented by the Roman numeral for ‘seventy’ or LXX based on the Latin name of the translation, ‘Interpretatio septuaginta virorum’]

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SEE ALSO:

• Pentecost and the Last Days - (The outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost signaled the start of the Last Days and the time of fulfillment)

• The Promise of the Father - (With the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the blessings for all nations promised to Abraham commenced)

• The Circumcised Heart - (The promise of the Spirit is vital to the redemption of humanity and the Covenant of God with His people, the Church of Jesus Christ)

• La Grande Moisson - (Jésus est le héraut qui annonce la Bonne Nouvelle et inaugure le Royaume, le processus qui culminera dans la moisson finale)