Pray you therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.
All Commentaries on Matthew 9:38 Go To Matthew 9
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Then to signify how great the gift is, He says, Pray ye the Lord of the harvest; and indirectly declares it to be His own prerogative. For after having said, Pray ye the Lord of the harvest; when they had not made any entreaty nor prayer, He Himself at once ordains them, reminding them also of the sayings of John, Matthew 3:12 of the threshing floor, and of the Person winnowing, and of the chaff, and of the wheat. Whence it is evident that Himself is the husbandman, Himself the Lord of the harvest, Himself the master and owner of the prophets. For if He sent them to reap, clearly it was not to reap what belongs to another, but what Himself had sown by the prophets.
But not in this way only was He indirectly encouraging them, in calling their ministry a harvest; but also by making them able for the ministry.
