“Come out!” Jesus demanded, and when the possessed man was delivered, all the people marveled. Jesus cast out the dumb spirit that plagued the man with astonishing results for all to see. The Greek word for: “To cast out!” is ekballo. It is a forceful term, a powerful term, a demanding term that is most often used in the context of casting out demons: removing evil, darkness and fear. It is a marvelous term that brings hope of the bright, peaceful and good presence of God in a world desperately void of such encouragement.
So that is why I am astonished to find Jesus using this word in an entirely different context in Matthew 9.38: “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out (ekballo!) laborers into His harvest.” I can understand why a translator would not want to use the term “cast out” in this context, but it does beg the question, why did Jesus use this word?[1] It sounds much too forceful! And we are instructed to be a part of the action in praying for this “casting out” to take place!

Language is at the same time a wonderful and a frustrating thing. It’s wonderful because of all the complexity and variety of how people communicate and interact. It’s frustrating because you can be standing right next to a fellow believer and unable to communicate, because of the language barrier. 

Since ever it started way back in Genesis 11 at the Tower of Babel, the variety of language has divided mankind. To communicate with others, we have to overcome this and learn their language, as cross-cultural missionaries know only too well!

Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me. 1 Corinthians 14:10,11