John 4:27-42 Lesson From The Harvest Field - Part 1

25.01.09 John 4:27-42 (NASB)

Audio Sermon File: John 4:27-42 (Part 1)

Going Deeper: Study Guide

Lesson From The Harvest Field - Part 1 of 2

This is our Scripture text for today: 27 At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why do You speak with her?" 28 So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men, 29 "Come, see a man who told me all the things that I [have] done; this is not the Christ, is it?" 30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him. 31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." 32 But He said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." 33 So the disciples were saying to one another, "No one brought Him [anything] to eat, did he?" 34 Jesus ^said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. 35 "Do you not say, `There are yet four months, and [then] comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. 36 "Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 "For in this [case] the saying is true, `One sows and another reaps.' 38 "I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor." 39 From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all the things that I [have] done." 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of His word; 42 and they were saying to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world."

Today we are going to learn from Jesus a ‘LESSON FROM THE HARVEST FIELD.’ Jesus is telling us that we need to be aware of the harvest of souls that are right before our very eyes. Jesus brings this important lesson to His disciples through three aspects:

v.27-29 The Harvest Sown
v.30-38 The Harvest Ripens
v.39-42 The Harvest Reaped

This passage will be divided into a 2 part series because there are some really important spiritual truths and applications that we need to consider in this passage, if we are going to grow in Christ - and be useful tools that Jesus uses to build this church. I will be covering the first two aspects - THE HARVEST SOWN - which can be seen through the evangelism that Jesus does in the Samaritan woman; and the second aspect THE HARVEST RIPENS - Jesus speaking to the necessity of evangelism by possessing a heavenly perspective.

In part of two of this sermon I will cover the final aspect of the LESSON FROM THE HARVEST FIELD, which is the HARVEST REAPED, which will be a challenge to us to get involved with the Great Commission.

1. The Harvest Sown - v.27-29

v.27 - As we ended our last sermon, in the Gospel of John, we found ourselves at Jacob’s well. Jesus and the Samaritan woman are still in conversation. The woman is expressing her conviction that the Messiah is coming. Jesus then proclaimed this to the woman - "I who speak to you am he." In other words Jesus outrightly declares that He is the Messiah. The Messiah that the Samaritans and this woman, had long awaited for. This was the zenith of the meeting between the Samaritan woman and Jesus - that Jesus reveals His identity - THE HARVEST IS SOWN. At that moment of revelation, we now find, that Jesus’ disciples arrive back from their shopping trip in town with food to eat. As the disciples approach the well - they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman. If you remember the rabbinic Jews had a very low view of women, an unbiblical attitude - they were treated as sub-human. Also if you remember - the Jews and Samaritans were mortal enemies of each other, because of their history. They didn’t want anything to do with each other, because this would violate their customs - it would be a slap in the face of history. So the woman had at least two strikes against her - she was a woman and she was a Samaritan. So obviously, some of these factors influenced the thinking of the disciples, and as a result they were amazed. But none of the disciples asked Jesus about what he wanted from this woman, or dared to ask, Why do You speak with her? The reason for this is not given by the text, but as insiders they probably would have known through experience, that Jesus pushed the social and religious bounds of His day. Because of this the disciples themselves were challenged to a higher standard.

The disciples were there when Jesus challenged the corruption of the religious establishment when He cleansed the temple, back in chapter 2. And even on this trip Jesus didn’t go take the ‘scenic route’ around Samaria like His fellow Jews, but instead He took the ‘less traveled road’ right into and through enemy territory. The disciples therefore had developed a certain level of respect for Jesus, their leader. Jesus throughout this gospel and up to this point has demonstrated clearly that He is NOT bound by the customs, traditions, and laws of man, but He operates in the realm of righteousness. He establishes what is proper in the eyes of God. Jesus’ way of doing things lay in the authority of who He is - and not what others wanted Him to do. Jesus the God-man paves the way for a message that was for everyone - no matter what culture and societal position one is found in. Jesus’ ministry transcends all human cultures, and practices - so that the truth shall prevail.

v.28-29 - Jesus is the Messiah, He is the Lord of Heaven and Earth - this was the truth that was revealed to the Samaritan woman. In response to this mind blowing revelation - this is what takes place - the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city. She leaves her water jar - and then she takes off back into town - another ½ mile journey in the height of the daytime heat. It is not stated why she left her waterpot , but the reason for her coming to the well was overshadowed by something even more important - and now she was on a different mission.
She arrives back in Sychar - and says to the townspeople - Come, see a man who told me all the things that I [have] done; this is not the Christ, is it? Can you imagine the scene that is arising? This woman begins telling people, that a total stranger at Jacob’s well, told her details of her life that there was no way that He could have known about. The statement by the woman about Jesus knowing all the things she ever did was of course an exaggeration. But it emphasizes that the woman had fully come to the realization that in the words that Jesus spoke about her, back in verse 18 - she knew that Jesus’ knowledge of her was complete. This realization was also linked to Jesus’ profession that He was the Christ, which leads back to the woman’s testimony to her fellow townsmen. The woman asks this question - this is not the Christ, is it? This question is asked in a manner which expects a negative reply or one of doubt. But on the other hand she probably was hoping for an affirmation that Jesus was indeed the Christ. She was in the process of making a decision and she needed to bounce things off of the townspeople. So it appears that at this point of the account, she had not accepted Jesus as the Messiah - she was still wrestling with the information she received.

As a side note this underscores the reality that our faith is not a blind faith, but it is an informed faith. We need to know the truth and facts about Christ before we are able to receive Him as Lord and Savior. Genuine saving faith sometimes calls us to wrestle with the facts of who Christ is.

The woman’s question, did however, produce an increased interest to know more about this stranger. This kind of testimony would certainly stir up a lot of positive and negative emotions. Positive because this testimony is incredible - stirring up the hopes of the people. The testimony could also be taken as negative - as a threat - because some of the towns people probably would think - if Jesus knew everything about this woman, then He would know all the dirt in my life too.

Going back to the beginning of chapter four, and even as it continues in verses 27-29, THE HARVEST IS SOWN. The seeds of belief are first sown in the Samaritan woman, and then Jesus uses her to sow seeds into the hearts of her towns people. Just as a farmer plants a seed, he needs to wait for it to grow - Jesus knows that according to His will, it takes time for a THE HARVEST TO RIPEN.

2. The Harvest Ripens - v.30-38

v.30 - As our narrative continues, we now move on to the second aspect - THE HARVEST RIPENS. As THE HARVEST RIPENS there was a positive response. And this is what happens beginning in verse 38, the people - went out of the city, and were coming to Him. The woman’s witness was received as compelling and credible. It had the positive effect of stirring up urgency in the interest of the people. With their interest kindled and ablaze, the people are at least thinking - Hey, we better go check this guy out ! Despite the trek in the heat - at once they make their way out to Jacob’s well to meet Jesus for themselves.

v.31-33 - As the townspeople are making there way to Jacob’s well, in the meanwhile, Jesus gives the disciples an important lesson. The disciples had returned from their shopping trip, and now had with them the food they had gone into town to buy. So the disciples were urging Jesus - saying - Rabbi, eat. Jesus then takes this opportunity for teaching - He gives the disciples a response with a riddle - I have food to eat that you do not know about. The disciples look at each other puzzled. They posed this possibility to each other - No one brought Him [anything] to eat, did he?

Since Jesus’ conversation with the woman was still fresh in their minds, maybe they thought that she had given Jesus some food. But even this was not a real consideration since, the way they stated their question, in the Greek, expected a negative answer. Their speculations were not a real probability - but their frustration might have been. I know that I would certainly be frustrated, and maybe even quite upset if this happened to me... some one sends you to do something simple, but it turns out that you need to go through great pains to get it done. When you return, the person says to you - don’t worry everything has been taken care of... you find that all your efforts were seemingly wasted.

This is what kinda happens with the disciples. Everyone is hungry - Jesus sends the disciples out to buy food, into a town where they knew that people would be hostile to them. Not only that - they had to walk half a mile to the nearest town to search for food. In addition they had to do this in the hottest part of the day. So when they return from this simple, but rather involved mission - they probably thought Jesus should be quite pleased with the extent of their efforts. So they urged Jesus to eat something. But what does Jesus say to them in verse 32? He says that He already has food. The reality was that the disciples minds were still focused on earthly things. They were not thinking in a heavenly perspective. They were only thinking about the food the inconveniences of getting it. So they press Jesus to eat something.

v.34 - Once again, Jesus’ response was to bring the conversation from an earthly perspective to a heavenly one - just as He did with the Samaritan woman - in speaking about living water . Jesus replies - My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work
Jesus takes something as ordinary as food, and He uses this conversation about food, as a spiritual lesson. Jesus wasn’t saying that food was not important, but what Jesus meant was that His mission was as important as the necessity of food. Jesus’ mission was to do the will of God.
Let’s take a step aside at this point, because one of the lessons for the disciples is also a lesson for us. Isn’t it easy for us to get into the same kind of mindset as the disciples? We get bogged down by our material needs. We focus on the physical things in life and we forget that in the end these things are temporal, and not eternal. The point that I am driving at is that we often look at the role of building a career, or whatever it is - you can fill in the blank - and we look at that over and above, the true importance of building a deep relationship with Christ.

Maybe this is where you find yourself today - that you are drinking from the wellspring of earthly life - instead of drinking from the wellspring of eternal life - which has been already given to you as a believer in Christ.

We look eagerly to enjoying our life here on earth - and we are enticed to live by commercial maxims - life’s tough / play hard - ever heard of that one? I am not saying that there is no place for temporal things - I am not saying that material things are evil - because every good and perfect gift comes from above (Js. 1:17). But what I am trying to impress upon each one of you is that often our lives are unbalanced. And I want you to examine your life from a heavenly perspective just like Jesus leads His disciples to do, in our passage. I am focusing your attention on keeping a proper balance - to focus on the necessity for completing the eternal tasks, that God has given each believer to do - each one of you to do - here and now. I encourage you with this reality - if you re-align your heavenly priorities, then it will go without saying that you will experience true satisfaction - you will be living a life that is spiritually deep. Isn’t this what God tells us - seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well - Matt. 6:33. When we maintain a heavenly perspective, we will be spirit-filled, and this brings contentment and joy, knowing that we have been faithful to the good works that have been prepared for us to walk in - as a response to our salvation.

Our passage calls each of us to examine God’s desire for us to greater obedience and dependence upon His will. And part of the picture includes commitment to the local church. I believe that if we are doing everything that we are called by Christ to do here at ‘Cornerstone’ - then this is the point in time, if we desire - this is the right time to get involved in other outside ministries, in other personal activities. This local church is our priority - for Christ has set you here to be the brick layers, as He builds the church. In the churches I have served at, it seems that Christians are on strike. They are walking the picket lines instead of doing the work. If they are working, they are on a ‘work to rule’ basis. Ministry is to be done only because we are pressured into it and we have to - that is the rule. We serve God not because we desire to please Him, but we serve Him because we feel that we have to. In its worse case it is a neglect of the great salvation we have in Jesus Christ. The root is laziness for personal growth - a misunderstanding of the relationship that we have been bought into - because of our salvation. We as believers are no longer slaves to self and sin, but we are slaves of Christ - He is the Lord - not us. We are to put-on Christ and put off self. We are to strive for spiritual discipline, and not spiritual self satisfaction.

Because of our salvation, it is totally about how we can make ourselves more available to Christ - how can I deepen my walk with the Lord - how can I truly demonstrate full commitment to Christ and His local church - to keep that heavenly perspective and forsake the earthly perspective. If we foster a heavenly perspective - it will invariably impact our evangelism. It will place our eyes on the Great Commission - because the more Christ centered we are about church, the level of commitment to His church will increase. Commitment to Christ and His church is the necessary ingredient in loving and growing the local church. If you are not committed to Christ’s church then you will not be committed to others in evangelism. Why? Because evangelism calls for selfless obedience to Christ’s command and a commitment to the lost. I encourage you all to look at the big picture - often we look at - and are distracted by the trees and we miss the beauty of the expanse of the forest - look at the big picture of what God has called you to, in light of your salvation - and the results will be a blessing.

Jesus teaches us some of the best lessons, when we find ourselves confronted with our failures - when we are challenged by the power of His Word? Maybe God is speaking to you this day - encouraging you into a deeper obedience to Christ. If we are heavenly minded, then ‘circumstances’ will not focus us on our self, but instead - upon what God is trying to teach us…in what area is He calling me to a greater commitment to Him….how is God shaping me….in what way is God maturing me? Let us apply what Jesus tells His disciples in verse 34 - that is to ‘do the will of Him who has called us and let Him accomplish His work through us.’

What I have just said is a broad application of the principles laid out in these verses, but the narrow - more direct application - is as I have mentioned is in the realm of the HARVEST FIELD as it ripens. It is in the realm of evangelism. If we commit our self to Christ and His church, then evangelism will become an important part of our Christian growth.

Jesus knowing that the work that He had begun in the woman, and now overflowing upon her community was utterly important. It was the will of Him who sent Jesus. God’s will, to save many of these Samaritans, was Jesus’ primary task - Jesus wanted to accomplish [God’s] work. Jesus never lost sight of His priorities and in this sacrifice, Jesus was willing to go without any lunch. Doing God’s will, the spiritual labour that Jesus engaged Himself in, was much more important. Jesus wanted to teach the disciples this spiritual truth - that God would supply the spiritual resources in order that they can serve God (it also is true that God will provide the material resources). Food was important, but to accomplish God’s work - took precedence - to see the ripening harvest was the priority - the Samaritan woman and her countrymen needed the saving grace of God in their lives.

v.35-37 - Jesus’ immediate priorities are laid out to the disciples more clearly in verse 35. Jesus focuses on the ministry taking root in the Samaritans as they speak. Jesus has already planted the seeds and now the coming harvest is in sight. Jesus once again continues to caution the disciples not to think upon earthly terms - He states to them - Do you not say, `There are yet four months, and [then] comes the harvest'? Jesus is drawing the disciples attention to the earthly perspective that a farmer’s crop takes time to mature and then the harvest of that crop is ready. The farmer plants the seed and waits a fixed period of time, and then the harvest is at hand. In order to focus the disciples attention upon a heavenly perspective, Jesus draws the illustration back to the present work that He is doing in the Samaritans of Sychar. Jesus makes the point that God’s redemptive spiritual work - the spiritual harvest - is always ready and it must be harvested. Jesus directs the eyes of the disciples to look on the fields. I imagine what they would probably have seen was this - maybe this is influenced by Hollywood a little bit - this is what I picture - the disciples are already looking at the farmer’s crops that Jesus was using as an illustration - and then at the crest of the crops is the distant horizon - there is a slight haze rising due to the heat being released from the ground - and something is emerging from the haze - you can’t quite make it out clearly…. but there is just enough visibility to make out that there is a large group of people walking closer - it is all the townspeople coming out through the fields to meet Jesus. Jesus points over to the horizon and states - they are white for harvest. These people are the direct object of the heavenly lesson - the LESSON FROM THE HARVEST FIELD. And what is to be said is the direct application that you and me are to make in our Christian lives too.

The spiritual harvest was about to begin in the Samaritans. The disciples, like a reaper, are called to cut and harvest the crop. The disciples as the reapers - now had the responsibility to harvest the souls of the spiritual crop - by proclaiming the Messiah. Just as the earthly crop and harvest gives physical nourishment, Jesus points out that the heavenly/spiritual crop yields spiritual nourishment - that is life eternal for those individuals who would respond and entrust their lives in the hands of Christ for salvation from their sins. The result of the harvest is that both the sower - Jesus, and the reapers - the disciples - are able to rejoice together.

The point is made by Jesus and now the application is also stated - in verses 37 and 38. It reads "For in this [case] the saying is true, `One sows and another reaps.' 38 "I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor." These verses in light of the near context of chapter 4 bring us back to the parallel reality that One sows and another reaps. It was John the Baptist who sowed many seeds in pointing people to the need for repentance in preparation of the Messiah. And even to the greater context of the prophets, that God sent to point people to the coming Saviour. These are the ones that labored - have done the hard work. They are the ones that tilled the soil and have loosened up the ground and planted the seed. These are the believers who were not focusing upon having their needs met, but instead they focused upon their commitment to Christ and served Him in the harvest field.

Our church has been in this community for just over 2 years now. In that time frame many people have come and gone through our doors. And I do not doubt that God will lead some of these people (like yourselves) to stay and to become His labor force. To be the ones that till the soil and loosen up the ground and plant the seed of the gospel into this community. And it is already taking place because there is an increasing knowledge of this church. So it is safe to say that THE HARVEST SOWN, is a reality in this community. Not only this but God has used other churches in planting the seed for us to reap, just as some of you have done the same for other churches. The hard work of sowing has also been done by many other Christian ministries, Christian TV, Radio, Newspapers, etc. So out there in our community is a RIPENED HARVEST FIELD. Some of us here today are being called to do the labour - the hard work too. Some of you whether you realize it or not have the gift of evangelism. The balance of the us may not have the spiritual gift of evangelism, but we also are called to do the Great Commission - we are called to get uncomfortable. We need to be actively making known the gospel to others. We need to be constantly assessing, through prayer, the HARVEST FIELD which is RIPE. We need to continue to till the soil, loosen up the hardened ground, and plant the seed of the gospel in this community; and also in the spheres of influence which God has place you in. It is hard work, but it is not an insurmountable task which cannot be accomplished - why? - because that is part of the LESSON FROM THE HARVEST FIELD that Jesus draws us to - that God will provide the spiritual and physical resources to do His will and to finish His work.

All of us are called to put the Great Commission into action in our day to day circumstances. Jesus is now telling the disciples that they are the ones that are now to prepare to reap the benefits of their labor. The disciples are the ones that will carry forth the Gospel. And we too have been called to do the same - some as sowers and some as reapers.

We are the new generation of disciples in this community - that will carry the torch of the saving grace of the gospel - into the HARVEST FIELD.

(For a full explanation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ - click here - http://www.doihaveeternallife.blogspot.com/)
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