John 4:27-42 Lesson From The Harvest Field - Part 2

01.02.09 John 4:27-42 (NASB)

Sermon Audio File: John 4:27-42 (Part 2)

Going Deeper: Study Guide

Lesson From The Harvest Field - Part 2

Today we continue from where we left off in the Gospel of John, chapter 4 - and our sermon titled a ‘LESSON FROM THE HARVEST FIELD.’ Jesus is telling His disciples that they need to be aware of the harvest of souls that are right before their very eyes. Jesus brings this important lesson to us through three aspects:

The Harvest Sown
The Harvest Ripens
The Harvest Reaped

I have already covered the first two aspects - THE HARVEST SOWN, and THE HARVEST RIPENS, in 4:27-38. In part of two of this sermon, today, I will cover the final aspect of the LESSON FROM THE HARVEST FIELD, which is the HARVEST REAPED v.39-42, which will be a challenge to us to get involved with the Great Commission. Our passage reveals this to us:

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."

Allow me to review what we learned last time as we looked at - The Harvest Sown in verses 27-29. As we ended our last sermon, we were at Jacob’s well. Jesus and the Samaritan woman finished their conversation as Jesus reveals His identity to her - as a result THE HARVEST IS SOWN. The woman leaves her water jar at the well - and then she takes off back into town - another ½ mile journey in the height of the daytime heat with her discovery. Jesus’ disciples then arrive back from their shopping trip in town with food to eat. As the disciples approach the well, they are amazed that to find that Jesus had been speaking with a woman.

The history between these 2 people groups influenced the thinking of the disciples, and as a result they were surprised. But none of the disciples asked Jesus about what he wanted from this woman, or dared to ask, Why do You speak with her? I believe that the disciples past experiences with Jesus told them that Jesus always has a right purpose in all that He did. The woman arrives back in Sychar. This woman begins telling people, that a total stranger at Jacob’s well, told her details of her life which He could not have known about. As a result her townspeople are interested to find out more about this stranger. The people’s hopes are stirred-up because there is a great likelihood that this stranger - Jesus - was the long awaited Messiah. The outcome of the woman’s testimony was that further seeds of the harvest are sown. The townspeople ablaze with interest make their way out to the well to see Jesus for themselves as THE HARVEST RIPENS.

v.31-33 - As all of this is taking place, Jesus gives the disciples an important lesson. The lesson focused upon the reality 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 that they had gone so far to get and their lengthy return trip in the afternoon heat. In speaking with His disciples, Jesus replies with very convicting words - My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Jesus takes the ordinary object - food, and He uses it for a spiritual lesson. Jesus wasn’t saying that food was not important, but that His mission was as important as the necessity of food. Jesus’ mission was to do the will of God. The disciples earthly perspective caused them to focus on themselves, therefore they lost sight of Christ and His mission. The disciples became self centered and looked unto ‘circumstances’ instead - upon what God’s will was. THE LESSON FROM THE HARVEST FIELD is that we need to focus on the RIPENED HARVEST in our midst. Therefore we are called to personal evangelism. If we commit our self to Christ and His church - to have that heavenly perspective - then evangelism will become an important part of our Christian growth and regular practice - because we want to glorify Christ by seeing it being built up with new believers. Jesus calls His dsciples to focus their eyes on the harvest field. God’s will, to save many of these Samaritans of Sychar, was Jesus’ primary task - Jesus wanted to accomplish [God’s] work. Food was important to Jesus, 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. The disciples needed to be able to see the multitude of townspeople coming out through the fields to meet Jesus. And when they have a heavenly perspective - Jesus will use them as His instrument to proclaim the Gospel because there are always many around who are white for harvest. These people are the direct object of the heavenly lesson - the LESSON FROM THE HARVEST FIELD.

We, just as the disciples, have the responsibility to harvest the souls of the spiritual crop - through evangelism. 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 place 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 it is true that One sows and another reaps. It was John the Baptist who, earlier in this gospel, sowed many seeds in pointing people to the need for repentance in preparation of the coming Messiah.

In the greater context, we have the OT prophets, that God sent to point people to the coming Saviour. These are the ones that have 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. Some of us here today are being called to do the hard labour too, as evangelists. The balance of the us may not have the spiritual gift of evangelism, but we are to plant the seed of the gospel in this community; and also in the spheres of influence which God has placed you in. We need to be actively sharing the gospel with others. We need to be constantly assessing, through prayer, the HARVEST FIELD which is RIPE. Jesus is now telling the disciples that they are the ones that are now to prepare to reap the benefits of those who labored before them. 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 - to carry the torch of the saving grace of the gospel - into the HARVEST FIELD. Our study of John 4:27-42 - LESSONS FROM THE HARVEST FIELD - finishes off with:

3. The Harvest Reaped - v.39-42

v.39-41 - The scene shifts back to the approaching crowd of townspeople marching towards Jacob’s Well where Jesus and His disciples are. The seeds were already sown and now the crop is ripe for harvesting. It is true that if we plant seeds we can expect fruit. As a result of the Samaritan woman who testified - about Jesus, many people from her city - Sychar, believed in Him. Her testimony was simple - He told me all the things that I [have] done. The woman went to her neighbours despite the reputation that she had, and she openly confessed and expressed the rebuke that Jesus gave her. This demonstrates her humility and I believe that she came to accept Jesus as her Messiah - which is the implication of the text . She must have been beaming with excitement and conviction as she told others of her encounter with the living God - the living water she received from Jesus. Her openness and demeanor must have been compelling. She also took part in bringing a crop to harvest to Christ and His disciples. There is a simple but powerful principle contained in verse 39 - the principle is that it is often the simple testimony of another person, like yourself, that the Lord uses to draw and save people. It is awesome to think that God uses simple plain old people like us - to bring the message of salvation to others. All we need to do is be faithful, take a step out in faith, have a compassion for the lost, demonstrate Christ’s love to others, initiate a conversation, draw the conversation into the spiritual realm, present the gospel using God’s Word - and allow the Holy Spirit to accomplish His will. We as believers are people with a testimony - so we cannot ignore the necessity to be active in evangelism.

The harvest was so plentiful, and the response of the Samaritan people so joyous, because of the forgiveness of their sins and the receipt of the undeserved gift of eternal life - what do the people do? - they asked Jesus to stay….and Jesus stayed there two days. This is remarkable, because if you remember there was great animosity between the Jews and Samaritans. Jesus sets the example that our evangelism should reach beyond any man made barriers like - tradition, history, culture, and societal.

The expression of the people’s new found hope manifested itself in - self complacency? No. It resulted in further evangelism. Isn’t that true for most people - think back to the time that you were saved. It is most likely in that time period, that you told someone else about your salvation, and in doing so you gave testimony of God’s saving grace. But think about now. Do you still have that burning fire within? Or is has it been dimmed by living a complacent Christian life? It is like in the game of monopoly - you’ve got your get out of jail free card - and you say - Hey I’m saved, I’m going to heaven, so who cares - life is too busy to fit in some evangelism - besides someone else will do it.

At Sychar, the result was that because of Jesus’ further teaching and preaching ministry - many more believed because of His word. A spiritual revival took place in that town - would you like to see that happen at this church? I believe that it can…do you? We too need that kind of spiritual awakening here in this place - so… we must submit ourselves to Christ, in full obedience to His Commission - go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. We must align ourselves to God’s Word.

V.42 - The passage ends with this compelling testimony from the people regarding who Jesus is - the people say 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. The seeds of testimony were sown by what the woman at the well said before her own townspeople; and the people were drawn to the well to check this Jesus guy out - and made the discovery too. At first with all the excitement it was probably was quite noisy at the well, but as Jesus spoke - I imagine that perhaps you could hear a needle drop to the ground - as Jesus offered the people living water - by God’s grace those who believed, were saved. The people heard for themselves the words of Christ. They knew, by personal interaction and experience, who this stranger was - before them was their Creator, the Lord of Heaven and Earth - the Savior of the world. Isn’t that amazing…that Jesus is the Savior of the world…His saving grace is offered on a universal basis…first the gospel came to the elect through the Jews….it came to the Samaritans….it came to us….and now…it is available to those around us whom God has chosen….and through you as His human instrument of His grace. What are you waiting for? As in this text the disciples were the next generation of gospel bearers. And for us today - we are the next generation of believers who have been entrusted with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

As we think about our passage we need to think about this - How is the necessity of sowing and reaping the harvest going to move from your heads to your feet? We all know that we should be evangelizing - carrying out the Great Commission - but how are we to put this into practice.
Before I went into seminary a very wise and godly friend gave me this advice: When you’re in seminary don’t focus on your strengths, but focus and work on what your weak at in ministry. One area of weakness I had was evangelism. So I set out to work on this area. I looked for ministry opportunities to make disciples with unbelievers. I began to get involved in individual and small group discipleship at the church that I was serving in. What boosted my effectiveness was to have a Biblical picture of what a God centered approach to evangelism was - and that came from an apologetics and evangelism course. This is one example of what I learned about being more God centered in my approach. If you are involved in evangelism or are familiar with some of the ‘techniques’ that are used we may have come across this opener in talking with an unbeliever - ‘God has a wonderful plan for your life.’ Think about this statement….it sounds good doesn’t it? It is pleasant, it offers something attractive and certain - but is it Biblical? The statement is an example of a man centered approach - because if we compare what the Bible says - we know that not everyone is going to be saved - this means that God does not have a wonderful plan for every unbeliever. If we use this opener then we may be misleading that person - we could be lying to that person. Think about the opener in this way - Is God’s plan for that person so wonderful if the person is going to hell, because he will continue to reject Christ?
The bottom line of moving the command to evangelize from the head to the feet - to move it from merely thinking about it to actually doing it is - to submit yourself to the command of Christ in Matthew 28 - Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and surely, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. To put this act of righteousness on, it does mean that we are to get out of our self complacency and get into action by obeying Christ - get out and practice it. I can almost guarantee you that it is going to be uncomfortable and difficult. It may even cost you something - as Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 16:24 - "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.’ Are you ready to do that?

When I was still in seminary, a long time childhood friend of Carmen, came to visit us in LA. Over the years Carmen had kept in contact with this friend and they would even visit each other and email. It was upon our hearts that she would come to know Jesus Christ. We began praying that we would be able to share the gospel with her while she was with us. She stayed with us for several days. I was looking for a right moment each time we had opportunity to chat with her and catch up. If I remember correctly she even came to church with us - which was not the thing that she would normally do. There were probably several times that I could have brought up the gospel, but - to be honest - I was really afraid to, and let the opportunity go by each time. The days were running out and then finally I mustered up enough courage to say something…on the last day…and literally at the last moment….just before her flight back home. We sat down at our dinner table, and I systematically went through many Bible verses with her - on her face was an intense look of which I could not discern the reason. My face was probably looked just as intense as hers, since I was pretty nervous. I told her that we were concerned about her spiritual well being. At the end of the conversation she was polite to us and thanked me, but she had her own beliefs. Off she went back home. During my seminary years, we would send out an update newsletter about what we were up to with family and seminary, etc. We would always include her in our emailings. As the opportunity arose at Christmas and Easter we would always include a gospel message appropriate to the occassion. After a few of these emails - one time we heard from our friend. And what she wrote in that email was surprised us. Did she accept Christ? No. In fact she sent us a nasty email telling us to never to contact her again. Our emails to her were quote unquote ‘offensive’ to her. We had tried to contact her but we never have gotten any response - for the sake of the Gospel we lost a close friend.

Are you willing to deny yourself, take up the cross, and follow Christ in the Great Commission? It is going to be rough, and there will be many more losses than victories….but we MUST follow Christ and maintain a heavenly perspective. We must learn a LESSON FROM THE HARVEST FIELD and be prepared to reap according to the Lord’s will.

The question for some of us is not - should I get involved in the Great Commission, but it is why am I not obeying Christ’s command?

So how can you get started? I suggest you to do this - first is that I invite any of you to come out to our monthly outreach - and to knock on doors. Scripture says - Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: 10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up (Eccl. 4:9-10a). This will help you build up your boldness, and may open your eyes to see if you have the gift of evangelism. Another way to learn and prepare for this most important task is through reading - I have a recommended book in last week’s bulletin and this week - that is about God centered evangelism.

How great are the opportunities in this community? The statistic for unbelievers in Vancouver is approximately 97%. In c3’s postal code alone - V6P, there are 5,910 houses, and 5,680 apartments. Let’s do some math - there is a total of 11,770 residences. If we conservatively assume that there are 2 people per home on average, that is 23,540 people. Take 97% of that and we have about 22,834 people who need to know Jesus Christ and are not born again. And out of this number their are some people who have never - that is right never - heard the gospel before - or even have read the Bible. From another perspective in this large mass of neighbours, there is a large sum of people that are going to spend an eternity in hell, if they are apart from the saving grace of Christ. To put this in personal terms - these people could include your sister, brother, parents, friends, co-workers. So is there an urgency to proclaim the gospel….absolutely. How are you going to be a part of the sowing and harvesting? How is this church going to be faithful to the crop that will be ripe for harvest? I believe that God strategically has put us into this neighbourhood and church, as part of that very purpose. God has given us plentiful resources to be able to do this work - now the question is - are you willing? ...are you prepared? Are you willing and prepared to do this demanding but great spiritual work?

If you don’t feel that you are equipped to do so then get equipped, get out and get going. That is what I did - I stopped sinning in this area, and started to obey what God called me to do - did you catch that? If we are not doing what God commands then we are sinning - have you ever considered it from this perspective? I am actively engaged in evangelism not because I am a pastor - but because I desire to follow Christ, I am convicted by His Word, I am committed to Christ, and I am committed to this local church. In all this talk about evangelism, do you think that I am an evangelist? We’ll I certainly don’t feel that I am. The thing about all of this for me is that I do not believe that I have the gift of evangelism. So it isn’t easy for me to disciple someone - it isn’t always easy to knock on a strangers door - a lot of the times I don’t know how to respond to some of the things that people say to me. Sometimes when I get to a door I fail to do what I have been called to do - I get flustered, sometimes I leave a house and I think to myself, I lost an opportunity to try to let that person know about the gospel - sometimes I am quite happy that nobody was home so I could just leave a flyer in the mailbox - there are times when I try to make excuses to myself not to go out - it’s raining, it’s too hot, I’m too busy with other ministry work, nobody is going to listen - but I learn and I grow. Why do I do this? I do it because I am committed to Christ - I do it because Scripture calls believers to do the work of an evangelist (it doesn’t say in 2 Tim. 4:5 that we have to have the gift of evangelism, but it does say that we are to do it - do the work of an evangelist, and so does Matthew 28 - make disciples). So what does that mean? It means that I get uncomfortable and allow Christ to work through me and in me.

I think you have gathered from what I have said that evangelism is not going to be easy, but if God has given you the gift of evangelism, then your impact for this church and His kingdom is going to be extensive. If we are gifted in this area or not - when we are faithful to God, there is a positive side to our labour - we will be rewarded - there will be wages - eternal joy and as v.36 states - that we will rejoice together.

Allow Christ to work through you - I believe that some of you may have the gift of evangelism, but you do not realize it because you have not exercised and fanned this gift into flames. Whether we have the gift of evangelism or not, let us seriously consider the command of the Great Commission - so that we are found faithful, and that we may sow and reap and rejoice together - as we gather a harvest of righteousness in Christ, the Savior of the world. The LESSON FROM THE HARVEST FIELD is this - Jesus came to this world to save people, He calls His disciples to participate and be co-labourers. Evangelism is our necessary response to our salvation in Christ. Evangelism is the way we do the will of God. Evangelism is an act of worship to our most precious Lord and Saviour, who deserves our utmost obedience, and our highest praises, honour, and glory.

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