God's Mission
John 4:21-38
The Word Became Flesh
Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.
~ Jesus,
John 4:35b-36
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
The Disciples Rejoin Jesus
27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Pondering Point
Read John 4:21-38 – or even the whole chapter. The words of Jesus cited above are shared with His disciples in the region of Samaria, not exactly hospitable territory for Jews. Many Jews avoided the area altogether, but Jesus saw it as a place to harvest --a mission field. That’s what we see here as Jesus reaps among the Samaritan town of Sychar, enemies of the Jews. Jesus tells His disciples to “open their eyes and look at the fields.” With many in the town coming to believe in Jesus as Messiah, this was quite an eye-opening experience for both the Jewish disciples and the Samaritan townspeople. There’s a natural follow-up prayer to this. Ask Jesus that His eye-opening, harvest-gathering mode occurs for you and for your fellow disciples also – even in enemy territory.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, You are the consummate Sower and Reaper. Show us how to expand both our fields of vision and harvest. Let us find joy in seeing the work of sowers and reapers coming together in a harvest of lives changing for now and forever. In Your name I pray. Amen.