The "Glad' Reaper! John 4:27-38

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.”

When the disciples came back, they were surprised to see Jesus talking with a woman, especially as a rabbi.  It is another instance of Jesus breaking religious and social barriers, as a sign of God's kingdom coming to earth as it is in heaven.  In reverence they did not question him.  

Meanwhile the Samaritan woman went back into town spreading the good news of the man she met, who knew everything about her.  She was so excited. she urged them to check Jesus out as well.  She finishes by wondering if Jesus could be "the Messiah".  She was so excited, she dropped her water jar as she left, which was the reason she came there in the first place. (Guzik)  When we meet Jesus and he changes our lives, we sometimes want to drop what we are doing and tell others.  

“If she had avoided the company of her fellow-citizens before, she was a changed woman now; she must seek them out and share her news with them.” (Bruce)

Remember this is the woman who went at daytime to avoid the crowds due to her immoral lifestyle.  After meeting with Jesus, she is freed up to go back into public.  The people are curious and go to look for Jesus. "The woman’s invitation was effective. The people came when she told them who Jesus was and how He had impacted her life with their brief conversation." (Guzik)

Meanwhile Jesus isn't through teaching lessons to his disciples, who are concerned that he has not eaten.  Jesus is not against eating to take care of one's physical needs, but he uses the opportunity to teach the spiritual man has another source of nourishment, doing God's will.  The deepest source of need we have is to fulfill God's purpose God fulfilled in our lives. When we eat, we will be hungry again, but as we fulfill the purpse God has for us, we are doing something that will last forever.  

Jesus then moves to an analogy that the disciples would understand living in an agricultural culture. She quotes a proverb that basically means that it takes 4 months to reap a harvest, so one should not try to hurry up the process.  To the contrary, Jesus brought in the kingdom right there and then.  Jesus pointed them to the spiritual field of souls waiting to be harvested for God's kingdom. 

Jesus finishes with a reminder others had started this work of cultivating the fields for the spiritual harvest. John the Baptist had sowed the seeds, as did other prophets in the Old Testament. and Jesus did as well.  One commentator remarked, "the prophets sowed and the apostles reaped."  (Gill)

Finally, I love the phrase, "So that the sower and reaper may be glad together!"  When we see the spiritual harvest of God's kingdom here now, we celebrate together with joyful hearts. We are doing something of eternal significane and value. The apostle Paul calls all believers gathered in the church, the "body of Christ". Importantly each one of us are part of the body of Christ, and we each play a vital role in it!  

Where is the spiritual harvest ripe around you?  Where is God working right now as a result of others sowing the seeds before you?  Where are you sowing seeds so that others can reap the harvest of souls down the road? What gifts do you hav,e and how can you use them in the body of Christ, the Church?