©Kris Gerbrandt
Chapter 4:27-38 (ESV) - Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
Question to consider: What is a sign that the Samaritan woman had received the “living water” Christ offers?
In yesterday’s passage, I pointed out that John seemed to contrast the faith of the Samaritan woman with that of Nicodemus, but John did not seem to give himself or the other disciples a pass either. The most marvelous thing had just occurred. A woman, a Samaritan woman was given a direct admission from Jesus that He was the Messiah for which she had been waiting. The disciples instead marveled that Jesus was talking to a woman.
The disciples believed Jesus to be the Messiah, but He had not admitted this to them. Of course, the woman’s desire was for the Messiah to come and reveal the truth of God to her so that she could properly worship Him. The disciples hoped for the Messiah to come in power to judge their enemies and to give them positions of glory in His kingdom.
Jesus had offered the woman “living water”. John wanted us to know that she received it, for he pointed out that she left her water jar behind and went back to town. By this, he did not suggest that she never needed physical water again, but that her thirst for righteousness was satisfied, and at that moment it was more important to her to share this living water with her village than it was to satisfy her physical needs. I believe a further proof that the woman did not have a reputation for being immoral like many have suggested is that the people of the village immediately listened to her testimony about Christ.
Meanwhile, Jesus got into a discussion with the disciples about food. Jesus used the illustration about His “food” being His desire to do the work of His father just as He used “living water” to illustrate the outpouring of faith from those who belong to Him. The Samaritan woman’s faith poured out over the people of her village, and they came out to see the one whom she called Christ. Jesus was sending out the disciples to reap from among the Samaritans even though they did nothing to sow faith into them.
Whether you are someone who has sown seeds of faith in others or have reaped a harvest of righteousness, we can all rejoice together, for all of heaven rejoices when someone turns from death to new life in Christ.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for continuing to bring people into our lives who are willing to sow Your gospel seeds in us. Please continue to grow our faith and bring us closer to You through Christ. Amen.