Reaping a Harvest {John 4}
11:30 PM
By Lisa Thayer
I’ve
written about this woman at the well before, and every time I learn something
new. This is a picture of our miserable
condition without Jesus. This is another
story of our blindness and the amazing grace Jesus offers.
John
begin his chapter by telling us that Jesus ‘had’ to go through Samaria (v.
4). John tells us that Jesus had a
purpose to go through Samaria instead of around it like most Jews would to
avoid this area. Most Jews has such
disdain for this group of ‘half-breeds.’
Jesus
not only purposely went to Samaria, He sat on the well where a woman would come
to collect water. We’re read before that
it was typical for women to collect water, but not at this time of day – at
noon in Samaria it was H.O.T.
Jesus
didn’t leave Judea because of the Pharisees.
He left because He had a purpose to enter a land and reap a
harvest. He had an appointment to keep
and He entered this place with salvation in mind.
During
His encounter with this woman, Jesus offers her living water. A faith in Jesus quenches your thirst. Faith in Christ fills every single parched
area in your life. You will ‘never
thirst’ because a spring of faith with keep rising every time there is a
difficulty in your life. Jesus can dig
deep into our most secret parts of our hearts and minds and remove them and
fill them with His life giving water. I
have often said that all our empty holes can be filled with Jesus.
Jesus
points out that worship is not limited to location. He lets us know that whatever mountain or
building we go to worship does not matter to Him if you are not a true
worshipper of the Father in Spirit. (v. 23)
True faith is knowing the Messiah (vs. 25-26)
“Yet
all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right
to become children of God.” John 1:12
I
began today with mentioning that Jesus’ purpose was to reap a harvest.
“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. Many of the Samaritans from
that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony. “He told me everything I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to him, they
urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became
believers.” (John 4:38-42)
These
so-called ‘half-breed’ people came from their town to hear Jesus. I think there are moments in our lives when we
hear someone say they’ve come to know Jesus and if they have a scandalous
background, we have a difficult time believing them. Sometimes we are hesitant because we’ve been
scammed before and so it’s difficult to believe these people. But why did Jesus come into this world?
“For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but
whoever does not believes stands condemned already because they have not
believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:17-18)
Shouldn’t
we be more aware of spiritual awakenings in others?
Jesus
reveals that His is sustained to finish God’s work by finishing God’s
work. (v. 35-36) The work God gave Jesus was to give eternal
life! (v. 34) Jesus gives life because He is life (John
14:6). Jesus is our food – He is living
water and bread from heaven. He doesn’t
just eat food. He is food! He doesn’t just get life. He gives life!
Who
are the reaper and the sower here? I
think it is Jesus and the Samaritan woman.
Jesus has been sowing with His word and gathering fruit for eternal life
as the great reaper. And the woman has
been sowing with her word to the townspeople.
That’s why the story returns in verse 39-42 to the testimony of the
woman and the testimony of Jesus.
Remember, the townspeople believed because of her word, and then more
believed because of Jesus’ word. This is
the labor of “others” that the disciples enter into. “Others
have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” (v. 38b)
This
unlikely woman becomes the means of an unlikely people turning to the Jewish
Messiah, even though they were not full-blooded Jews. This is not just a familiar story for us to
read. This is an example of who we are and
what we are to do with the life we’ve been given.
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