John 4:27–38

 ²⁷ And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?” ²⁸ The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, ²⁹ “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” ³⁰ Then they went out of the city and came to Him. ³¹ In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” ³² But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” ³³ Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” ³⁴ Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! ³⁶ And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. ³⁷ For in this 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 labors.”

Commentary

Vs. 27 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”

Now just as Jesus had revealed Himself to the Samaritan woman the disciples came, and seeing Jesus talking with such a woman they marveled, for Jesus was clearly breaking a cultural taboo for them. Yet none of them said to Him, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?” Now we know the reason why, because He was trying to reach not only her, but also all those there who would also believe in Him.

 Vs. 28-29 ²⁸ The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, ²⁹ “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”

Thus when the disciples came, the woman still contemplating what Jesus had just said to her; that He was the Messiah (the Christ) whom she was seeking; left her waterpot (for that thirst was not what was now needing to be quenched) rather her soul being awakened, she went into the city and said to the men there, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” ^{vs. 29}

Vs. 30 “Then they went out of the city and came to Him.”

The woman’s words to the men there must have been very compelling, for they now come out of the city to Jesus who is still sitting at the well. 

Vs. 31-32 ³¹ In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” ³² But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”

The disciples then having returned with the food now urge Jesus to eat, saying to Him, Rabbi eat. However Jesus’ thoughts are not on His physical nourishment but rather on what lies ahead for Him, for He knows He must suffer Crucifixion death if He is going to save the Samaritan woman or anyone else, including His disciples, and so He says to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”

Vs. 33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?”

The disciple’s thoughts though are only on seeking to meet an immediate need, rather than on trying to see the bigger picture, which we too can miss out on what God is doing, if we stay focused and fixated on every little need and problem that arises in our lives as well.

Vs. 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”

In response to the disciple’s pre-occupation with food, with finding something for Jesus to eat, He now says to them all, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”

First and foremost, then is Jesus Word that His food is to do the will of the God the Father who sent Him; for in doing that He is nourished in every way; and so in entering into doing the will of God, Jesus then says that He wants to finish the work of God. The same then applies to our own lives as well as we too enter into doing the will of God, we should likewise be focused on finishing the will of God, for this will take all of our lives and resources. For a race started isn’t won unless it is completed.

Vs. 35 “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”

And so, staying with the analogy of food (since that was what the disciples were focused on), Jesus now says to the disciples, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Thus, Jesus takes a common saying and uses it to reveal a great spiritual truth, for just as there first must be a seeding, then a growth season, before there is a harvest, so too with the Gospel, which is being sown in men and woman’s hearts everywhere! Therefore Jesus redirects the disciples thoughts away from being fixated on food to look and consider what is happening before them, and all around them, for He says to them and us all, Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”

All around us then are the seeds of the Gospel in people’s hearts and lives now coming to fruition and in need of harvest! And so, we are to seek to be coworkers with God in this as He seeks to harvest the fields of eternal life!

For that is an important work of the church, to both sow the Gospel and reap the fruits of the Gospel which is people coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Vs. 36 “And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.”

Here Jesus is the Sower, and we His disciples are His reapers, and so Jesus says, “And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life…”

Thus, as reapers in the Lord’s harvest field we will receive wages, both in this life and for all eternity. And by doing so we are gathering fruit for eternal life, that is we are gathering in God’s fruit for Him from His field. However, we are not earning eternal by doing so, rather we are gathering fruit for eternal life, meaning we are gathering fruit that does not rot or decay, but lasts forever! Now this we do so that both He who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together, because no greater joy has heaven, nor the children of it, then to see someone repent and believe in the Gospel! Thus, the churches and individual believers’ strength and joy is found in sowing and reaping together with the Lord Jesus Christ on earth for heaven.

Vs. 37-38 For in this 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 labors.”

 Truly then one sows while another reaps (vs. 37). For Gospel requires both and we are God’s appointed workers for it, therefore one must sow while another reaps. Each one is needed, and not one is more important than the other. Missionaries than might spend decades and never see their fruits and labors come to fruition, and yet at the right time there will be a harvest and it will be reaped! Same with Gospel preachers or teachers, many ministries will not know the full impact of their work until eternity. For even the Old Testament prophets who faithfully ministered the Word of God did not then see the fruits of their labors, but they are seeing them now as the Lord Jesus Christ fulfills and magnifies the Word of God spoken through them. Therefore, the Lord Jesus says to us all, “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”

Therefore, let us all then be people who willingly enter into the labors and work of all those who came before us. who as a great cloud of witnesses are now watching us from high, so that we too might have joy with them all when we come home and meet and greet them all in heaven!

 Scripture Quotations 

New King James Version (1982): Thomas Nelson.