(It has been difficult to split this chapter into manageable chunks – you may want to make each section longer or shorter!)
Someone read John 4:27-42
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’ve ever done. Could this be the Messiah?’ 30 They came out of the town and made their way towards 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 labour.’
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I’ve ever done.’ 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.’
Read John 4:28-29
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’ve ever done. Could this be the Messiah?’
The whole reason for her to be at the well was forgotten. Now the most important thing for her was to share her new-found faith.
Entering the village she would have met groups of people buzzing with excited talk: a whole crowd of Jews had been in the town buying supplies. To hear what the woman had to say only increased their excitement and they were quick to go to see for themselves:
Read John 4:13-29
30 They came out of the town and made their way towards him.
The Disciples of course had no idea what had been going on at the well. They had noticed Jesus talking to a woman but had then simply ignored her. They also were probably not aware of the impact that their visit had had on the villagers. They had simply done what Jesus had asked.
Was this an important lesson for them - and us?.
Unknowingly they had been ‘preparing the way for the Lord’, preparing the hearts of the people to respond.
So when they returned, they assumed that as Jesus had sent them to buy food, he must be hungry.
Read John 4:31
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’
Jesus could have replied, ‘No, not now, the villagers are coming and I will have to speak to them first’. But instead he used it as a teaching opportunity.
Read John 4:32-34
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.
Jesus was fully human, but is seems that when necessary he could bypass normal human needs.
Someone read:
- Job 23:12: ‘I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.’
- Matthew 4:1-2: ‘1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.’
- Luke 6:12: ‘One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.’
Jesus was here for a purpose ‘For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.’ John 6:38
Although Jesus had sent his Disciples away to buy food, they should always be alert for ‘Gospel opportunities’ and for Jesus that was always the primary motive for all that he did.
Read the first part of John 4:35
35a Don’t you have a saying, “It’s still four months until harvest”?
What do you think that saying meant?
Probably ‘you can’t rush things, so take it easy.’
Are we guilty of thinking like that in our Christian witness? Let’s wait until people notice that we are Christians and then they will come and ask us when they are ready; rather than us go out now and tell them about Jesus
Now read the rest of John 4:35
35b ‘I TELL YOU’ – That was a bit emphatic!
35c ‘OPEN YOUR EYES’– so was that!
35d ‘look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest’
If Jesus says the time to harvest is now, who are we to contradict him?
Read John 4:36
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.
What does the phrase ‘draws a wage’ suggest?
To me it speaks of people who are already working in the fields and are therefore due their wages.
Verse 35 told us that there are souls waiting to be harvested, ‘a crop for eternal life’. But many would prefer to be sowers.
Why is that?
There are many ways of sowing Gods words that do not require us to have an adult conversation one-to-one with someone else. Teaching, preaching, giving out tracts, (creating a web site!) can all be quite impersonal. Reaping, on the other hand can often require a more personal conversation.
In Jesus’ time, and until the advent of mechanical harvesters, when the crops were ready for harvest, it would be a time of frenzied activity. Everyone in the village was expected to join in – whatever their trade or occupation, young and old.
‘. . . so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together’
The sower will only be glad when the harvest has been safely gathered in.
Read John 4:37-39
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 labour.’ 39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I’ve ever done.’
Note ‘Others have done the hard work’. We think that harvesting is hard, but those who had already sown the seed in preparation for Jesus, were the Prophets – and they had suffered, been rejected, and many had been killed.
Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I’ve ever done.’
In the story of the Woman at the Well, who was the first to respond and harvest the ‘first fruits’ among the Samaritans of Sychar?
It was the woman herself, by her testimony.
Would you call it a thrilling testimony? Or was it simply telling what Jesus had done in her life?
What makes a testimony?
Simply telling others what Jesus has done for us.
What was the result of her simple testimony?
‘Many . . . believed’ (v39)
As a result of her testimony the barriers of custom and prejudice had been removed and Jesus and his Disciples were now welcomed into their homes:
Read John 4:40-41
40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
By reading the Bible, or hearing it preached, people can still spend time with Jesus, and can listen to his words; and they still produce a harvest today.
Read John 4:42
42 They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.’
For some, the testimony of the woman was enough. For others, she had simply prepared the way. But they all were now able to testify ‘this man really is the Saviour of the world.’
John has demonstrated here that the message of Salvation was extended to the despised Samaritans. Now we will also see that Jesus was prepared to help another despised people – the Romans.
