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Commentaries
English
John
  
31Meanwhile the disciples besought him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."32But he said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know."33So the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought him food?"34Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent Me, and to accomplish his work.35Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest.36He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.37For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’38I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."


After Jesus had delivered the soul of the sinful woman and led her to eternal life, he turned to his disciples to render them similar service. Their thoughts remained worldly on material things. They did not rejoice at what God’s Spirit had done in the woman’s heart. Doubtless food and drink are vital for survival, but there is more essential food than bread, and more powerful satisfaction than water provides. This they had still to understand. They were no better than her, despite their piety in following Jesus.
Jesus explained to them the meaning of heavenly or spiritual food. This satisfies the soul more than any material food. Jesus was satisfied above all in bestowing blessing and doing his Father’s will.
Jesus was God’s apostle. He was freely the Son, but obedient to his Father, doing His will joyfully, for God is love. Whoever dwells in love dwells in God. Christ’s obedience does not mean that he was inferior to the Father, but proves the extent of His love. The Son said that the world salvation was His Father’s work, even though he had carried it out himself. He gave the glory to his Father, just as previously the Father had given all things to the Son. The Father gives prominence to His Son and has seated him at His right hand, placing in him all authority in heaven and on earth.
At the well God’s will had been to save this despised woman. It was not only the Jews who had been called to redemption, but all mankind. All were corrupt and hungered for God. Jesus on meeting this woman found in her a maturity, a hunger for pardon in her inner being. A readiness to receive God’s pardon was more apparent in her than in the Jews. Suddenly, he saw before him all humanity as a vast field filled with wheat ripening for the harvest, wafted along by the Holy Spirit.
However, the disciples could not see this field symbolizing the world ready for harvest. Jesus had reached Samaria in winter and harvest requires several months to appear. Jesus seems to say, ‘You look at the superficial facts that are obvious. Look at the truths at the core of the human spirit; suppressed questionings, desire for abundant life, the search for God. Today is harvest time. Many are anxious to accept God’s Son as their Savior, if the message of salvation is presented to them with wisdom and in love.
You may feel otherwise; all those around me are stubborn, fanatical or blind. That is how the disciples felt; they judged superficially. But Jesus discerned the heart. He did not condemn the sinful woman who had initially treated him as alien. He did not hesitate to converse with her even though spiritual discourse was beyond her, but spoke simply and clearly to her. So he helped her all the more with the Spirit’s guidance, and awakened in her memories of worship and the majesty of Messiahship, until she became an evangelist. What a change! She was closer to the workings of the Spirit than the pious Nicodemus. Everyone who serves the Lord needs his loving insight of Jesus to see those who hunger for God’s righteousness in their locality. Do not worry about their coarseness and indifference, God loves them; Jesus calls them. Their minds will be enlightened by grace little by little. How long will you stay silent in a world that has so many seekers after God?
When a person returns to Christ, eternal life will be his; joy will fill many hearts. Also in heaven there will be rejoicing among the angels over one sinner repenting. After all God wishes all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Those who align themselves with God’s will, and carry it through by preaching to others humbly will satisfy their own souls and rejoice. Just as Jesus said of himself, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and fulfill His work."
Jesus ended his message to the disciples saying, "I send you to harvest." The Baptist had already ploughed the arid fields preaching repentance – Jesus is himself the seed of wheat that God planted in the soil already prepared. We harvest today the fruits of his death on the cross. Should Jesus call you to the harvest, recall that this is not your harvest. The work is the Lord’s. The power of Christ ripens in the Spirit’s fruits. We are all unprofitable servants, yet he calls us to share his divine ministry, sometimes in sowing, sometimes in plowing or the reaping. It is good to remember we are not God’s first workers. Many have toiled before us in tears; their prayers are recorded in heaven. You are not better equipped than God’s other servants, nor are you better behaved. You live every moment by His pardoning grace. Learn to obey the Spirit in your service. Serve Him with praise and thanksgiving during the harvest, and magnify your heavenly Father with other harvesters, who cry, ‘Your Kingdom come; yours is the sovereignty, the power and the glory for ever.’ Amen.