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?"
The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men,
"Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
Then they went out of the city and came to Him.
In the meantime His disciples urged Him saying, "Rabbi, eat."
But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know."
Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?"
Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. 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 he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true:'One sows and another reaps.' John 4:31-38
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Jesus spoke these words about 'The Harvest' at the tail end of His encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. The disciples had left Jesus here at the well and had gone into the city to find food. vs.8 At this point they have returned to find Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman! Both being a Samaritan and a woman were strikes against her in their eyes. It said that they marveled because He was talking to her and that none of them dared to ask Him about it. Instead, they tried to get Him to eat the food that they had brought back for Him from the city.
Jesus, aware of their exchanged looks, attitudes, and traditions proceeded to answer them with, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." and "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. 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 he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true:'One sows and another reaps.'"
The Word doesn't tell us if the disciples understand that He was actually answering the question in their hearts as to the 'Why' Jesus was talking to her. On the surface these words could be thought of as two separate thoughts but they are not. Jesus is addressing the heart attitude of His disciples. They had obviously made a judgement that Jesus should not have been talking to the Samaritan woman. He switches from His awesome words about His food being 'doing the will of the Father' to '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!' for a reason. It is the same thought!
'The Harvest' isn't for a time in the future. It isn't for four months from now. He tells them to 'lift up their eyes and look at the fields they are already white for harvest' "The Harvest" is here now today, and it is doing the will of the Father. Sharing the kingdom with whomever we come across, even a Samaritan woman at the well! He is telling them to look at all the people right there in front of them.
The woman dropped her waterpot, left it, and went running to tell others. They came out of the city to see Him. The crowd was forming and Jesus was telling His disciple to open their eyes and look. Look at "The Harvest" that is in front of you! He was telling them to stop waiting for their idea of when harvest time is and recognize the opportunities to sow seed or to reap in the here and now.
The Word tells us to 'redeem the time' or rather the 'opportunity' for the days are evil. We too, as His disciples need to take every opportunity to sow the word in every life that we touch. We need to make sure we understand that "The Harvest" happens because someone is willing to do the will of the Father and plants seeds. "The Harvest" happens because someone is willing to do the will of the Father and do the work involved in reaping. "The Harvest" is every opportunity to sow or reap. It is every opportunity including the Samaritan women in our lives. "The Harvest" is in the here and now opportunities throughout our day. Don't believe me? Take the advice of our Savior and, 'lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!' Take a moment and look at the field set before your eyes!
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"The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest." Matthew 9:37-38
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