John 4:27-42

Relax, Read and Reflect

Prayer- Lord, Open our hearts and open our minds and help us learn. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

²⁷Just 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?"

²⁸Then, 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 ever did. Could this be the Christ^a]'>[a]?" ³⁰They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

³¹Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something."

³²But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about."

³³Then 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. ³⁵Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. ³⁶Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. ³⁷Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. ³⁸I 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 Samaritans Believe

³⁹Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." ⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. ⁴¹And because of his words many more became believers.

⁴²They 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 Savior of the world."

The disciples return and find that Jesus has been talking to this woman, but they say nothing. They do ask Jesus if he is hungry, and tell him he needs to eat. Jesus tells them he has food to eat they do not know about. I like how they think that someone must have brought him food while they were gone. Jesus tells them he has food they do not understand, he must finish his harvest.

I can understand this story. We used to cut hay on the ranch, and when it was time to haul hay, everything waited until we go all the hay safely in a barn, and that was usually late in the evening. Supper had to wait, especially if it looked like it might rain. When we are harvesting we need to take care of that and then tend to the day to day details. Now Jesus is explaining that the disciples need to reap what others have planted.

The woman comes back with other people from town and Jesus teaches. We don't know what he said, but it had a powerful effect. The Samaritans in that city believed.

Questions:

1. What was the food Jesus was referring to?

2. Do you think his disciples understood what he was talking about?

3. Do we?

Prayer- Lord, give us the strength and drive to finish the harvest. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.