The Harvest Task- More Urgent & Important than Lunch
John 4: 27-38
By: Sis. Andrea Ortega
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 ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward 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 labor.”
This was part of the story of Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman by the well. Jesus was travelling from Judea back to Galilee. Along the way, Jesus felt the need to go through Samaria. He stopped by the city of Sychar and rested by Jacob’s well where he met the Samaritan woman and requested her for a drink of water engaging her in a natural conversation which eventually led to spiritual matters that finally made her a believer of Jesus Christ as the much-awaited Messiah or Savior of the world. The disciples were not there to hear their interesting conversation and witness the amazing conversion of the woman. They were out in the nearby village buying food for themselves and for their weary and hungry Master. And after they returned from their errand, they were surprised or may have been shocked to find Jesus talking with the woman. But no one said a word, yet Jesus knew what was going on in their minds. They silently watched as the woman excitedly left for her village to tell the people there about the Messiah. The disciples knowing how tired and hungry Jesus was, urged him to eat for he seemed not to touch the food that they brought. Jesus then seized the opportunity to teach and show his disciples (& us) a vital lesson on what is important and urgent for Him- it was not to satisfy His pressing and legitimate need at that time which was food, rather, what He saw as a priority that needed His (& our) attention is the harvest of souls for the Kingdom of God. Sadly the disciples did not see this, for in their minds (& perhaps in ours), we have to first realize and deal with some:
Hindrances that keep us from seeing the Harvest work as God’s priority ( v.27;31’33)
- Culture, prejudices, opinions, biases – Notice the reaction of the disciples when they found Jesus talking with the woman. They were surprised to say the least! Why was it such a big deal for them to see Jesus talking with the Samaritan woman? Jewish tradition and culture considers it a taboo or a big “No” for a Rabbi or a Teacher to talk with a woman, and to top it off, she was a Samaritan - an enemy of the Jews! In the disciples eyes at that time, they don’t see the woman as a soul waiting to be introduced and brought into the Kingdom of God, they only see her as someone who should not be talking with Jesus. Their culture & personal opinion/ bias had kept them from seeing the harvest. How about us? Are there things in our culture or perhaps our own prejudices that served as scales to our spiritual eyes and proved to be a barrier for us to reach out to others especially those who are least-reached across other beliefs & cultures because in the first place we don’t see them as souls waiting to be harvested for God’s Kingdom?
- Focusing on the temporary and physical things- For the disciples, they were caught up in the physical need of Jesus. All they knew was that Jesus was hungry & he needed to eat! So they urged him to take in some food. And even after Jesus had replied to them that he already had “food that they know nothing about”, they turned to each other and still talked about food! Again, this kept them from realizing that lunch was not urgent and important for Jesus at that time. In fact satisfying his physical need was the farthest thing on His mind, but the disciples don’t see it that way. Jesus had to correct them and turn their vision from what is physical to what is spiritual. In and of itself, these physical things, like food, are not bad. But when these physical and temporary things become a hindrance in pursuing the heavenly, we should know what is the priority. And in the eyes of God, Kingdom-building task is on top of His list. How about us? Are we focused too much on the temporary & physical things to the extent that we can no longer recognize that we are already in the midst of a harvest opportunity? Or maybe we had missed opportunities to harvest souls because we prioritized the physical & temporal, not the eternal things that matter to God. Remember Jesus’ example, He set aside His hunger and weariness in order to bring the woman to the Kingdom of God. Are we willing to do the same?
Heart of God for the Harvest (v 34)
Jesus
spoke point-blank what he considers as His food. It was definitely not
the delicious lunch that His disciples brought, but there are 2 things
that he considers as food or that which can really satisfy Him:
- To do the will of the Father
- To accomplish the work of the Father
The harvest task is both the will and work of
God. Bringing souls to the Kingdom of God originated from the very
heart of God and He Himself initiated that work. This is the very
reason why Jesus came to the world- to redeem mankind and gather them
into God’s Kingdom. Everyone deserves a chance to hear the gospel, even
those across borders of culture, tradition, religion, preferences etc.
God’s heart is to see an ingathering of souls to His Kingdom from every
tribe, nation and tongue. In our story, Jesus crossed the barriers of
culture and tradition just to harvest that Samaritan woman. When it
comes to the harvest task Jesus works with a sense of purpose and
urgency. In His trip back to Galilee, although normal travel route for
Jews does not include passing by Samaria, Jesus “needed to go through Samaria.” (v.4).
His stopping by the well had a spiritual purpose and He did not delay
that purpose. Jesus too shared with his disciples that they also need
to see the:
High priority & urgency of the Harvest (v 35-38)
Why
is it that Jesus considers the harvest such a priority and urgent task?
It’s actually very simple and very obvious- it’s already ripe!
Farmers know and understand that once it’s harvest time, they need to
move fast, otherwise the crops/ fruits would be overripe and eventually
rot. When it’s harvest time, many farmers spend long hours, even the
whole day, gathering in as much as they can. They know that time is
very crucial. Jesus wanted to make sure that His disciples understood
this principle clearly that’s why He challenged and directed them to
open their eyes & see that truly, people now are ready & ripe
for harvest. No doubt, the disciples knew that there will be a harvest,
hence their saying, “Four months more till the harvest…”, what they
don’t realize and what the Lord is now pointing out to them is that the
harvest is already here! The souls are ready and ripe for picking!
Perhaps, like the disciples, we also know and understand and are waiting
excitedly for the time that there will be a harvest of precious souls
for the Kingdom, yet we did not realize that there is already an ongoing
harvest and we may actually be surrounded by so many harvest
opportunities. However, we did not move in to gather and reap for we
fail to recognize that there was a ready & ripe harvest. Our eyes
were closed to that spiritual reality and we need to pause and ask the
Lord of the Harvest to open our eyes so we could see what He sees- a
ripe harvest waiting to be hand-picked. Look around us. We live and
work and interact daily with those who like the Samaritan woman, are
least-reached. Among them, God is already preparing an abundant
harvest. Some may already be just waiting for God’s workers to reap them
for His Kingdom. Precious souls are at stake and we cannot afford to
be complacent & dilly-dally, delaying & setting aside the
harvest task that Jesus had entrusted into our hands. Yes, there may be
challenges along the way, but we need to be faithful to His call, and
rest assured, Jesus promises that there is:
Happiness/ Joy of the Harvest (v 36-38)
Rewards await for those who take part in the harvest work. God is a just & fair employer. He will see to it that those who do His work are rewarded. But more than this, seeing souls being brought to the Kingdom of God is already a reward in itself. The joy and happiness that it brings not only to the reaper but also to the sower is already a reward. For indeed the harvest is a culmination of different stages of tasks- sowing, cultivation, waiting, then comes reaping. We do not bear the burden of the task alone. It is a team effort. We join hands with those who did the earlier & more difficult tasks of sowing and cultivating. We may not even know who labored on their knees, praying, interceding & crying out to God for these souls. We may not know the names of those who risked their life & li limb just to sow seeds of God’s Word & truth into the hearts of people. Doesn’t it bring comfort, joy & encouragement to us knowing that others have gone before us and they have endured and that they long to see the fruit of their labor, and here we are, so privileged to reap their hard work. But most of all, knowing that Jesus Himself was the One who sent us to the harvest field, and not ourselves nor any other person or organization has strategically placed us where we are so we could do not just our secular work, but also to do the task that is urgent & important for Him – bringing in the end-time harvest.
CONCLUSION:
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 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 Savior of the world.” (John 4: 39-42)
On that ordinary & hot afternoon, something extraordinary took place in that little town in Samaria. Many Samaritans became believers that day. Even before they personally saw Jesus, they already believed what the woman testified to them. The Samaritan woman understood the urgency & priority of sharing the good news to her village. She even left behind her water jar, the very reason why she came to the well in the first place. Fetching water was no longer her priority. Instead, the important and pressing need for her is to go and fetch her neighbors and tell them about Jesus. The woman opened up her “oikos” or her circle of family, friends, neighbors, acquaintance etc. to Jesus, and as a result they themselves came to meet Him and became believers of Jesus. On that day, a great harvest of souls was reaped for the Kingdom of God. This still holds true today. We are already in the end-time harvest. All over the world, accounts & testimonies prove that more and more souls are coming into the Kingdom of God even among places & people where the Gospel was not easily welcomed. Jesus is reminding us, His followers, to be part of this noble task. But we need to set aside whatever hindrances that keep us from seeing the harvest as God’s priority and ask the Lord to really open our eyes to see the ripe and ready harvest for after all this is really something urgent & important for God. Who knows maybe there is already a ripe harvest waiting in our backyard –all within our reach. Are we willing to obey & be counted as one of the reapers?
