Gospel of St. John
Samaria – 04:31-42
The disciples returned from the city in time to hear Jesus pronounce the “I AM” title and they saw the effect on the woman A sinner had been brought out of darkness and had gone forth to tell others the good news which meant so much to her own heart.
“In the meanwhile, His disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” The disciples left Jesus wearied from the long journey. They returned to find him full of renewed energy. He showed no desire for the meat they brought. They meant well but their minds were on material things. Jesus was merely trying to instruct them when he described what invigorated his spirit. They had not yet discovered that the one who dispenses a spiritual blessing is blest himself. Peace and joy are a part of the reward which comes to him who does the will of God. Jesus is just beginning to press principles of service upon His disciples.
They were a little slow understanding spiritual things. They knew very little about the relation of Christ to the Father. Their concern was with His physical well-being. They were pretty sure that someone must have given him something to eat. But, Jesus was giving much needed instruction about the future work he expected them to perform. He starts with the most important principle. The servant must do the will of his master. Jesus must do the work of the one who sent him. The will of the Father was that Jesus should save all those appointed for his efforts. The point is that the Father elects who should be saved and the Son finishes the work. Jesus did not come to Samaria for his own pleasure. He came to save the woman selected by his Father. The first great principle taught is that joy of heart, satisfaction of soul and sustenance of spirit – “meat” – is to be found in doing the will of God the Father.
“Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.” It was a rebuke to the disciples to say that the fields are white already to harvest. Jesus knew what his disciples thought about the spiritual state of the Samaritans. He was telling them that as unlikely as the field looked in their eyes, they were ready to be harvested. This is yet another reason Jesus “must needs go through Samaria” – to teach His disciples a much needed missionary lesson. How often do we judge by appearance or sophistication?
The wages for both the sower and reaper are eternal life. If one sows and another reaps, the bountiful harvest is the same to God. In this case, the Samaritans already knew about the Messiah. The sowers in this case were those who brought them the Pentateuch and Prophets generations ago. Those sowers undoubtedly thought their efforts were wasted. But Jesus recognized the potential and brought their work to fruition. Jesus is teaching his disciples to reap the fruits of those who labored before them. Sowing and reaping are two distinct departments of Gospel ministry. Spiritual discernment (wisdom from God) is required to see which is more needed in a given situation. Success in sowing is not recognized until the reaping is done. Success in sowing or reaping is not necessarily transferable to another location. Each situation requires its own approach to be successful.
“And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.” Many came to Christ because of what the woman told them. Note she did not completely convince them that he was the Christ. She simply convinced them to come into Christ’s presence and see for themselves. We can expect no more than that in our efforts. The Samaritans seemed a rather poor prospect for conversion. There is no record of Jesus performing a miracle in Samaria; nor is He doing so publicly in the world today. It was the woman’s testimony and the Word that caused many of the Samaritans to “believe.”
It would be easy to say we must simply recognize our sins, repent and assume the countenance of a contrite sinner. The woman recognized her sad spiritual condition. She was aware of how the women in town talked about her infidelity. She could not fail to recognize her sins. The question for her and us is – are we ready to do something about it? If the conscience is not sufficiently pricked to avoid a recurrence, nothing has been accomplished. Furthermore, an awakened conscience must precede intelligence of the things of God. Knowledge of God is a good thing but we have a tendency to allow our desires to get the upper hand. Then we use our natural tendencies to rationalize and override our knowledge of God. Spiritual illumination comes through the heart more than the mind. One of our deepest needs is a more sensitive conscience. The Epistle to the Hebrews talks of those who were “dull of hearing” and incapacitated to receive the deeper things of God. “Dullness of hearing” does not mean they were suffering from a stupefied mind but rather a calloused conscience. According to Hebrews, “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
Galilee – 04:43-54
The previous portion of Chapter 4 dealt with Christ’s ministry in Samaria. We observed the spiritual condition of Israel in the prior chapters. The Holy Spirit has been drawing attention away from Israel to Christ. The earlier portion of this chapter shows a turning away from Judaism to the Gentiles. Now we return to His efforts in Galilee.
“Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee. For Jesus himself testified that a prophet hath no honour in his own country. Then when He was come into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast; for they also went unto the feast. So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee.” The marriage in Cana was on the third day after Jesus selected disciples. The miracle to be performed today is the third day after converting the Samaritan woman. Christ rose on the third day. We will continue to find significance in the “third day”. The Samaritans believed Christ because of the woman’s testimony and the Word. The Galilean’s did not believe, but they received him because they knew of his miracle at Cana.
“And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” The Galileans received Jesus only because they saw signs and wonders at the feast in Cana. They did not honor him as the Messiah as did the Samaritans. Note that the nobleman’s son was in Capernaum and Jesus was in Cana. From this we learn that Jesus did not require proximity to perform a miracle. Jesus’ comment to the nobleman could as well apply to us today. Do we not constantly seek signs and wonders? They were not required to convert the Samaritans.
“The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth; and himself believed, and his whole house.”
The word “Yesterday” is significant in this story. Capernaum is a four hour journey from Cana. We also know that Jesus healed the son at the seventh hour – about 1:00 pm. That leaves ample time for the nobleman to return to Capernaum that very afternoon. It shows the strength of the nobleman’s faith. Could we be that certain? Cases where the whole household believes based on the belief of the head are plentiful in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. What we almost never hear in the Bible is the case there the family believes when the head is an unbeliever. What does it say about our culture that many churches find it difficult to attract husbands?