John 4:31-38 (WEL) Meanwhile, his disciples kept urgently asking him, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.” 33 Then the disciples said to one another, “Has someone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35 “Don’t you say that there are still four months and then comes the harvest? Look, I say to you, ‘Lift your eyes and look at the fields, for they are white. Even now, they are ready to harvest.’ 36 “He who reaps receives pay and gathers the crop for eternal life, so that both the sower and the harvester may rejoice together. 37 “For this saying is the truth, ‘One sows and another harvests.’ 38 “I sent you to harvest what you have put in no hard work. Others have worked, and you have entered their labors.”
V31 Meanwhile, his disciples kept urgently asking him, “Rabbi, eat.”
It is important to eat. Jesus was hungry and tired, but something else has priority. The priority is to do God’s will. Harvesting souls is more important than harvesting crops.
Principle: If you are witnessing, preaching, teaching, etc., do not quit just because you are hungry. Compare Psalm 119:103.
V32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
Jesus speaks of food being doing the will of God.
Comments:
(Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible) Our Master has left us an example, that we may learn to do the will of God as he did; with diligence, as those that make a business of it; with delight and pleasure in it. Christ compares his work to harvest-work. The harvest is appointed and looked for before it comes; so was the gospel.
(J. C. Ryle commenting on this passage): “Do we do any work for God? Do we try, however feebly, to set forward His cause on earth,—to check that which is evil, to promote that which is good? If we do, let us never be ashamed of doing it with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength. Whatever our hand finds to do for the souls of others, let us do it with our might. The world may mock and sneer, and call us enthusiasts. The world can admire zeal in any service but that of God, and can praise enthusiasm on any subject but that of religion. Let us work on unmoved. Whatever men may say and think, we are walking in the steps of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
V33 Then the disciples said to one another, “Has someone brought him something to eat?”
They mistake physical food with spiritual food. They have much to learn, and they will, for they have the greatest teacher!
Compare Luke 10:38-42 where Jesus gently rebukes Martha for worry about physical food and points out that Mary is receiving spiritual food from Jesus. The spiritual food is the words of God (Jesus).
V34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.”
What is more important? Is it physical food or spiritual food? Jesus informs us that spiritual food is more important. Jesus tells us that His spiritual food is to do God’s will.
How eager are you to do God’s will? There are over 1,100 laws in the Law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). For a few of these, read 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, and Romans 12:2.
V35 “Don’t you say that there are still four months and then comes the harvest? Look, I say to you, ‘Lift your eyes and look at the fields, for they are white. Even now, they are ready to harvest.’
Physical harvest is 4 months away, but spiritual harvest is now. Jesus has prepared. Now He sends us to receive the harvest. Are you willing?
V36 “He who reaps receives pay and gathers the crop for eternal life, so that both the sower and the harvester may rejoice together.”
The pay and crop are not mine; they are for my master, Jesus Christ, because I am a servant. The crop is unbelievers believing in Jesus Christ for salvation.
The sower is God, and depending on context, the harvesters are either angels (Matthew 13:39) or Christians (John 4:36). Nevertheless, both rejoice together at the harvest.
V37 “For this saying is the truth, ‘One sows and another harvests.’
Compare 1 Corinthians 3:6-9.
V38 “I sent you to harvest what you have put in no hard work. Others have worked, and you have entered their labors.”
God initiates salvation. Jesus sowed, then delegates to us the harvesting. Let us go forth. All believers can rejoice together from sowers, to waterers, weeders, and harvesters. We are in this together.
We learn:
- We must all work together to do God’s will and be successful in the Christian faith (compare the spiritual gifts in the Bible).
- Spiritual work is more important than physical work.
Questions:
- Are you working for Jesus Christ or yourself?
- Are you willing to do God’s will?