Episode 34 - Doing God's will nourishes and sustains us
John 4:27-42
4:27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.
4:31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
4:39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
Now that the disciples have returned from the town with food, there are two stories going on within the greater story of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well. I could easily split this section up. But, I think it’s valuable to see how these two stories relate to each other.
The first part is Jesus’ interaction with his disciples when they’ve returned and are shocked to find him speaking with her. The second is what happens with the woman after Jesus reveals to her that he is the Messiah (the Christ). Concerning the disciples, even though they are shocked, they seem to have the sense to keep their mouths shut. They are about to get an important lesson. But, they have no clue as to what that might be.
John mentions that the woman left her jar at the well. What’s the point of that? It quickly becomes apparent. She wanted to waste no time going to tell people in her community about Jesus and it’s obvious she intended to return to the well with or without other people. This woman who has had no apparent, previous knowledge of Jesus has come to believe his claim that he is the Christ. She immediately becomes a witness to that. The question is, “Will people believe her?” Understand that this woman is among the most marginalized of all people in that culture. She is a Samaritan. She is a woman. And, she is a woman with a reputation for sleeping around. In all likelihood, what is known about the culture, many people would not give her the time of day or trust what she has to say. Yet, here she is claiming to have found the Christ. Who would possibly buy that? Hold that thought.
Returning to the disciples and Jesus, they are encouraging him to eat some food they’ve brought. He responds that he has food that they do not know about. Similar to the Samaritan woman who thought Jesus was offering her literal water from a well, the disciples don’t immediately understand that Jesus is speaking in terms of a spiritual food that sustains him and that food is “to do the will of the Father.” If we learn nothing else from this text, we should learn that our priority in our life should be to do God’s will. God is the One who provides everything we need. Doing what He wants us to do nourishes and sustains us.
When Jesus moves into the illustration of harvesting and tells them to lift up their eyes, what do you think they saw? I suspect they saw the people from the town beginning to come out to Jesus. He is not giving them a lesson in agriculture. He’s teaching them about doing God’s will and sharing the Good News of Jesus with others. We call this evangelism and discipleship. They are about to spend a few days with these Samaritan people and they will witness Jesus teach them and they will likely participate in answering questions and testifying themselves what they have witnessed about Jesus.
Let’s return to the woman who has told the people of the town that she’s met this man who has told her “everything she’s done,” we might expect them to disregard her because of her reputation. But, John tells us in verse 39, “Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony.” What!? The Jews who have seen him work miracles have refused to believe him. But, now this woman who had no previous knowledge of Jesus has come to faith in everything he has told her. So, what does she do? She just tells others and many of them believe because of her words; a woman whom they would not normally trust. What is happening here? Perhaps it is people being born from above. God has sent His Spirit to move them to respond and they’ve trusted in Jesus.
This should tell us that evangelism is not something that we can only do if we’ve had a seminary degree or some special training. Why? Because the result is not based upon our intelligence or skills. It’s based upon the truth of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit. We are not responsible for the results. We just need to bear witness of Jesus and trust that God will bring people to him. Some will not believe him even if they see miracles. But, that is not our problem. Let us be nourished by telling others about Jesus.