John 4, Part 2
Notes
Transcript
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?”
Jesus has just used this unusual time, at an unusual place, with an unusual person, under unusual circumstances to present the gospel message. John states that this book is written to: John 20:31
31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
The disciples come back and see what is going on, and immediately pass judgment without asking for clarification. They marveled (ethaumazon): were astonished, amazed, bewildered because He was talking with the woman. Why? As we discussed last week She was a woman. The Rabbis of that day would not be alone or talk with women in public. They feared what people might think and say. Of course, one can carry the practice too far. Wisdom and self-control are both needed. She was a Samaritan, a person considered despicable, below their social standing, unfit to be seen with in public. Note how Christ tore down the barriers of both problems and how the disciples controlled their tongue from questioning and gossiping.
But notice now what happens in her life, and in her testimony.
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?”
Note the tender, yet meaningful statement: “The woman then left her waterpot.” She was very excited. The Messiah had confronted her; she had actually met Him, and He had met the need of her heart and life. She had to tell everyone about Him.
Note also the strength of the woman’s witness. She was an outcast from society, had no friends because of the immoral life she had lived. However, meeting the Messiah changed all that. He dealt with her sin and shame. She could now face everyone. They, too, must have the opportunity to meet the Messiah.
30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.
There was the response of her telling others to search for the Messiah. The woman was of no social importance, not to the men of the city. In fact, she had often been misused, and she was often the very subject of gossip and jokes. But now something had happened to her: she had met the Messiah. The event had so changed her appearance, behavior, and attitude that people listened eagerly to what she said. The people responded—at least a good number did. The idea of the words “came unto Him” is that of a long streaming procession. The people “kept on coming to Him.” It was her dynamic witness, the striking change seen in her life, that caused this enormous response. Because of her witness, many set out to find the Messiah for themselves.
Last week I had made mention that during the conversation with Jesus it was never told whether she followed Jesus or not…now, with this response, to you think she was saved as a result of His ministering to her?
Now there is a transition into the disciples caring for the physical needs of Jesus.
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.
The disciples returned from town. They had gone to buy food (v.8). Earlier, when they had arrived at the well on the outskirts of the city, Jesus had been tired and hungry. But now, as the disciples sat eating, they noticed Jesus made no effort to eat. He had been famished and exhausted. They were concerned, so they suggested He eat. The concern of the disciples was for physical nourishment. Their minds were not on the woman to whom Jesus had just witnessed, not on her spiritual needs. They had no spiritual depth yet. They had not yet learned the great warfare being waged between the physical and spiritual concerns of life. Their minds were on the physical: on food, on not missing a meal, on satisfying a temporary craving of the body.
The concern of Christ was for spiritual food and nourishment, to do the will and work of God. The will that must concern men is God’s will, and the work that must concern men is God’s work of leading people to Jesus - seeking and saving the lost - EVEN A SAMARITAN. No greater will or work exists or can be done.
God sent Christ. The words “sent me” are significant. Christ was not sent to do the will of men, but of God. His work was not the work of men, but of God. Jesus was sent to complete and fulfill the Will of God.
Christ had to finish the will and work of God. God expected it to be completed. God expected obedience, faithfulness and perseverance until His will and work was done. Note: Christ did complete God’s mission (Jn. 17:4; 19:30). He now challenges His followers: “Labor for God—finish your task—complete your purpose for being on earth.”
The heart of Jesus was upon the harvest of souls. Men focus their hearts upon the world’s harvest, the planting of seed and the reaping of grain, the investment of energy and money, and the receiving of wages and gain. But the heart of Jesus was, and still is, upon people, upon the planting of the gospel seed and the reaping of souls for God.
The challenge of Jesus was, “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields.” The challenge was to quit looking down upon the earth and upon the affairs of the world, but instead to look up and observe the fields of people streaming across the world. The scene was probably dramatic. The Samaritans in their long flowing white robes were probably streaming across the fields by the hundreds, if not the thousands. Jesus’ heart and arms reached out in a burst of compassion and intense feeling; He cried, “Look, lift up your eyes and look on the fields of lost souls streaming toward you. Let the things of earth grow strangely dim.”
The fields of souls are white already: they are ready for harvesting right now. Since Christ has come to earth, God has put His Spirit into the world and supernaturally activated a desire to serve God. It is absolutely necessary that believers lift up their eyes and look now. If not, the ripe harvest of souls and bodies will be lost forever.
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.”
The laborer will receive wages. God is going to pay the believer and pay him well. Note that the wages are already there, ready to be paid. The laborer gathers fruit unto life eternal. What he does is of supreme value. It is the greatest work imaginable. His work is lasting; it endures forever. His work actually delivers people from ever perishing, and it causes God to give them abundant and eternal life. The laborer experiences the overflowing joy of serving God with other laborers. The laborer is given the privilege of having a specific part in God’s great work. It may be sowing; it may be reaping. It does not matter. It is God’s work, and it is a privilege for any man to have a part in it. NOTE - Each man has only a part. No man does it all. One man sows, and another man reaps. The task is too great for one man. All men are needed. The laborer has the privilege of being chosen and sent by Christ, the Son of God Himself. The laborer is given the privilege of serving with other great servants. Other great believers are laboring, and each servant enters into the labors of all others.
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.”
RESULTS WILL FOLLOW IF WE ARE FAITHFUL TO DO GODS WILL! Many “believed on Christ” because of the woman’s testimony. The seed had been sown in the woman’s heart by the prophets of old and through the first five books of Scripture (see v.12, 19–20). Jesus reaped her soul. She in turn went and bore her testimony within the city. And “many … of that city believed on Him for the saying [testimony] of the woman.” Other opportunities were given. The new believers begged Christ to stay with them. They wanted to learn more, and they had friends who needed to hear Him as well. Many more believed that Jesus was “the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
43 After the two days he departed for Galilee.
44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.)
45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.
Jesus entered Galilee. He had spent two days with the Samaritans and had experienced great success. However, Galilee was the area especially prepared by God for the Lord’s ministry, so Jesus returned to the area where most of His ministry was to be conducted. When Jesus went into Galilee, He stayed away from His hometown of Nazareth. His neighbors and fellow citizens had rejected Him and had attempted to kill Him (Lu. 4:29). As a result Jesus had declared, “No prophet is accepted in his own country”. Now as Jesus returned to Galilee, bypassing the city of Nazareth, He again referred to the fact that a prophet has no honor in His own country. Why did Jesus make the declaration about dishonor here? It seems out of place.
Jesus’ heart was broken over His hometown. They were a special people to Him: He had played with some of them as a child, grown up with them, lived as a friend with them; and had fellowshipped, worked, eaten, and moved among them day in and day out. Jesus had to prepare the disciples for persecution. They were to be severely persecuted by their fellow countrymen. He repeated the fact time and again to drive it into their minds. He wanted them prepared and not caught off guard when persecution came. In contrast people who believe in Jesus honor Him. Honoring Jesus is a clear evidence of faith. But, people who do not believe in Jesus do not honor Him. This is particularly seen in the dishonor of Jesus by His fellow citizens and the religionists.
The only way to be saved and to receive the benefits of Jesus’ presence is to welcome and receive Him. Common sense tells us that a person who does not have the presence of Jesus Christ does not have the blessings of Jesus’ presence. Jesus is just not there to bless and care for the person. However, this was not the case with the Galilaeans. The Galilaeans welcomed and received Christ. They wanted to experience Christ for themselves. They had seen Him preach and minister in Jerusalem, and they wanted the same experience for themselves and for the rest of their people.
Next week, we will see the miracle of healing the official’s son when Jesus enters into Cana in Galilee.
Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2004. The Gospel according to John. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
