Last week, for the evening service, we looked at the discussion that occurred between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. The conversation started with the woman seeing a weary man and then realized he was Jew, then a rabbi, then a prophet and finally presumed Him to be the Christ. The conversation culminates with the Samaritan woman realizing that she may have just met the Christ. Remember, this one of the reason why John wrote this Gospel, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (20:31). These people are believing that Jesus is the Christ.
“You, Come and See” (vv. 26-30)
Verse 26. I mentioned this last week but I want to emphasize it again. This is really the first “I am” statement of Jesus in the Gospel of John. This recalls the self-existent claims that are found in the Old Testament (Exod. 3:14-15). The same construction that was employed in 8:58 is being used here. Jesus is clearly admitting to this woman that He is indeed the Christ.
Verse 27. The disciples were surprised that Jesus was talking to a woman. It was the norm of the culture in that day to not speak to a woman. Woman in that time were not always considered very trustworthy. However, Jesus saw her as a person that was in need of salvation just as much as anyone else.
For whatever reason the disciples decide not to question why Jesus is having a conversation with a woman. Jesus was seen as their rabbi and student were not allowed to question the authority or actions of their rabbi.
Verse 28. The woman was either startled by the fact that the disciples returned or that she was excited about the fact that she found that Messiah. For whatever reason, she must have left in a hurry because she left behind her water pot.
Verse 29. The woman was not able to keep the meeting she had with Jesus to herself. When one has an encounter with God, it is really hard to keep it to one’s self. She just met the Christ. She just met the Messiah. They have been looking and waiting for Him for hundreds of years. Do you think she would be able to keep that to herself? We new Christians do this all the time. They become saved and they can’t keep the gospel to themselves. They can’t wait to tell other people about Jesus.
The woman points out that Jesus knew about her life even though they had never met before. It is a possibility that some of the men also knew of her lifestyle. The woman is pointing out though that Jesus is a stranger and knows about her past.
The question she asks, “is not this the Christ,” was asked in a manner that was looking for negative answer. This is seen the Greek. A good way to ask the question in English to infer a negative answer would be, “This is not the Christ, is it?” She probably did this to encourage the men to investigate the matter for themselves. If simply told everybody that she found the Christ there would be a good chance her word would not be trusted. A woman was not allowed to bear testimony in the court of law in those days.
It could be said that Jesus one of the most unseemly people to share with His identity. She was a woman. She was a Samaritan. And she was a woman with a sinful history and possibly a foul history. Rumors of sin always spread like wildfire. However, God is still glorified no matter who He uses to share the good news. Each and everyone of us is still sinful. We are all dead. We all need a Savior.
Verse 30. Her words of invitation were enough to have the men come and look for themselves.
The Father Sent Me (vv. 31-34)
Verses 31-33. While the Samaritan woman was sharing what she had just witnessed in town, the disciples were trying to get Jesus to eat. The whole reason why they went into town was to purchase food (v. 8). They left Jesus at the well and now had returned with food.
Jesus gave a reply that seemed to give the indication that He already ate food.
The disciples were confused by the reply that Jesus gave. “Who gave Him food?” It appeared that Jesus was only talking to the woman the entire time not to anyone else. Besides, they are in Samaria. Who would have given a Jew food in Samaria. The disciples bought the food.
Verse 34. Jesus explains what He meant by His reply. There is something that is going here that is more important than eating food. There is no time to eat food right now. Jesus needs to take care business. The thing that is going on is Him fulfilling the will of the One who sent Him.
The One who sent Him was God the Father. Jesus was sent by God. We have talked about this before when we mentioned that He is from above. According to this verse, Jesus was sent for two reasons, which they could both be the same thing. The first being to do the will of the Father. This is most likely a reference to Christ’s death on the cross. The second is to accomplish/finish His work. This implies that God the Father would have first set up the work. It is God’s desire to draw people unto Himself for redemption for the praise of His glory.
The whole point to this story is in the middle of the narrative. The culmination is the fact that God in flesh is walking amongst them and that He will accomplish a work that will redeem people from every tribe, nation and tongue.
So I Send You (vv. 35-38)
Verse 35. “There are four months and then cometh the harvest,” was probably a common phrase that was used that day. The point of the saying was that one must wait. You can’t just plant a garden then turn around to find vegetables. You have to wait for the garden to grow first.
Jesus is using this common phrase alongside an analogy. Jesus tells the disciples to look upon the fields, or quite literally, look upon the people. The harvest is ready to be brought in. The people are ready to believe in a Savior. The woman I was just talking to is in the town to other people about Jesus. She is inviting them to come see Jesus.
Verse 36. Harvesting some crops can be really exhausting. Harvesting today is still a big chore even with all of the fancy equipment that can be used. We still use hired help to get the crops. But at the end of the day, you have crops. There are results for your work. You can eat the apple that you picked that afternoon.
What is even more work though is all the effort that goes into the crops to make sure that they come out good. You have to till the ground. You have to plan the garden. You have to plant the seeds. You have to pull the weeds. You have to water the garden. And of course, you have to wait to get the crops. There is nothing to show for your work.
Jesus points out that the planter and the harvester are able to rejoice over the crops/fruit now because the harvest is ready now. There is no need to wait. And there should always be joy when we get to see someone come to salvation.
Verses 37-38. Some may have thought that the growing season is so long that one man plants but it will be a different that will harvest the same plants. This could definitely be said about fruit bearing trees. It may take a couple of years from when you plant it to see any fruit come from it.
Jesus is using this common phrase to illustrate something else though. The harvest is ready now and you did not even have to put the work to get it. Someone else has put in all of the work to get the fruit ready. Jesus put in all of the work to get the town ready to believe. These disciples have the easy part. They only need to ask people to repent.
One other interesting thing to note, Jesus was sent by God to do the will of the Father and now in this verse Jesus is sending the disciples. This is the mission of the Church. Go reap fruit. Reap the fruit that is eternal life.
Remember also that Jesus is not saying this about Jews. He is talking about Samaritans. He is talking about a group of people that are considered half-breeds. They are considered unclean. They are considered low-lifes. The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. But Jesus is telling them that they need the Messiah. They will be included with the rest of the people that will receive the blessings of salvation.
Remember the Messiah for the Jews carried a lot of nationalistic ideals with it. Ideals that talk about setting Israel as a sovereign nation again. They want to be a Jewish nation again. Yet Jesus is telling them that the Samaritans need the Messiah too. The Christ is not only a King that will set up a nation again. He is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
Jesus Goes to the Samaritans (vv. 39-42)
Verse 39. What the woman was telling people must have been effective. The people in the town believed what she was saying. Here is a Samaritan woman with a poor history and she is telling people that Jesus is the Christ. Yet here are the disciples. They went into town only to buy food. Jesus had to explain that the Samaritans need salvation too.
Verse 40. This is where it gets really interesting. The Samaritans ask Jesus to come and stay with them and He agrees! A pharisee would have flipped his lid. This means that Jesus going to converse with the Samaritans. This means that Jesus is going to eat with the Samaritans. This means that Jesus is going to go into their houses. This also meant that Jesus even stayed the night as a guest in a Samaritan’s house, on a Samaritan’s bed. A pharisee would have done none of these things because the Samaritans and everything they touch is unclean. They have unclean houses. They have unclean food. They have unclean beds. But Jesus has no problem doing any of these things. It wasn’t the law that made them unclean. It was the pharisees that wanted the Samaritans to be unclean.
Verses 41-42. Jesus went to the Samaritans preached unto them. He told them who He was. Perhaps this was done is the same manner as it was done with the Samaritan woman.
The other men from town now believed that Jesus was the Christ, not because of what the woman said but because of what Jesus said unto them. What is ironic is that this is the only time the Samaritan people are mentioned in the Gospels. What is said of them is that they believed. This should be contrasted with what is said about the Galileans and the people of Judea; they rejected Christ. He came unto His own and His own received Him not.
Jesus is the Christ not just for the Jews. Jesus is the Christ for every nation.
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