Vs. 27-30
The disciples came strolling out of the
city toward the well, lunch bags in hand. As they sighted the well, they were
shocked to see the man they respected talking to a Samaritan woman. They
cautiously approached them, not sure what to say. The things going through their
minds might have been something like, “Um, Jesus, did You know that You’ve
broken two cultural taboos by talking to this woman? This is unthinkable for a
respectable man like You.” However, they couldn’t bring themselves to discuss
the issue with Jesus.
The woman was so excited that she didn’t
bother taking her water pot with her, as she ran back into the city and called
the people. The text says she spoke to the men, which is even more amazing.
When she found Christ, who gave her the life she needed, she just had to share
the good news. She didn’t care anymore about her reputation, nor did she worry
about talking to men. She had a message, and she gave it well. “Come, see a man who told me all the things
that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?”
Her message was in the form of a
testimony. But not only did she say what Christ did for her, she also gave a
call to come and meet Him. Don’t you think that a testimony should be a call to
a certain action, whether to praise God or to come to Him?
Why the people believed her and came out,
I do not know. Perhaps they were amazed at her boldness despite her status, and
wanted to know what gave her that life she never had before. Perhaps it was
also because of the special act she claimed she experienced. But they
nevertheless came out to meet the proclaimed Messiah.
Vs. 31-38
“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His
work.”
Notice something here: the disciples were
urging Jesus to eat! The fact
that they had to urge (some translations say “beg”) Him to eat tells us that
Jesus had no desire to eat at that moment. Imagine how puzzling it must have
been for the disciples. Shortly before, Jesus was tired in the afternoon heat,
and it was lunchtime. Surely he must had been hungry. But now, after talking to
a Samaritan woman, he did not want to eat! Furthermore, He said He had food!
What was He talking about?
Jesus made it clear: His food was to do
the will of the Father. Isn’t it interesting that He had probably forgotten, or
even lost, His physical hunger when He ministered to the social outcast and
watch her run back into the city? How is it that doing the will of God brings a
satisfaction so great that everything else seem so insignificant? Is it possible
that the reason for that is because the answer for true fulfilment is found in
being filled from the inside out?
However, just two chapters later, Jesus
fed the five thousand. So physical food is not absent from His mind. He
provides and nourishes us both within and without.
Then He goes on to say, in effect, “As
each season passes, you wait for the harvest to come. But look up! See that the
harvest is already here! Will you not go and reap, just as I have done with the
woman so despised? Go and harvest, for that shall be food unto you!”
Next, Jesus says something interesting.
He quotes the saying, “One sows and another reaps.” Please don’t take this to
counter the other saying, “You reap what you sow.” We all reap what we sow,
but, if we work for it, we also reap what has been sown by others before us.
“Standing on the shoulders of giants” is another good saying with the same
meaning. Jesus was urging the disciples to harvest what had been sown by the
prophets and men of God before them, and in so doing sow more seeds. The
Christians today have the opportunity to reap what was sown by the apostles and
other believers throughout the ages, as well as sowing seeds for future
generations.
Now the people from the city arrived at
the well . . . led by the Samaritan woman.
Blessings,
Nathanael Chong