Question
FOOD TO EAT
(2007 West Coast UBF Summer Bible Conference – Lesson II)
John 4:27-42
Key Verse 4:34
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”
Read verses 27-30. Why were the disciples surprised when they returned from buying food? How can we tell that living was flowing from within this woman? What is the practical change in a person who drinks Jesus' living water?
Read verses 31-34. Why did Jesus refuse the disciples' food? What is Jesus’ food? What was the will of God and the work of God that Jesus was doing? Why do you think Jesus compared doing the will of God and finishing his work to food? How might this be applicable to your life?
Read verses 35-36. What two harvests was Jesus referring to? What did he mean by “fields” when he said, “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest”? What harvest was being reaped at that moment? (28-30) How is this harvest related to Jesus’ food and doing the will of God?
Read verses 36-38. Who are the sowers and the reapers that Jesus is talking about? What hard work have the sowers done that Jesus says the fields are already “ripe” for harvest? Jesus said, “Open your eyes.” What vision did Jesus want his disciples to have? In what sense are all parties blessed?
Read verses 39-42. How did the Samaritans first come to believe in Jesus? Why did many more become believers? What was the people’s confession about Jesus to the woman? How can we know for ourselves who Jesus really is? What does their confession show about the true meaning of harvesting? Read verse 4 again and think about why Jesus “had to go through Samaria.” How can you reap a harvest for God?
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Message
Food to Eat
Joh 4:27-42
Key Verse 34
"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."
Food is something we all enjoy. But here in America, food is an obsession. And to combat the effects of that obsession, we spend $40 billion a year on weight-loss books, powders, shakes, and programs. In today’s Bible passage, we discover that Jesus has his own obsession with food – food for the soul. And this food – this zero calorie diet food which he found to be deeply satisfying, delicious, healthy and refreshing – is something he’s going to recommend that we try. Let’s pray that, as we listen to him, we may be persuaded to try out this heavenly food and acquire a real love and hunger for it.
Part I: The woman’s testimony (vv 27-30)
In yesterday’s message, “I Am He,” Jesus had a private Bible study with a woman by the well. She had married and divorced again and again, seeking to get from these men that which only God could give her. At the last moment of the conversation, Jesus revealed his identity to the woman. He revealed himself as the long awaited Messiah and the true King of her heart.
This is the moment at which today’s passage begins. Jesus’ disciples, who had gone into the town to buy lunch (v 8), now returned and they were shocked to find Jesus there at the well talking “with a woman.” For a man to speak with a woman in public was considered scandalous in Jewish society. A man was not so much as to greet a woman in the street even if she was his wife or sister or daughter. Naturally, the disciples wanted to ask what was going on, but yet, out of respect for him and because they could trust that he spoke with her for some good reason, they kept quiet about it.
Then, in verse 28, the woman hurried off to the town to spread the news about Jesus, leaving her water jar behind. There was a mighty work of the Holy Spirit in her heart through those last words Jesus spoke to her, “I who speak to you am he.” She could now see the greatness and glory of who Jesus is. Before the face of her great Messiah – this holy, gentle King from whose eyes nothing could be hidden and who knew her darkest secrets – she found herself forgiven and loved as a precious daughter of God. And so she was filled with excitement and joy like a person who had just won a multi-million dollar lottery jackpot. She was so enraptured that she left her water jar behind. And this detail is very important. The fact that she left her water jar signified that she was no longer thirsty and in want. It signified that all those things which had been so important to her and to which she had been attached were now as nothing to her and that she was freed from them. Jesus had become her everything, a refreshing fountain from which she drank deep satisfaction, love and happiness.
And she could not keep this marvelous discovery about Jesus to herself. So she rushed into town and started sharing about it with others, amazingly oblivious to the fact that she was a social outcast. She had come out to the well in the heat of the day to avoid these people, and these were the people who for years had shunned her and condemned her as the vilest sinner. But now, having met Jesus, it was forgotten.
She told the people in verse 29, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.” She spoke here of her amazement that Jesus knew everything about her and told her exactly what her sins were. But what was more amazing about it to her and filled her with thanks and joy was the grace with which he told her about her sins and worked a miracle in her heart, setting her free from her sins – from that which had been the great burden and misery of her life.
So, she excitedly called the people to come with her and meet this amazing person to whom she was so thankful, saying, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.” She said just these few brief words and then added, “Could this be the Christ?” She merely suggested – merely hinted – to them that this could be the Christ. And yet the results were so remarkable. On the spot, many believed in Jesus just through having heard her testimony and without need of any further evidence (vv 39, 41). And then, in verse 30, we see how practically the whole town accepted her invitation and came out with her to meet Jesus (v 30). As a result of this, an even larger number of people came to believe. Again, all this was the result of her little testimony in verse 29. The magnitude of her success, the immediateness of her success and the ease with which she reaped that success is enviously amazing to us and so mysterious. How did she do it? Well, we have to wait until part 2 of this message for Jesus to give us an answer to that.
But for now, let’s think about the kind of person God used here. This woman whom God used so mightily was not a respectable person whom others might admire and listen to and be influenced by. Rather, she was a disrespectable and disrespected lady. Nor was she a trained minister or speaker. In fact, she had only just become a believer and knew nothing about Jesus’ teachings. Instead, this woman’s only real merit was her newfound love relationship with Jesus and her profound thankfulness to him who opened her eyes to his glory and lifted her out of her sins. So, we learn here that this is the kind of person God is pleased to use as his instrument to bring many to Jesus.
Part II: Jesus’ food (vv 31-38)
The narrative now switches back to the scene at the well after the woman had left. In the aftermath of having seen Jesus talk with the woman, the disciples felt awkward, not knowing what to say. So there was a long silence. But yet, it was lunchtime and they were all very hungry and tired from the long journey that day on foot. Irrepressible desires and imaginations arose in them of eating the delicious food they had just bought. So, finally they blurted out, “Rabbi, eat something” (v 31). The literal translation is two words: “Rabbi, eat!” It was a short way of saying, “Hurry up and pray for the food so we can all eat!”
But unexpectedly, Jesus said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about” (v 32). Saving one Samaritan woman brought Jesus such great delight and refreshment that his tiredness and hunger was gone. For him, it was like eating an energy bar. But he knew that a lot more food was on the way: A great multitude of people were coming to meet him from the town, and he now greatly hungered to bring them into God’s kingdom. And he was not just telling his disciples in reference to that food, “I have food to eat [for myself] that you know nothing about” but he was even saying, “I have food to eat [for you] that you know nothing about.” In other words, he was sort of announcing that he had a surprise for them: A fantastic meal for him and his disciples was on the way. It was as though he had called a fine food restaurant in Sychar – a really high-classed place – and had ordered for delivery this mega-sized meal of delicacies like lobster tails, filet mignon, gourmet pasta, and so forth, all which was now on the way even as Jesus was speaking.
Jesus’ disciples were puzzled. They said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” (v 33). They figured that, while they were in town, someone may have given him a bite to eat, and that this was why he wasn’t hungry any more.
So Jesus needed to explain to them what he meant. In the verses that follow, Jesus is going to define for them what his food is, he is going to tell them that there is a specific spiritual meal headed their way, and he is going to tell them, in a sense, how to eat this meal.
Look at verse 34. “"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."” This is the key verse, so let’s all read it aloud, meditating on its meaning. Jesus was sent by his Father into this world to serve his Father’s will -- to do his Father’s work -- which is to save souls. He called this his “food” because he hungered so greatly for each soul to be saved -- because he loved each of us so greatly and did not wish for anyone to perish. So great was his hunger that he was resolved to finish his work of saving us even by suffering and dying on a cross. And because that desire for the salvation of each soul was so passionate – because his hunger for this food was so big – eating this food through saving one soul was his greatest joy. Saving the Samaritan woman from her sins which burdened her and brought her misery and seeing her enter into the freedom and love and joy of the kingdom of God brought him such pleasure and strength and refreshment.
This is what fed his spirit so that he could continue his messianic mission. That mission was not easy. Isaiah said, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering” (Isa 53:3a). The vast majority of the people Jesus came to save rejected him and hated him (Joh 1:10-11, 7:7). Throughout his ministry, he was slandered and persecuted by the religious authorities. But in the midst of these sorrows and sufferings, there were joyful mealtimes for him in which his Father sent him prepared souls like these Samaritans who were ready to be saved. These harvest times transported him with such satisfaction, joy and pleasure that he would forget his weariness and sorrows and find encouragement and refreshment to carry on his messianic work.
Again, verse 34 reads, “"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."” Ask yourself, “What is my food, my obsession and my delight?” Jesus wants his food to be our food. He wants us to put our heart and soul into the work of saving others in order that we might grow to resemble him and grow to have a hunger as big as his hunger, a heart as big as his heart. He wants to give us a spiritual eating pleasure, a surpassing delight and gratification in his work that will make our spirit soar with joy.
Jesus wanted to open his disciples’ eyes to the delicious spiritual meal that was headed their way in order that they might eagerly join in the feast. Jacob’s well, the place where they now stood, was at the foot of Mount Gerizim and it overlooked these vast fertile fields. And so Jesus directed his disciple’s attention to these fields, telling them in a dramatic fashion, “Do you not say, `Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life…” (vv 35-36b). Jesus was kind of pointing to the fields and saying, “Wow, these fields are ripe for harvest NOW(!) even though it’s four months before harvest time.” What he meant here was that the fields were ripe with respect, not to the grain in the fields of course, but to the Samaritans who were now in the fields. The people of Sychar were now perhaps within eyesight, making their way toward him through these open fields. And they were giving the fields an appearance of being “ripe,” literally. You see, the word from which “ripe” is translated is a word which literally means “white” and, in the KJV, that word is translated “white”. White is the color of very ripe grain. But it was also the general color of the clothing of the poor people in those days (dyes being so expensive that only the rich used them). And so, in glare of the noonday sun, the white clothing of this vast multitude of Samaritans out there were giving the fields a dazzling white appearance – the appearance of being very ripe for harvest. Thus, before the eyes of the disciples, these people were displayed as ripened sheaves of grain. This was a beautiful visual display of that which was invisible – the real condition of these people’s souls.
This was necessary in order to correct the disciples’ pessimistic view of these people. Unfortunately, we cannot judge just by people’s outward appearance what is going on spiritually inside them -- how the Spirit of God is working in them, or how spiritually ready there are, or how long it will be before they can be harvested. In fact, appearances can be misleading. So, back when the disciples went into Sychar to buy food, there was no indication that the townspeople were ripe for harvest. Rather, to the disciples, the people looked just like ordinary Samaritans – that historic enemy of their nation, a wicked and ignorant people who held to heretical ideas and who were little likely to even listen to the gospel. When the disciples returned from town and saw the Samaritan woman, their impression of her was not favorable either.
So, the deal here is that the disciples underestimated the power of God to work in anybody, anywhere, anytime and they let themselves be deceived by the outward appearances of people – in particular, the people of Sychar. So Jesus had to open their eyes with respect to what God can do and was, in fact, doing. He unveiled before their eyes the miraculous, beautiful work God was doing inside these seemingly no-good Samaritans through this picture of them as being a precious field of ripened grain. This was a preview of what God would do among the Gentiles. Let us learn from this to look at others with eyes of hope and love, believing that God is so mighty and can change anybody, anywhere, anytime.
Jesus was about to send his disciples out as reapers into the fields. And so he told them how they should view the great success he knew they were about to have – how they should enjoy the meal. He said, “Thus the saying `One sows and another reaps' is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor” (vv 37-38). Those who reap many into the kingdom of God have a danger of becoming proud, of crediting the success to themselves. So Jesus told his disciples who would deserve the real credit for their success. The sowers who had labored hard in Samaria in that generation and in past ones to plow the heart soil of the people and plant the word of God – John the Baptist or the prophets or whomever – who taught the people that they must repent because the Messiah was coming – these people deserved the real credit.
Now, back to the question I left you with in part 1. How did the Samaritan woman reap such immediate and tremendous success in Sychar with such ease? She said this ten word blurb about what Jesus did for her and then merely hinted that this could be the Christ, and then, boom, tons of people believed on the spot and many more were attracted to come to Jesus. How did she do that? Well, Jesus tells us that she reaped so much so easily due to the extreme spiritual ripeness of the people which was the result of other’s hard work of sowing. It had little to do with her. Those invisible servants who may have preached and prayed in tears many years, maybe all their lives, and who maybe received persecution in return – they get like 99% of the credit here for her success. And they would get that same credit for the success Jesus and disciples were about to have.
The harvest is the Lord’s. According to his will and time he makes people ready for harvest (Joh 3:8; 1Co 3:6). So, often, due to no fault of our own, we end up as sowers instead of reapers. We teach the word of God in many Bible studies with mountain-moving faith, vision, passion, with gentle care, prayer, and tears in order to reap just one soul into God’s kingdom and then he quits Bible study. This is really heartbreaking and discouraging, but our labor is not in vain in the sense that God is using us as sowers in his grand plan for other’s lives and will reward us accordingly.
This perspective helps also to combat the feelings of competition or jealousy when God blesses others with much success in reaping. That success is given by grace to unworthy sinners and it is not necessarily a reflection of a person’s merit or deservedness. Look at the Samaritan woman. She reaped a great harvest but she wasn’t spiritually mature or able or even hard working. The point here is that role of being a sower is at least as important and valuable as that of being a reaper and so we can rejoice with reapers in their success with no ill feeling.
Part III: Harvest in Samaria (vv 39-42)
The whole town practically came out with the woman to see Jesus. Verses 40-41 explain the marvelous thing that then happened: “So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers”. This was maybe the greatest harvest ever in Jesus’ public ministry and it happened through this intensive two day Bible conference in the city of Sychar. It was not through Jesus’ presence or his miracles, but through his words, his teachings, that all these people were harvested. This shows the sufficiency of the word of Christ and its power to reveal who he is and bring people into a saving acquaintance and loving relationship with him. The harvesting by his words was on two levels: Not only did the numbers of believers increase, but the faith of those who believed was increased. Look at verse 42: “They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
I’d like to conclude here with this thought: Years from now when we look back on the seasons of our life and reflect on what we accomplished, the labor of love we did for God in his fields to give life to others, those will be the sweetest and most gratifying memories. And God will remember it all and crown us with everlasting reward in his kingdom. May the Lord give us a hunger for souls to be harvested. May the Lord use our talents, whatever they are, as we work together for this grand purpose.
One Word: My food is to do his will.
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FOOD TO EAT
(2007 West Coast UBF Summer Bible Conference – Lesson II)
John 4:27-42
Key Verse 4:34
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”
In the last passage, Jesus revealed who he is in identity and person and satisfied a thirsty woman’s soul. This passage shows us what happens when one is satisfied with Jesus’ living water: He lives to do the will (work) of God. Through one Samaritan woman’s change, the whole Samaritan town came to believe in Jesus as the Savior of the World—in just two days. Through the passage we want to learn of Jesus’ vision to reap a large harvest for eternal life—that the whole world may know its Savior. This vision comes even through the change of one person.
Read verses 27-30. Why were the disciples surprised when they returned from buying food? How can we tell that living was flowing from within this woman? What is the practical change in a person who drinks Jesus' living water?
** They were surprised, to say the least, to find Jesus alone with a woman—and a Samaritan woman at that!
** 1) She left her water jar. She was thirsty, physically and spiritually. She had come to the well that afternoon to get some water. But after speaking with Jesus she left her water jar there at the well, signifying that she was no longer for the water from Jacob’s well, but had drunk the living water from Jesus her Messiah. 2) She went back to town and began to tell all the people about Jesus. She was changed into a source of blessing. She overcame her sin-stained past and invited the town to come and know Jesus personally who gives living water. At first, in verse 7, she was unwilling to give to others—she didn’t have anything to give—she was only concerned about herself. But after drinking Jesus’ living water, she was willing and able to give to others.
** Thirsty people are selfish. They look only to satisfy their own thirst. But when Jesus' living water is flowing from within us, we can go out and be a source of blessing to others.
Read verses 31-34. Why did Jesus refuse their food? What is Jesus’ food? What was the will of God and the work of God that Jesus was doing? Why do you think Jesus compared doing the will of God and finishing his work to food? How might this be applicable to your life?
** He said, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” He had other food to satisfy him. In verse 6 we find out that Jesus was hungry. But now he was fine. What did he do with the woman that changed him?
** Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” Jesus finished the will of God on the cross when he said, “It is finished”.
** Here Jesus teaches about the will of God. Jesus had been speaking with a Samaritan woman at the well. He wanted to save her and give her living water and eternal life. The will of God is to save people and give them eternal life.
** Jesus teaches that doing the will of God is spiritual food. It means that Jesus found sustenance, growth and joy in doing the will of God. Just as we need to eat physical food, so we also need to eat spiritual food, that is, do the will of God. God has given spiritual food through Jesus; by uniting with Jesus and doing the will of God for him we eat spiritually.
** God’s will and work is the same today: To save people. Doing the will of God and finishing his work is also our spiritual food. As Jesus did, we receive spiritual sustenance, joy, and growth through doing God’s will. Many people, especially Christians, seem confused about God’s will. What is it? Today’s passage gives us a simple and clear answer: To save people by revealing Jesus and helping them to believe in him. Doing this is also our food.
Read verses 35-36. What two harvests was Jesus referring to? What did he mean by “fields” when he said, “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest”? What harvest was being reaped at that moment? (28-30) How is this harvest related to Jesus’ food and doing the will of God?
** A harvest of vegetation crops and a crop of eternal life.
** “Fields” refers to people whom Jesus reveals were ripe for a harvest for eternal life.
** A harvest for eternal life was beginning to be reaped through this one Samaritan woman whom Jesus spoke with.
** Harvesting a crop for eternal life is the same as saving people and doing the work of God. This is his work. The relation to food is that once a person believes in Jesus, he must feed on the spiritual food from God, that is, finishing his work of harvesting souls for eternal life. Meeting Jesus is just the beginning; harvesting follows.
Read verses 36-38. Who are the sowers and the reapers that Jesus is talking about? What hard work have the sowers done that Jesus says the fields are already “ripe” for harvest? Jesus said, “Open your eyes.” What vision did Jesus want his disciples to have? In what sense are all parties blessed?
** The sowers are those who have done the hard work to plant the seed and make it grow so that a harvest can be ready. The reapers are those who go in and harvest the crops. The sowers may refer to the prophets all the way up to John the Baptist who proclaimed the word of God and repentance in preparation of Jesus’ coming. Now that Jesus has come and revealed the truth and meaning of God’s word and salvation plan, the harvest is ready, and the disciples were called to reap people for Jesus’ harvest.
** John the Baptist is a good example of one who sowed. He said of himself that he is the one preparing the way for the Lord. He prepared people and made them ripe for harvest through giving the message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Many, if not most, of the prophets who proclaimed God’s words to people died for this sake—most without seeing the fruit of their labors. John the Baptist was beheaded. From prison, right before his beheading, he once sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he really was the Messiah to come. Jesus said of the prophets’ hard work and labor for this harvest, “47"Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your forefathers who killed them. 48So you testify that you approve of what your forefathers did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. 49Because of this, God in his wisdom said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.' 50Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, 51from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all” (Luke 11:47-51).
->Elijah said in his most difficult time, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too” (1 Kings 19:10).
->Jesus said he was like a kernel of wheat that falls to the ground and dies. He did this for the sake of this harvest to save all people and give them eternal life.
** He wanted them to have the vision to reap the harvest of all people! He challenged them to open their eyes to see beyond themselves to great potential of the work of God they are called to finish. Jesus planted the vision and faith in their hearts that though they were small and unskilled, the hard work had already been done in sowing the seed and raising the crops, they just had to go out and reap the great, great harvest of souls! So we must see our work as easy work of reaping instead of toiling!
** Jesus said that they will all be glad together. The harvest is a very joyful and blessed time. All the workers can see the fruit of their labor and enjoy the harvest. Jesus said in John 8:56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” Abraham and the prophets probably rejoice in heaven over those who are reaped for eternal life. Luke 15:7 expresses this joy in this way: “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” The Psalmist said, “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.”
Read verses 39-42. How did the Samaritans first come to believe in Jesus? Why did many more become believers? What was the people’s confession about Jesus to the woman? How can we know for ourselves who Jesus really is? What does their confession show about the true meaning of harvesting? Read verse 4 again and think about why Jesus “had to go through Samaria.” How can you reap a harvest for God?
** Verse 39. Through the woman from the well’s testimony about Jesus. She was thirsty and self-centered. She avoided people at all cost. But now a harvest of a whole town was being reaped through her. She became a sower in God’s harvest. She worked hard to overcome herself and the stain of her sin-filled past to testify about Jesus to all the people in the town. This shows the importance of one changed, satisfied person in Jesus. When someone is satisfied in Jesus, they are transformed into a well spring of blessings and can go out and serve others and give rather than take. If one person believes in Jesus, they can change their town, their nation, and their world with the testimony about Jesus Christ.
** Many more believed upon hearing Jesus’ words for themselves.
** They believed in Jesus not just because of her testimony, but through hearing Jesus’ words for themselves.
** Through hearing Jesus’ words for ourselves. We need to make the effort to come to Jesus and hear his words. This is why faithful testimony writing is so good to the soul.
** Jesus used the word “harvest.” But the people did not think that it was like a harvest. They confessed Jesus as the “Savior of the World.” It meant that they felt they needed to be saved from something—in fact, the whole world needs to be saved from something. They found their life’s problem of salvation solved in Jesus the Savior. Jesus’ harvest is about saving people and giving them eternal life. It has the most meaning for our daily lives and the eternal life to come for one person and for the whole world.
** Jesus had to go through Samaria to meet a woman at the well and reap a large harvest for eternal life and save many people.