Jesus's Lessons for His Disciples in John 4 and Today
Without apology, I am jumping into the middle of John 4. To catch you up: Jesus waited by a well near a Samaritan village (where He wasn’t supposed to be) and talked with a Samaritan woman (also a no-no). Through that conversation, the woman responded in faith to Jesus’s claim to be the Messiah. This is what happened next:
Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” John 4:27-31, NIV
There are two very specific lessons we can learn from the disciples and Jesus’s instructions to them in the rest of John 4. The first one is this:
Expect God to Work
We see in this passage that Jesus saw what the disciples completely missed. They missed the opportunity to reach the Samaritan village. There is probable cause to believe they had passed the woman Jesus met at the well on their way into town. Even if they did not miss her specifically, they did spend time in the town around the soon-to-be-responsive Samaritan people. And, instead of looking for God to be at work among these people, they were content to get their groceries for the day.
But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. ' John 4:32-35
I think Jesus’s message to His disciples was this: Pay attention. The harvest is ready. God is working. Expect it to happen. Don’t miss it.
Several years ago, as a research project, someone tested the story of the Good Samaritan on seminary students. The researchers met with students in one building and gave them an assignment in another building. Between the two buildings, they planted a person who was “slumped over, head down, eyes closed, coughing and groaning.”*
The researchers were out to discover this: What was the biggest determining factor on whether the student stopped to help a hurting person or not?
What do you think? Was it related to the reason they went to seminary? Maybe deep intellectuals didn’t stop, but the pastor types who wanted to shepherd people did. Nope; there was no difference in response when you factored in why someone went to seminary. Was it the assignment that the students were given? Some students were actually given the task of sharing a message about the Good Samaritan when they arrived at the other building. This also did not affect who stopped or who didn’t.
Here is the difference the study discovered that relates to the disciples in this story:
Some of the students, when sent to the other building, were told, “Oh, you’re a little late; you’d better get moving.” Others were told, “You’ve got a few minutes before they need you, but feel free to head over.” The students who thought they had more time to get there were six times as likely to stop and help the pretend person in need over those who were in a rush because they thought they didn’t have time.
So I would ask: How often are we in a rush? Are we missing what God has for us simply because we’re moving too fast or we’re too focused on our agenda? How often do we perceive we have a lack of time when we have the same 24 hours that God gives to everyone?
The disciples missed the woman, and they missed the bigger picture of what God was doing, partly because they weren’t expecting it. They weren’t looking for it.
Do we do the same thing? How often do I move through life, head down (literally or figuratively), pursuing nothing beyond what I had in mind to accomplish? Even if what I wanted to accomplish seems like a good agenda, whose agenda is it? Is it from Jesus? Or is it my own personal plans with a little holiness spread on top?
Jesus said the harvest was ready for the disciples. But they missed it. Were they looking for it? Were they ready? Are you?
On to lesson number two, which is equally as important. I don’t know if you’re like me, but I have had days, weeks, or months go by where I honestly can say I am expecting and looking for God to work, but at the end of a season there is no spiritual fruit to show for it. What did Jesus tell His disciples about seeing fruit?
Whether there is a great response or no response, keep at the task.
'Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 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.” John 4:35-38, NIV
We may be the ones sowing or we may be the ones reaping, but our work is to obey the Lord and trust him.
Do you remember the Jesus Film? It’s still a thing. Now you can access it in hundreds of languages on an app. But my first memory of it was among boxes of unused VHS tapes at a summer camp ministry I worked at out of college. I remember thinking: What is up with these? Why do we have them? Did people ever watch them?
I heard this story from a missionary to Southeast Asia who was seeing tremendous fruit. He explained that, as he traveled from village to village, he has seen the same thing happen again and again. He started his Gospel explanation with the story of creation. But as he progressed and got to the message of Jesus, the villagers would stop him and say, “We’ve heard of Jesus before.”
How could that be? This happened because 30 years earlier, missionaries brought the Jesus Film to their village in their local language. And they were able to watch it and understand it. They didn’t come to faith at that moment, but God used it to prepare their hearts for the moment this missionary showed up.*
Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 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. John 4:36-38, NIV
I believe that, in our lifetimes and ministry, we will be on both sides of this story. The story of the disciples. The story of the missionary in Southeast Asia.
We may do a lot of sowing and see very little response. Or, we may do a little sowing and see a great response. Either way, all followers of Jesus have a harvest task to do. What is that task?
It always starts with engaging the lost and sharing the Good News of Jesus. Where it goes from there depends on the fruit God brings. Let’s expect God to work. Let’s keep at the task no matter the response.
So that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.
End Notes:
*Seminary Research Project: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1973-31215-001
*I couldn’t find the original video with this story, but corresponded with the source of this story, which he corroborated. Here are his messages to me: “I do remember saying it, not sure the context or when it might have been recorded. My point was, the J-film was typically introduced as an evangelism tool, it often was used by God to prepare soil for future engagement by evangelists. More than once in North India I have shared Jesus and had non-believers say, ‘I saw a film once’
My point is that it was not wasted in that souls were prepared to receive the seed in many cases. We often challenge people to search for God-prepared people… what are the means of that preparation? In many cases, the J-film had been one of the most effective ‘pre-evangelism’ tools to introduce interest and questions about Jesus among soil otherwise untouched.”