Read John 4:27-4:38
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.”
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. 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.”
Sometimes I chuckle when I read accounts of Jesus and his disciples. They often seemed just as clueless as to what was actually happening right in front of them as I feel at times. Today’s passage is no exception. They return from getting food and are very confused as to why Jesus is having a conversation with this Samaritan woman – but no one has the guts to ask him what is going on. They then think they are having a very practical conversation about having some lunch when Jesus confuses them further and lets them in on what really was happening at the well that day.
The disciples thought Jesus needed something to eat to fuel his body, but Jesus let them know that the thing that sustained him was to do what God had sent him to do – to invite everyone into the kingdom of God to relationship with him. Essentially Jesus was saying: take a look around – the people right in front of you are ready to hear and follow me! They just need others to welcome them and point them to the One who makes eternal life possible: Me – Jesus! That’s the work at hand – and that’s what should fuel you.
Truthfully, it is the thing that should fuel us and sustain us, too! Life here on earth takes some work! There is no denying that. We have homes and jobs and families that need attention. All good and right things to take care of. But those things are not what has the power to sustain us. A life lived seeking to see those far from Christ right in front of us – those we encounter on our journey through life – and helping them to see Jesus and know him…that’s life! That’s what breathes air into our lungs and fills us with all we will ever need. In your prayer time today, maybe spend some time asking God to “open your eyes and look to the fields” to really see those He is calling you to serve, to love, and to share the love of Jesus with.
