And yet, here we see the Samaritans coming to Jesus. Centuries of ethinic and theological animosity had existed between the Jews and the Samaritans. We see the fruit of this one woman reaching out to people in her Samaritan community.ģ9 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days It’s faithfully continually sharing the Word of God and making disciples which matters. But they were there to help harvest the souls.īoth aspects of ministry, evangelism, and making disciples matter. When Jesus tells the disciples to reap for which they did not labor, they’re about to be part of a harvest with these Samaritan people, even though they had not personally planted the word. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” Reaping and sowing.ģ8 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. And our hope is to be part of both parts of the process. Hopefully we do it often.īut sometimes it’s someone else, another friend, a pastor, someone else who helps lead a person to Christ. Who share the gospel and the salvation which comes through Jesus.īut sometimes the harvest doesn’t come for weeks, months, years, sometimes it never comes with a certain person.īut we sow the word. So sometimes we’re the ones who sow, who plant the seed. When people share the gospel with a friend, or family worker, or coworker, or person on the street, generally, a person does not come to faith in the gospel through just one conversation. Some preach the word, and some lead people to Christ. They are co-laborers in the mission of God.ģ7 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ The Word of God has been planted and there will be others who reap the harvest of salvation.Īll of it is for God, to the glory of God, and for the salvation of souls through the power of the gospel. That the matter of significance is not who does what, but that a Messianic age of gospel harvest has been brought forth by Jesus. It could be that it’s intentionally ambiguous. Who’s the one who planted here? Is it Jesus? Is it the prophets of the Old Testament? Is it John the Baptist? Is it the Samaritan woman? A time to reach people for Christ.Īlready the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together Life up your eyes and see the fields are white for harvest. As Christians, what are we going to do with this time? In times of crisis, people look for hope. In times of questions, people look for answers. There will be opportunities through all of the uncertainties and difficulties of this season to be light, to serve God by serving others, and to share the good news of the gospel.īecause in a time of uncertainty, people look for a foundation. That the news about Jesus is going to bear a harvest among the people. But regardless, Jesus is making the point that they’re in the midst of a people where they are ready to reap a harvest. Some scholars believe that as Jesus is saying that, they’re literally seeing Samaritan people approaching to learn more about this Israelite teacher and who he is. Here, Jesus tells his his disciples “lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.” In John 4:30, when the Samaritan woman was telling her countrymen about Jesus and that verse said that the people went out of the town and were coming for him. Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. A harvest of salvation as people come to Jesus. It takes time.īut Jesus is telling his disciples that he has planted his truth with the Samaritan woman and that a harvest among the Samaritan people awaits. You don’t plant seeds today with the expectation that you’ll be able to harvest them tomorrow. Obviously in farming, there’s a gap between sowing, when you plant seeds, and when you harvest the crops. Once again, Jesus uses a metaphor to point to a spiritual reality.ĭo you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’?
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