Read John 4:34–42
Questions from the Scripture text: Who is speaking in John 4:34? What two things are His “food”? What does he tell them not to say (John 4:35)? What does he tell them to do instead? What are they to notice about the fields? What does the reaper receive (John 4:36)? What kind of fruit does he gather? What do the sower and reaper do together? What saying comes true in this harvest (John 4:37)? What did Jesus send them to do (John 4:38)? For what kind of harvest? What have others done? What have the apostles done? Who believed in Him (John 4:39)? Why? What did she say? Who came to Him in John 4:40? What did they urge? What did Jesus do? What did many more do (John 4:41)? To whom do they speak in John 4:42? What do they do now? What isn’t the reason they do? What have they themselves done? What do they know about Jesus?
Next week’s Call to Worship, Prayer for Help, and first song all come from John 4:34–42 so that we will see that we are singing God’s thoughts after Him with Come, Ye Thankful People, Come.
It’s a humbling thing to be a farmer. You do what you know to do, but so much depends upon pure Providence. Jesus was content to receive His food in due season. We see that in the first temptation, in which after going hungry for forty days, He was content with the words that proceed out of the mouth of God.
Here, His food was whatever His Father gave Him to do. He takes to it with relish, like sitting down to a good meal, because it is the goodness of His Father.
Marvelously, Jesus invites His disciples to reap the harvest with Him. This teaches us that it is God that gives salvation. The Father, Son, and Spirit do their great saving work, their labors. And, when the Lord gives us to participate in others coming to Him, He brings us into His own labors and gives us to gather fruit for eternal life!
Food harvest time was a time of great thanksgiving and rejoicing over God’s goodness. How much more is the joy of participating in His bringing others to Himself! And the joy of Christ’s soon return, having gathered to Himself all Who are His!
But this participation is a joy even more because of fellowship with Jesus and dependence upon Jesus than any pleasure we might get from our own part in it. This woman who had so quickly learned to love the Christ would not have been disappointed by the results of John 4:40–42.
Yes, she had the privilege of pointing them to the Lord and being used to lead them to the Lord. But as our brothers and sisters come to know Him for Himself and from Himself, we rejoice all the more as we grow in our appreciation for the fact that it was He Who was using us all along.
We rejoice to hear them say “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.” Those whom He is redeeming are His harvest, and whatever part we can have is a joy in the fact that we get to do that part in fellowship with Him, and that even our part depends entirely upon Him.
What is Christ’s harvest? How are you part of it? How are you part of the harvesting?
Sample prayer: Lord, thank You for giving us life and breath and every good thing in this life. And thank You all the more for purchasing us by Your blood, retrieving us from our sin, and growing us in grace. Forgive us for when we fail to be grateful even for earthly blessings, let alone for eternal blessings. And make us to be glad servants as we do whatever part You have blessed us to have in Your own work, which we ask in Your Name, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP145C “The Eyes of All Are Turned to You” or TPH552 “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come”
No comments:
Post a Comment