|
BEHOLD THE LAMB:
Prophetic Revelations from the Gospel of John
Victoria Boyson
www.victoriaboyson.com
Taken from Behold the Lamb, by Victoria Boyson,
Chapter 4
The Gospel of John, Chapter Four
John 4:1-26 A Samaritan Woman Meets Her
Messiah
Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John 2(though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), 3He left Judea and departed again
to Galilee. 4But He needed to go through Samaria. 5So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being
wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." 8For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9Then
the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 10Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who
it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." 11The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that
living water? 12Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?" 13Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst
again, 14but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." 15The woman said to Him,
"Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." 16Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." 17The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well
said, 'I have no husband,' 18for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly." 19The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20Our fathers
worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship." 21Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem,
worship the Father. 22You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for
the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." 25The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He
will tell us all things." 26Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."
Supporting Scripture:
Isaiah 12:3 Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
John 6:35, 58 And Jesus said to
them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." 58 "This is the bread which came down from heaven – not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.
He who eats this bread will live forever."
John 7:37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink."
John 4:39 And many of the
Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did."
(See also: Jn. 1:17; 3:22, 26; 4:29; 6:34; 17:2-3; Lk. 7:16, 39; 24:19; Gen. 33:19; 48:22;
Acts 10:28; 2 King. 17:24, 28; Ro. 3:1; 5:15; 9:4-5; Is. 44:3; Judg. 9:7; Deut. 12:5, 11; 18:15; 1 Tim. 2:8; Heb. 13:10-14; Phil 3:3; 2 Cor. 3:17; Mt. 26:63-64)
We cannot be certain of the Lord's motives in leaving
the area when He heard of the Pharisees uncovering His ministry's whereabouts, but we can ascertain His motives as they relate to other information. Jesus would not have wanted to be the cause of division between John's
disciples and His own. Perhaps He knew the Pharisees would become a nuisance in His meetings, drawing unwanted attention to them when He was busy teaching His followers. Either way, He was inclined to be on His way once it
was discovered that they had sent spies to investigate Him. We have no record of the teachings and miracles He worked while there and know only that He stayed roughly six months and was accused of being a successful
baptizer, yet He had given that honor mostly to His disciples and not Himself.
The fact that Jesus had more followers than John and that His ministry baptized greater numbers at this point is not a surprise. Being
the Messiah, Jesus ministered to far more people than John and this incident was only the beginning. At the height of His ministry, He attracted crowds so immense that they were utterly incalculable, and those who flocked
to Him tried to follow Him everywhere and became difficult at times to evade. Jesus not only had more followers than John the Baptist, He had more followers than any other ministry ever.
As a means to escape the
schemes of the Pharisees, Jesus and His disciples left the country to return to Galilee, where His ministry would be less provoking to the insecure religious leaders of Jerusalem. He traveled to Galilee because He had many
friends there and fewer enemies, and there was still much work to be done. However, their travels did not end without incident, because the Lord chose to rest near Samaria.
Most Jews traveled around the region, because
they were afraid of becoming unclean or being accosted by its inhabitants. However, Jesus was weary from His travels and needed food, so the disciples set out to find supplies in the city of Sychar while the Lord stayed
behind at Jacob's well which was situated outside of the city near a fork in the road. The West fork led to the region of Samaria, while the East went to Tirzah and Beth-shan (Beth-shean). The city of Sychar was most likely
the old city of Shechem (Shichem) called Sychar, a variation of the name, where Joseph's bones were buried after his countrymen left Egypt for the promised land (Joshua 24:32).
The Samaritans were, both in blood and
religion, a mixture of Abraham's family and the pagan nations that surrounded them. They were the ancestors of those Jews who married into the nations Moab and Ammon. It was forbidden for Jews to marry them (Deuteronomy
23:3-6), and as a result they had divided loyalties and did not follow God as they should. Having accepted only the five Mosaic books of the Torah, theirs was a limited view of Judaical teachings. They worshiped the God of
Israel in Samaria only and built a temple to Him on Mount Gerizim in competition with the temple in Jerusalem (Luke 9:53). Moreover, when the Jews were prosperous, the Samaritans claimed kinship with them, but when they
were in distress, they claimed affinity with their pagan relations.
There was intense animosity between the Samaritans and the Jews on both sides and, when attempting to malign Jesus, the worst thing the chief
priests could think to say of Him was that He was a Samaritan. When Jesus passed through the region on His way to Jerusalem, He was refused admittance by the Samaritans on account of His destination. Jesus also told His
disciples not to enter into the cities of Samaria to preach the good news, because of their foremost focus which was the house of Israel. Due to the good work Jesus did in Sychar, some scholars reason it was His intended
purpose to go through it, but however it came about it had a glorious outcome.
As Jesus positioned Himself by the well of His ancestor Jacob, a Samaritan woman came to draw water. She was a woman of
ill-repute and was ostracized by the cities' inhabitants. Therefore, she did not come to the well in the cool of the morning when the rest of the women collected their water, but came later in the heat of the day when no
others would be there to harass her. As she came to draw water, Jesus strove to draw her out, saying simply, "Give Me a drink," John 4:7.
Christ asked for water not so much because of His thirst but because of her
spiritual need. Obviously, she could see by His manner or dress that He was a Jew and, as she was very much accustomed to having an adverse effect on Jews, she marveled that He not only did not run away from her, but stayed
and begged a service of her. Though she did not deny His request, she did wonder at it, because the Jews loathed being indebted to Samaritans for anything. Any other Jewish man would have at the very least ignored her, but
this Jew was different and she wanted to know why.
In responding to her, Jesus referred to Himself as a gift. He was the gift God sent to us in order to reveal His love for us (John 3:16), and that gift affords us
eternal life. He is the richest symbol of God's love to us, and was the greatest treasure the Father possessed. However, she saw Him only as a poor and weary traveler who was a Jew and would reject her.
She was use
to rejection and learned to avoid those she believed would turn away from her. Jesus had no intention of rejecting her, however, she was the reason He had stayed behind. He had asked her for a drink, but He didn't need one.
He desired, instead, to give her a drink of His living water from the throne of God that cleanses and heals all those who drink of it (Revelation 22:1).
Although our natural bodies thirst, we are much more than
natural beings. We are spiritual beings made in God's image (Genesis 1:27). Our spirits thirst for the Spirit of God from which it was made, and through Christ our spiritual thirst can be satisfied, as He is the Living
Water that fulfills our inner longing with the Spirit of God that gives us life. When we believe in Jesus, we too become a river of life as Jesus said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in
Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water," John 7:37-38.
The woman did not understand His meaning and took Him to mean natural water, not spiritual. She was a practical woman
and saw Jesus had nothing with which to draw the water He spoke of and asked, "Where then do You get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself…" John
4:11-12. But Jesus persisted in persuading her that the water He could give her was much better than Jacob's, saying, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him
will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life," John 4:13-14.
One who believes in Jesus finds his contentment from the Holy Spirit
dwelling internally and, as a believer hosts the anointing, he has no need to seek comfort from worldly sources. His reliance is on the work of the Spirit in him, and he has only to look to it to find a fountain of hope and
joy that never fails to nourish him spiritually. A believer is supplied with an eternal well in their inner man and never has to worry about thirst, because it is given to him overflowing and ever flowing. Better than
Jacob's Well? Indeed, this water springing up is continually in motion, an active source of the grace of God. Whatever circumstance the believer finds himself in – a prison cell, a desert or hospital – becomes
an oasis of spiritual proportions when the Living Spring dwells with him.
Upon hearing the Lord's water could satisfy her thirst forever, the woman immediately desired it. Her thirst had been a daily drudgery to
her. Gathering it was more than a chore – it was painful. She would have to leave the refuge of her home and subject herself to the rejection of those who also gathered water at the well. It was her immediate thought
that she would not have to come to the well ever again, saying, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw," John 4:15. Her response revealed she had seen her need of the gift Jesus offered and
He could proceed to the next step in His design for her, saying, "Go, call you husband, and come here," John 4:16.
Here was a topic of conversation that was immensely painful for the woman and one she wanted
desperately to avoid addressing. She tried to divert the Lord's request, saying, "I have no husband," John 4:17, but Jesus knew already that she was not married to the man she was currently living with. He also knew what
pain some of those husbands had caused her, backing her into an emotional corner that prompted her to go against religious and cultural norms. Her painful marriages were the cause of the shame she kept hidden deep inside,
and what others knew of her that caused them to reject her. And so, it being the cause of her emotional prison, Jesus would not relent. He would not turn away from deconstructing the prison cell she lived in and pressed her
further.
"You have well said, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one who you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly," John 4:17-18. Since she had meant to bypass this topic
with a lie of avoidance, she was surprised to hear the Lord congratulate her on her truthfulness, but it was His way of turning her lie into a confession. And it was also His way of letting her know nothing could be hidden
from Him.
Jesus opened wide the shame she wanted to keep hidden, revealing to her that her true need was not for water, but for repentance and forgiveness. His intent was not to shame her, but to deliver her from
shame. What she hoped for was merely to hide from the accusations of others by not coming to the well, but He wanted to turn her into one who would influence her accusers.
Yes, her life was a mess, but He wanted to
turn her mess into her message! And just as the messengers of Christ's birth were the despised shepherds of Bethlehem, so too do we see that Jesus rescues the poor cast-offs, making them an example of His goodness. The
woman was surprised and did not try to deny what He had said of her but instead saw that Jesus was more than an average man and, by thinking Him a prophet, revealed that He was correct in His revelations about her life.
And, although Jesus had touched on a sensitive topic, she was not angry with Him nor refused to continue the conversation, which is a testimony of Christ's loving demeanor.
One of the strongest grievances the Jews
had against the Samaritans was that they worshiped God on Mount Gerizim, in their region, instead of coming to Jerusalem to worship. So it is understandable that, in perceiving she is speaking with someone she believes is a
prophet and, as there had not been a prophet in Israel since the prophet Malachi, her first thought was to ask Him about the grievance between their two peoples.
Mount Gerizim was the mountain believed to be the
place Abraham built his altar to the Lord (Genesis 12:6-7) and Jacob his (Genesis 33:18-20). Although she was of a mixed race, she clung to the kinship she had with her Israelite forefathers and her claim was heartfelt.
Some scholars believe that, upon hearing that Jesus knew of her unholy marital state, she used her question to redirect their conversation. However, it was a reasonable question and Christ used it to unveil an astonishing
revelation to her. She expected to hear from Him which was the correct place to worship, but Jesus surprised her by correcting not the place but how they worshiped. Saying, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you
will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews," John 4:21-22.
And so, the argument that had separated
them for centuries from their countrymen would soon end, bringing it to nothing at the coming of the hour. But what hour? Of course we know it was the hour of the Lord's suffering, and by His death He would lift the
limitations of our worship. Through His suffering, we could worship our heavenly Father as they do so in heaven, as Jesus said, "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth," John 4:24. For in
heaven words are not necessary, and even the loving thoughts of our heart speak praise directly to God. And, as the truth of God's glory in heaven is made evident there, our hearts will burst forth with awe and love for
Him.
At the coming hour, Jesus would invade Earth with the reality of heaven "...when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him," John 4:23. At the
appointed hour of Christ's death, the veil in the temple that separated the common people from the presence of God was ripped in two (Matthew 27:51). From that day, those who believe on Jesus Christ are allowed and
encouraged to come boldly to God's throne as a needy child or valiant warrior comes before Almighty God as our very own Father (Hebrews 4:16).
Through Jesus, we can worship our heavenly Father on Earth as though we
were in heaven (Matthew 6:10), and the certainty of our worship will not be something we can fake through forms or rituals, though some try, but will be known by the Father if our worship is truly for Him or just a show for
men. And neither the woman, nor her people, would need to worry about where they worshiped God, but how they worshiped Him in "spirit and truth." In obeying Christ, we become the temple of the living God (1 Corinthians
6:19), and out of us flow the life-giving worship of Him as it is in heaven (John 7:35).
Our inner spirit man is at war with our fleshly nature, which desires to appear good to men but has little to no consideration
for God's opinion of our heart. Only through Holy Spirit can we win over our flesh and give God the praise He deserves. It is so apart of our sinful nature to be seen as something great by others, and yet, the only one we
should desire to impress cannot be impressed by our flesh but by our spirit-led love for Him. If the one we worship knows us completely, we should not worry about performance, because it isn't anything we do. Only by the
aid of the Spirit can we worship God in truth, creating an entry for communion with God.
So, our focus must be on the Power more than the form, especially as we live in the last days. When "men will be lovers of
themselves," proud boasters and blasphemers who greedily lust for the praise of man "...having a form of godliness but denying its power," 2 Timothy 3:2-5. As Christ described them, "These people draw near to Me with their
mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me," Matthew 15:8.
When we worship God in spirit and truth, who is Himself a Spirit being, we enter into a spiritual exchange. Giving to Him the
stress and cares of this oppressive world in exchange for the wondrous freedom of the reality of heaven. The heart of a true worshiper is one of the most beautiful and marvelous mysteries on Earth.
It is like a
person who is living as though they are in heaven even though they are surrounded by hell. It is beautiful because of its sincerity, which is why the Father seeks after them so. Their love for Him is genuine and to Him they
are the greatest treasure on Earth. No matter what their earthly status, they are incredibly beautiful to Him, and He seeks them because He wants to behold the beauty of their faith while living under the oppressiveness of
Earth.
In the Samaritan woman, God saw a heart of truth and authentic seeking and, though the Lord's mission was of great importance, God drew Him to her side. Her heart sought truth and the Father sought her heart.
Because as the important men of their synagogue spoke of the coming Messiah, her heart leapt with expectant joy at each mention of Him. With longing, she drew near the spiritual leaders so that she might learn more of the
one for which her heart yearned.
Although there were many disagreements among the Jews and Samaritans, the one thing they stringently agreed on was the soon coming of the Messiah. The Samaritans were familiar with
the books of Moses, and were aware of the messages of the Prophets and the hope of Israel. This uncontested hope was stronger than ever at the time and spoken of freely, because the seventy weeks of the Prophet Daniel were
nearing its end. As it said, "Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting
righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy," –who is Jesus, the Christ, Daniel 9:24.
Now, unexpectedly, as she stood before the well, she had a sudden awareness that this Man
she spoke with might be the very Christ for whom she longed. She knew that the Messiah would teach them of the mind of God. And had not Jesus told her marvelous things she had never heard before? She wondered, "Could He be
the anointed Christ?" and probed Him further, saying, "I know that messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things," John 4:25. And just as her heart expected, Jesus answered her, "I
who speak to you am He," John 4:26. Jesus had never before made Himself known so openly to anyone before as He had to this Samaritan woman, and to this lonely woman with a seeking soul He gave the honor of being the first
outsider to whom He acknowledged His mission.
She had never seen Him work a miracle nor seen His signs and wonders. She had no opportunity to hear Him preach more than what she had heard at the well. However, this
woman was better prepared to receive such an extraordinary discovery than most. Because of the misery of her sinful life, her heart was filled with anticipation for the Messiah, of whom Daniel had said would eradicate sin
and reconcile iniquity. She was not sure of who or what a Messiah was, but she knew enough for her heart to grow with longing for Him.
Why did Jesus make Himself known to her? Why not to the heads of state? Simply
because God pays no attention to the gaudy display of wealth and power of man but is drawn by the humble and simple, having a heart that is loyal to Him. "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth,
to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him," 2 Chronicles 16:9.
John 4:27-38 The Whitened Harvest
And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a
woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?" 28The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 29"Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did.
Could this be the Christ?" 30Then they went out of the city and came to Him. 31In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." 32But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." 33Therefore
the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?" 34Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. 35Do you not say, 'There are still four months and
then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! 36And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows
and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37For in this the saying is true: 'One sows and another reaps.' 38I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors."
Supporting Scripture:
Matthew 9:37-38 Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His
harvest."
Daniel 12:3 Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.
1 Corinthians 3:8-9 Now he who plants and he who
waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building.
(See also: Jn. 4:25; 6:38; 17:4; 19:30; Gen.
8:22; Ps. 40:7-8; 1 Thess. 2:19; 1 Pet. 1:12)
It was with great astonishment that the woman received the Lord's acknowledgment of Himself, but we do not get a chance to hear her response and perhaps she made no
verbal reply. All we are told is she turned suddenly and left them to return to the village. However, we can imagine how full her mind was at the realization that she, of all her people, had found the Messiah.
For
thousands of years, the prophets spoke of the Anointed Christ who would come to save them. All the people were in expectation of His soon coming, and she was speaking to the fulfillment of it all. Her behavior may seem a
bit impolite to us or at least somewhat scatterbrained, but, in looking at it through her feelings at the time, I think most of us would have behaved similarly.
What a discovery! If she was unable to respond to the
Lord's acknowledgment correctly, who could blame her? No doubt, her mind went to all the important men in her city whom she had listened to most attentively as they spoke in earnest of the soon coming of the Christ. And
she, all at once, left them and ran to the city, leaving her jars behind. She went away exclaiming her excitement to the men of the city! The "men of the city" were presumably those priests of the synagogue, who had taught
her to expect Him. She would have reasoned that they would be the most interested, and intended to return before Jesus had a chance to leave.
How earnestly she wanted those of the city, even though they had rejected her,
to participate in the joy she had discovered. What concern she had for them that they should meet the Lord as well. Perhaps it was she whom Jesus thought of when He spoke about the Parable of the Lost Coin, as He said,
"...what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together,
saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'" Luke 15:8-9. For she certainly had the same willingness to share her joy with those she knew, even though they had previously scorned her.
She
told the people plainly that Jesus had spoken things to her of her sinful past that He could not have known unless He came from God. Undoubtedly, they would never show disdain for her again after she revealed such a great
treasure to them. And her willingness to share her discovery with them brought about the first recorded revival and she the first revivalist.
Notably, the woman told the villagers to come and see a man who told her
of her sin, and did not urge them to come hear a man who debated the correct location for worship. She spoke, instead, of the knowledge Jesus had of her mess, and through her mess, which they all knew about, her message was
born. Upon one visit with Jesus, all that she strove to hide was suddenly fashioned into a hook with which to bring to Jesus the largest harvest of souls He had had up to that time. In the modern day church, we are probably
too quick to sweep away sin instead of confronting it, and have thus lost the value in seeing it transformed from trash to treasure, from shame to witnessing material.
It was their valued confirmation she sought and
their willingness to see for themselves if Jesus was who He said He was. Of course she believed Him, but would these learned men believe? She saw it as expediently necessary that they come and speak with Jesus so they could
hear Him for themselves.
While Jesus was speaking with the Samaritan woman, the disciples had returned from the city with the food they had gone to buy. As they approached Him they wondered at His conversation with
the woman. They wondered at it within themselves but did not ask the Lord any questions concerning it, because they knew He must have good reason. Knowing Jesus, they had reason to believe it was for some good end, and He
would explain it to them in time.
Some scholars believe the return of the disciples scared the woman since she left as they arrived, but it was simply a matter of timing. Just as they had returned, Jesus made the
admission to her of being the Christ. It was this happy acknowledgment that made her leave suddenly without her water pots, with the intent of returning as soon as she could convince the townspeople to follow her.
As the disciples had returned with the food for the Lord, they urged Him to eat with them. But, for Jesus, too much had taken place while they were gone for Him to think about His hunger. He felt well satisfied in
the work that He was accomplishing, which was the exciting work of offering the spiritually hungry the satisfaction of the hoped for promise.
His demeanor at this wonderful reception of Himself was not mundanely
delivered, and most certainly it was not mundanely received. Jesus was delighted to bring the good news of salvation to these people and was overjoyed at the excited response He received from the woman. So much so, He had
lost His appetite and the disciples wondered at it.
They had all traveled a great distance on foot and, like themselves, Jesus was very hungry, yet He now refused to eat because He was so happy. "I have food to eat
of which you do not know," John 4:32. They did not understand Him and thought someone had brought Him food while they were gone, but Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His
work," John 4:34.
He could not think of natural food when He had been feasting at a banquet table the Father had prepared for Him, of all that He had been sent to Earth to accomplish and had begun in earnest! For
Jesus knew what the woman's testimony would accomplish in Sychar. Indeed, His spirit was full from the joy of it! So it was that the work of His Father had begun.
Jesus likened this time of spreading the good news
to bringing in a harvest, because the work of the harvest was very important, but busy because it is so short. Since the time of the flood, God promised mankind a time of harvest. "While the earth remains, seedtime and
harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease," Genesis 8:22.
As our society has drifted away from agriculture, not as many people understand the importance of the harvest and the
principles surrounding it. For the Israelites, and all the people from generations past, the harvest season meant life or death. The ground was carefully prepared for sowing seeds and the plants were tended and protected,
because they could only eat what they grew. The fields were always in danger from floods, droughts or pests and so it was with great rejoicing when they were finally ready for harvesting. It meant they had successfully
brought their plants to maturity and would have enough food to live through the year.
Due to their importance, the three principal feasts of the Jews corresponded with their harvest season, and both in the Old and
New Testament the principal of harvest was used to relate spiritual principles as they applied. A devastating harvest meant famine and death, as in the days of the famine of Joseph (Genesis 47:13 -48:22), when God used
Joseph to sustain, not only the Egyptians, but all the nations surrounding them who were affected by the ruined harvest.
The harvest was a joyous time when everyone worked the fields together, but the season was
short. There was a limited amount of time to gather in the produce before bad weather set in, and anything that was not gathered would spoil in the field.
The disciples understood then why Jesus used the metaphor of
the White Harvest. "Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!" John 4:35. Jesus was
relating the hunger for salvation among the people as a field of wheat that has turned white, displaying its readiness for harvesting. Though most people were focused on the harvest for food, His heart was focused on the
harvest of souls. Which is also a very short time and while it was that the hearts of man were ready to receive Him, He must work diligently to save them before they lose hope and spoil in the field.
In the gospel
of Matthew, Jesus worked diligently among the people and was moved with compassion for them, "Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest
to send out laborers into His harvest,'" Matthew 9:37-38. The response from the people and their need was overwhelming and Jesus would be leaving soon. The needs of the harvest would be handed to His disciples and they
would need more laborers to bring it in. It is not enough to pray for souls, but we should also pray in earnest for those who can help care for them as they came to Christ.
Today, the need of laborers has never been
so great. There are many ministries and ministers, yet not many laborers among those who have need to hear of salvation. Even in the church, the laborers are needed, because we can't assume people know the truth even though
they attend church.
Sadly, many church goers do not really know the Jesus of the Bible, only the Jesus that has been fabricated by the minds of men. They do not know that Jesus gave us commands to obey but view them
instead as mere suggestions for those who seek an "over-the-top" type of Christianity. They have been taught that Jesus died for sin, but as they believe His forgiveness to be an automatic process, they see no need for
repentance.
Jesus said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," Matthew 4:17, but these younger generations do not even know what sin is. How can they feel the need to repent when they have created their own
moral code? We older ones have assumed the generations after us would know what we know, but they've been packed away in youth groups, separated from the teachings of the gospel and entertained from infancy. Just as the
Ethiopian eunuch answered Philip when he asked if the man understood the meaning of the scripture, he was reading, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" Acts 8:31. We cannot rebuke the lost for being lost if we neglect to
show them the light!
Jesus said to pray for laborers, but that shouldn't be our only endeavor, we should become the answer to that prayer. We can be the laborers sent into the harvest! Pray for the Lord to send you
into the harvest like the Samaritan woman, to share what Jesus has done for you. We do not have long before the end of the age and it will be too late then to harvest souls. Isn't it time that all hands come to the whitened
fields and do as much as they can to save the lost before it is too late?
When we get to heaven, we will look back over the years of our life and wish we would have gathered a greater harvest. We'll find out too
late that the greatest riches of heaven are the souls we gather for Jesus. The joy that heaven experiences over one sinner who repents is a joy unlike anything this world could fathom, and we can share in that joy!
Although this life is full of distractions from a world focused on temporal happiness, what matters for all eternity isn't popular with man. It isn't popular to share the gospel with people who refuse to hear, but
the joy we receive from one sinner who repents is a measure of the celebration of heaven. Indeed, there is a reward in the service of Christ that surpasses the joy of earthly gain and, like Jesus, doing the work of our
heavenly Father is the wage for which we strive for. Of course, ministers should receive a living wage, and we should never begrudge a minister his pay because. However, the true wage of a servant of Christ is the joy of
winning a soul for Christ! Souls gathered for Jesus are the fruit that keep laborers in the harvest field (Romans 1:13), and the reapers share in the joy of the harvest and enjoy the fruit of their laborers.
All
those who preceded Christ have seeded the Earth with expectation of Him. As Jesus said, "...both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to
reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors," John 4:36-38. Moses and the prophets have seeded the ground with expectation of the Messiah, and their work was much
more effective in our generation than it was in their own. All the laborers who have sown into the harvest like the prophets, whose prophecies were extremely important in the masses recognizing Christ, receive the repentant
sinner with great joy.
It was John the Baptist who filled the multitudes with urgency for Christ that awakened the heart of a forlorn Samaritan woman. So much so that, in finding Jesus, she became an instant
evangelist for Him! So many have come before us and sacrificed their lives to give us the gospel, yet do we understand the value of what we have been given? Do we realize what it cost Jesus to give us salvation or what it
cost the disciples to share the gospel of Christ with the world. For truly, all but one of the disciples were martyred and fifty-million Christians were martyred during the Reformation in their fight for the people to have
the Bible in their own language.
The harvest time is quickly coming to a close and mankind, which is made in God's image, is being brainwashed by this age to trespass against God's commandments. Every man has been
given within them a conscience, that piece of them made in the image of God which is unsettled by the lies of this world. It is this conscience that cries out for God, but, as its voice is denied, we trespass against it and
do it great harm.
We can't run from conscience, but we can damage it. It is the part of us, injured by our sin, that longs for something more than what we were told. And as a soul cries out for meaning and love, it
can only be satisfied by a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If you hunger to know Jesus, He is in the Bible, from the first page right up to the last. The Word of God is like a two-edged sword that can do surgery on
our injured heart, giving us a brand new life!
The importance of the harvest is immeasurable. It means life or death. However, only in so short a time can the harvest be gathered. Our life, like the harvest season,
is but a very short time. It goes by all too quickly. Like the Samaritan woman, we should leave everything the world thinks is important to enter the whitened harvest fields on Earth to sow, water or harvest the souls
awakened to receive Jesus Christ.
John 4:39-42 The Savior of the World
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever
did." 40So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41And many more believed because of His own word. 42Then they said to the woman, "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."
Supporting Scripture:
Luke 4:32 And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was
with authority.
1 John 4:14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
John 4:29-30 "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
30Then they went out of the city and came to Him.
(Jn. 2:13, 23; 3:2; 4:29; Lk. 4:32; 1 Jn. 4:14; Mt. 13:57; Deut. 16:16)
God often uses unlikely people to accomplish His work, and this woman was very
unlikely. The first unlikeliness was that she was a woman and not a man, which at that time was incredible. Also, she was a Samaritan, which was also a mark against her. Moreover, she was held in contempt by the community
at Sychar for her wanton past, evidenced by her late attendance at the well during the heat of the day to avoid the disdainful attention she endured there. However, after just a short encounter with Jesus, she became the
light by which her family and her entire village found the Savior.
The revival at Sychar was notable because it went against societal norms. Jesus raised up a woman to become the first Christian revivalist on
purpose, for He openly told her who He was and did not forbid her from telling others as He had done with everyone else up to that time. He told all others not to tell anyone about Him, but not her. And He chose to have the
revival among Samaritans, who most Jews avoided in an effort to stay clean or righteous, instead traveling around Samaria and adding great distance to their journey. Was this just a happy accident? Are there any accidents
with God? Of course not!
Those who are offended by God's chosen vessels miss out on His blessings! When we are desperate enough for God, we will be grateful for Him no matter how He is revealed to us. If we truly
want the blessings of the Lord, we won't be offended by those the Lord chooses to speak through, as with this move of God. Indeed, many of the most prominent revivals have been led by unlikely people, a coal miner, farmer,
housewives, divorced people, etc. As we examine the Lord's ways and learn of Him, these choices begin to make more sense.
In choosing the seemingly "Foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise," 1
Corinthians 1:27, like shepherds, tax collectors, fishermen, carpenters, housewives, He reveals His power to transform the spirit of man and restore what others determine is worthless. Moreover, He bypasses those who, in
their own eyes, think themselves to be a likely or even wise choice for God to make. However, James 4:6 says He sets Himself against the proud, and gives His grace to the humble. So when the people of Sychar saw and felt
the change which had taken place in the woman, they knew they needed to hear Jesus.
Through the woman's impassioned testimony, "A man who told me all that I ever did," John 4:39, many of that city believed on Him
and pleaded with Him to stay with them. One might have thought that her telling them Jesus revealed her secret sin would have kept them away, lest He reveal theirs to them as well. However, it seemed her sins were well
known by them and many believed Him to be the Messiah, or at least a prophet, because He had revealed them to her and after Jesus had stayed with them just two days, many more believed Him to be the Messiah. Samaritans did
not have a reputation of being deeply religious like the Jews, yet, having seen none of His miracles and hearing but a small sample of His preaching, they believed Jesus to be the Savior of the world.
Gleefully,
they had been the first participants of the words from the book of the prophet Isaiah. "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I
will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth," Isaiah 49:6. So, they received Him for themselves and not just as the Messiah of the Jews.
In the certainty
of Him, their faith grew to full assurance, saying to the woman, "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," John
4:42. No longer did they look on her with disdain, but grateful regard that she had brought them to Jesus. Thus was the gospel sown in Samaria. And years later, when the apostle Philip traveled among them, he found the
gospel message had come to fruition as they were eager to receive all that Philip told them (Acts 8:5-8).
The Samaritan woman was given the name Photine (or Photini) at Baptism. And, by all historical accounts of
the early church, we know she converted her family members and much of the city of Sychar where she lived. She did not stop there, however, and began traveling and sharing the news about Jesus with other cities, becoming a
successful evangelist even unto Rome. So much so that, when the Roman Emperor Nero heard of the success of her witness and that she was leading even Romans away from pagan worship, he had her and her family summoned to his
court. After many attempts to get her to renounce Christianity and worship pagan idols, she was thrown down an empty cistern where she perished.
Photine admitted to living a sinful life prior to meeting Jesus, yet
her reality changed dramatically after encountering Him. Once she was convinced of who He was, nothing could stop her from sharing the news of Him in Sychar and her efforts to convince the citizens of the city, led to the
first Christian revival.
Through the years, it may seem like the restoration power of the gospel has no effect on hardened souls, but truly God can reach the hardest of hearts. And those held captive by society's
scorn, like Photine, can be so changed and filled with Jesus that they cannot stop testifying of Him. Jesus is famous for tearing down strongholds surrounding pride and shame and giving us the living water our souls thirsts
for.
If you, like Photine, want the water of Christ, you may surely have it too. Turn to Him right now, look to Him and ask Him to forgive you of your past and to give you a brand new life in Him, to do for you just
as He did for Photine. Don't wait! Call on Him now while Christ is reaching out for you through these words, turn to Him while your heart is awakened to His pursuit of you. Surrender everything to Him of your past and your
future and He will fill you so full of His living water that you will start a flood just by speaking His name. Rejoice and receive salvation and you will never be the same.
Jesus cannot fail and, once you let Him
in, He will fight to restore your soul, and give you peace. Jesus loves you dearly.
|
|
NEW Book by Victoria Boyson