Verse 27, And upon this came
his disciples, and marvel that he talked with a woman. Yet no
man said, What seekest thou, or why are you talking with her? The woman then left her waterpot,
went her way into the city, and said unto the men, Come, see
a man which told me all things that ever I did. Is not this
the Christ? Then they went out of the city
and came unto him. In the meanwhile his disciples
prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have
meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore said his disciples
one to another, Has any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus said
unto them, My meat is due the will of Him that sent Me, and
to finish His work. Say ye not, There are yet four
months, and then cometh the harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift
up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are white already
to harvest. And he that reapeth receives
wages, and gathers fruit unto life eternal, that both he that
sows and he that reaps may rejoice together. Herein is that saying
true, one soweth and another reapeth. I said you to reap that
whereon you bestowed no labor, other men labored, and ye are
entered into their labors. Now, the title of our study,
Gleanings in John 4. When we think of the word gleaning
and apply it to the scripture, we may have a connection to the
scripture in our mind of our sister Ruth, back in the Old
Testament in the book of Ruth, who went to glean in the barley
field of Boaz at the time of harvest, and brought her bucket
or her basket full in the evening time." Now we use the word glean
in a two-fold sense. First of all, sometimes we use
it to mean as to what Ruth did, to gather grain. A little here
and a little there. Some here, some yonder. And in
her case, handfuls on purpose were left by the reapers of the
way. Secondly, we use the word to
mean together little by little. So then bring it all together
and as it were, put it together that we might have a basket full
of truth. Now, with that in mind, consider
that John chapter 4 has one of the most blessed events in all
of the New Testament that is recorded here, and that is the
conversion of this sinful woman of Samaria, who by the providence
of God met the Lord there at Jacob's well. And yet the part
we read is not given much attention in preaching and in teaching,
except as it is a favorite applied by the Arminian as a, quote,
soul-winning text, unquote, that millions upon millions are ripe
and ready for the taking and for the harvest, and to be harvested
for Jesus and gathered into the churches scattered about. Now
for the time being, we jump in at verse 27 for our study this
morning. And the words that we read, and
upon this, came his disciples, and they were amazed, that is,
they were surprised. They marveled at what they saw
and perhaps at what they heard, that the Lord Jesus Christ talked
or was talking with the woman. Now where had they been? Well,
back in verse 8 you read, they had gone into the city to buy
food supplies for the Lord and his entourage of disciples and
of followers. We must assume that when they
left there, the Lord was alone at Jacob's well. And we read
back in verse 6 that He was weary, that our Lord was tired and weary
as to the flesh, and that He waited for them there to return
from Sychar with their vittles or with their good. And notice
the Scripture said, and He sat thus upon the well. having walked, no doubt, a good
way that day or that morning. Our Lord, when he arrived there,
had grown weary in the flesh. Oftentimes our Lord did not sleep
much at night, often was in prayer and such like. But on this day
and occasion, the Bible said that our Lord was wearied from
his journey and that he sat down there at or by Jacob's well. Now let's take the time to make
a point here and to say something. That is how all of this confirms
the true humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we read about
Him in the Scripture, He grew weary. We read that he hungered
in Matthew 4 and verse 2. We read that he slept in Matthew
8 and verse 24. He thirsted, and that even when
he was upon the cross in John 19 and verse 28. And our Lord
even had the sentiment of weeping in John 11. Still, all of this does not make
him a common, ordinary man, does not strip him of his divinity,
for though he partook of our infirmities, Hebrews 4 and verse
15, yet not of our depravity. Both his weariness and his hunger
were upon this occasion subjugated to the will of God, the will
of the Father. John's Gospel takes notice of
the amazement of the disciples in finding the Lord conversing
with a woman. J.C. Ryle said that there is
no article here in the Greek that it is not necessarily the
woman and not particularly this woman of Samaria, but a woman. You remember in the gospel when
a woman came to the Lord and wiped his feet with her tears
and her hair, and some said, this woman is a sinner. In other words, why does he not
send her away? But almost every expositor that
you might read brings up the opinion and the custom of the
Jewish rabbi. And that was that it was indecent,
improper, and even unlawful for a man to have a prolonged conversation
with a woman, and especially in that day and time, out in
the public. I found a footnote in the Geneva
Study Bible, and it called this view a reflection, quote, of
the male chauvinism that regarded giving instruction to a woman
a waste of time, unquote. And that was a notion that prevailed
in that day. Then, let us not forget that
in verse 9, this woman of Samaria expressed her own surprise that
a Jew would ask a Samaritan for a drink of water. Seeing the
Jews have no dealing with a Samaritan, she reminded our Lord. As, of
course, the Jew considered the Samaritan, and they were, hagbreeds
and mongrel Jews and apostates from the religion of Judaism. That's how Samaritans were viewed
by Jews in that day. And yet John tells us that the
disciples kept their thoughts within or among themselves, though
our Lord knew the very thought of their hearts. I wonder how
in the world Simon Peter ever held his tongue on an occasion
such as this. He was usually the first one
to speak out and even dispute the Lord's Word. Now, special
provident shines out in the events here in John chapter 4. It ordered the way of the woman
to come out of the city of Sychar in Samaria, came to fetch water
at Jacob's well at the exact same time that our Lord was there,
but the disciples were away on an errand and returned not until
the Lord had enlightened the woman to the point of saying
that He was the predicted slash promised Messiah that was to
come, that in verse 26. Now, her conversion is or was
the occasion for the things that we read in the beginning of our
study. The forerunner of the words of
the Lord about fields being white unto harvest, about sending forth
laborers and reapers into the field, about wages and about
rejoicing. Now, the Lord's conversation
with this woman of Samaria is one of several blessed encounters
that we read about that the Lord had with individuals during His
earthly ministry and put down in the gospel. I mean dealing
personally and individually with some people during his ministry. such as Nicodemus, who came by
night in chapter 3 and was instructed on the necessity of the new birth. People like that man who had
been born blind in John chapter 9, whom Jesus sought after he
was excommunicated and spoke comfortably unto him. The Lord
told the man, as He did this woman, I am the Son of God. We might count Zacchaeus too
in that number, Luke chapter 19. to whose house the Lord became
a guest in the house of Zacchaeus and declared that salvation had
come to his house and that he was a son of Abraham. He who had formerly been a crooked
tax collector in behalf of the Roman government. But this Samaritan
woman here in John chapter 4 is a real trophy of the grace of
God and a tribute to the grace and love of God our Father and
God the Son. Not one which the disciples would
expect the Lord to look upon with saving intention once they
found out her reputation. So, let's look at the obstacles
that stood in the way of bringing this particular person to believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ. I want us to consider four things
that might have been a factor an obstacle, speaking from the
human standpoint, from her becoming a believer in Christ, a follower
of Christ, and a Christian. Here are four things, and we
look at them a little bit expandedly. that might have been an obstacle
or considered an obstacle to this woman ever coming to Christ. First thing is her nationality. Nationality-wise, she was a Samaritan. And she would say herself, back
in verse 9, a Samaritan had no dealings with the Jew and vice
versa. Though some see this as another
explanatory insertion by the author of the Gospel, even John. The Jews viewed the Samaritan
the same way that they viewed the Gentile. Held them in the
same contempt that they did the Gentile. and the Jewish rabbis
taught such things as following. It is prohibited to eat bread
or to drink the wine of a Samaritan. Another rabbi said, he who eats
the bread of a Samaritan is as if he ate swine's flesh. Not
that they had nothing to do with them, for even now in this particular
text the disciples are buying goods from the merchants of the
Samaritan, but rather they had no friendly association with
them. They did not mix socially and
seldom did they intermarry. or show one another any acts
of hospitality or kindness one toward another. And the feeling
was mutual on the part of the Samaritans as well. They reciprocated
against the animosity of the Jew with one of their very own. One described it, I'm quoting,
the Samaritans maintain hatred against the Jew in that they
would not eat with them or drink with them, neither marry nor
associate with the Jew, but only trade with them." Now secondly,
there was her character. Not only a nationality, a Samaritan,
but her nationality, or rather her character. She was an immoral
woman, as we learn from the Scripture. Having had five husbands, according
to verse 18, and now living with one, not her husband. No, her
name was not Elizabeth Taylor or Zsa Zsa Gabor. Her reputation,
however, must have been badly soiled even for a Samaritan. But it does not seem that she
was five times a widow, but five times divorced, and that perhaps
for some uncleanness or unfaithfulness. And said the Lord, and now he
that you have is not even your husband. All of this really got
the attention of this woman. And it raised her estimation
of the Jewish stranger who she had met at Jacob's well. Verse 19, Sir, I perceive that
you are a prophet. And in verse 29, she refers to
him, a man that told me all things that ever I did. George Hutchinson wrote on verse
18 in his commentary on John, quote, Christ has a particular
knowledge of what sins persons are lying in no matter how well
hid, and particularly an eye on secret uncleanness." Now we
see this by two or three other examples in the scripture. In John 1, 47 and verse 48. Jesus
knew the character of Nathanael as he saw him coming the first
time he laid eyes upon him. He said, Behold an Israelite
in whom is no guile. Nathanael said, How do you know
about me? The Lord said, before you were
under the fig tree, I knew you and I saw you. But secondly,
consider the rich young ruler who had asked concerning the
way of eternal life. And Jesus, knowing the covetousness
of his heart, said to him, Go sell all you have. and give it
unto the poor. And he went away dismayed, for
he had great possession. But our Lord touched the very
sin that dwelt in his heart. Then thirdly, there is the case
of Paul's encounter with the law described in Romans chapter
7. He thought himself righteous.
The law exposed sin in him. that he had never been aware
of. And in the case of the Samaritan
woman, Christ drove home her sin to her conscience. He lay
bare her iniquity. He exposed what she would have
passed over very quickly by saying, I don't have any husband. And
yet the Lord knew her sin, knew her situation, and brought her
face to face with it. Now, the Lord came to save sinners. 1 Timothy 1 and verse 15. And in the process of saving
sinners, everyone saved will see themselves as a sinner, yea,
as the chief of sinners, as Paul himself did refer unto himself. Christ himself said in Mark chapter
2 and verse 17, they that are whole don't have need of a physician,
but they that are sick. I, therefore, am not come to
call the righteous but sinners unto repentance." Not many would
expect salvation to come to such as this lewd woman in John chapter
4. And yet, all that are saved,
all of them, must take their place before the Holy God as
a sinner and see themselves as a sinner. If you're not a sinner,
why do you need saving? Or saving from what? And then,
I'm going to mention it again, but the third factor may have
been And this person may have been her gender. She was a woman. And in biased eyes of many of
that time, women were seen as inferior. Remember, the disciples
were surprised, amazed, marveled that the Lord talked with a woman. John Gill, very well acquainted
with Jewish law, Jewish custom, and Jewish tradition, wrote this,
and I'm quoting, It was not judge-decent, right, and proper, nor even lawful
to enter into a conversation or hold any long discourse with
a woman." There were six things that were a reproach to a scholar
and one of them being to talk to a woman in the street. And yet the Lord freely conversed
with this woman and declared unto her something that He kept
back. in a measure from the scribes
and the Pharisee and the potentate. And that is, he told her plainly
that he was the Messiah of God. A clear and a strong claim to
being the one that Moses predicted. Christ said to her, I that speak
unto you am he. Where is this more clearly stated
to anyone than unto this woman at Jacob's well? Messiah must
needs go through Samaria. For there is, as it were, reaped
some of the firstfruits of Samaria, and it was the occasion of others
believing and coming to know the Lord. Now consider this,
and I throw it in for free, and I won't charge you anything from
it. But we are hearing a lot today
from what are called liberals against Christianity. They are
saying that, and I'm talking about biblical Christianity,
those who hold the Bible, the Word of God, they are saying
that Christianity is a part of, quote, the war on women, unquote,
in our day. We don't believe that they ought
to be preachers, that is, women, and so we are called sexist pigs
and chauvinists. We don't believe that they ought
to have abortion, and so they call it, an attack on women's
reproductive health and rights. But Christianity actually elevates
women as no other religion, I think, that you can find in the world
will do. Paul wrote, in Christ there is
neither male nor female. Galatians 3 and verse 28. Was any other person more highly
graced than this woman here in John chapter 4? Now, the fourth
obstacle that might have to be overcome, believe it or not,
Believe it if you can, was her religion. The religion that she
had practiced, which she brings up in verse 20, as you might
notice, having taken the notion that the Lord must be a prophet,
that this must be a man of God. And believing that and saying
that, she notes the disagreement between that religion practiced
by the Jew and that practiced by the Samaritan. She said, Samaritans
worship here, Jews in Jerusalem. Samaritans built a temple and
worshipped there in Mount Gerizim. The Jews worshipped at the temple
in Jerusalem. Now some of the history of the
beginnings of Samaritanism and its religion are to be found
in II Kings chapter 17, if sometimes you'd like to make a study of
that, but not now. So, she pretty much, like the
Jew, put the greater emphasis on the place of worship and on
the outward ceremonies of worship rather than the inward attitude
of the heart. And she may have been wondering
aloud at this point, Gerasim or Jerusalem, which is the correct
place to worship? Seen by the Lord's reply, the
time was at hand even then, and was approaching, He said, when
you shall neither in this mountain nor yonder at Jerusalem worship
the Father. For the Father God is spirit,
and He seeketh such to worship Him, and He must be worshipped
in spirit and in truth." God is spirit. infinite, eternal,
uncreated Spirit, and He dwells not in temples made with hands,
Acts 7, 48 and 49. Nor does He dwell in temples
or shrines made with hands, nor is He worshipped or served with
men's hands, Acts 17, 24 and 25. To quote J.C. Ryle, quote, the
most gorgeous cathedral service is an offense in God's sight
if done coldly and formally without heartfelt warmth and grace, unquote. The magnificence of the building
cannot make the worship right and proper in the sight of God. On the other hand, a few gathered
in the Lord's name in a barn, a garage, a house, under a tree,
holding to the Scripture and worshiping in spirit and in truth
are a sweet odor unto the Lord our God." I want to say this,
how like this woman, or like she was, are some today who when
alarmed about their sin or about their souls, when stirred up,
when under a spell of conviction, might answer something like this
woman did. She said, our ancestors worshipped
in this place. But some today will say, I was
raised up all my life in a certain church, the church of my ancestors. Now I hear that there might be
another way that is right. and mine is wrong? Remember old
confused Pilate who finally said unto the Lord, What is truth? John chapter 18 and verse 38. But the Sumerian system and form
of worship was born and bred in apostasy, in corruption, and
in rebellion. And in this chapter, the Lord
favors the Jew as being right. For the Lord God fixed the place
of worship and sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem. And out
of them came Messiah in the flesh. Romans chapter 9 and verse 5. But even this was about to come
unto an end replaced purely by a spiritual form of worship. Not in a certain place, not on
a certain day or time or season, but a spiritual form of worship
was about to be set up and the old eradicated. Men who flee
to temples and places are no more. But now we fast forward
to verse 28. Soon after, the Lord tells the
woman that He is the Messiah. The disciples about that time
return with food. Soon after that, the woman left,
went her way, went into the city, and the Scripture said that she
bid the men that were there, come see a man who told me all
that ever I did. He read me like a book. He uncovered
my deepest, darkest secret. Could this be the Christ? Now at this point, let us quickly
notice the progression in the woman's view of this stranger
at Jacob's well that she had met. We run through the chapter,
find four progressions in this woman's view and outlook concerning
Christ. First of all, in verse 9, she
refers to him as a Jew. Art thou a Jew? Have no dealings
with the Samaritan. In verse 11, after a short and
respectful, cordial conversation, she addresses him more respectfully. Sir, sir, she said unto him. And then in verse 19, she is
ready to consider him to be a prophet. I perceive thou art a prophet. Jew, sir, prophet. An inspired
man of God having the power of discernment to reveal the mind
and the will of God. In verse 29, she raises the question
among the town folk, could this be the Christ? Could this indeed
be the Messiah, the one who knows all? that I have ever done."
She had already confessed it. We see in verse 25, we know that
Messiah has come. When He has come, He will tell
us all things. Now, the Samaritans, you should
know this about them, accepted only the first five books of
the Bible. They accepted only as canonical
the writings of Moses. Is this, she said, the Messiah
that Moses spoke about? He says he is. He is no common,
ordinary one. Come and see a man who told me
all that I did. Could this be him? You remember
that Philip said to Nathanael in John 1 and verse 46, Come
and see, when he asked any good thing, come out of Nazareth,
The brother said, well, you come and see. But here in John 4,
verse 31 and following, the disciples, having returned from fetching
the food, ask the master, Lord, eat. Master, eat or take a food. Fulfill your appetite. Be filled. My, how the Lord answers their
entreaty. And we look at it and we read
it. I have meat to eat that you know
not of." You don't know anything about it. I have meat that you
are not aware of. The disciples became bewildered
and they looked at one another and they murmured among themselves
saying, did somebody bring him food? Did somebody supply him
something to eat? in our absence." What the Lord
is saying is that his hunger passed away. The Lord forgot
his hunger like the woman forgot her water pot when they had their
conversation. Both of them consumed in the
spiritual discussion that was before them in this play. He had spiritual food. She had
spiritual water, though she could not carry it in a water pot. Now, in verse 34, the Lord responds
to the disciples' thoughts, My meat is to do the will of Him
that sent me and to finish His work. Now, the tense may be,
My meat is to be doing. My meat is that I might be doing
the will of Him that sent me. Notice, the will and the work
that the Lord refers to is indeed the very redemption and salvation
of sinners in this world. The fulfilling of the law. The
bearing of the curse. His work is summed up in Matthew
1. And is it verse 21? He shall
save his people from their sin. I kind of like Calvin's definition
of the work of Christ. Quote, The nature of Christ's
office is well known, to advance the kingdom of God, to restore
souls unto life, in short, to bring salvation into the world. To which we add Samaritans, Gentiles,
Jews, all kinds of people. Christ during His incarnation
ever had a mind and ever had an eye toward the salvation of
the ill. And as we are about to see, His
needing to go through Samaria concerned more than the one woman. And it resulted in many believing
upon the Lord and Savior. Looking at verse 35, the Lord
uses a metaphor in order that he might illustrate truths from
nature-slash-agriculture of the harvest of ripened grain, saying
there in verse 35, Behold, I say, lift up your eyes and look on
the fields, for they are white unto harvest. Now, while the
natural, literal harvest was yet a way off, a spiritual harvest
was not at hand. I agree with those like John
Gill and others who think that the Lord is referring here to
that coming soon in gathering of Samaritans who were even then
coming to see a man which told me all things that ever I did,
what Gill called a harvest of soul. For he speaks in verse
36 of gathering fruit unto eternal life. from a most unlikely field. The mongrel Samaritan, God's
power, God's providence was at work to bring forth a harvest
in this formerly desolate field of Samaria. Compare, if you will,
Matthew 9, 36-38, Luke 10, one through two, where the Lord
used the same similitude in sending His disciples to preach the Word
of God among the Jews, saying, The harvest is plenteous, the
labors are few. Note now, not that they were
all hungry everywhere they went and clamoring for the truth of
God or the gospel or the Word of God, For the Lord likened
them to sheep scattered and having no shepherd in that commission. But see the flow of thought here
in our passage in John chapter 4. Verse 35, the last part. The fields are white unto harvest. Verse 36, the first part. He that reaps receives wages. And verse 36, the last part,
gathers fruit. Using the simile here of a natural
field, the Lord portrays a spiritual matter. The harvest is souls
brought to a saving knowledge of Christ. As Paul recently told
us, I planted I laid the foundation, another water, and another builds
upon it. Even in the conversion of an
elect soul, the sower and the reaper might be different ministers
of Christ, and yet each does rejoice when the fruit is gathered
in. Each is sent by God. Each is
rewarded by God. And any success in the harvest
is by the blessing and by the will and by the work of God. Now, let's take a look at verse
38. I sent you to reap that whereon
you bestowed no labor, other men labored, and ye are entered
into their labor. Now here's a strange, is it kind
of a paradoxical type of a verse. First, could we need to tie this
teaching and preaching of this statement such as, the fields
are white, one sows, another reaps. I, even I, the Lord of
the harvest, have sent you to reap that wherein you expended
No labor. Other men labored before you,
and you are entered into their labor. You are reaping what they
sowed. You are building upon the foundation
which others have so clearly laid. You are finishing or bringing
to a culmination what others started. You are fulfilling,
therefore, the saying in verse 37, one sows and another reaps. But now the question comes in
our mind, who are these others? Who are these other men? Who
labored before them? And they are entering into that
labor. Most sound expositors understand
it to refer to Moses and the prophet, holy men of God of old. Some throw in John the Baptist
who came after them and as the forerunner of Jesus. But these
who by both oral and written instruction laid the foundation
of Messiah that was to come, as did Moses, the Psalmist, Isaiah,
Malachi, and so many of the other Old Testament prophets. For consider,
if you will, the Jews, because of these, the prophets and their
writing, held out the hope and the expectation, even the Samaritan
woman said, we know that Messiah comes. And therefore, he is set
forth in the Old Testament scripture. They write of me, the Lord said
in John chapter 5. And in preaching Christ, the
apostles and disciples were entering, entering into the prophets and
reaping that which they had sown, having laid a foundation of a
Messiah that was to come. For example, let's give some
examples rather. In Acts chapter 8, Philip preached
Christ to the Ethiopian unit using Isaiah chapter 53. And from that he preached Christ.
In Acts 17, 1-3, Paul used the Old Testament scripture in Thessalonica
to prove Christ's death was in accordance with the words of
the prophet. In Acts 18 and 28, the Apollos
mightily convinced the Jew, using the Scripture to prove that Jesus
was the Christ. And in each case, they each reaped
a spiritual harvest among the Jew from seed having been sown
by earlier servants of God. the prophets and such like. Many
Samaritans believed on Christ and proclaimed Him the Messiah. In chapter 4, verse 41 and verse
42, we believe that Thou art the Christ, the Savior of the
world. Many of them believed that. Now,
do we build or do we not build? Yes, upon what the apostle and
the disciples laid. Yes, and even the Messiah, the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself. We built upon that or reap that
even today, which they have sown, therefore entering into their
labor. Now I want to close with a question
about this passage of the Scripture and the fields being white unto
harvest. And the question is this, are
the fields white unto harvest in our day, right now, particularly,
and this morning? Should we expect a very large
influx of souls into the churches and the kingdoms of God? Are
there many multitudes that are just ripe for the picking? In thinking on that, it seems
to me like we are more only gleaning, gleaning here and gleaning there. Why? After years and years of
famine of the Word of God in our land and sadly even in our
churches. Years and years of spiritual
drought and apostasy has come upon not just our country but
seemingly upon the world. Here one and there one. now is
brought to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here in the Samaritan
woman and in these people, we have a people not formally called
by the Lord's name, yet have become the people of God. What a wonder! What a miracle!
What a blessing! I others have sown, you are reaping
what they have sown and bringing in the harvest. Both of them
have wages or rewarded. Both of them rejoice together
at the result. If we sow a seed today that doesn't
bring fruit for ten years under another minister or in another
church, yet let us rejoice at what God has done.