Every morning when I open my eyes, I confess, “The sovereignty over my life today belongs not to me, but solely to the will of God, who sent me to my family, my workplace, and my church.” Passively surrendering my entire life to the leading of the Holy Spirit and quietly walking forward in obedience—this very obedience is the most noble, valuable, and genuine food that nourishes my soul.

 

Every morning when I open my eyes, I confess, “The sovereignty over my life today belongs not to me, but solely to the will of God, who sent me to my family, my workplace, and my church.” Passively surrendering my entire life to the leading of the Holy Spirit and quietly walking forward in obedience—this very obedience is the most noble, valuable, and genuine food that nourishes my soul.

 

 

 

 

“In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, eat.’ But He said to them, ‘I have food to eat of which you do not know.’ Therefore the disciples said to one another, ‘Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.’” (John 4:31–34)

 

 

 

(1)    Today, I would like to meditate only on John 4:25–30, the fourth section of John 4:3–42, which records Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman.  When I read verses 25–30 in both Korean and Greek, the first expression that caught my attention was the short phrase at the beginning of verse 31: “Ἐν τῷ μεταξύ” (en tō metaxy).  The Korean Revised Version translates this as “in the meantime.”  Here, “in the meantime” refers to the brief interval while Jesus was conversing with the Samaritan woman—the very moment when she left her water jar and went into the town to proclaim the good news, before the townspeople arrived.  Why did this expression attract my attention?  In verse 8, the apostle John writes, “For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.”  Then, in verse 27, he records, “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?’”  Verse 8 tells us that Jesus was alone when He asked the Samaritan woman to give Him a drink of water, because His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.  This was Jesus’ deliberate choice to remain alone.  At that time, it was considered taboo for a Jewish man to converse alone with a Samaritan, particularly a Samaritan woman.  Had the disciples been present, the disciples’ scrutiny and the prevailing social prejudices might have made it difficult for this conversation to begin.  Jesus sent His disciples into the town and deliberately created an environment in which He could have a deep, uninterrupted conversation with the Samaritan woman (Internet).  According to the strict conventions of Jewish society at that time, a rabbi or teacher engaging in an extended conversation with a woman in the street or another public place was also considered highly inappropriate.  Moreover, the woman was a Samaritan, a member of a people whom the Jews despised and with whom they would not associate.  Because this scene was utterly beyond the disciples’ understanding, they were deeply shocked and found it astonishing.  In other words, they could not understand Jesus’ actions because of their own cultural prejudices and preconceived notions (“The Disciples’ Prejudice and Silence”).  Yet Jesus completely broke through those preconceived barriers—the barrier between Jews and Samaritans and the barrier between men and women—and focused solely on the work of saving one soul.  Then, in the brief interval after the Samaritan woman left her water jar and went into the town to proclaim the good news, while the townspeople had not yet arrived, the disciples urged Jesus, “Rabbi, eat” (v. 31).  What lesson does the expression “in the meantime” teach us?

 

(a)    Here, “in the meantime” refers to the very moment when the Samaritan woman, transformed by encountering the True Light, left her water jar behind as though throwing away something worthless and hurried into the town to bring the people to Jesus.  At the same time, it refers to the very brief and urgent spiritual interval during which only the Lord and His disciples remained before the townspeople came streaming toward Jesus.  The following three redemptive-historical principles and practical applications for the lives of all believers and those entrusted with a mission today have been organized by artificial intelligence through this temporal and spatial device that the apostle John introduces with the phrase “in the meantime” (Internet):

1.       First Lesson: From the Beginning, the Lord Carefully Designs the “In-Between” Space Emptied of Human Prejudice (Jn. 4:31)

 

The Time When Human Standards Came to a Halt: The disciples were trapped in a Jewish-centered paradigm, just as Nicodemus had been in the religious establishment of Chapter 3, believing, “We have found the Messiah.”  They could see only the outward scene of the Lord speaking with a Samaritan woman, and they stood there astonished, their mouths hanging open (1:41; 3:1; 4:27).  If the disciples’ cultural prejudices and preconceived notions had continued to dominate the scene at the well, the Samaritan woman would have been unable to unbolt the door of her heart, for fear of the condemning eyes of others.

 

Biblical Principle (The Law of Emptying): When God carries out His work of salvation, He perfectly orchestrates a “holy void and gap [metaxy (μεταξύ)]” (v. 31) in which His divine sovereignty alone works, completely unhindered by human beings’ shallow calculations and impatience intruding into the very midst of His work.  He does this by sending the disciples into the town, thereby clearing the space (v. 8), and by allowing the woman to hurry away to proclaim the gospel (v. 28).  This teaches us that only when the barriers of false righteousness built up by human beings have been thoroughly torn down and emptied can God’s heavenly work that truly gives life to people—namely, the baptism of the Holy Spirit—finally begin (2:19, 21; 3:12, 34).

 

2.       Second Lesson: While Believers Are Bound to Earthly “Food,” the Lord Hungers for the “Food of Saving Souls” (Jn. 4:8, 27, 31)

 

The disciples’ earthly perspective → “To buy food” [τροφὰς ἀγοράσωσιν (trophas agorasōsin), v. 8]: The disciples had walked along dusty roads under the scorching midday sun.  They saw only the physical reality of their exhausted Lord, who was weary from the journey (v. 6).  Consequently, their entire attention was fixed on entering the town to buy visible, physical “food” [τροφάς (trophas)] to satisfy their bodily hunger (vv. 8, 31).

 

The Lord’s heavenly perspective → Living water that causes the soul to be born again (vv. 32–34): Yet, during that very interval when the disciples offered Jesus earthly bread by saying, “Rabbi, eat,” there was another kind of food that consumed the Lord’s entire being.  Instead of seeking rest because He was weary (v. 6), the Lord had sought out and rescued the soul of one Samaritan woman who was withering away in shame and condemnation (1:43; 3:16; 4:4).  Through her, He was now preparing to bring an entire town before the True Light.  The Lord was partaking of the satisfying “food of saving souls.” He was so fully engaged in this work that He had completely forgotten His physical hunger and fatigue (3:21; 4:34).

 

3.       Third Principle: The Life of Every Believer Should Become a “Hidden Place of Sacred Encounter” That Breaks Down Human Barriers and Leads Wandering Souls into the Lord’s Holy Embrace, Bringing Them Together in Unity

 

Practical application → “Throw away the world’s water jars as rubbish and stand as a true worshiper”: The Samaritan woman encountered the voice of the self-existent God, who declared, “I who speak to you am He” (Jn. 4:26).  She boldly left behind at the well the water jar she had been so attached to and carried around while avoiding people’s eyes—a jar interpreted here as a symbol of her former self—and ran into the town.  This great act of obedience took place in the “in-between” space, metaxy (μεταξύ) (vv. 28–29).

 

Today, all believers must also joyfully overturn the world’s false tables of status and rank: denominational boundaries, reputations assigned by society, and competitions based on material wealth.  We should regard all our human qualifications and ministerial experience, which we use to prove ourselves, as rubbish, just as Philippians 3:8 teaches.  In the “hidden place of encounter,” where only the Lord and we are face-to-face, we must transparently confess our faults—including the shame associated with the five husbands—and recover the posture of bowing before the Father in spirit and truth (4:17–18, 23–24).

 

When we move beyond buildings centered on a physical location and are united one-to-one with Jesus Christ, the true Holy of Holies and the true Temple, continually enjoying eternal life as a present reality (2:19, 21; 3:36; 1 Jn. 5:12), our everyday lives will be transformed into clear and faithful channels of proclamation.  Through us, the victorious invitation “Come and see” will resound boldly to souls throughout the world (Jn. 1:23; 4:29; Eph. 5:27).  I firmly believe this will be so.

 

A Final Exegetical Summary of “In the Meantime” in John 4:31

Immediately after recording the disciples’ astonishment (v. 27) and the woman’s leaving her water jar behind (v. 28), the apostle John introduces the short interval expressed by “Ἐν τῷ μεταξύ” (en tō metaxy, “in the meantime”) and records the scene in which the disciples ask the Lord for food (v. 31).  The interpretation presented here is that John uses this brief temporal interval to demonstrate the Creator’s divine omniscience and majesty in protecting the purity of the gospel by completely shutting out human preconceptions and the boundaries of competition between religious groups.  In contrast to the disciples’ limited earthly reasoning, which is preoccupied with physical food, the Father follows the timetable of His mission established from the beginning, surely seeking out the thirsty souls of Samaria and bringing them to new birth.  In this way, He fulfills His redeeming love through the food of His mission (3:16, 34; 4:4, 23, 34).  Therefore, Victory Presbyterian Church and all its members, who joyfully cast away the heavy water jars of the world as rubbish, walk boldly into the light according to the truth (4:28; Phil. 3:8), and transparently submit their innermost selves to the sovereign God in the intimate sanctuary of the heart, are taught to continually enjoy, with the joy of a completed victory, the complete sovereign victory of the New Covenant.  The One who has utterly broken the power of Hades is continually preparing the Church as the spotless and glorious Bride of Jesus the Bridegroom (Mt. 16:18; Eph. 5:27; 1 Jn. 5:12) (Internet).

 

(2)    Second, I would like to meditate on Jesus’ words to the disciples, who had urged Him, “Rabbi, eat” [Ῥαββεί, φάγε (Rhabbei, phage), Jn. 4:31].  Jesus answered, “I have food to eat of which you do not know” [Ἐγὼ βρῶσιν ἔχω φαγεῖν ἣν ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε (Egō brōsin echō phagein hēn hymeis ouk oidate), v. 32].  What especially stands out to me is that, after hearing Jesus’ words in verse 32, the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” [Μή τις ἤνεγκεν αὐτῷ φαγεῖν (Mē tis ēnenken autō phagein?)].  Their question makes it even clearer that Jesus had food of which the disciples knew nothing.  We, too, learn that we should follow Jesus’ example and possess a kind of food that our family members and the people around us do not know about.  What, specifically, is the lesson we should learn?

 

1.       First Reality: The True Food That Satisfies Us Is to Stop Insisting on Our Own Will and Obey the Will of the God Who Sent Us (Jn. 4:34)

 

The first and most fundamental food that believers should receive is not earthly food that satisfies

our desires.

 

The Substance of the Food, as Directly Explained by the Lord: In the very next verse, verse 34, the Lord clearly explains the identity of the food that the disciples did not know about: “Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.’”

 

Application to the Lives of All Believers: The Pharisees and the Jews fed themselves by relying on the religious privileges and titles they had accumulated over 46 years—their own religious table of status and entitlement (2:15, 20; 3:10).  However, true believers whom God seeks joyfully and completely overturn, before the cross, their prideful desire to control the pendulum of life according to their own strength and plans.  Each morning, as they open their eyes, they confess, “The sovereignty over my life today belongs not to me, but solely to the will of God, who sent me into my family, workplace, and church.”  They then passively yield their entire lives to the leading of the Holy Spirit, their Commander, and quietly walk in obedience.  This principle affirms that obedience itself is the noblest, most valuable, and genuine food that nourishes the soul (3:17, 34; Rom. 8:14; Phil. 3:8).

 

2.       Second Reality: Food That Never Runs Dry Is Found in Refusing to Seek Our Own Comfort and Embracing and Saving One Lost Soul (Jn. 4:8, 32)

 

People in the world thirst so desperately for food that satisfies material desires and bodily comfort that they stake their lives on it.  Believers, however, receive true spiritual vitality when they participate in giving life to souls.

 

The contrast between the disciples’ bread and the Lord’s food: The disciples had walked along dusty wilderness roads under the scorching midday sun.  Because they saw only the physical reality of their Lord, who was completely exhausted, their attention was occupied entirely with physical food.  Yet, during that brief interval, the Lord brought the heart of the Samaritan woman—who was withering away in the darkness and shame associated with her five husbands—under the healing work of the True Light and brought her to new birth.  The Lord tasted the profound fullness of resurrection life as one soul received salvation and came to possess eternal life as a present reality (Jn. 3:36; 1 Jn. 5:12).  Because He was so fully engaged in this work, He was able to forget His physical hunger completely.

 

Application to the lives of all believers: The different kind of food that all believers should demonstrate to people in the world today is this very joy of seeing souls saved.  We should joyfully cast away as rubbish the world’s water jars—the things we use to satisfy our own circumstances and interests (Jn. 4:28; Phil. 3:8)—and embrace in prayer the complicated lives of our family members, coworkers, and wounded neighbors.  In the hidden place beneath the fig tree, where no one sees us, we should willingly kneel in tears and labor to serve souls by filling them to the brim with the living Word of the Holy Spirit, which is supplied without measure and without weighing people on a scale.  Please believe that when we allow ourselves to be spent so that others may receive life, the heavenly spring of water and eternal rest poured out from above will continually fill our hearts.

 

3.       Third Principle: We Must Enjoy Divine Self-Sufficiency as a Present Reality, Without Entrusting Our Hearts to Other People’s Opinions (Jn. 3:29)

 

The rest that the world does not know: When the disciples could not see any bread in front of them, they murmured within the limits of their human calculations, asking, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” (Jn. 4:33).  In this way, the world’s value system and the Pharisaic system always try to bind our identity to conditions, circumstances, and people’s opinions—the seats of honor at a banquet ( 2:9; 24–25).

 

Application to the lives of all believers: Yet, within the hearts of believers who have been born again of God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the assurance of salvation that abundantly overcomes the world has already been firmly established, as a completed reality (Mt. 16:18; Jn. 19:30; 1 Jn. 5:4).  This resembles the great contentment of John the Baptist. Even when his disciples were leaving him, he rejoiced in the fact that he could hear the bridegroom’s voice, declaring in effect, “My joy has already become complete simply by hearing the bridegroom’s voice” (Jn. 3:26, 29–30).  All believers should live by boldly demonstrating, in every moment of life, the spiritual confidence that comes from being completely satisfied in Jesus Christ alone.  He declares, “I who speak to you am He,” and dwells within us as King (4:26, 32). We should not seek validation from those around us, even when they fail to recognize our efforts and our circumstances are harsh.

 

A Final Exegetical Summary of “Food That the World Does Not Know About” in John 4:31–33

When the disciples offered Jesus physical food, He declared, “I have food to eat of which you do not know” (vv. 31–32).  The disciples, confined to earthly calculations, then murmured among themselves, asking who might have brought Him something to eat (v. 33).  The interpretation presented here is that this scene demonstrates the Creator’s divine omniscience in protecting the purity of the gospel by completely shutting out the limitations of human reasoning and the boundaries of established religious privilege.  In contrast to humanity’s shallow interest in physical bread alone, Jesus fulfills the Father’s redeeming love by perfectly obeying God’s will and seeking out the thirsty soul of a Samaritan woman to save her.  He accomplishes this through the food of His mission (3:16, 34; 4:4, 23, 34).  Therefore, Victory Presbyterian Church and all its members, who joyfully cast away the heavy water jars of material wealth and worldly reputation as rubbish, walk boldly into the light according to the truth (4:28; Phil. 3:8), and transparently submit their hearts and mission to the sovereignty of the self-existent God (Jn. 2:19; 4:26), are taught to continually enjoy eternal life as a present reality, with the joy of the completed victory of the New Covenant.  This is the complete sovereign victory of the One who utterly destroys the power of Hades and continually prepares the Church as the spotless and glorious Bride of Jesus the Bridegroom (Mt. 16:18; Eph. 5:27; 1 Jn. 5:12) (Internet).

 

(3)    Third and last, I would like to receive the lesson taught by Jesus’ words: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” [Ἐμὸν βρῶμά ἐστιν ἵνα ποιήσω τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πέμψαντός με καὶ τελειώσω αὐτοῦ τὸ ἔργον (Emon brōma estin hina poiēsō to thelēma tou pempsantos me kai teleiōsō autou to ergon)] (Jn. 4:34).  In particular, I would like to meditate on how the Son, Jesus Christ, completely fulfilled the will of God the Father, who sent Him into the world, in connection with Jesus’ words from the cross, “It is finished” [Τετέλεσται (Tetelestai)] (19:30), and with Philippians 2:6–8: “Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”  When we meditate on the truth that Jesus’ food was brought to its full completion through His atoning death on the cross, what lessons does this give to us, His disciples?

 

(a)    The true food that satisfied Jesus was not merely a moral lesson spoken in words (Jn. 4:34).  It was the obedience by which He laid aside His heavenly glory, took the form of a servant, emptied Himself, and gave Himself up to the point of sitting exhausted beside a well in Samaria at noon.  Ultimately, through His atoning death on the cross at the third Passover, He perfectly completed the Father’s plan of salvation.  This was the fulfillment of love expressed through action (3:14, 16; 4:4, 6; 19:30; Phil. 2:6–8).  The following three biblical principles and practical applications have been organized by artificial intelligence to show how this atoning obedience should be confessed and lived out today by all the members of Victory Presbyterian Church and those entrusted with the Lord’s mission (Internet):

 

1.       First Principle: True Food—Doing the Father’s Will—Begins When We Completely Empty the Table of Our Pride (Phi. 2:6–7)

 

The self-emptying of the incarnation and the principle of the gospel → ekenōsen (ἐκένωσεν): The Greek word translated “made Himself of no reputation” or “emptied Himself” in Philippians 2:7 is related to kenoō (κενόω).  In the interpretation presented here, it means completely pouring out and emptying oneself of the privileges and control that had filled one’s life, as though discarding them as rubbish.

 

The Pharisees and the Jewish religious authorities found security in the impressive size and status of the Temple building they had constructed over forty-six years, as well as in the deceptive food of their own biblical knowledge (Jn. 2:20; 3:2, 10; 4:1).  The Lord completely overturned this table of pride with His whip (John 2:15).  He Himself emptied Himself and thoroughly humbled Himself to meet a Samaritan sinner, a person regarded as having no standing or qualifications.

 

Application to the lives of all believers: The first heavenly food that all believers should receive in their daily lives—in their families, workplaces, and churches—is this very obedience of self-emptying.  We must joyfully tear down before the cross the barriers of human qualifications and privileges represented by claims such as, “I hold this level of office in the church,” or, “I have accumulated this many years of ministry experience.”  We must empty ourselves of the stubbornness characteristic of the Pharisees, who trusted in their own strength and experience.  At every moment, we must passively surrender the steering wheel of our entire being to the will of God, who sent us (Jn. 1:20; 3:17, 34; Rom. 8:14).  Then God will begin to pour into our lives, like a waterfall, the boundless living water of the Holy Spirit, which is not measured out on a scale (Jn. 3:34; 4:14).

 

2.       Second Principle: The Mission of Believers Is Not to Seek Personal Satisfaction but to Carry Out the “Atoning Love of the Cross” as a Completed Work (Jn. 4:34; 19:30)

 

The food of completing the work → teleiōsō (τελειώσω) → tetelestai (Τετέλεσται): In John 4:34, the Lord speaks of His mission to “finish” God’s work [τελειώσω (teleiōsō)].  The longing to fulfill this mission is ultimately confirmed as God’s eternal and perfect guarantee of salvation for the whole world through Jesus’ declaration from the cross: “It is finished” [Τετέλεσται (tetelestai)].  With a holy zeal that consumed His entire being, the Lord shed His blood and died on the cross.  Through this, He completely and once for all removed our condemnation and spiritual thirst.

 

Application to the lives of all believers: People in the world spend their lives wandering in pursuit of false food: temporary material possessions that leave them thirsty again, reputations and places of honor at banquets, and shallow strokes of good fortune in daily life.  But the different kind of food that truly saved believers must demonstrate through their lives is the practice of the atoning love of the cross.  Just as the Lord brought one soul—the Samaritan woman—to life and experienced fullness even while exhausted under the scorching midday sun, we, too, must joyfully cast away our selfish water jars as rubbish (Jn. 4:28; Phil. 3:8) and embrace in prayer the souls of our broken and wounded family members and neighbors.  When we kneel in tears in the hidden place beneath the fig tree, unseen by others, and quietly walk the narrow road of the cross, allowing ourselves to be spent so that others may live, I firmly believe that the Lord will continually fill the very center of our lives with the unfailing rest and joy of eternal life.

 

3.       Third Principle: Carry the Assurance of the Complete Salvation the Lord Has Already Won on the Cross, and Move Forward Boldly in the Unshakable Joy of Heaven (Jn. 19:30; 1 Jn. 5:4)

 

Contentment that overcomes the power of Hades: When the disciples could not see any physical bread before them, they murmured within the limits of their human calculations, asking, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” (Jn. 4:33).  Today, the systems of the world and Pharisaic environments likewise try to shake believers’ identities by confronting them with visible results, conditions, and barriers imposed by their circumstances.

Application to the lives of all believers: Yet, within the hearts of true worshipers who have been born again of God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 1:13, 33; 3:5; 4:23), the power of salvation that overcomes the world is already alive as a completed reality (1 Jn. 3:9; 5:4).  This resembles the great contentment with which John the Baptist withdrew from the scene.  Even when the disciples who had followed him all departed to Jesus, he was satisfied, saying in effect, “My joy has already been made completely full simply by hearing the bridegroom’s voice” (Jn. 3:26, 29–30).  No matter how exhausting and harsh the wilderness of reality may be, all believers possess the assurance that Jesus Christ, who declares, “I who speak to you am He,” and reigns as King within us, has already accomplished the whole work of salvation (4:26; 19:30).  Therefore, we must not beg the world for recognition. Instead, trusting completely in the Lord’s reign, we should boldly demonstrate in our daily lives the victory of salvation already accomplished, advancing with confidence as we proclaim, “Come and see.”

 

A Final Exegetical Summary of “The Atonement of the Cross and the Fulfillment of True Food” in John 4:34

 

The mystery of Jesus’ declaration, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (v. 34), and His final declaration of victory from the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30), is connected to His incarnation and humiliation.  As Philippians declares, He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself and humbled Himself by taking the form of a servant, ultimately dying an atoning death (Phil. 2:6–8).  The interpretation presented here is that this overturned every table of privilege and qualification through which human beings try to establish their own righteousness (Jn. 2:15; 3:4, 9).  It demonstrates that the true, satisfying heavenly food that gives life to souls is completed only through God’s entirely free grace and gift from above, when we cease relying on ourselves (4:10, 32; Eph. 2:8–9).  Therefore, Victory Presbyterian Church and all its members, who joyfully cast away the heavy water jars of material wealth and worldly reputation as rubbish, walk boldly into the light according to the truth (Jn. 4:28; Phil. 3:8), and submit their whole being to the sovereign guidance of the self-existent God, who knows their innermost selves and faults—including the shame associated with the five husbands—yet embraces them without condemnation, are taught to continually enjoy eternal life as a present reality.  This is the complete sovereign victory of the New Covenant: the Lord forever abolishes the power of Hades and continues to prepare His people as the holy temple of the Holy Spirit and the spotless, glorious Bride of Christ. (Internet)

 

(i)                 When I meditate on Jesus’ food—“My food” (Jn. 4:34)—I am reminded once again of the lesson that those who are sent should fully carry out the will of the One who sends them.  Just as Jesus, who was sent, fully fulfilled the will of God the Father, who sent Him, the apostle Paul, who was sent by the Lord, also fulfilled the will of the One who sent him.  We, too, learn that, following Paul’s example, fulfilling the will of the Lord who sent us should become our food.  Among those who practiced this lesson, I thought of Benjamin Schmolck (1672–1737), a German Lutheran pastor who wrote the hymn “My Jesus, as Thou Wilt,” which is hymn number 549 in the New Korean Hymnal.  The reason I thought of him is that, in 1704, when he was thirty-two years old, he and his wife returned home from visiting church members and discovered that their house had burned completely to the ground and that their two sons had been burned to death.  After crying out in unbearable grief, he had a vision of the Lord praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and wrote the hymn “Mein Jesu, wie du willst” (“My Jesus, as You will”).  The confession expressed in the third verse—“Whether I live or die, let it be according to Your will”—reveals his faith.  I would like to consider more concretely the lesson that those who are sent must fully carry out the will of the One who sends them.

 

·         The confession that Pastor Schmolck made on the ashes of his life, after his two sons had been burned to death, when he encountered the Lord of Gethsemane and cried out, “Whether I live or die, let it be according to Your will,” corresponds precisely to the true heavenly food that the Lord received while sitting exhausted beside the Samaritan well (Jn. 4:6, 32, 34).  The following three practical principles have been organized by artificial intelligence to explain how this sacred spiritual principle—those who are sent fully carrying out the will of the One who sends them—should operate in the lives of all believers and those entrusted with a mission today (Internet):

 

a.       First Principle: True Obedience Begins on the Ashes Where My Own Will Is Completely Broken and Torn Down (Phil. 2:7–8)

 

The self-emptying of the incarnation and Gethsemane: The reason the Son of God was able to come into the world and fully accomplish God’s work was that, as Philippians 2:7–8 says, He laid aside His heavenly glory, took the form of a servant, and completely emptied Himself.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, the Lord prayed, “Not My will, but Yours, be done.” He completely subjected His own will to the cross, and His sweat became like great drops of blood (Lk. 22:42, 44). 

 

Application to the lives of all believers: In our daily lives, we can easily become trapped within the walls we build to protect “my will, my title, and the comfort of my family”—our own human structures that we seek to make as enduring as the Temple built over forty-six years (Jn. 2:20; 3:10; 4:1).  Yet, at times, as in Pastor Schmolck’s life, God leads us through a painful wilderness in which the earthly water jars we have clung to and the tables of selfish schemes and expectations are completely torn down (2:15; 4:15, 28).  When we stand before the declaration that our lives have been brought to ruin, we must completely empty ourselves of our stubbornness and calculations.  When we transparently confess, “Lord, even if my plans collapse, may only the will of the Father who sent me flourish,” and allow our old self to be torn down (1:20; 2:19; 3:17, 30, 34), the living spring of the Holy Spirit, which never runs dry, will begin to surge within us as a true power that overcomes the world (4:14; 1 Jn. 5:4).

 

b.      Second Principle: The Food of Those Entrusted with a Mission Is Not Their Own Comfort but “Completing God’s Work Even Through Tears” (Jn. 4:34)

 

The fullness that embraces fatigue and sorrow: Jesus walked along dusty wilderness roads under the midday sun and became physically exhausted.  Yet, as He fulfilled the Father’s mission of bringing one Samaritan woman to life, He completely forgot His physical hunger and fatigue (Jn. 4:6–7, 32).  The apostle Paul likewise regarded his own life and reputation as rubbish.  Even while imprisoned in Rome and facing death, he made fulfilling God’s mission to bring life to souls throughout Asia and the Gentile world his true, satisfying food (Phil. 3:8).

 

Application to the lives of all believers: People in the world place their lives and hopes in temporary possessions, reputations, and worldly success, all of which leave them thirsty again.  But the different kind of food that truly saved believers should receive and embody is the practice of atoning love: embracing in prayer and continuing to care for the souls entrusted to us—our family members, fellow members of the church, and neighbors—even in moments of sorrow and deprivation (Jn. 3:16, 29, 35).  Just as Pastor Schmolck composed a hymn to comfort souls even amid the hellish pain of losing his children, we must seek to demonstrate the living Lord’s presence and faithfulness through us, even when our lives are broken open and torn down before His Word.  Such a person is a true worshiper in spirit and truth whom God seeks out and pursues throughout the whole world (2:19; 3:33; 4:23–24).

 

c.       Third Principle: Firmly Trust the Lord’s Faithful Covenant Promise—that He Has Already Perfectly Completed the Mission of Salvation on the Cross—and Move Forward Quietly and Steadfastly (Jn. 19:30)

 

The unshakable contentment of heaven: The Lord’s declaration, “It is finished,” from the cross eternally confirms that no suffering or power of death that believers encounter on earth can ever separate them from the love of God (Jn. 19:30; Rom. 8:39). 

 

Application to the lives of all believers: When the disciples could not see any physical bread before them, they worried and hesitated within the limits of their human calculations, asking, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” (Jn. 4:33).  Yet John the Baptist found profound rest even in the moment of loss when all those who had followed him departed. He declared that his joy was already completely full simply because he could hear the bridegroom’s voice (3:26, 29–30).  Even when all believers face the harsh wilderness of life and trials as scorching as burning charcoal, they possess the unshakable covenant assurance that the Lord, who declares, “I who speak to you am He,” and reigns as King within them, has already covered all their wounds and sorrows through the cross.  Therefore, we must not bind our identity to the world’s conditions. Instead, trusting completely in God’s goodness, we should boldly proclaim the victory already accomplished in Christ, declaring each day in the place where we live and serve, “My Lord, let Your will be done,” and walking steadily forward in the mission entrusted to us.

 

A Final Redemptive-Historical and Exegetical Summary of John 4:34 and the Hymn “My Jesus, as Thou Wilt”

 

The mystery of Jesus’ declaration that His food was to do the will of the One who sent Him and to finish His work (Jn. 4:34), and His faithful completion of salvation through the final declaration of victory from the cross, “It is finished,” is reflected in the message of the hymn written by Pastor Benjamin Schmolck.  Even amid the devastating ashes of his home after losing his two sons, Schmolck confessed, “Whether I live or die, let it be according to Your will,” expressing the secret of a hymn united with the Lord of Gethsemane.  The interpretation presented here is that this divine work completely overturns every table of privilege and every water jar through which human beings try to fill their lives by their own strength.  It demonstrates that the true, satisfying heavenly food that gives life to souls is completed only through the entirely free grace and gift that come from above, when we cease relying on ourselves.  Therefore, Victory Presbyterian Church and all its members, who submit their whole being to the sovereign guidance of the self-existent God, who knows their innermost selves and faults—including the shame associated with the five husbands—yet embraces them without condemnation, are taught to continually enjoy eternal life as a present reality, with the joy of the complete sovereign victory of the New Covenant.  This is the victory of the Lord who forever abolishes the power of Hades and continues to prepare His people as the holy temple of the Holy Spirit and the spotless, glorious Bride of Christ (Internet).