The Lord Sends Us to Reap What We Have Not Labored For, Gathering Fruit for Eternal Life So That the Sower and the Reaper May Rejoice Together

The Lord Sends Us to Reap What We Have Not Labored For, Gathering Fruit for Eternal Life So That the Sower and the Reaper May Rejoice Together

 

 

 

 

“Do you not say, ‘There are yet 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!  And he who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that 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 labor” (John 4:35–38).

 

 

(1)    Today, I would like to meditate on the fifth portion of John 4:3–42, the account of Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman: John 4:35–38.  When I read verses 25–30 in both the Korean Bible and the Greek New Testament, the first expression that caught my attention was “the harvest” [ὁ θερισμός (ho therismos)] in verse 35.  The reason is that Jesus’ disciples said, “There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest” [Ἔτι τετράμηνος ἐστιν καὶ ὁ θερισμὸς ἔρχεται (Eti tetramēnos estin kai ho therismos erchetai)], whereas Jesus said to them, “Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” [ἐπάρατε τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὑμῶν καὶ θεάσασθε τὰς χώρας, ὅτι λευκαί εἰσιν πρὸς θερισμόν (Eparate tous ophthalmous hymōn kai theasasthe tas chōras, hoti leukai eisin pros therismon)] (v. 35).  I therefore began to wonder: What is the reality of the “harvest” of which Jesus spoke?  What is the difference between Jesus’ perspective and that of His disciples concerning the harvest, and what does that difference mean?

(a)    The following is an AI-generated summary, based on material found online, of the reality of the harvest Jesus described and of three biblical principles and practical applications that the difference between the Lord’s perspective and the disciples’ perspective presents for the lives of believers and those called to serve Him today.

 

1.       First principle: The disciples’ perspective was confined to chronos (χρόνος), physical time, while the Lord’s perspective revealed kairos (καιρός), the appointed spiritual time for harvest.

 

The disciples’ earthly perspective: chronological time governed by agriculture: The disciples followed the natural rhythms of the land of Palestine when they said, “There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest.”  This was chronos (χρόνος), chronological time that human beings can calculate according to the natural passage of time.  From their perspective, the spiritual condition of Samaria had not yet changed.  They assumed that the people were still spiritually hardened and that, because of the barriers of contempt and hatred, it would be a long time before fruit could be produced. Their outlook reflected the limitations of human judgment (Jn. 3:4, 9; 4:9).

 

The Lord’s heavenly perspective: God’s sovereign time in the history of redemption: But the Lord declared, “Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” He announced the urgency of God’s saving work and its appointed time, kairos (καιρός).  The Greek word translated “look” [θεάσασθε (theasasthe)] in verse 35 does not merely mean to glance at something briefly.  It conveys the idea of looking attentively and recognizing with wonder a reality and glory that might otherwise remain hidden.  The spiritual reality Jesus declared was unfolding before their eyes. Jesus had revealed Himself to the Samaritan woman as the One who is, declaring His identity to her (v. 26).  After hearing His gospel, the woman left her water jar behind and hurried into the town, crying, “Come, see!” (Jn. 4:28–29; compare Phil. 3:8).  Meanwhile, the people of Samaria were coming out of the town toward Jesus in a great crowd.  This was the dynamic spiritual reality of the harvest that had already arrived—the appointed hour of salvation [ὥρα (hōra)] that the Lord was proclaiming (Jn. 4:6, 30).

 

2.       Second principle: The essence of the “harvest” Jesus described is a great work of salvation and spiritual revival, in which souls are born again through the gospel and the Holy Spirit (Jn. 4:35).

 

The fulfillment of the new covenant, bringing the long period of waiting under the law to its goal: The prophets and the system of the law in the Old Testament had waited for hundreds of years, sowing seeds with tears until the Messiah came (v. 12).  Yet the system represented by Nicodemus, a teacher of the law, continued to measure things by earthly standards, relying on the size of the temple building—which had taken forty-six years to construct—and on the privileges of those who held power (2:20; 3:10; 4:1).

 

The immediate harvest through the work of the Holy Spirit: But the gospel of the new covenant brought by the Lord, who is above all things (3:31), brings an immeasurable abundance of salvation.  Through the work of the Holy Spirit, souls can be born again and brought into the rest of God’s kingdom as the gospel is proclaimed (1:33; 3:5, 34; 4:14).  The moment a person receives into the depths of the heart the atoning work of Jesus’ cross and the love of the only-begotten Son (3:16), a soul that has been imprisoned in darkness and continually remained under wrath (vv. 19, 36) is brought out from under condemnation and into life and the joy of salvation.  That person is gathered into the glorious bride of God, the church (vv. 29, 33; Eph. 5:27; 1 Jn. 5:12).  This is the heavenly principle that confirms the saving abundance of the new covenant.

 

3.       Lessons for the lives of all believers and those called to serve the Lord

 

① We must abandon human limitations and numerical calculations and devote ourselves daily to the purpose for which the Lord has sent us.

 

The disciples’ attention was being drawn to visible, practical matters: the administration of water baptism and the need to buy food in the town (Jn. 4:2, 8, 31, 33).  But the Lord does not entrust Himself to outward appearances or human calculations (2:24–25).  In our daily lives, we must joyfully and completely overturn, before the cross, the pride that tries to restrict God’s sovereignty by relying on the clock of our own pastoral experience.  We must not say, “The ministry environment is barren,” or, “There is no hope for that soul,” as though our human timetable—the four-month measure—could determine what God is able to do (2:15; 3:4, 9).  When we willingly set aside our own names and titles and devote ourselves to the living Word of God and prayer, quietly pressing forward in the calling to which the Lord has sent us—in our homes, workplaces, and church, just as He Himself was sent—we will see the Lord break through every barrier we have labeled impossible and bring souls back into His arms.

 

② When we cast away the water jar of our own calculations as rubbish, we receive a spiritual satisfaction that the world cannot understand.

 

While the disciples were discussing their calculations about earthly food (Jn. 4:31, 33), the Lord was bringing the Samaritan woman to life and opening the way for the salvation of the entire town.  He was so completely absorbed in receiving the spiritual nourishment of saving souls that He forgot His physical fatigue and hunger (4:6, 32, 34).  Believers are not people who entrust their lives to material possessions, public reputation, prominent seats at banquets, or shallow worldly hopes.  Because we possess Jesus Christ, the knowledge of whom surpasses all things, we should joyfully cast away as rubbish the earthly water jar we have been holding close to our hearts and attune our ears to the very voice of Jesus, our Bridegroom (Phil. 3:8).  When we kneel in tears, allow the cross to break and humble us, and fully obey the Lord in bringing life to other souls, I firmly believe that the Lord will continually pour out upon the hearts of all believers the holy, heavenly joy and fullness that the world cannot know or experience.

 

Concluding exegetical summary of John 4:35: “The fields are already white for harvest!”

 

In contrast to the disciples’ fleshly perspective—that the harvest would not come until four months had passed (Jn. 4:35)—Jesus declared, “Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” (v. 35).  This mystery overturns the entire earthly framework through which human beings attempt to calculate the kingdom of God by their own power (2:15; 3:12).  It confirms the immediate, abundant work of the Holy Spirit, who causes souls to be born again through the entirely unearned grace and gift that come from above, as the seed is sown (1:33; 4:10, 14; Eph. 2:8–9).  When the believers of Victory Presbyterian Church and all God’s people joyfully cast away as rubbish the heavy water jars of material possessions and public reputation, step confidently into the light by following the truth (Jn. 4:28; Phil. 3:8), and submit their hearts and calling fully to the sovereign leading of the One who is, they learn to enjoy even now, in the joy of eternal life, the complete sovereign victory of the new covenant.  The Lord forever abolishes the power of Hades and continues to prepare His church as the holy temple of the Spirit and the spotless, glorious bride of Christ.  This summary is based on material found online.

 

(2)    Second, I would like to meditate on Jesus’ words, “He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life” [ὁ θερίζων μισθὸν λαμβάνει καὶ συνάγει καρπὸν εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον (Ho therizōn misthon lambanei kai synagei karpon eis zōēn aiōnion)] (Jn. 4:36), together with His words, “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored” [ἐγὼ ἀπέστειλα ὑμᾶς θερίζειν ὃ οὐχ ὑμεῖς κεκοπιάκατε (Egō apesteila hymas therizein ho ouch hymeis kekopiakate)] (v. 38).  I want to consider these verses together because both are connected by the Greek word for “reap,” θερίζω (therizō). In particular, I want to reflect more concretely on what Jesus meant by the “reaper,” who “receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life,” and by His sending the reaper or reapers to reap what they “have not labored for.” What lessons do these words offer us?

 

(a)    The connection between these two verses (36 and 38) reveals both the true nature of the reward enjoyed by those called to serve and the sovereign grace that flows beneath the work of salvation. The following is an AI-generated summary, based on material found online, of three biblical principles and practical applications of this magnificent law of harvest, which completely overturns human merit and rank.

 

1.       First principle: The “wages” [μισθὸν (misthon)] received by those who serve are not worldly rewards but the rest and joy already planted in the soul (v. 36).

 

The significance of the Greek word μισθὸν (misthon): the heavenly wages given for service: The Lord does not say that the reaper will receive something at some point in the future. Instead, He declares in the present tense that the reaper “receives wages” [μισθὸν λαμβάνει (misthon lambanei)] (v. 36).  This means that the true reward believers receive when they do the Lord’s work is not earthly gain, the size of a ministry, or the praise of people.

 

Application to the lives of all believers: When we proclaim the gospel and care for souls, our greatest reward is the privilege of being used as a friend of the true Bridegroom—a bridge through which another person comes to Christ.  We may witness a soul who has been drying up under the shame of five husbands and the thirst of life encounter Jesus, the true Light, and be born anew of God.  The glory of being used in the very place where fruit for eternal life is gathered is itself a reward (Jn. 3:29; 4:36).  Simply hearing the Bridegroom’s voice fills the soul with the rest of heaven.  The true contentment of a servant of the Lord is expressed in the confession, “I am completely filled with this joy.” This is the spiritual wage that God continually pours out upon us (3:29–30).

 

2.       Second principle: The harvest of believers is not the result of their own merit; it is a gift freely received as we enter into what the Lord has already accomplished (Jn. 4:38).

 

The significance of the Greek expressions ἀπέστειλα (apesteila) and οὐχ ὑμεῖς κεκοπιάκατε (ouch hymeis kekopiakate): In verse 38, the Lord uses the past-tense verb “I sent” [ἀπέστειλα (apesteila)] and firmly declares to the disciples, “You have not labored.”  The Greek verb translated “labored,” κοπιάω (kopiaō), has the same root as the word used in verse 6 to describe Jesus when He had walked along the dusty wilderness road until midday and sat down, physically exhausted: κεκοπιακώς (kekopiakōs) (vv. 6, 38).

 

The biblical principle: The disciples’ sweat contributed not even one percent to the true reason the hardened field of Samaria became white for a great harvest of salvation.  The foundation had been laid by Jesus Christ alone.  From before the foundation of the world, He carried the purpose of saving souls; He came to earth in human flesh (1:14; 4:4), became weary and thirsty beneath the scorching sun, and personally bore and dealt with the woman’s shame.  This was the profound humiliation and self-sacrifice of His incarnation, expressed by the word κεκοπιακώς (kekopiakōs) (4:6–7).  Furthermore, upon the foundation of prayer laid by the many prophets of the Old Testament, including Moses, who sowed in tears while awaiting the coming of the Messiah, the disciples simply entered joyfully into the harvest, as though placing their spoons upon a table already prepared (v. 25).  Salvation is not accomplished by human strength or by the achievements of a system built over forty-six years (2:20; 3:4, 9).  Rather, it teaches us to receive as a free gift the complete and faithful salvation that the Lord accomplished on the cross when He declared, “It is finished,” on the third Passover (19:30; Eph. 2:8–9).

 

3.       Third principle: The sower and the reaper must share in the unity of the heavenly feast and “rejoice together” (the second half of John 4:36).

Overcoming competition and divisions over church growth: The Pharisaic system of Judaism and the values of the world constantly ask, “Who has made more disciples?  Whose following and share of influence is greater?  Who has baptized more people?”  In this way, people continually rank themselves, compete with one another, and build fences of rivalry (3:26; 4:1–2).

 

Application to the lives of all believers: But the heavenly partnership in the harvest designed by the Lord is a holy fellowship and a union as one body, in which “the sower and the reaper may rejoice together” [χαίρῃ (chairē)] (4:36).  If we sow with tears but see no immediate fruit before our eyes, there is no need to lose heart.  If a tremendous harvest of souls takes place in a field where we did not sow, there is equally no reason to boast in our own ability or become proud.  We should trust only the Lord’s faithful timetable—the Lord who sent us into our homes, workplaces, and Victory Presbyterian Church (3:17, 34). We should joyfully tear down before the cross the labels bearing our names and our titles as pastors or church members, and instead fill ourselves completely with prayer in the secret place and with the living Word.  Then, satisfied to the full with Jesus Christ alone—the One who is already present within us as life in the present and as the rest of completed salvation—we should dance together in the very field where the Lord is working and celebrate the feast of heaven (2:10; 4:14, 29).

 

Concluding exegetical summary of John 4:36 and 38: “The Reaper’s Wages and the Harvest of Grace”

 

Jesus declared that the reaper already receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life (Jn. 4:36), and He firmly stated, “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored” (v. 38).  This mystery overturns the entire earthly framework through which human beings try to calculate their share and rank in the kingdom of God.  The church is permitted to share freely in the glory of the harvest on the foundation of the Lord’s perfect incarnation, humiliation, and self-sacrifice—the Lord who became exhausted and sat down beside the well in Samaria (v. 6).  This is the entirely unearned grace and gift that come from above (v. 10; Eph. 2:8–9).  When the believers of Victory Presbyterian Church and all God’s people joyfully cast away as rubbish the heavy water jars of material possessions and public reputation, step confidently into the light by following the truth (Jn. 4:28; Phil. 3:8), and submit their hearts and calling fully to the sovereign leading of the One who is, they may continually enjoy eternal life in the present, with the joy of completed salvation.  The Lord forever abolishes the power of Hades and continues to prepare His church as the holy temple of the Spirit and the spotless, glorious bride of Christ (Mt. 16:18; Eph. 5:27; 1 Jn. 5:12).

 

(3)    Third, when I meditate on Jesus’ words, “One sows and another reaps” [ἐν γὰρ τούτῳ ὁ λόγος ἐστὶν ἀληθινὸς ὅτι Ἄλλος ἐστὶν ὁ σπείρων καὶ ἄλλος ὁ θερίζων (En gar toutō ho logos estin alēthinos hoti allos estin ho speirōn kai allos ho therizōn)] (Jn. 4:38), I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 3:6–7: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” [ἐγὼ ἐφύτευσα, Ἀπολλῶς ἐπότισεν, ἀλλὰ ὁ θεὸς ηὔξανεν· ὥστε οὔτε ὁ φυτεύων ἐστίν τι οὔτε ὁ ποτίζων, ἀλλ’ ὁ αὐξάνων θεός (Egō ephyteusa, Apollōs epotisen, alla ho Theos ēuxanen; hōste oute ho phyteuōn estin ti oute ho potizōn, all’ ho auxanōn Theos)].  As I considered this passage in the light of my own life, the Lord led me to write the following confession: “The greatest problem of Victory Presbyterian Church, the body of the Lord, is me. My greatest problem is that the Lord, who is the Head of the church, is everything, and I am nothing, yet I often live under the delusion that I have become something.  My great problem is that I lack an awareness of God’s grace, the humility of Jesus, and the wisdom of God.  I also have a false faith—a pretentious faith that is not genuine—as well as an unholy faith, a faith without works, and a weak faith. My great problem is that I have become worldly.  Intellectually, I know that I must repent.  Yet I do not even have the ability to repent.  I long for the tears of repentance that the Holy Spirit caused me to shed at the college ministry retreat of Victory Presbyterian Church in May 1987.”  My question is this: What is the relationship between John 4:37 and 1 Corinthians 3:6–7, and what is the lesson God is teaching me and us through these passages?

 

(a)    The following is an AI-generated summary, based on material found online, of the close relationship between John 4:38 and 1 Corinthians 3:6–7, together with three biblical principles and practical applications that believers and those called to serve the Lord today should engrave upon their hearts in their homes, workplaces, and churches.

 

1.       First principle: Only those who honestly acknowledge that they are weak sinners and nothing before God can receive and enjoy, as a completely free gift, the atoning grace of Jesus Christ, who came to earth to save us, endured fatigue and suffering, and shed His blood on the cross.

 

The connection in the history of redemption: In the work of salvation, where one person sows and another reaps, the Lord firmly declared to His disciples, “You have not labored” (Jn. 4:37–38).  The apostle Paul likewise stated, “Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Cor. 3:7).  The point at which these two passages perfectly converge is the sovereignty of grace: not even one percent of human merit, rank, or personal entitlement contributes to the work of salvation and revival.  The true reason the dry field of Samaria produced such a great harvest of salvation was not the sweat of the disciples—not even one percent of it.  Rather, it was the Lord’s complete love and sacrificial labor. Jesus took on a human body like ours, came to this earth, and patiently waited until His whole body was weary from walking beneath the scorching midday sun (Jn. 4:6, 38).

 

Practical application to the lives of all believers: One of the greatest tragedies in the Christian life occurs when we become trapped in the Pharisaic mindset that we have planted some extraordinary seed or watered the field in some remarkable way for the Lord.  We must joyfully and completely overturn before the Lord every proud assumption that places our confidence in our own strength, the seniority associated with our position, or our knowledge.  Before the Creator, we should confess honestly and thoroughly, “I am a useless and weak sinner who can do nothing. I am nothing.”  We must receive and enjoy, as a completely free gift, only the grace of the blood of Jesus Christ, who accomplished the whole work of salvation once for all on the cross for us.  He is everything; we are nothing (Jn. 1:20; 4:10; 19:30; Eph. 2:8–9).

 

2.       Second principle: Upon the foundation of my complete confession that I am powerless even to repent, the Spirit’s “living water without measure” begins to work without limit (Jn. 3:34; 4:14).

 

The connection in the history of redemption: To confess that we know intellectually that we should repent but have no ability to repent, and to long for the pure tears of repentance that the Holy Spirit once caused us to shed, is not necessarily a sign of spiritual despair.  Rather, it can be a holy sign of the Spirit’s cleansing work, which tears down even the final shell of pride protecting the self.  When the Samaritan woman was at the bottom of her life, carrying the shame associated with her five husbands, she said, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water” (Jn. 4:15).  She was still seeking an earthly convenience and responding without understanding the spiritual meaning of Jesus’ words.  She had not even one percent of the ability or qualification to repair herself or repent by her own power (3:4, 9).

 

Practical application to the lives of all believers: The Lord, who is the true Light, exposes the human condition of complete spiritual blindness (1:9; 3:19–20).  Yet He does not simply strike people with the whip of condemnation and judgment (3:17; 4:1).  Instead, He receives the woman’s broken and bankrupt heart with the gracious affirmation, “You have rightly said” (4:17–18; compare John 3:33).  Believers are not people who struggle to repair their pretentious and weak faith by their own willpower.  Rather, when we fully confess our helplessness and bow down at the Lord’s feet, He does not give the Holy Spirit in a measured or limited quantity.  Through the living water of the Spirit, which He pours out without measure (Jn. 1:33; 3:34; 4:14), He gives new birth to the innermost sanctuary of our hearts and recreates us from the inside out (1:13; 2:19, 21; 3:5).  Those pure tears of repentance are not merely a thing of the past. In the humbled sanctuary of our hearts today, they are like an unfailing spring of eternal life, flowing again in real time through the wind of the Holy Spirit (3:8; 4:14).

 

3.       Third principle: The sower and the reaper must enjoy together the heavenly feast of joy [χαίρῃ (chairē)] (Jn. 4:36).

 

The connection in the history of redemption: To those blinded by Pharisaic jealousy who declared, “I belong to Paul,” or, “I belong to Apollos,” building denominational and privileged boundaries and competing for influence, Paul declared that neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything (1 Cor. 3:7).  In today’s passage, the Lord proclaimed the principle of complete unity under the new covenant and the fulfillment of God’s faithful promise: “One sows and another reaps” (Jn. 4:37).

 

Practical application to the lives of all believers: When we fulfill our calling in our homes, workplaces, and the church, the body of the Lord, we do not need to despair by placing our confidence in our pretentious outward appearance or in the barriers of a worldly environment.  The Lord has already completed the victory of faithful salvation on the cross, breaking the power of all our falsehood and the curse upon us when He declared, “It is finished” (Jn. 19:30; 1 Jn. 5:12).  We should joyfully cast away as rubbish the labels bearing our names and the pride we take in our positions (Jn. 4:28; Phil. 3:8).  When we enjoy the life we possess in the Son, who dwells within us as the true Light (Jn. 3:36; 1 Jn. 5:12), we no longer beg for people’s approval. Instead, we attune our ears to the very voice of Jesus, our Bridegroom, and possess the complete joy of being fully satisfied.  I firmly believe that upon the profound poverty of heart in which believers confess that they are nothing, the fullness of God, who alone gives growth [πλήρωμα (plērōma), everything], will surge into their lives like waves.  He will completely shatter the power of Hades and continue to adorn the whole church brilliantly as the spotless and glorious bride of Christ (Jn. 1:16; Mt. 16:18; Eph. 5:27).

 

Concluding exegetical summary of John 4:37 and 1 Corinthians 3:6–7: “Complete Self-Emptying and Unity in Grace”

 

The Lord declared that one person sows and another reaps (Jn. 4:37), and He revealed the mystery that the one who plants and the one who waters are nothing, while God alone gives the growth (1 Cor. 3:7).  These declarations overturn the entire earthly framework through which people in the church, the body of the Lord, imagine that they have become something.  Upon the foundation of the Lord’s perfect incarnation, humiliation, and self-sacrifice—the Lord who became exhausted and sat down beside the well in Samaria (Jn. 4:6)—we must honestly confess our complete spiritual bankruptcy: we are nothing, and we do not even possess the power to repent.  Only through such honest confession can we receive the immediate harvest of the Spirit’s work as God’s entirely free gift of grace from above.  When the believers of Victory Presbyterian Church and all God’s people joyfully cast away as rubbish the heavy water jars of material possessions and the prestige of their positions, step confidently into the light by following the truth, and submit their hearts and weaknesses fully to the sovereign leading of the One who is, they may rejoice together as sowers and reapers.  The Lord forever abolishes the power of Hades and continues to prepare His church as the holy temple of the Spirit and the spotless, glorious bride of Christ.  This is the complete sovereign victory of the new covenant, which believers are continually called to enjoy in the present through the joy of eternal life. This summary is based on material found online.

 

(4)    Fourth and last, I would like to consider the meaning of Jesus’ words, “Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor” [ἄλλοι κεκοπιάκασιν, καὶ ὑμεῖς εἰς τὸν κόπον αὐτῶν εἰσεληλύθατε (Alloi kekopiakasin, kai hymeis eis ton kopon autōn eiselēlythate)] (Jn. 4:38), and the lesson they offer us.

 

(a)    These words are a Christ-centered conclusion that makes clear that the entire foundation of salvation rests completely upon the grace of God.  The following is an AI-generated summary, based on material found online, of three biblical principles and practical applications concerning the identity of those who “have labored” and the meaning of believers having “entered into” their labor.

 

1.       First principle: Those who “have labored” are the Old Testament prophets and, above all, Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice is the foundation of salvation (Jn. 4:38).

 

The sowing of the Old Testament and the Lord’s exhaustion: The Greek verb translated “labor,” κοπιάω (kopiaō), has precisely the same root as the word used in verse 6 to describe Jesus when He walked beneath the scorching midday sun and became physically exhausted: κεκοπιακώς (kekopiakōs) (Jn. 4:6, 38).  The true background to the great harvest of revival in Samaria was the work of the Old Testament prophets, who sowed seeds and prophesied through the Pentateuch, awaiting the coming of the Messiah with tears.  Above all, it was the incarnate sacrifice and labor of Jesus Christ.  He came personally to the barren land of Samaria in human flesh.  He fully knew and saw the shame and pain of a woman wounded by her history with five husbands, and He worked to heal her. This was the incarnate sacrifice and labor of the Lord (Jn. 1:14; 4:6, 18).

 

2.       Second principle: To have “entered into” [εἰσεληλύθατε (eiselēlythate)] the labor means to set aside our own merit and freely enter into what the Lord has accomplished (Jn. 4:38).

 

Entering in, expressed by the Greek perfect tense: εἰσεληλύθατε (eiselēlythate): The Lord clearly declared to His disciples in the perfect tense that they had already entered into the labor of others: “You have entered into their labor” [εἰσεληλύθατε (eiselēlythate)] (v. 38).  This means that the disciples had not earned the joy of the harvest by establishing their own qualifications or merits.

 

Practical application to the lives of all believers: When we serve the church, live our daily lives, or share the gospel, we must joyfully and completely overturn before the cross the Pharisaic spirituality that continually says, “I have worked this hard,” or, “I have built this church to this extent,” as though we had become something through our own efforts (Jn. 2:15, 20; 3:10; 4:1; 1 Cor. 3:7).  The true confession of a believer is this: “I am an unworthy servant who has accomplished nothing. I am nothing.” We must honestly confess the spiritual bankruptcy of our hearts (Jn. 1:20; 3:21).  Everything in our lives, including the fruit of salvation, is a completely free gift of God’s grace.  We simply enter into and enjoy the perfect atoning work that Jesus accomplished for us when He declared on the cross, at the third Passover, “It is finished” (Jn. 4:10; 19:30; Eph. 2:8–9).

 

3.       Third principle: We must abolish the hierarchy between the sower and the reaper and enjoy the heavenly feast that exalts the Lord alone (Jn. 4:36).

 

Overcoming competition for church growth and the protection of privileged positions: The values of the world and the Pharisaic system of Judaism continually ask, “Who has baptized more people?  Who has achieved greater results in ministry?”  They thus engage in constant competition over the growth of their following and build fences to protect their influence and control.

 

Practical application to the lives of all believers: The law of the harvest under the new covenant, completed by the Lord, perfectly agrees with the sovereign principle Paul proclaimed in 1 Corinthians 3:7: “Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”  If we sow with tears but do not immediately see fruit before our eyes, we need not feel disappointed.  If we reap an abundant harvest of souls in a field where we did not labor, we have no right to boast in our wisdom or become proud.  We must trust only the Lord’s faithful timetable—the Lord who sent us into our homes, workplaces, and Victory Presbyterian Church.  We should joyfully tear down the labels bearing our names and attune the ears of our entire lives to the very voice of Jesus, our Bridegroom.  When we set ourselves aside and rely only on the Lord’s perfect accomplishment, we no longer thirst for human approval. Instead, we are continually filled in the midst of our daily lives with the true heavenly food and the joy that the world cannot know, which the Lord pours out upon us.

 

Concluding exegetical summary of John 4:38: “The Grace of Sharing in the Labor of Others”

 

Jesus declared, “Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor” (Jn. 4:38).  This mystery overturns the entire earthly framework through which human beings attempt to calculate their share and rank in the kingdom of God by their own strength.  Upon the foundation of the Lord’s perfect incarnation, humiliation, and atoning labor—the Lord who became exhausted and sat down beside the well in Samaria—there is an immediate harvest through the Holy Spirit, God’s entirely free gift of grace from above.  This gift is received through the honest confession of our complete spiritual bankruptcy: we are nothing, and we do not even possess the ability to repent.  When the believers of Victory Presbyterian Church and all God’s people joyfully cast away as rubbish the heavy water jars of material possessions and the prestige of their positions, step confidently into the light by following the truth, and submit their hearts and weaknesses fully to the sovereign leading of the One who is, they can rejoice together as sowers and reapers.  The Lord forever abolishes the power of Hades and continues to prepare His church as the holy temple of the Spirit [ναός (naos)] and the spotless, glorious bride of Christ.  He teaches us to continually enjoy in the present, through the joy of eternal life, the complete sovereign victory of the new covenant (Internet).