27 ¶ And upon this came his disciples, and
marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou?
or, Why talkest thou with her? 28 The
woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the
men, 29 Come, see a man, which told me
all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? 30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto
him. 31 In the mean while his disciples
prayed him, saying, Master, eat. 32 But he
said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. 33 Therefore said the disciples one to another,
Hath any man brought him ought to eat? 34
Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me,
and to finish his work. 35 Say not ye,
There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you,
Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to
harvest. 36 And he that reapeth
receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that
soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth,
and another reapeth. 38 I sent you to
reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered
into their labours. 39 And many of the
Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which
testified, He told me all that ever I did. 40
So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he
would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his own
word; 42 And said unto the woman, Now we
believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know
that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
The Samaritan woman, in verse 29, declares her belief that
Jesus is the Messiah. Matthew Henry believed that there was probably a lot more
to the conversation than was reported due to her declaration that Jesus knew
everything about her and told her such. However, there is another possibility,
that being that her relationships with men defined her life and her declaration
that Christ told her, “all things that I ever did,” simply shows that He struck
a nerve that revealed her heartbreak, her despair, and her resignation to the
life her culture and her own failings had dealt her.
There are things we have experienced caused by our own
faults and sins and by the unreasonable expectations and actions of others that
define our lives. Christ, now through His words in His Book, like a laser beam,
cuts through all of the layers upon layers of self-deception and unrealistic
expectations to get to the problem of how we have defined ourselves. Some think
they are just wonderful people, full of accomplishments and self-satisfaction,
deserving of respect and even obedience. Others realize they have failed
miserably in life and nothing was what it appeared to be. The first person is
harder to get through to as he or she is their own god. The second person may
believe that they are too wicked to be saved. Both deny God’s power and
sovereignty over their lives. But, with God, all things are possible.
Jesus’ disciples do not understand His reference to His food
being doing God’s will in verse 34 as He says, “My meat is to do the will of
him that sent me, and to finish his work.”
Job 23:12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment
of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary
food.
Deuteronomy 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to
hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy
fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread
only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man
live.
Luke 4:4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is
written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
Jesus here, in reference to His own Jewish disciples having
a field of Jews and Samaritans ripe for His gospel and for salvation, also lays
out a sort of mini-version of the popularly named, “Great Commission.”
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto
the end of the world. Amen.
He told His disciples after His Resurrection and before His
Ascension.
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the
Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem,
and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
He also gives a reference to the part each person may have
in the salvation of others, as Paul talks about to the Corinthians.
1Corinthians 3:5
¶ Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos,
but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave
the increase. 7 So then neither is he
that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the
increase. 8 Now he that planteth and he
that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to
his own labour. 9 For we are labourers
together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which is given
unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another
buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
It is interesting that He stayed with the Samaritans two
days. Could this be a double reference to two days in Hell preaching to the
lost and rising on the third?
Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights
in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in
the heart of the earth.
1Peter 3:18 ¶ For Christ also hath once suffered for sins,
the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in
the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19
By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once
the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a
preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
Hosea 6:2 After two days will he revive us: in the
third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
1Corinthians 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose
again the third day according to the scriptures:
Many Samaritans, based on their experience with Christ and
hearing His words, although hated and despised by the Jews, believe and make
the declaration that He is, “the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”
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