Joh 4:34 | KingComments | STEP | In their concern for their Master, the disciples mean well when they tell Him to eat something. They are back with the food they bought ( ). However well-intentioned, again the disciples show that they do not know the Lord much better and do not know much more about Him than the woman. Like the woman, they can only think about physical needs while the Lord is busy with the spiritual needs of the woman. Then He speaks to them about a kind of food that He has to eat and that they don’t know. That food is doing the will of the Father ( ). His love for the Father leads Him thereto. That is the food that gives strength to those who are weary and increases the strength of him who has no strength ( ). Christ has lived and worked out of the power of that food and therein He is an example to us as well. The disciples do not understand the scope of the Lord’s words. They still can only think of earthly wells when it comes to meeting earthly needs. A heavenly well and especially the Father to fulfill spiritual needs is still beyond their understanding. They do not yet know the Father and are not yet fully focused on doing the will of the Father, whereas the Lord Jesus does know the Father and is fully focused on doing His will. Then the Lord reveals what His food consists of, which gives Him the power. As obedient, dependent Man, He gets His strength from doing the will of the Father Whom He presents here as the One Who sent Him to accomplish His work. Accomplishing His work is to make His Father’s Name known and to glorify Him ( ).

‏ John 4:34

The Food of the Lord

In their concern for their Master, the disciples mean well when they tell Him to eat something. They are back with the food they bought (Jn 4:8). However well-intentioned, again the disciples show that they do not know the Lord much better and do not know much more about Him than the woman. Like the woman, they can only think about physical needs while the Lord is busy with the spiritual needs of the woman.

Then He speaks to them about a kind of food that He has to eat and that they don’t know. That food is doing the will of the Father (Jn 4:34). His love for the Father leads Him thereto. That is the food that gives strength to those who are weary and increases the strength of him who has no strength (Isa 40:29-31). Christ has lived and worked out of the power of that food and therein He is an example to us as well.

The disciples do not understand the scope of the Lord’s words. They still can only think of earthly wells when it comes to meeting earthly needs. A heavenly well and especially the Father to fulfill spiritual needs is still beyond their understanding. They do not yet know the Father and are not yet fully focused on doing the will of the Father, whereas the Lord Jesus does know the Father and is fully focused on doing His will.

Then the Lord reveals what His food consists of, which gives Him the power. As obedient, dependent Man, He gets His strength from doing the will of the Father Whom He presents here as the One Who sent Him to accomplish His work. Accomplishing His work is to make His Father’s Name known and to glorify Him (Jn 17:4).