Joh 4:35-38 | KingComments | STEP | The Father has sent Him into a world that is under judgment, for man’s sin is clear. Yet at the same time the offer of God’s grace can become all the more evident in that situation. The gospel comes where man’s total depravity is unmistakable and therefore is crossing all borders. The Lord connects with His example a saying familiar to them regarding the harvest. They can see from the wheat in the field how long it still takes before the harvest comes. The Lord then applies this to the proclamation of the gospel. He tells them to put their eyes up and look on the fields full of people. They will see that the time to reap has already come and therefore they have to work by preaching the gospel and bringing in the harvest. The Lord encourages them to do this work of reaping by offering the prospect of reward. He also speaks about collecting fruit for eternal life because everyone who believes receives eternal life. What a great motive to work for the Lord Jesus! On top of that there is the great joy for both the sower who started the work and the reaper who was allowed to finish the work. The Lord does not speak here about the work of sowing – as He does, for example, in Matthew 13 ( ) – but only about reaping. He puts the result in the foreground. In connection with the glorification of the Father’s Name, reaping is the characteristic work. There is a difference in activity, but both sowing and reaping are necessary for the desired and full result. Everyone has his own position in the work of the Lord just as everyone has in the church as the body of Christ ( ). Although He also speaks of sowing, the characteristic work of the apostles is that of reaping. He fully acknowledges the faithful service of His workers in earlier days. These are the prophets who spoke through the Spirit of Christ about the Savior and the sufferings of Christ and the glories thereafter ( ). What they have sown has not been in vain. The time to reap has waited, but has come with the coming of the Son of God. Someone who may bring people to the Lord is given the opportunity to do so because multiple people before him have already told them about Him. He may then give the final push, speaking the liberating word that under the gracious action of God’s Spirit brings someone to surrender to the Lord Jesus.

‏ John 4:35-38

The Harvest and the Sower and the Reaper

The Father has sent Him into a world that is under judgment, for man’s sin is clear. Yet at the same time the offer of God’s grace can become all the more evident in that situation. The gospel comes where man’s total depravity is unmistakable and therefore is crossing all borders.

The Lord connects with His example a saying familiar to them regarding the harvest. They can see from the wheat in the field how long it still takes before the harvest comes. The Lord then applies this to the proclamation of the gospel. He tells them to put their eyes up and look on the fields full of people. They will see that the time to reap has already come and therefore they have to work by preaching the gospel and bringing in the harvest.

The Lord encourages them to do this work of reaping by offering the prospect of reward. He also speaks about collecting fruit for eternal life because everyone who believes receives eternal life. What a great motive to work for the Lord Jesus! On top of that there is the great joy for both the sower who started the work and the reaper who was allowed to finish the work.

The Lord does not speak here about the work of sowing – as He does, for example, in Matthew 13 (Mt 13:3) – but only about reaping. He puts the result in the foreground. In connection with the glorification of the Father’s Name, reaping is the characteristic work. There is a difference in activity, but both sowing and reaping are necessary for the desired and full result. Everyone has his own position in the work of the Lord just as everyone has in the church as the body of Christ (1Cor 12:14). Although He also speaks of sowing, the characteristic work of the apostles is that of reaping.

He fully acknowledges the faithful service of His workers in earlier days. These are the prophets who spoke through the Spirit of Christ about the Savior and the sufferings of Christ and the glories thereafter (1Pet 1:10-12). What they have sown has not been in vain. The time to reap has waited, but has come with the coming of the Son of God. Someone who may bring people to the Lord is given the opportunity to do so because multiple people before him have already told them about Him. He may then give the final push, speaking the liberating word that under the gracious action of God’s Spirit brings someone to surrender to the Lord Jesus.