John 4:27 - Meaning and Application

Here is the rest of the story of what happened when Christ was in Samaria, after his long talk with the woman.

The disciples’ arrival interrupted the conversation. It is likely that much more was said than John records, but they came just when the discussion was reaching its height, when Christ had made himself known to her as the true Messiah. Then the disciples arrived. “The daughters of Jerusalem shall not stir up nor awake my love till he please” (Song of Solomon 3:5).

They were surprised to see Christ speaking with this woman. They were amazed that he was talking so earnestly, perhaps from a distance, with a woman, and with a woman alone. He usually acted with more reserve. They were especially struck that she was a Samaritan, not one of the lost sheep of the house of Israel. They thought their Master should be as distant from the Samaritans as other Jews were, and at least that he should not preach the gospel to them. They were also surprised that he would speak so kindly with such a poor and despised woman, forgetting how low and undeserving they themselves had been when Christ first called them into fellowship with him.

Yet they accepted it. They knew he must have some good reason and some good purpose, and he did not owe them an explanation. So none of them asked, “What do you seek?” or “Why are you talking with her?” When we run into hard things in God’s word or providence, it is wise to rest in this general truth, that all is well that Jesus Christ says and does.

Perhaps there was something wrong in their amazement that Christ spoke with the woman. It was a little like the Pharisees being offended when he ate with tax collectors and sinners. But whatever they thought, they said nothing. If you have ever thought evil, put your hand over your mouth so that the evil thought does not become an evil word (Proverbs 30:32; Psalm 39:1-3).

Next comes the woman’s notice to her neighbors about the remarkable person she had happily met. Notice, first, how she forgot her errand to the well. Because the disciples had come and interrupted the conversation, and perhaps because she noticed they were not pleased, she went away. She stepped aside out of respect for Christ, so he could eat his meal. She loved his conversation, but she would not be rude. Everything is beautiful in its proper time.

She assumed that after he had eaten, Jesus would continue on his journey, so she hurried to tell her neighbors while there was still time. “Yet a little while is the light with you.” See how she used her time well. When one good work was finished, she went on to another. When opportunities to receive good stop, or are interrupted, we should look for opportunities to do good. When we have finished hearing the word, that is the time to speak of it.

It is also noted that she left her water-pot, or pail. First, she left it kindly for Christ, so he could have water to drink. He turned water into wine for others, but not for himself. Compare this with Rebecca’s kindness to Abraham’s servant (Genesis 24:18), and see also the promise (Matthew 10:42). Second, she left it so she could hurry into the city and carry this good news. Those who are called to spread the name of Christ must not tie themselves to anything that slows them down or holds them back. When the disciples are to become fishers of men, they must leave all.

Third, she left the water-pot as if it no longer mattered to her, because she was absorbed in better things. Those who are brought to know Christ will show it by a holy disregard for this world and its things. And those who are newly acquainted with God’s truth should be excused if, at first, they are so taken up with the new world they have entered that the things of this world seem, for a time, to be forgotten. Mr. Hildersham, in one sermon on this verse, uses this example to defend those who leave weekday work to hear sermons.

Notice, second, how faithfully she carried out her errand to the town, because her heart was set on it. She went into the city and said to the men, likely the town leaders, who may have been gathered on public business. Or she spoke to the men she met in the streets, making her message known in the busiest places: “Come, see a man who told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ?”

Notice how eager she was for her friends and neighbors to know Christ. When she found this treasure, she called together her friends and neighbors, like the woman in Luke 15:9, not only to rejoice with her, but to share in it, knowing there was enough for her and for all who would take part. Those who have themselves been with Jesus, and have found comfort in him, should do all they can to bring others to him. Has he honored us by making himself known to us? Then let us honor him by making him known to others. We cannot do ourselves a greater honor. This woman becomes, in effect, an apostle. “She who went out a prostitute returns a teacher of gospel truth,” says Aretius.

Christ had told her to call her husband, and she seems to have taken that as a reason to call everyone. She went into the city where she lived, among her relatives and acquaintances. Every person is my neighbor if I have the chance to do them good, but I have the greatest chance, and so the greatest duty, to do good to those who live near me. Where the tree falls, there it should be made useful.

Notice also how open and honest she was in the message she gave about this stranger. She told them plainly what led her to admire him: “He told me all things that ever I did.” Only what he said about her husbands is recorded, but it is very possible that he told her more of her sins. Or, by telling her something he could not have known by ordinary means, he convinced her that he could have told her everything she ever did.

If he has divine knowledge, then he must know all things. He told her what no one knew except God and her own conscience. Two things moved her. First, the breadth of his knowledge. We ourselves cannot tell all the things we have ever done, because many things pass unnoticed and many are forgotten. But Jesus Christ knows all the thoughts, words, and actions of every human being (Hebrews 4:13). He has said, “I know your works.” Second, the power of his word. It made a deep impression on her that he spoke to her secret sins with such strength and force that, when she was told about one sin, she became convinced of them all and judged by them all.

She does not say, “Come, see a man who has told me strange things about worship and its laws, and who settled the dispute between this mountain and Jerusalem, a man who calls himself the Messiah.” Instead, she says, “Come see a man who has told me about my sins.” She focuses on the part of Christ’s talk that one might think she would have been most ashamed to repeat. Yet the strongest proofs of Christ’s word and Spirit are often the ones we feel in our own hearts, and the knowledge of Christ that comes through conviction of sin and humility is most likely to be real and saving.

She also invites them to come and see the one she now thinks so highly of. She does not simply say, “Come and look at him,” as if he were some display. Rather, she says, “Come and talk with him. Come hear his wisdom as I have done, and you will think as I do.” She does not try to argue with them in the same way he argued with her, because not everyone who sees the truth clearly can explain it so that others will see it too. Still, those who can do little else to bring others to faith can and should bring them to the means of grace, the ways God uses to give spiritual help, that have helped them themselves.

Jesus was now at the edge of town, so she says, in effect, “Now come see him.” When chances to learn about God are brought right to our door, we are without excuse if we ignore them. Should we not even cross the threshold to see the one whom prophets and kings longed to see?

She also appeals to their own judgment: “Is not this the Christ?” She does not boldly say, “He is the Messiah,” even though she was sure of it herself. Wisely, she mentions the Messiah, whom they may not have been expecting, and then leaves the matter with them. She does not force her faith on them, only lays it before them. Through such fair but powerful appeals, people’s judgment and conscience are sometimes reached before they know it.

This invitation had success: they went out of the city and came to him (John 4:30). It might seem very unlikely that a woman of such little standing, and such a bad reputation, would be honored with the first announcement of the Messiah among the Samaritans. But God was pleased to move their hearts so that they paid attention to her report and did not dismiss it as a foolish story. There was a time when lepers were the first to bring Samaria news of a great rescue (2 Kings 7:3ff). They came to him. They did not send for him into the city, but went out to him as a sign of respect and because they were eager to see him. Those who want to know Christ must meet him where he makes his name known.

While the woman was gone, Christ spoke with his disciples (John 4:31-38). See how carefully our Lord Jesus used time, making the most of every minute and filling even the empty spaces with good. When the disciples were in town, his talk with the woman helped her and fit her need. When she left, his talk with them was just as helpful and suited to them. It would be good if we could gather up time like that so none of it is wasted.

Two things stand out in this conversation. First, Christ shows the joy he found in his work. His work was to seek and save the lost, to go about doing good. Here we find him fully absorbed in that work. He forgot his food and drink because of the chance to save souls. When he sat by the well, he was tired and needed refreshment. But this opportunity made him forget both weariness and hunger. He cared so little about eating that his disciples had to urge him to do it: “Master, eat.” Their invitation showed love, because they did not want him to grow weak or sick from lack of strength. But his concern for souls was even greater, because he needed to be urged to eat at all.

He cared so little about food that they wondered whether someone had brought him something to eat while they were gone (John 4:33). He seemed to have so little appetite for dinner that they thought he might already have eaten. Those who make religion their main concern will often put it before meals when its work must be done. Abraham’s servant would not eat until he had delivered his message (Genesis 24:33), and Samuel would not sit down until David was anointed (1 Samuel 16:11).

At the same time, he made his work his food and drink. The work before him among the Samaritans, and the chance to do good to many people, was his delight and satisfaction. No hungry man, and no rich gourmet, ever looked forward to a feast with more desire or enjoyed it more than Jesus welcomed the chance to do good to souls. About this he said, “My meat is to do the will of him who sent me” (John 4:34).

This means, first, that the salvation of sinners is God’s will, and teaching them so they may be saved is his work. See (1 Timothy 2:4). There is also a chosen remnant, a group God especially intends to save. Second, Christ was sent into the world for this purpose, to bring people to God, to know him, and to find happiness in him. Third, he made this his business and his joy. When his body needed food, his mind was so fixed on this work that he forgot hunger and thirst, meat and drink. Nothing could please him more than doing good. When he was invited to eat, he went so he could do good, because that was always his food.

Fourth, he was not only ready to work whenever the chance came, but he was eager to carry it through and finish every part of it. He would not quit or lay it aside until he could say, “It is finished.” Many people begin with great zeal, but they do not keep that zeal to the end. Our Lord Jesus was determined to finish his work.

Our Master has left us an example here, so we may learn to do God’s will as he did. He did it with care and steady attention, as someone making it his real work. He did it with joy and pleasure, as if he were in his own element. He also did it with steady perseverance, not only starting the work, but aiming to finish it.

Christ had spoken of the joy he found in his work, and he now urges his disciples to be diligent in theirs. They were workers with him, so they should work like him. They should make their work their food, as he did. The work before them was to preach the gospel and establish the kingdom of the Messiah, that is, the promised King. Christ compares this work to harvest work, the gathering in of crops from the earth, and he continues that picture through the rest of the discussion (John 4:35-38).

Gospel time is harvest time, and gospel work is harvest work. Harvest is a set and expected season, and so was the gospel. Harvest time is busy time, when everyone must be at work. In the same way, each person must work for himself so he may receive the grace and comfort of the gospel, and ministers must work for God to gather souls to him. Harvest time is also a short season. It will not last forever, and the work must be done then or not at all. So the time for enjoying the gospel is a special season that must be used for its proper purpose, because once it passes, it cannot be called back.

The disciples were to gather in a harvest of souls for Christ. To stir them up, he points out three things. First, this was necessary work, and the need was urgent (John 4:35). He says, “You say, It is four months until harvest, but I say, the fields are already white.” His disciples were speaking about the grain harvest. They may have meant, “It is still four months until harvest,” as people say to encourage a farmer at sowing time. Or they may have meant that, at that moment, the usual season for the next harvest was still four months away. The Jewish harvest began at Passover, around Easter, which was earlier than ours. That also suggests this journey from Judea to Galilee took place in winter, near the end of November, because Christ traveled in all kinds of weather to do good.

God has not only promised us a harvest every year, but has also appointed the weeks of harvest. So we know when to expect it and can plan for it. Christ then turns that thought toward the gospel harvest. His heart was as fully set on the fruit of his gospel as other people were set on the fruit of the earth, and he wanted his disciples to think that way too. “Look,” he says, “the fields are already white for harvest.”

First, in the place where they were standing, there was harvest work for him to do. The disciples wanted him to eat (John 4:31). But he said, in effect, “I have other, more urgent work.” He pointed to the Samaritans coming out of the town across the fields, ready to hear the gospel. There were likely many of them in view. When people are eager to hear the word, that should greatly stir ministers to work with more care and energy.

Second, across the whole country, there was enough harvest work for all of them. If they would think about the condition of the land, they would see that many people were as ready to receive the gospel as a field of ripe grain is ready to be cut. The fields were white for harvest, first because God had already planned it in the prophecies of the Old Testament. Now was the time when the people would gather to Christ (Genesis 49:10), when many would be added to the church and its borders would grow. That was reason enough for the disciples to be busy. It is a strong encouragement for us to work for God when the signs of the times show that it is the right season for that work, because then it will prosper.

The fields were also white because people were ready in heart. John the Baptist had prepared a people ready for the Lord (Luke 1:17). Since he began preaching the kingdom of God, people were pressing into it (Luke 16:16). So this was the time for gospel preachers to give themselves to their work with the greatest strength, to put in the sickle when the grain was ripe (Revelation 14:15). It was necessary to work now. It would be a pity to let such a season slip away. If ripe grain is not gathered, it falls apart and is lost, and birds eat it. In the same way, if people who are under conviction and have some good desires are not helped right away, their hopeful beginnings may come to nothing, and they may fall into the hands of deceivers. It was also easy to work now. When people’s hearts are prepared, the work is done quickly (2 Chronicles 29:36). Ministers cannot help being stirred to preach with care when they see that people are glad to hear it.

Second, this was profitable and beneficial work, and they themselves would gain from it (John 4:36). “He who reaps receives wages, and so will you.” Christ has promised to pay well those whom he sends into his work. He will never act like Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, who used other men’s labor without pay (Jeremiah 22:13), or like those who cheated workers and held back wages, especially the men who reaped their grain fields (James 5:4). Christ’s reapers, though they cry to him day and night, will never have reason to cry out against him or say they served a harsh master. The one who reaps not only will receive wages, he already does receive wages. There is a present reward in Christ’s service, and his work itself is its own reward.

Christ’s reapers have fruit. They gather fruit for eternal life, that is, they both save themselves and help those who hear them (1 Timothy 4:16). If the faithful worker saves his own soul, that is fruit that lasts forever. If he also helps save others, then more fruit is gathered. Souls gathered to Christ are fruit, good fruit, the fruit Christ seeks for (Romans 1:13). It is gathered for Christ (Song of Solomon 8:11-12), and it is gathered for eternal life. This is a comfort to faithful ministers, because their work leads toward the everlasting salvation of precious souls.

They also have joy. “That the sower and the reaper may rejoice together.” The minister who begins a good work is the sower, like John the Baptist. The one who carries it on and brings it to completion is the reaper. Both rejoice together. God alone gets all the glory for the success of the gospel, but faithful ministers may still take comfort in it. Reapers share in harvest joy, even though the profit belongs to the master (1 Thessalonians 2:19).

Second, ministers who have different gifts and kinds of work should not envy one another. They should rather be glad together when Christ’s work prospers through any of them. Even if all of Christ’s ministers are not equally useful or equally successful, those who have received mercy from the Lord to be faithful will all enter together into the joy of their Lord at last.

This also teaches that some ministers do work that is already partly prepared by others. One sows, and another reaps (John 4:37, John 4:38). At times, that can describe a painful judgment on the one who sows, as in (Micah 6:15; Deuteronomy 28:30), where one person labors and another gets the benefit. Here, though, it means something good. Moses, the prophets, and John the Baptist had prepared the way for the gospel. They had sown the good seed, and New Testament ministers mainly gathered the fruit of it. “I sent you to reap what you did not work for,” in comparison, “(Isaiah 40:3-5).”

This says two things about Old Testament ministry. First, it fell far short of New Testament ministry. Moses and the prophets sowed, but they did not live to see much fruit from their work. Their writings have done much more good since their deaths than their preaching did while they were alive. Second, their ministry was very helpful to the ministry of the apostles and made room for it. The prophets’ writings were read in the synagogues every Sabbath, so they stirred up hope for the Messiah and prepared people to welcome him. Without the seed planted by the prophets, the Samaritan woman could not have said, “We know that Messiah is coming.” In some ways, the writings of the Old Testament help us even more than they helped the first readers, because we understand them better now that they have been fulfilled (1 Peter 1:12; Hebrews 4:2; Romans 16:25-26).

This also says two things about the apostles of Christ. First, their ministry was fruitful. They were reapers who gathered a great harvest of souls to Jesus Christ. In a short time they did more to establish God’s kingdom among people than the prophets of the Old Testament had done in many ages. Second, their work was made much easier, especially among the Jews, because of the prophets’ writings. The prophets sowed in tears and often seemed to labor in vain. The apostles reaped in joy and could say, “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph.” We should remember that much good fruit can come from the labors of ministers who have already died, both for the people who live after them and for the ministers who follow them. John the Baptist, and those who helped him, had labored, and Christ’s disciples entered into their labor. They built on their foundation and gathered fruit from what they had sown. We have good reason to thank God for those who went before us, for their preaching and writing, and for what they did and suffered in their day. We have entered into their labor, and their studies and service have made our work easier.

When the older and newer laborers meet on the day of judgment, those who came into the vineyard at the third hour and those who came at the eleventh will not envy one another’s honor. Both the sowers and the reapers will rejoice together, and the great Lord of the harvest will receive the glory of all.

The good effect Christ’s brief visit had on the Samaritans is also worth noticing, along with the fruit that was gathered among them right away (John 4:39-42). First, consider the effect of the woman’s testimony about Christ. It was only one witness, and she was not held in high regard. Her report was no more than this: “He told me everything I ever did.” Yet it had a strong influence on many people. One might have thought that hearing him expose the woman’s hidden sins would have frightened them away. Instead, they were willing to risk that, because they wanted to meet someone they had reason to think was a prophet.

They were brought to two things. First, they came to trust Christ’s word more fully (John 4:39). Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s saying. Their faith went so far that they accepted him as a prophet and wanted to hear God’s mind from him, and that is spoken of as believing in him. Notice who believed: many Samaritans, people who were not part of the house of Israel. Their faith exposed the unbelief of the Jews, from whom more should have been expected, and it also pointed ahead to the faith of the Gentiles, who would welcome what the Jews rejected. Notice also what moved them to believe: the word of the woman. God is sometimes pleased to use very weak and unlikely means to begin and carry on a good work. A little servant girl directed a great ruler to Elisha (2 Kings 5:2). A small fire can start something much larger. By teaching one poor woman, our Savior spread that teaching to a whole town.

This should keep ministers from being careless in their preaching, and from losing heart when their hearers are few or unimportant. If they do good to a few, that good may reach many others, even more important people. If people teach their neighbors and brothers, a large number may learn at second hand. Philip preached the gospel to one official riding in his chariot, and that man not only believed himself, but carried the message back to his own country and spread it there. It is also a great help when people speak from personal experience about Christ and the things of God. This woman could say very little, but what she did say was heartfelt: “He told me everything I ever did.” Those are most likely to do good who can tell what God has done for their souls (Psalm 66:16).

Second, they were brought to ask him to stay with them (John 4:40). When they came to him, they begged him to remain with them. From the woman’s report they believed him to be a prophet and came to him. When they saw him, his plain appearance and outward poverty did not lessen their respect or their expectations. They still honored him as a prophet. There is hope for those who get past the common prejudice against true worth when it is found in a lowly condition. Blessed are those who are not offended at Christ at first sight. So far were they from being offended in him that they asked him to stay with them, so they could show him respect and receive teaching from him. God’s prophets and ministers are welcome guests to all who truly embrace the gospel, as Lydia welcomed Paul (Acts 16:15).

Those who are taught by God are truly eager to learn more and to know Christ better. Many people would crowd around someone who claimed to tell their future, but these people crowded around one who told them their faults and showed them their sin and duty. The writer seems to stress that they were Samaritans, as in (Luke 10:33) and (Luke 17:16). The Samaritans did not have the same reputation for religion that the Jews had, yet the Jews, who saw Christ’s miracles, drove him away, while the Samaritans, who did not see his miracles and did not share in his special favors, invited him to stay with them.

The success of the gospel does not always follow human expectations. What seems most likely is not always what happens. The Samaritans had been taught by local custom to avoid close talk with the Jews. Some Samaritans once refused to let Christ pass through their town (Luke 9:53), but these people asked him to stay with them. This greatly adds to the praise of our love for Christ and his word when it overcomes the prejudice of upbringing and custom, and does not care much about people’s criticism.

We are then told that Christ granted their request. First, he stayed there. Though it was a Samaritan town near their temple, he stayed when they asked him. He was on a journey and still had farther to go, yet when he had a chance to do good, he remained. Nothing is a true hindrance if it helps us in our work for God. Still, he stayed only two days, because he had other places to visit and other work to do. Those two days were all that this city received from the short time of our Savior’s life on earth.

Second, we are told what effect Christ’s own words and personal conversation had on them, as seen later in (John 4:41) and (John 4:42). We are not told what he said and did there, or whether he healed any sick people. But the results show that he said and did enough to convince them that he was the Christ. The work of a minister is best measured by the good fruit it produces.

Their hearing him had already helped, but now they saw him, and the result was twofold. First, their number increased: “Many more believed” (John 4:41). Many who would not go out of town to meet him were persuaded when he came among them. It is encouraging to see more believers, and the eagerness of some can often stir many others to holy desire and good effort, as in (Romans 11:14).

Second, their faith grew stronger. Those who had first been influenced by the woman’s report now said, “We believe, not because of your saying” (John 4:42). Their faith grew in three ways. First, it grew in what they believed. From the woman’s testimony, they had believed him to be a prophet, or at least an unusual messenger from heaven. But after speaking with him, they believed that he was the Christ, the Anointed One promised to their fathers and expected by them, and that as the Christ he is the Savior of the world. He was anointed for the work of saving his people from their sins. They believed him to be the Savior not only of the Jews, but of the world, which they hoped would include them too, even though they were Samaritans, because it had been promised that he would be “salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6).

Second, their faith grew in certainty. Now it had risen to full assurance: “We know that this is truly the Christ.” That word “truly” means really, not just in appearance. He was not a false Christ, nor only a shadow or picture of a Savior, as many figures under the Old Testament were. This is the kind of assurance we should seek in divine truth. We should not stop at, “It seems likely,” or “We are willing to think Jesus may be the Christ,” but should aim at, “We know that he is indeed the Christ.”

Third, their faith grew in its ground. It now rested on spiritual experience. “We believe, not because of your saying, for we have heard him ourselves.” They had believed her report before, and that was good. It was a real first step. But now they had firmer ground for faith. They had heard him themselves, and had heard such excellent and divine teaching, with such clear power and evidence, that they were fully satisfied and sure that this was the Christ. This is like what the queen of Sheba said of Solomon, and it shows how personal encounter with Christ’s truth strengthens faith.