I have oftentimes stated that I enjoy the quiet a lot. This is not an exaggeration. I love to read. I have fun writing. Some of my favorite times are putting together messages for Wednesdays or Sundays. I enjoy working in the garden or manual labor oftentimes done by myself. When I worked at the Post Office my favorite job was working out on the dock, especially when it was hot or cold outside because then no one joined me. I like solitude. This is why messages like this one are so hard for me to talk about. It’s because it is hard for me to do.

I am not that outgoing personality. This does not mean that I am to ignore the responsibilities that God has for me. I have still been given a great and glorious mission to share the Gospel with the world that surrounds me.

You may be like me today. Or, you may not. Speaking with other people may be what light’s up your day. Whether or not this is the case John gives us some understanding of how we are to accomplish this task. It’s not a question of whether or not we are supposed to be sharing the gospel with people. It is a question of whether or not we will be obedient and do so.

The time of harvest has come, go now and make disciples! (John 4:27-45)

The disciples show up at the tail end of Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan Woman. They too were surprised that Jesus was talking with her. They actually seem just as surprised as she was earlier in the conversation (John 4:9). No one asked Jesus any questions about the conversation. They just stood there confused about all that was going on. So, the woman leaves to go and tell people about whom she just met. What was the last thing said in her conversation with Jesus?

“The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” (John 4:25-26 ESV)

So, as the disciples stand there she leaves her jar of water and goes into town saying to the people there,

“Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” (John 4:29 ESV)

At this simple message, the people of the town began coming to Jesus (John 4:30). Jesus uses this to teach his disciples about making disciples by using her life and what they know of the harvest.

The first thing that we see is that we are to have a deep desire to make disciples.

“Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work..” (John 4:31-34 ESV)

Desire to Make Disciples (John 4:31-34)

 

The disciples needed to see that this conversation, with a woman of Samaria and the other Samarians that came to see him, was more important even than eating to him. He had a tremendous longing to see this work of His Father finished. This is the reason that He came. And it was this that would satisfy Him.

I love food. I really do. This punches me in the stomach for a few reasons. The most important one is this, “Do I really desire to do God’s will, which is to make disciples, more than I desire to eat?” Is doing God’s will so satisfying to me that I will give up eating for it?

It is a question of satisfaction. Where do I find my desire? Am I really finding my greatest joy in pleasing God? Jesus certainly did. It confused his disciples so much that they began looking for who gave Jesus food when no one was looking. Jesus’ response was that his “food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”

Jesus was sent by the Father to bring salvation, both the message and the accomplishment of it. And this gave him the greatest of satisfaction.

We believe that those who do not have Christ are lost and desperately need Him. Make no mistake, if you do not have Christ then we believe that you are in imminent danger. In the condition you now live, you will bear the wrath of God on your own.

Our great desire should be to see people become disciples of Jesus Christ. We want to see the Kingdom of God grow. We want to see people who were once separated from God brought to Him and made into fruit-bearing disciples. This should give us tremendous satisfaction as well.

You and I need to have a longing, a great desire to see people come to faith in Christ and become people who make other Disciples of Christ. This is the great goal of our Bible Studies. We are attempting to equip you for the mission laid out here so that you can find the great joy that is accompanied with doing this.

Now Is The Time To Make Disciples (Vv. 35-38)

 

The disciples were now being shown that it was time for them to get busy spreading the name of Christ. He would use an illustration from their daily lives to make this plain.

“Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving the wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored and you have entered into their labor.” (John 4:35-38 ESV)

Picture the scene with me. The disciples are seeing people come from inside town to out of town to find Jesus because of the testimony of the Samaritan woman. It has caused quite a stir in town. In the midst of this Jesus begins to talk with his disciples about the common practice of looking out into the fields and seeing how far away harvest is.

This is the first year that I’ve grown a garden. When I was younger I would help my Dad in his garden, but he did all of the looking and harvesting fruits and vegetables. Now that I have one of my own there is a bit more understanding in what Jesus is referencing here. I go outside and look at the plants to see when I will need to go cut fruit from the vine. You can tell by the color that the fruit is turning or its size and know how long it will be before you go out with a knife and cut it from the vine. Jesus is saying that the time is now. It is now time to harvest. It is time to be getting out and making disciples. The time is now.

If you are not a believer then you must know that this also means that there is urgency for you as well. You have not been promised any more time on this Earth. We also do not know when Christ will return. Now is the time. Today is the day of salvation. Christ has come and He has accomplished salvation for us. He came to Earth and paid the full price for our sin. He also rose from the dead three days later. His work is finished and He has fully accomplished salvation for us. He has sown the seed. Others will reap. Christ has accomplished salvation and we trust in Him.

Jesus has sown the seed that we tell others about. And we get to see those people cross over from death to life. He accomplished and we tell. And we get the tremendous joy and satisfaction of seeing people believe.

We Tell People About Jesus To Make Disciples (Vv. 39-42)

 

The Samaritan Woman exemplified what disciples are supposed to do. They go and they tell the message of Christ.

I want you to notice a few things about her message and the results.

“Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony. “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” (John 4:39-42 ESV)

First, she talked about herself but was not the hero of her story. It was necessary for her to discuss something of her life. But really, it doesn’t sound like she gave many details about herself. The details given are of his unbelievable power to know everything about her. Understand, it’s not about you. It’s about Jesus.

It would be hard to recount all of the stories I’ve heard about the horrible lives of a person’s sordid past that make the storyteller the star of the story. That’s not at all what she does here. She actually stated events about herself very vaguely and he was definitely the story’s hero.

The message that people need most is that of Christ. People need to know that they have offended God and His just punishment is their eternal condemnation. People need to know that Christ has accomplished salvation from God’s wrath for them by living a perfect life on their behalf, dying the death that they owed, and rising from the dead. Your story doesn’t have that kind of power. At best it’s an introduction to that story. Jesus is the one that people need to hear about. His story has the power to save.

If we become a church that is about spreading the name of Christ the way that the Samaritan Woman was then things would blow up around here. We want to see, not just people coming to church but people becoming fruit-bearing disciples of Christ through our witness. Consider what that might look like.

Go home tonight and ponder the message of Christ. Consider what our greatest problem is and what He has done to cure it. Now, think about what you can do to help those around you trust in Christ.

Here is a link to the presentation slides given on Wednesday.

R. Dwain Minor