At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, “What are you looking for?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 28 The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, 29 “Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Messiah?” 30 They went out of the town and came to him. 31 Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here’? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest. 36 The reaper is already receiving his payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. 37 For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.” 39 Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me everything I have done.” 40 When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41 Many more began to believe in him because of his word, 42 and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”
The Jews had strict customs with respect to men speaking with women in public. Men were to speak very little with women even their wives, and the rules were even more stringent about men speaking with women in public. When the disciples returned they were surprised to find Jesus speaking with a Samaritan woman in public and assumed that it must have been necessary, but they were afraid to ask him anything. The woman left and went into the town and told the townspeople that she might have found the Messiah and invited them to come and see for themselves. She became an apostle; “Go call your husband and come back (Jn. 4:16).” The disciples encouraged Jesus to eat and were concerned that the Samaritan woman or someone else might have given him something to eat (v. 33). Jesus explained that his true food was doing his Father’s will.
The parable Jesus told the disciples was an invitation for them to observe the fields that are ripe for harvesting (v. 35) and be a part of his mission that was started by others. The one who sows is not always the one who reaps. They will harvest what Moses, the Prophets, and Jesus have sown. They were to gather people who believe in Jesus for the kingdom (vv. 35-38). The townspeople, who were a part of the harvest, came to see for themselves and invited Jesus to stay with them and believed. The Samaritans first believed based on the woman’s word and then based on their own hearing of Jesus’ word (vv. 39-42).
Almighty God, the words of truth and life spoken by your Son lead those who believe to salvation. Strengthen our faith so that we do not look for signs but obediently reap the bountiful harvest sown by the faithful who went before. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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