John 4:35

But hear her preparer himself, as it were pointing her out with his finger to the watchmen, but under another figure. "Lift up your eyes," he says, "and see the fields, that they are white already," that is, prepared, "for harvest" (Jn 4:35). From this …

Now ye are expecting a material harvest. But I say unto you, that a spiritual harvest is at hand: Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. He alludes to the Samaritans who are approaching.

Then when he says, Do you not have a saying: There are still four months, and it will be harvest time? he makes use of a simile. Note that when Christ asked the Samaritan woman for a drink, "Give me a drink," he made use …

Here is touched upon the encouragement of the disciples to preach on account of the salvation of the Samaritans. And he encourages them to this both from consideration of their readiness to believe, and from consideration of the reward of preachers. He urges them to …

The Lord now begins to reveal more clearly to the disciples what He had previously said in a veiled manner. He says: "You say, that is, you think, that in four months the harvest will come, that is, the physical harvest; but I say to …

Say not ye, there are yet four months,.... Our Lord had been in Jerusalem and Judea, about eight months from the last passover, and there remained four more to the next passover: and then cometh harvest? barley harvest, which began at that time. Now as the passover was in the middle of the month Nisan, which was about the latter end of our March; reckoning four months back from thence shows, that it was about the latter end of our November, or beginning of December, that Christ was in Samaria, and at Jacob's well.

The fields are white already - As if he had said, The spiritual harvest is ripe already. The Samaritans, ripe for the Gospel, covered the ground round about them.

); so that it is computed that he staid in Judea about six months, to build upon the foundation John had laid there. We have no particular account of his sermons and miracles there, only in general,

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Say not ye - This seems to have been a proverb. Ye say - that is, men say. Four months and ... - The common time from sowing the seed to the harvest, in Judea, was about “four months.” The meaning of this passage may be thus expressed: “The husbandman, when he sows his seed, is compelled to wait a considerable period before it produces a crop. He is encouraged in sowing it; he expects fruit; his labor is lightened by that expectation; but it is not “immediate” - it is remote. But it is not so with my preaching.

We have, for one thing, in these verses, an instructive pattern of zeal for the good of others. We read, that our Lord Jesus Christ declares, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to finish his work." To do good was not merely duty and pleasure to Him. He counted it as His food and drink. Job, one of the holiest Old Testament saints, could say, that he esteemed God's word "more than his necessary food." (Job 23:12.) The Great Head of the New Testament Church went even further.

MANY unbelieving Christians have a very large stock of reasons for not expecting to see many conversions. They suppose that any present manifestation of the Divine power in connection with the Truth of God is not to be expected. They read the history of past ages and they wonder, and sometimes, when their eyes are sufficiently clear, they look forward with some sort of hope to the repetition of these scenes in future years, that is to say, when they, themselves, are dead and buried, and a new age shall have come upon the world.

THE disciples had gone away into the city to buy meat and for this they cannot be censured. It was necessary that food should be provided and it naturally fell to their lot to perform that duty. Do not say that they were carnal or un-spiritual because of this, for the most spiritual people must eat to live. When they came back from making their purchases, they found their Master sitting by the well, as they had left Him.

meantime--that is, while the woman was away. Master, eat--Fatigue and thirst we saw He felt; here is revealed another of our common infirmities to which the Lord was subject--hunger.

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yet four months, and then harvest--that is, "In current speech, ye say thus at this season; but lift up your eyes and look upon those fields in the light of another husbandry, for lo! in that sense, they are even now white to harvest, ready for the sickle." The simple beauty of this language is only surpassed by the glow of holy emotion in the Redeemer's own soul which it expresses.

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We have, for one thing, in these verses, an instructive pattern of zeal for the good of others. We read, that our Lord Jesus Christ declares, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to finish his work." To do good was not merely duty and pleasure to Him. He counted it as His food and drink. Job, one of the holiest Old Testament saints, could say, that he esteemed God's word "more than his necessary food." (Job 23:12.) The Great Head of the New Testament Church went even further. He could say the same of God's work. Do we do any work for God? Do we try, however feebly, to set forward His cause on earth—to check that which is evil, to promote that which is good? If we do, let us never be ashamed of doing it with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength. Whatever our hand finds to do for the souls of others, let us do it with our might. (Eccles. 9:10.) The world may mock and sneer, and call us enthusiasts. The world can admire zeal in any service but that of God, and can praise enthusiasm on any subject but that of religion. Let us work on unmoved. Whatever men may say and think, we are walking in the steps of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us, beside this, take comfort in the thought that Jesus Christ never changes. He that sat by the well of Samaria, and found it "food and drink" to do good to an ignorant soul, is always in one mind. High in heaven at God's right hand, He still delights to save sinners, and still approves zeal and labor in the cause of God. The work of the missionary and the evangelist may be despised and ridiculed in many quarters. But while man is mocking, Christ is well pleased! Thanks be to God, Jesus is the, same yesterday, and today, and forever. We have, for another thing, in these verses, strong encouragement held out to those who labor to do good to souls.

MANY unbelieving Christians have a very large stock of reasons for not expecting to see many conversions. They suppose that any present manifestation of the Divine power in connection with the Truth of God is not to be expected. They read the history of past ages and they wonder, and sometimes, when their eyes are sufficiently clear, they look forward with some sort of hope to the repetition of these scenes in future years, that is to say, when they, themselves, are dead and buried, and a new age shall have come upon the world. But as to God working any wonders in the world now—as to the conversion of thousands now—they do not expect it. And if it were to happen they would be surprised, and beyond all measure astonished. They are forever dwelling in the past, or seeking to roost in the future—but as for now, now seeing God's arm made bare, now setting to work for the conversion of men, now expecting that God will win hearts unto Himself—they are not brought up to this mark yet. Their common reason for expecting nothing now is this—that there are yet four months, and then comes the harvest. They say, "This is not the time. We must have patience. We must wait. This is not the man. This is not the hour. This is not the place. We must wait till, under other circumstances, other men being given, we look for grander results. But we must not expect them now—there are yet four months, and then comes the harvest." You know that this is the general feeling at present in the Christian Church—not to expect any great things now, but to be waiting and watching for something or other which may one of these days, in the order of Providence, "turn up." Meanwhile, it is true that death does not cease to slay! Meanwhile, it is a fact that our cemeteries and graveyards are being crowded, and that multitudes are perishing for lack of knowledge.

THE disciples had gone away into the city to buy meat and for this they cannot be censured. It was necessary that food should be provided and it naturally fell to their lot to perform that duty. Do not say that they were carnal or un-spiritual because of this, for the most spiritual people must eat to live. When they came back from making their purchases, they found their Master sitting by the well, as they had left Him. They naturally expected that He would be as ready to partake of the provision as they were to offer it to Him, but He made no movement in that direction. His mind was evidently far away from the idea of food. He was absorbed in something else and, therefore, His disciples sought to call Him back to a sense of His need. I do not suppose that they had, themselves, eaten. It was hardly like them to do so while their Lord was not with them. They, therefore, wished to eat and they were all the more struck with the fact that He had no care for refreshment. Knowing how weary He had been when they left Him—so weary that He bade them go alone into the city—they were perplexed at His indifference to food and, perhaps, judged that He was over-fatigued and, therefore, they urged Him to eat. Importunately, one after another said, "Good Master, it is long since You have eaten; the way has been weary, the day is hot, You seem very faint. We pray You, eat a little that You may be revived. The woman to whom You spoke has gone. Your good work, for a while, is over, let us eat together." Again I confess that I do not agree with those who blame these disciples. If it is true that there is nothing very elevated in providing food, there is certainly nothing unworthy in the act. I admire their care for their Master. I praise them for so lovingly pressing upon Him the supply of His necessities.

There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? - In Palestine, the harvest did not begin till after the passover, which was fixed on the 14th of the month Nisan, which answers to our March, and sometimes extends into April. The barley harvest was the first; after that the wheat; and both were finished by Pentecost. For, in the feast of Pentecost, the first fruits of all the harvest were carried to the temple, and waved before the Lord. See Lev 23:11. The four months, of which our Lord speaks here, must be computed, according to M. Toynard, from Shebat, which was the eleventh month of the sacred year, and which commenced that year on the 13th of January: from that, till the beginning of the wheat harvest, which began about a month after the passover, there were exactly four months. The passover was that year on the 15th of Nisan, or March 28; and Pentecost took place on the 17th of May. We may therefore suppose that it was about the 13th of January, or beginning of the month Shebat, that John the Baptist was cast into prison, and that Christ retired into Galilee. The fixing of this epoch is of considerable importance. See Calmet’s Com. on this place. The following method of dividing the seasons among the Jews is thus stated in Bava Metsia, fol. 106. “Half Tisri, all Marheshvan, and half Cisleu, is זרע zera. Seed-Time. Half Cisleu, whole Tebeth, and half Shebat, is חורף choreph, Winter. Half Shebat, whole Adar, and half Nisan, is קור kor, the Winter Solstice. Half Nisan, all Ijar, and half Sivan, is קציר katsir, Harvest. Half Sivan, all Tammuz, and half Ab, is קייץ kyits, Summer. Half Ab, all Elul, and half Tisri, is חום chum, the great Heat.” The Jews sowed wheat and spelt in Tisri and Marheshvan; and barley in Shebat and Adar. […]