An Invitation to the Harvest Meal

Well, let me invite you to turn in your Bibles this morning to John chapter 4. John chapter 4 for time of study in God's word. this morning, we're gonna be looking at verses 27 through 34. We're doing a miniseries through John 3 and 4, and we're taking a look at two encounters of Jesus, one with Nicodemus in John 3, and then with the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter 4.

And we're learning much from the example of Jesus and from his explicit teaching that, we're going to Encounter even in our passage. today, if you want to give a title to the message this morning, it would be an invitation to the harvest meal. An invitation to the harvest meal or an invitation to the harvest feast. 5 years ago, on Easter Sunday, here at this church, during our Easter service, there was an elderly couple in their 80s that was sitting in this auditorium, and they heard a sermon that Easter morning about Jesus Christ.

They heard about his death on the cross for our sins, and they also heard That Easter Sunday morning about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. They heard in that message about the authority that has been given to Jesus Christ, all authority in heaven and on earth and how Christ has been elevated by God the Father, to his own right hand. the right hand of the throne of God, which is the highest position of honor and authority in all of the universe. They heard that morning how that Jesus from that position of absolute lordship, able to do whatever he pleases from that position, that Jesus is using his power To give out for free, righteousness, and relationship, and forgiveness, and love and freedom and power to anybody who shows courage in admitting their brokenness, admitting their need for a Savior, and who turn to Jesus and look to him and say, he, Jesus is the savior for me.

That couple heard those things in that particular sermon on that Easter Sunday 5 years ago. I know they heard those things because I was the one who delivered the message. After the service was dismissed, Aurelio Barreto, a member of our church, approached this elderly couple. Immediately after the closing prayer and said, Do you understand what Pastor Milton just said in his sermon?

they said, Yes, we understand. He said, Do you understand that salvation is not what you do, but it's what Christ has done? And they, husband and wife, both said yes. He then said, Do you understand that salvation is all of grace?

And it is not by works. And they nodded and said yes. Aurelio then said, would you like to pray right now to receive Christ as your Lord and Savior? And they both nodded and said yes.

This elderly couple did so many things together throughout the years of their married life together, and on this occasion this elderly couple did the most important thing of all together. They both said yes to Jesus together. They believed in Christ and they prayed to receive Him. as their Lord and Savior.

That elderly couple that was in our Easter service 5 years ago, that prayed to receive Christ was Gordon Bourne's father and mother, Marlon and Rosemary Bornes. Yesterday, Easter 5 years ago was April 12th. And yesterday was April 12th, and yesterday on the five year anniversary. Of Marlon Burns walking through the door of Jesus into eternal life.

On the 5 year anniversary of that Easter Sunday yesterday, it was my privilege to conduct a graveside service for Marlon Burnes. I had the privilege of sharing with the people assembled there, the family and friends who were gathered there, the story that I just shared with you, and at the end of what I shared of their testimony, I invited any who were present. To follow the example of Marlon and Rosemary Bornes, and to come to Jesus, and to cry out to Him and to believe in Him for salvation.

I then closed in prayer.

Immediately after the service was over, Aurelio Barreto was there. He approached some family members and said, Do you understand what you just heard? They said, yes, and it was not long before members of the Barnes family were confessing their faith in Jesus Christ and receiving salvation through him. Doing that, almost literally to the very minute, to the very minute of the day, 5 years after Marlon and Rosemary.

Confess their faith in Jesus Christ at the end of our service here. When that was all done, we all climbed into our cars, and we went to a restaurant and we ate a meal. And I was hungry. I normally don't eat before things like a service because my stomach is in knots.

I was hungry going into that service, but after what had transpired, I was ready to eat a meal, but I would have been OK even without a meal at that restaurant because my heart and everyone else's heart was so full. Such is the joy, such is the fullness, as many of from experience. Of sharing Christ with others and of reaping the harvest that comes, such as the joy and the fullness of harvest, reaping, and feasting. That's what we're going to talk about today.

Let me just ask you, how many of you like to eat? OK. If that's the case, then this message will be very appropriate for all of us who are here. It's interesting when we look at the story of in John 4 of Jesus and the Samaritan woman., we come into the chapter thinking it's a story about, Christ interacting with the lost woman, but something surprises you as the story unfolds.

The story really is all about food and drink and about harvest. Notice the words that we find in this story. The word well, which contained water that people would drink, is used 5 times. Water for drinking is used 6 times.

Drink 3 times, Drinks twice. Drank once, thirst twice, thirsty once, food twice, eat 3 times, gathering fruit once, harvest twice, sow twice, and reap 4 times. This is the language in this passage of plenty. It is the language of eating and drinking and of feasting.

As the story unfolds, it really has everything to do with food and drink. We learn in John 4 in the early verses that the disciples Jesus sat by the well, the disciples went into the town. To buy food for themselves and for Jesus, a woman shows up and Jesus asked her for a drink. Before long, this woman is admitting her thirst and is asking Jesus to give her a drink.

The disciples then return with food, and they hold it out to Jesus, and they're urging him to eat this food. Jesus says, I already have food to eat that you don't know anything about. The disciples are talking to each other and they're wondering. Who brought Jesus this food that he says that he is eating, Jesus then tells them what this food is that he is feasting on.

And then he says, lift up your eyes and check out the harvest. of food That is coming your way. So we're going to learn much in this story about eating, feasting, and we're going to learn what Jesus himself eats. And Jesus is going to coax and invite us in to join him in this harvest feast that he himself is enjoying.

As the story unfolds, we'll, we'll pick up in verse 27. Jesus reveals himself to the Samaritan woman, and upon realizing that he is the Messiah, she leaves and goes and tells everyone to come and see this one who is the Messiah. But as Jesus is interacting with her, he reveals himself as the Messiah. And then look at what happens beginning in verse 27.

At this point, his disciples came, and they were amazed that he had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, What do you seek? Or why do you speak with her? So the woman left her water pot and went into the city and said to the men, Come see a man who told me all the things that I have done. This is not the Christ, is it?

And they went out of the city and were coming to him. 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 were saying to one another, No one has brought him anything to eat, did he?

And Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say there are yet 4 months, and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields that they are white for harvest. This is the word of God, and may God help us to understand.

His word This morning We're gonna break down the passage in this way. We're going to observe four things that Jesus says to His disciples and to all of us to draw them and to draw us. Into the harvest meal that he himself was enjoying here in John chapter 44 things that he says by way of invitation and arousing their interest, piquing their interest in this feast that he is enjoying and seeking to coax them into the same feast. The first thing he says is this They're trying to get him to eat.

They brought food for him. They prepared it, and they're asking him to eat, Jesus' first reply to them is, I've already have food to eat that you don't know about. You'll notice the language, look what it says in verse 32. Actually, prior to this, it says that they were They were urging him.

Saying rabbi, eat, and that verb urging the tense of that verb indicates that they were persistently repeatedly urging him to eat. Implied in that is Jesus did not take the food. He didn't seem interested in eating, so they said it again, Rabbi, eat. They said it again, rabbi, eat, and they were urging him to take this food and eat, and the only reason they would persistently do so is because he was declining the food.

They're stunned by this. He was weary and hungry an hour or so earlier when they left him to go into the city to get food. If anything, he's starving by now, to use modern day language, and that he would be even hungrier. But now they return and he isn't hungry at all and he's not taking this food that they have prepared for him and acquired for him, and he then replies by saying this in verse 32.

But he said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about. Literally, we could translate it this way, I am having food to eat. Present tense. Keep in mind this woman went out to tell people, come and see a man who told me everything I ever did.

People are now coming out. To see Jesus. Jesus uses the present tense here. What he's saying is, I'm in the middle of a meal here.

Can't you see I'm in the middle of a meal. I am having food right now to eat. And then he says that you do not know about. That you do not know about.

For Jesus to say this food that I'm eating is something you don't know about is a gentle rebuke, but it's very kind and invitational. He's trying to provoke interest in their hearts toward this meal that Jesus. is, is eating and he's saying, this, this meal that I'm eating and feasting upon, it's something that you don't know about to the degree that you ought to be clued into and that you ought to know about. It's interesting that he says that you do not know about mark that word no because we saw this word earlier in the narrative.

Jesus is talking to the Samaritan woman, and he says, Give me a drink, and she says, What are you doing talking to me? You're a Jew. I'm a Samaritan woman. And Jesus said to her in verse 10, If you knew If you knew the gift of God and who it is who's asking you for a drink, you would have already asked him to give you a drink, and he would have already given you that drink.

If you only knew the heart of God, if you only knew who I am. And the gift of God that I want to give to you, you would have already asked, and I would have already given. And now Jesus is talking to the Disciples And he says, I have food to eat that you do not know about. And what he means by that, the implication is if you did know, if you did know the food that I am eating right now, you would be asking me for it.

You would be wanting to dine together with me on this food that I am having to eat right now. I'm in the middle of a meal. And I've already had some feasting, and there's more to come. And if you knew about this meal, you would be wanting to enjoy it together with me.

That leads to a second thing that Jesus says to draw them into this meal that He is. Feasting upon, and that is this, my food is to do the will of God who sent me. My food is to do the will of God who sent me. Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of Him.

Who sent me. I want you to join me in just being really struck by the language of Jesus here. This is the way he thought, we're getting inside His perfect mind here and the way he viewed his Father's will. He says, my food is to do the will of Him who sent me.

Jesus. I could have said my determination is to do the will of Him who sent me, or my mission is to do the will of Him who sent me, or my burden is to do the will of Him who sent me, or my duty, my obligation. He could have used any of these words and it would have been fine for him to speak in this way, but he doesn't use any of this terminology. Instead he says my food.

My food is to do the will of Him who sent me. Imagine you and I looking at the will of God for us as it's revealed in his word. And we look at his will and it's like, this is my food. And my food is to do the will.

Of him. Who has revealed it to me part of this. What Jesus is doing in this expression is he's revealing something about his attitude. Towards his father's will, we learned something here about Jesus' disposition towards the will of His Father.

We, we talk this way sometimes nowadays. if we say that someone eats, drinks, and sleeps something. What we're indicating by that is that they are obsessed and fully engaged with that thing that they eat, drink and sleep. And so Jesus' language indicates here that Jesus doesn't just do the will of the Father, he devours it.

He consumes it, he eats it up. To say also that the will of His Father is his food indicates the enjoyment that Jesus finds. In the will of his father and, and we, we speak this way actually nowadays also to say that something, to speak of eating something or that something is food is a way of saying that you find enjoyment in that thing. this, this sounds odd, but it wasn't long into marriage that I noticed an expression that my wife would use that I found bizarre initially, but I've heard other women talk this way, but my wife will see like a beautiful chunky baby.

and she's like, that baby is so cute. I just want to eat it. And some of you ladies are nodding, like, like I found that really weird and the visual. The visual was very disturbing.

To me, in fact, in the first service, as soon as those words came out of my mouth, that baby is so cute, I just want to eat it, immediately an infant started crying. And they had to take the baby out, so Because it's unsettling, it's disturbing. But I think I figured out after a while that what my wife is saying and what other women are saying is that that child is a feast of delight. And eating just somehow seems like an appropriate way to express how much they enjoy or want to enjoy that child.

And so in part this is the way that Jesus is towards His Father's will and the work that the Father gives him to do. Jesus so loves the will of His Father that he says, I just want to eat it. It's my food. This is so instructive for us.

My food is to do the will of Him. Our, our mindset many times and, and you younger people, growing up right now in your, your Christian homes, I know some of you are thinking, man, I can't wait to just get out from under the oppression. That I'm under right now. I cannot wait to be free and to do my own thing and make my own decisions.

And your, your attitude is, man, if I, if I can just get out of here and be free to do whatever I want, I will be happy and satisfied. Your cliche is my food is to do my will. Whatever I want. You really should talk to some of the adults who have been around the block here at Cornerstone who thought just like you did, they got out on their own and they did what they wanted to do and they got burned and they brought hurt to themselves and hurt to other people, and they found themselves running to the cross of Christ, broken and in need of a savior.

We need to be saved from our will and ushered into the will of God and Jesus is saying, let me tell you, my attitude towards the will of my Father. It is, it is my food. It is my food. To do the will of Him who sent me.

In John 5, Jesus says, I do not seek my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. In John 6, I've come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. Jesus loved the Father's will, and that doesn't mean that everything that the Father ever wanted Jesus to do was a happy go lucky thing. There was a point later in Christ's ministry where the Father put before him his will and said, This is my will.

Speaking of food, here's a cup that I want you to drink. And this is my will that you drink it. Jesus recoiled from that cup of God's wrath, the cup of suffering on the cross and having our sins placed upon him, and Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, sweating, as it were, drops of blood, said to his father, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me, yet not my will but yours be done. On this occasion, the Father's will, would be partaken of by Jesus and it would be bitter to his taste.

Jesus. In a sense, will not want to drink it, but he will do so, teaching us that the Father's will. In the moment it is not always sweet to the taste. It's not always easy, but it is always good and always purposeful, and ultimately it serves the purposes of God, who is always doing a million things in you and in the lives of those whom your life is touching.

And it will serve God's purpose of bringing greater joy and refreshment. Christ went ahead and drank that cup for the joy that was set before Him that He is now living in the good of right now. Jesus is saying, Here my food is to do the will of Him who sent me no matter what it is in any given moment, no matter how easy or how difficult. What's interesting here is that Jesus is not just revealing his disposition towards the Father's will, but he's also revealing to us something about The Father's will itself.

We ought to listen to Jesus saying my food is to do the will of Him who sent me and go, man, what is it about the will of God that would cause Jesus to look at his Father's will as food in this way? This is so instructive for us because we, we can tend to view God's will as an obligation, as a duty, as a drudgery, as something that has to be done. We can view God's will as something that God is asking from us rather than what it really is something that God is giving to us. God's will, here's the calculus, God's will.

I soul fulfilling. Imagine viewing His will in this way. It's not just something that God is asking from us. Please do this.

I need this from you. Give this to me and do my will. It's not merely something that God is asking from us. His will is something that He gives to us and brings us into.

His will delivers us from the tyranny of self. And don't you want that? My goodness, I'm so tired of me. And of my will I want something more grandiose than my puny pathetic little will that is governed by the whims of the moment, and I've lived long enough to know that there have been many moments where I've wanted something and I've chosen according to my will and I, I look back and there's nothing but a 100% regret over the stupidity and the sin of the choices that I have made.

And God invites us into His will and His will is something that gives, it nourishes, it enriches, it delivers us from the tyranny of self, and it satisfies and nourishes our soul. Think about it. What is food? What is food?

Food is something that we take into our bodies because it brings nourishment to our bodies. It brings refreshment to our bodies. It brings satisfaction. We have cravings and appetites that are crying out, and food satisfies those cravings, and eating food rejuvenates us, right?

Food is actually a mood altering substance, right? Does it bother you to think of it that way? If you doubt me, just an experiment, just try to go the next week and a half without eating anything. And just gauge and journal your moods as you're abstaining from food altogether and then gauge and journal your mood as you are finally eating and what your mood is after having eaten.

Food rejuvenates us. It brings joy to the heart. That's OK. In Acts 4, Paul says, God gives us food and seasons to satisfy and rejoice our hearts.

Food brings us pleasure. I'm so grateful that God did not just give us, Something that tastes like dirt and says, here's what we're going to call food. It tastes awful, but it has all the nourishment you need. Just eat this every day, 3 times a day for the entirety of your life, and you will have all the nourishment you need.

God doesn't do that. He gives us food in a variety of colors and textures and tastes, right? And we get to even combine some of those into beautiful combinations. Greg Harris, Joshua Harris's dad, I remember listening to him at a conference in Orange County a number of years ago, and he says, I know that God is a good God.

Because of strawberries. And there was a profound theological point there. God did not have to make strawberries. Have you ever looked at a strawberry, cut it open?

Just the sophistication, the beauty, the texture? God didn't have to do that, but he did. Because he's a good God, and he's like, I want to give you something that will nourish you, and I want it to delight you, to delight your eyes and your tongue in the process. So we partake of food.

It brings us pleasure and also you can add to this list, it strengthens us. It produces growth, the will of God. If it is food and you want to grow and become stronger, well then you need to eat, and a part of what you need to eat is, yeah, you need to open up God's word and you need to feast upon His word. But whatever God tells you to do, don't look at his commands as some drudgery like, oh, there's another thing I've got to add to the list.

No, that's food. Do what he's calling you to do, and you will find your soul feasting in the process, and being nourished in the process. And as you are nourished spiritually, you will grow strong. In the process, don't sit around and say, Man, yeah, I really want to do the will of God, but I'm waiting to grow first.

Oh, To grow you need to eat, and a part of what you need to eat is the will of God. Obey Him. Do His goodwill. Discover in your own experience how good and extremely pleasing and perfect His will is, and you will find yourself growing.

Larger, stronger as you feast upon the doing of His will. William Wilberforce. was A man who back in the 1800s was instrumental in bringing an end to the slave trade. In England and ultimately to slavery in England altogether, he was a contemporary of John Newton.

And he was no physical specimen to admire. No one looked at William Wilberforce walking by saying, Man, that guy must be a leader. He just commands respect. That's not the impression that he made.

Here's an artist's rendering of him, just not a striking figure from a physical standpoint. And yet he did the Father's will, and he championed the cause on behalf of slaves and championed the cause of righteousness being motivated by the gospel to do so. And what, as he did that over the years, he grew strong and mighty. Listen to what one writer says about him.

All his life, Wilberforce, who freed the slaves, was a little insignificant ailing creature. When he rose to address the House of Commons, the members at first used to smile at this queer little figure. But as the fire and the power came from the man, they used to crowd the benches whenever he rose to speak. As it was put, the little minnow became a whale.

His message, his task, the flame of truth, and the dynamic of power conquered his physical weakness. Isn't that great? And this is what's happening to Jesus. he's exhausted.

He sits by the well and he's hungry, he's thirsty. He's asking the woman for a drink and, and before he knows it, he's doing the Father's will, and it is so nourishing him that he now doesn't want the interruption of having to eat. The physical food. The dynamic of the will of his father that he is doing conquered his physical weakness to where he's not even interested in this moment in the interruption of physical food.

So Accept this invitation by Jesus as He's inviting you into this harvest feast, and part of what it is, is to look at the will of God differently than maybe you have. And when you're reading a command in Scripture, husbands, love your wife and wife to submit to and respect your husband and fathers to bring up your children. And the nurture and discipline of the Lord and children to obey your parents and all of us to love one another and to reach out to others with the love of Christ, whatever the imperatives or commands are that we find in scripture, don't view those as obligations as much as you view them as food.

I'm going to eat this, I'm going to devour this and enjoy this because this is a part of the food.

The will of God is not something God merely asks from me. It is something God wants to give to me. God's will is really good news. There's a third thing that Jesus says to His disciples and to all of us, to invite us to draw us in the harvest feast that He is enjoying, and that is this.

He says, My food is to accomplish God's work. My food is to accomplish God's work. Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Now notice here that the word work is singular.

Many places in the Gospel of John and elsewhere, Jesus speaks of his works in the plural. He did many, many works, but in a passage like this, he views his ministry as a whole. Jesus did not view his life as a bunch of random disconnected good works. Every individual good work that Jesus did.

was merely a part of a larger, more massive work singular that the Father had given him to do. In one sense, Jesus' whole life and death was one very large, multifaceted, single work. We know this because of Jesus throughout his life just messed up one time. Then the Father would not have accepted.

It would have infected the whole work, and his death on the cross would not. have been accepted. Jesus says, my food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish his work. This whole life work that the Father has given me to do.

Notice the word accomplish here. This means more than just to do. Jesus is not saying that my food is to do His work, but he says to accomplish His work. This word accomplish means to complete, not to start something.

We're all great at that, right? We'd say my food is to start. Doing his work. No, Jesus says, my food is to finish.

My food is to accomplish, to complete, to bring a task to its intended end, to perfect, to bring to a point where I can look at it and say it is done, it is completed, and nothing more needs to be added. Jesus says that's my food, and I'm in the middle of that right now. Think about an artist. One of the, the gifts that I most admire is the ability of artists to paint and to create pictures.

I just stand in awe of that, of that gift. but an artist, you watch an artist paint, it's just fascinating to see the beauty of whatever they're painting. Unfold before your eyes and they, they do this painting in a landscape or whatever and they reach a point where to my untrained eye it's like, oh that's done that looks great, that's finished, but to their trained eye they're looking at it and they still have the paintbrush still in hand and they're not done. And they study it and then they reapproach it and they start adding details that bring the images to life even more and as they're adding the details you're like, oh yeah, that makes perfect sense, boy that really brings that to life and so long after our untrained eye would look at it and think anything needs to be added, they're seeing all kinds of stuff that needs to be done and they keep reapproaching the canvas and adding more detail and more detail.

Until the moment arrives that they look at this painting on the canvas with their trained eye. And they set the paintbrush down. And say it is finished. It is accomplished.

Nothing more needs to be done. Jesus is saying here, my food. is to accomplish and to finish. The work that the Father has given me to do.

Imagine looking at the painting, the artistry of Jesus' life, where right now today is Palm Sunday, right? Right, so high five. OK. OK.

This is Palm Sunday, which is the, the beginning of the Passion Week or the week of Christ's suffering. Just imagine if you're with Christ on that particular day, before the suffering that was to follow. If you even on Palm Sunday, as one of his disciples, if you look back over the life of Christ and the public ministry of Christ, the artistry of his life, you would go, this is perfect. This is perfect in every way.

The apostle John said, if you were to try to record everything that Jesus did, the whole world could not contain the books that could be written, right? And so to our untrained eye, we would have said, Jesus, man, look at the beauty of the artistry of your life. You've thought of everything. You've raised the dead.

You've healed the sick, you have taught perfectly. You have resisted every temptation. That has come your way. You've cleansed the lepers.

You've given sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf, and on and on the list can go. The world could not contain all that you have done. This is finished, right? And you can take the kingdom now, right?

That's what the disciples were thinking. It's done. We're ready. But Jesus, the great artist, looks at the canvas of the artistry of his life on Palm Sunday.

And he doesn't put the paintbrush down. He says this isn't finished. There's still one more thing that needs to be done. And he went and got himself crucified.

And painted that in. To the artistry of his life, none of us would have thought of that. None of us would have looked at his life and the painting and said, whoa, that's lacking. None of us would have thought of that or asked that of him.

But he saw it and knew that his work wasn't finished. And so he went and allowed himself to be crucified and bore our sins in his body so that we might have salvation through Him. And what, if you read later in John's Gospel when Jesus is hanging upon the cross, He reaches a point where he's ready to put the paintbrush down. While Jesus is hanging on the cross.

Look at what the text says in John 19:28. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, that's the same root word that We find in John 4 in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, I am thirsty. A jar full of sour wine was standing there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to his mouth. And when Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, he said, It is accomplished.

And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. The great artist. looked upon all that he had done. And said, It's finished.

Jesus dying was the last stroke of the brush. In the artistry that was his life. You go back from the cross 1.5 or 2 years to this incident in John chapter 4 as Jesus is by the well interacting with this Samaritan woman and now with his disciples and Jesus knowing full well all that was entailed. His heart is so full and satisfied right now, and he's like, my food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to fully accomplish.

His work We are living beneficiaries. We are living monuments to the faithfulness of Jesus to do His Father's full will. And the fact that he viewed it as necessary as his daily food and he consumed it all. There's a 4th and final thing that Jesus says to his disciples, let's word it this way, the harvest meal is ripe for reaping, he says to his disciples.

Keep in mind that the woman went to tell others in the city about Jesus, and now they're beginning to come out of the city to approach Jesus, and the people are becoming visible at this point of the conversation. And Jesus, look at what it says in verse 35, Jesus said, Do you not say There are yet 4 months and then comes the harvest. When the crops begin to show through the soil. farmers just knew you don't harvest right away.

You've got to wait for 4 months or so. Do you not say there are yet 4 months, and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields that they are white for the harvest. Commentators say that right at this point Jesus is pointing to those who are coming out of the city to Him and dressed in white, which was the typical color of the garb.

During many points of the year in this area, even to this day, he says, look on the fields, they're white and ready for. Harvest Imagine the disciples as they turn to look at those who were coming out of the city to Jesus. Jesus is saying, look at them, this is the harvest and it is coming. And as the disciples would have looked at those coming out to Jesus, perhaps they saw some of the very same people that they had seen an hour earlier when they were in the city.

When they were buying their food. To bring the food back out to Jesus, the disciples probably weren't looking at the people that they were buying the food from as lost souls in need of salvation. They merely saw vendors. Not souls They may have even been in the city feeling uncomfortable as Jews in, in this city of Sahar, a city in Samaria, and we're not even supposed to have much to do with them.

This is so uncomfortable buying food from these Samaritan people. The disciples may have shaken their heads at the lostness of this place and thinking, man, these people are so far from God. And it would take a miracle and probably a whole lot of time to get these people in any place where they're remotely ready to believe the truth about Christ. And yet this woman talks to Jesus briefly, and she leaves Jesus and goes into the city and just says, come see a man who told me everything I ever did.

And everyone stops what they're doing, and they come out to see Jesus. That's amazing, and the disciples are probably like, what? Jesus says, this is the harvest and it's more ripe than you gave it credit for being. The disciples here, just like you and I need to be taught to look.

Jesus is saying, lift up your eyes and look. Jesus tells them what to do with their eyes. Lift up your eyes from whatever it is you're staring at. Lift up your eyes.

He tells them what to do with their eyes. He tells them what to look at. Look. And he tells them what to notice.

About what they're seeing, these are fields, and I want you to notice that they're ripe. and ready for harvest. May God give us the grace to look. When you go to the store and you're Dealing with a cashier across the counter.

What do you see? A cashier. Our soul Who's in the middle of a story. Of brokenness and who needs a savior.

When you walk around your block and you see people working on their cars or sitting in front of their house or driving down the street, what do you see? Do you see souls? When you go to Costco, And it's at a really bad time of the day and the place is crowded. You get your food or everything you need to buy and you go to check out and there's 20 people in front of you.

What do you see when you see those 20 people? Do you see obstacles? Or do you see souls? That stand in need of Jesus.

Do you see Jesus is teaching them to look and let me just say this in closing it's easy to read this narrative, this dialogue as it unfolds, and Jesus in the previous verses is talking about my food is to do the will of Him who sent me and then we come to this verse and he's like, Behold the harvest, and then that's the theme for what follows. It's easy to think he's talking about two different things. I'm talking about food here and now we're going to switch topics and we're going to speak about The harvest.

Actually Jesus is still talking.

About the harvest feast. That his soul is enjoying. Guys, the harvest that we're called to reap, it's not just God's harvest, it's our harvest too. When you win a soul to Christ, you've not just, God Himself doesn't just gain a son or a daughter, you gain a brother.

or a sister, and God puts inside of that brother or sister gifts and insights and abilities and riches that are a part of your inheritance. So when we're called to the harvest, God's like, I have set this up to where this is actually a feast for you as much as it is for me. Go out and, and reap your harvest that you will be so enriched by that your soul will be nourished and lifted up by. This is the call.

We'll learn more about this in coming weeks, but Jesus is inviting them in. To this soul feast. That he is enjoying. The disciples came out and said, Jesus, eat this food.

They think he's the hungry one, but now they discover actually we're the hungry ones, and he's trying to bring us into a feast that his soul is enjoying. We've got Easter coming up next Sunday. We want to encourage you to invite family and friends and And talk to other people about Christ. Reach out to them, see the harvest that is out there in the surrounding community.

Bring people to the services next Sunday so that they can sit under the sound of the gospel and don't just wait till next Sunday to share the gospel with them. Be sharing the gospel with others this week and get involved in not only the harvest but in the harvest feast. And the harvest feast, many of the fullness, the fullness that you can experience in your own life, the nourishment, the blessing that comes to those who are engaged in reaping the harvest. This is what Jesus is doing, and he's inviting the disciples and all of us into this as well.

Let's pray together. If you're here today and God has touched your heart in some way through this message or through our service. Just let us know that on the connection card if there's any way we can minister to you. Let us know that.

Fill out that card. Prayer requests, praises, we want to be able to join you in those things, so feel free to put that on the back of the connection card and put that in the offering bag as it goes by in just a moment. Oh. If you're here today and you've never.

come to Jesus and believed in Him. I would encourage you to To do that today, now is the accepted time. Respond to Him now. Cry out to Him in faith and receive the forgiveness of your sins.

And be brought into relationship with him. If you have any questions, come talk to us afterwards. We'd love to answer your questions and help you. In this, there's nothing more important in your life than this right now.

Father, we thank you for the blessing that is ours to be able to know you. And to, Be able to sit at Jesus' feet and learn from his example in John 4. Give us eyes to see as you see Jesus. That we would see souls as you see them.

That we would know, Lord, that sometimes there are seeds that are planted and they take a while, but you have the power to just move swiftly and mightily, and may we never underestimate your ability nor your willingness to save. Teach us to eat and feast the way Jesus ate and feasted. May we take our seat at the table with him and enjoy the harvest feast that He was Feasting at And may our food be to do your will and to accomplish your work. And may we glorify you with that fullness of living according to your will and not our own.

Save us, God, from our own will. And save us into your delicious will. We thank you for the opportunity to give of our offerings to the Lord, to You, Lord, this morning, receive these funds and do much with them for the glory of Jesus, in whose name we pray and all God's people said.