Jesus was eating very special food

JESUS WAS EATING VERY SPECIAL FOOD
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
John 4:31-3431Meanwhilehis disciplesurged him,
"Rabbi, eat something."32But he said to them, "I
have food to eat that you know nothing about."
33Then his disciplessaid to each other, "Could
someonehave brought him food?"34"My food," said
Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to
finishhis work.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The Physicaland Spiritual Foodof Man
B. Thomas
John 4:31-34
In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.…
Notice -

I. THE FOOD OF THE BODY. "Master, eat."
1. The body must have food. It is true that "man doth not live by bread
alone," but it is quite as true that he cannotlive without bread. Man's
physical nature requires suitable physical support. If we wish to live, we must
eat - eat to live, but. not live to eat.
2. The body must have food at statedtimes. "In due season."There is physical
waste, there is a continual demand, and there must be a continual supply.
There is a law of health and life, and should be observed. The prayer of the
disciples, "Master, eat,"was quite timely and natural. The meal time had
passed, and he was hungry and fatigued, and their request was the natural
language ofpropriety, want, and kindness.
3. The claims of the body are recognizedby Christ:
(1) In the provisions of nature. In their fulness and variety he was the
Provider, and there is no way so effectual to recognize the claims of the body
as to provide amply for it.
(2) Under human conditions, he was thoroughly human. He knew by
experience what were hunger, thirst, and fatigue; and, as such, he could
sympathize with the cravings of others. He had sent his disciples unto the city
to buy meat; not, perhaps, so much for his own sake as that of his disciples. In
little things he was more concernedfor others than for himself.
(3) He was sociable andsimple in his diet. There was not one table for the
Lord and another for the servants;but he shared with them, and his fare was

simple and homely. And this, perhaps, was better for mental and spiritual
labour. Eating and drinking were secondarymatters with him. Nevertheless,
by example, by actions and words, he fully recognizedthe claims of the body.
II. THE FOOD OF THE SOUL.
1. Doing the Divine will. "My meat is to do the will," etc.
(1) This involves self-sacrificing service. A service devotedentirely to God.
Self is altogetherignored. Jesus was rapt in the will of him that sent him. He
lived in his Father, and fed on his will.
(2) This service involves the whole of his Divine will. "His work." Including
his will in its minutest details - the brief mission of Samaria;and also in its
most comprehensive purposes - the salvationof the human family, the great
scheme of redemption.
(3) This service involves the carrying out the Divine will to its final and proper
issues. "And to finish his work." The completion of the work inspires and
supports the Workerall through. It is the wine of the spirit and the reviver of
the soul. This was Jesus'meat. And it is ever the true food of the soul.
2. As soul food, many are ignorant of it. Even the disciples were so now. "I
have meat to eat that ye know not of."
(1) There is ignorance of its nature and origin. It is spiritual and heavenly. In
the disciples as yet the material was in the ascendant. Theywere babes in

Christ, dependent on the nurse. The soulhad scarcelyopenedits eye, was
scarcelyconscious ofits real wants.
(2) There is ignorance of its value and effects. Fromthe beginning the will of
God is the realfood of the soul; but on accountof sin, materialism, animalism,
and indifference, the realization of it was exceptional, and ignorance of its
true value and effectwas the rule. This was speciallythe case atthe time of
Christ's earthly history. Its value and effect must be known by experience.
(3) It was the mission of Christ to revealit, to introduce it, create a craving in
humanity for it, and to supply them with the knowledge ofits nature and
value. This he did by precept and example. "My meat is to do the will," etc.
His whole life and death were brilliant, but most familiar and telling
illustrations of the Divine will as the only genuine food of the human soul.
3. As soul food, it is essentialand perfectly adapted.
(1) The soul is spiritual in its essenceandwants, and must be supplied with
spiritual food, else it cannotthrive and grow and be useful and happy. The
will of God is adapted to supply all this. It is spiritual and Divine.
(2) The soul is immortal, and must have immortal nourishment. The will of
God is the imperishable meat, and calculatedto satisfy the immortal cravings
of the soul. Christ brought life and immortality to light. Let the soul feed. on
him, and its immortal instincts will be nourished; and this is only the will of
God.

(3) The soul is an emanationof the Divine will. Its parentage suggestsatonce
its only proper food. The babe feeds and thrives on its mother's milk. What
but the will of God can feed the offspring of that will?
(4) It is essentialand addicted to the wellbeing and final perfection of the
soul. What is its well being and final perfection? Growth in its original
direction, holiness, perfectlove, as much God-likeness andhappiness as it is
capable of. To do the will of God will effectall this. As a proof, look at Christ.
What made his characterperfectand his manhood complete? The proper
answeris in his ownwords: "My meat is to do the wilt of him," etc.
4. As soul food, it is delightful. "My meat." To do the will of God is not a
burden, but a delight; not sacrifice, but pleasure. It is like food to the hungry
or water to the thirsty. It is not a mere duty, but a natural instinct and
craving, a passionand the highestgratification of being. "My meat." Nevera
man enjoyed the daintiest dish as well as the believing soul enjoys doing the
will of God. It is his meat.
5. As soul food, it is absorbingly satisfying. The claims of Godand the
spiritual interest of humanity are strongerthan any other. They are supreme.
(1) Stronger in this case thansocialcustom. It was customary among the Jews,
as among all nations, to partake of food at stated times of the day. Jesus and
his disciples generallyobservedand provided for this. The custom was strong;
but doing the will of God, to Christ, was infinitely stronger. The custom was
ignored.
(2) Stronger than the solicitations of friends. The disciples beggedand even
prayed him to eat. This was done out of pure kindness and sympathy, and

Jesus was by no means unimpressive to this. Even human kindness had great
influence on him, but could not prevail now. He had fed, and was even then
feeding, (m a higher and more satisfying food.
(3) Stronger than the cravings of nature. Jesus was fatiguedand hungry when
the disciples left for the city to buy meat, but meanwhile he was fed with food
from the city of the greatKing. In a higher sense the disciples were right in
surmising that some one had brought him aught to eat. Godhad fed him with
his will, and he had partakenof food by doing his will. The success ofhis brief
and almostaccidentalmission in Samaria satisfiedhim, and the spiritual
impression on the woman and the sight of Samaritan citizens already
streaming to him overthe plain so filled his soul with satisfactionand joy that
bodily food was forgotten, and the thought of it almostdistasteful. The
material was lost in the spiritual, the personalin the general, and the human
in the Divine. The cravings of his own bodily wants were completely
neutralized by the unspeakable delight of doing the will of God in supplying
the spiritual wants of others.
LESSONS.
1. The claims of the body, although important, are nothing to those of the soul.
The former are representedby the disciples on this occasion, the latter by
Christ. "Master, eat," theysaid. "Disciples,eat," he said; but pointed them to
their higher nature and its true nourishment.
2. We should cultivate the spiritual appetite to feed on the will of God. For this
is the proper food of the soul, adapted here and hereafter. From the altitude
of spiritual satisfactionand joy earthly things appeargross, and material food
becomes too distastefulfor even thought, much inure for participation. This
points to a state where material food will not be required, nor can it be

procured. Let the soul free itself from all gross influences and from the
dominion of bodily appetites and passions, and this will discipline it for the
enjoyment of the purely spiritual.
3. We should feel thankful to Christ for introducing to us the true food of the
soul. He made our physical nature and provided for it; he made our spiritual
nature and supplied it with proper nurture - the will of God.
4. If we wish to become Christlike, we must feed on the same meat as Christ.
If we wish to be God-like, we must do his will. Foodhas greatinfluence on the
growth of the soul. Inferior and adulterated food dwarfs it, causes it to grow
downwards. Doing the will of God causesit to grow heavenwards. Holy
activity whets the spiritual appetite and supplies it with nourishment. The soul
feeds by doing, by activity, by the sweatof its brow. If we want to be
benevolent, like Christ, we must not feedon ourselves, but the will of God - on
the love of Christ and the welfare of our fellow men. - B.T.
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Spiritual Work And Spiritual Food
John 4:34
J.R. Thomson
The incident in our Saviour's ministry recordedin this narrative pictures him
as possessedandengrossedby the very purest devotion to the greatends of his
ministry. He had been thirsty; but he had lostall thought of bodily thirst in
his absorbing interest in the living waterand in the satisfactionofspiritual
aspirations. He was in need of food; yet when his disciples brought him food
from the city he was indifferent to it, for he had meat to eat which they knew

not of. The work of his Father was the food of his soul. Christ's language here
exhibits -
I. THE HIGHEST VIEW OF SPIRITUAL AND BENEVOLENT EFFORT.
This is all the more striking and wonderful when we remember the dignity,
the Divinity of the Speaker.
1. All he did had reference to his Father. The "will" of the Father was for him
supreme; the Father had "sent" him into the world for a definite purpose.
2. His mission was one of active service. Jesus, no doubt, came to live; to be
himself, to suffer for our sins. But although his mere living among men was an
incomparable lesson, thoughhis death was of incomparable value, we must
not lose sightof his activity, his ministry of energetic service.
3. His aim was to bring the undertaking committed to him to a conclusion
honourable to himself and to the Father. In accomplishing, in finishing, his
work, he found a Divine satisfaction. Allowing for the difference between
Masterand servants, we may recognize in Christ's view of his life work the
model for our own. To think thus of our human vocation will add a dignity to
our life, an effectiveness to our ministry.
II. THE PLACE WHICH A LIFE OF SPIRITUAL AND BENEVOLENT
EFFORT HOLDS IN THE AFFECTIONS.
1. Work for Godis the necessityof the Masterand of the servants alike. As
the body cannotlive without food, so the higher nature cannot be maintained
in health, in life, without work for God. It was so with Christ, who could
forgetwater and bread, though thirsty and hungry, but who could not exist
without labouring for the cause of human wellbeing.
2. Work for Godaffords the servant of God the purest satisfactionand
delight. The thirsty and famishing traveller is revived and gladdenedwhen he
comes where he can quench his thirst and satisfy his hunger. Greaterjoy did
our Lord find when there opened up before him some opportunity of doing
the will of Godin securing the enlightenment, the conversion, the consolation,
of some poor human soul.

3. Work for God, like food, strengthens for new and largerefforts. Work is its
own wages.Theywho toil eat, and they who eat are the fitter for renewedand
happy work. If it was thus with the Masterand Lord, shall it not be thus with
the disciple, the follower, the servant, the friend? We are encouraged, notonly
to take a high view of Christian service, but to seek in it our purest
satisfaction, andthe means of unceasing devotedness andusefulness. - T.
STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES
Adam Clarke Commentary
My meat is to do the will of him that sentme - In these words, our blessed
Lord teaches a lessonof zealand earnestnessto his apostles, andto all their
successors in the Christian ministry. Let the salvationof souls lie neareryour
heart than life itself. Let eating and drinking, labor and rest, reading,
thinking, study, prayer, and all things, be directed to the accomplishment of
this greatwork. Ministers of Jesus!imitate your Lord! Souls are perishing for
lack of knowledge - God has given you the key of the kingdom, the knowledge
of his word - O open unto them the gate of life! They are dropping by
thousands into hell! O pluck the brands out of the burning!
Albert Barnes'Notes onthe Whole Bible
My meat … - Jesus here explains what he saidin John 4:32. His greatobject -
the greatdesignof his life - was to do the will of God. He came to that place
wearyand thirsty, and at the usual time of meals, probably hungry; yet an
opportunity of doing goodpresenteditself, and he forgothis fatigue and
hunger, and found comfortand joy in doing good - in seeking to save a soul.
This one greatobjectabsorbed all his powers, and made him forgethis
weariness andthe wants of nature. The mind may be so absorbed in doing the
will of God as to forget all other things. Intent on this, we may rise above

fatigue, and hardship, and want, and bear all with pleasure in seeing the work
of God advance. See Job23:12; “I have esteemedthe words of his mouth more
than my necesaryfood.” We may learn, also, that the main business of life is
not to avoid fatigue or to seek the supply of our temporal wants, but to do the
will of God. The mere supply of our temporal necessities, thoughmost people
make it an objectof their chief solicitude, is a small considerationin the sight
of him who has just views of the great designof human life.
The will of him that sent me - The will of God in regardto the salvationof
men. See John6:38.
To finish his work - To “complete” orfully to do the work which he has
commanded in regard to the salvationof men. It is his work to provide
salvation, and his to redeem, and his to apply the salvation to the heart. Jesus
came to do it by teaching, by his example, and by his death as an expiation for
sin. And he shows us that “we” should be diligent. If he was so diligent for our
welfare, if he bore fatigue and want to benefit us, then we should be diligent,
also, in regardto our own salvation, and also in seeking the salvation of
others.
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
Jesus saithunto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to
accomplishhis work.
Jesus had not, as yet, receivedany food at all; but the amazing responsiveness
of the woman at the well had triggeredan opportunity to convert a whole city,
moving at that very moment upon the Lord and his disciples;and the
satisfactionofhis physical hunger would have to wait, despite the Master's
weariness.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Jesus saithunto them,.... His disciples:
my meat is to do the will of him that sentme. The Ethiopic version reads, "of
my Fatherthat sent me", and who is undoubtedly intended. Now as food is
pleasant, and delightful, and refreshing to the body of man, so doing the will
of God was as delightful and refreshing to the soul of Christ: he took as much
pleasure in it, as an hungry man does in eating and drinking. One part of the
will of God was to assume human nature; this he had done, and with delight
and pleasure:another part of it was to fulfil the law; and this was in his heart,
and was his delight, and he was now doing it: and anotherbranch of it was to
suffer and die, in the room and steadof his people; and as disagreeableas this
was in itself to the human nature, yet he cheerfully agreedto it; and was
sometimes, as it were, impatient till it was accomplished;and he voluntarily
became obedient to it: no man could, with greatereagerness, fallto eating,
when hungry, than Christ went about his Father's will and work, eventhat
which was most ungrateful to him, as man.
And to finish his work;one part of which was to preachthe Gospel, and for,
which he was anointed and sent; and which he did with greatassiduity and
constancy:and anotherpart of it was the conversionof sinners by it, whom he
was sent to call, and with whom he delighted to be; and was the work he was
now about, and took the pleasure in, the text expresses:and beside these
miracles were works his Father gave him to finish; such as healing diseases,
and dispossessing ofdevils, and which he went about doing continually, with
greatdelight: but the chief, work of all is, that of redemption and salvation of
his chosenones:this was a work his Father calledhim to, and sent him into
this world to perform, which he gave unto him, and Christ acceptedof, and
agreedto do; and though it was a very toilsome and laborious one, there being
a righteous law to be fulfilled, justice to be satisfied, the sins of all his people
to bear, as well as the wrath of God, and the curse of the law, and numerous
enemies to grapple with, and an accurseddeathto undergo; yet with pleasure
he performed this: for the joy of his Father's will, accomplishing his counsels
and covenant, and his own engagements,and procuring the salvationof his
people, he endured the cross patiently, and despisedthe shame of it. The
whole of the and work of God was done by him, just as the Lord commanded
it; exactly, according to the pattern given him, with all faithfulness and

integrity; with the most consummate wisdom and prudence; with all
application, diligence, and constancy, and so as to finish it, and that without
the help of any other; and in such a manner that nothing canbe added to it to
make it more perfect, or that it can be undone againby men or devils: and
that the doing and finishing of this were his meat, or as delightful and
refreshing to him as meat is to the body, appears from his ready and cheerful
engaging in it in eternity; from his early and industrious entrance on it in
time; from his constancyin it, when he had begun, insomuch that nothing
could deter him from it; nor did he sink and fail under it, nor left it till he had
finished it.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
My meat is, etc. — “A Servant here to fulfil a prescribedwork, to do and to
finish, that is ‹meat‘ to Me;and of this, while you were away, I have had My
fill.” And of what does He speak thus? Of the condescension, pity, patience,
wisdom He had been laying out upon one soul - a very humble woman, and in
some respects repulsive too! But He had gained her, and through her was
going to gain more, and lay perhaps the foundations of a great work in the
country of Samaria;and this filled His whole soul and raisedHim above the
sense ofnatural hunger (Matthew 4:4).
People's New Testament
My meat is to do the will of him that sentme, and to finish his work. "Meat"
in the Scripture means, not only flesh, but any kind of food. The Savior
declares that to do the will of God is food to him. It is enjoyment and strength.
It does not weary, but refreshes.

Robertson's WordPictures in the New Testament
To do the will (ινα ποιησω το τελημα — hina poiēsō to thelēma). Non-final use
of ινα — hina and the first aoristactive subjunctive as subject or predicate
nominative as in John 6:29; John 15:8; John 17:3. The Messianic
consciousnessofJesus is clearand steady (John 5:30; John 6:38). He never
doubted that the Father sent him.
And to accomplishhis work (και τελειωσω αυτου το εργον — kai teleiōsō
autou to ergon). ινα — Hina understood with τελειωσω — teleiōsō in like
idiom, first aoristactive subjunctive of τελειοω — teleioō (from τελειος —
teleios), to bring to an end. See John 5:36. In John 17:4 (the Intercessory
Prayer) he will say that he has done (τελειωσας — teleiōsas)this task which
the Fathergave him to do. On the Cross Jesus will cry Τετελεσται —
Tetelestai(It is finished). He will carry through the Father‘s programme
(John 3:16). That is his “food.” He had been doing that in winning the woman
to God.
Vincent's Word Studies
Meat( βρῶμα )
A different word from that in John 4:32, signifying what is eaten.
To do ( ἵνα ποιῶ )
Literally, in order that I do. Emphasizing the end and not the process.
Frequently so used in John. See on John 3:19.
Finish ( πελειώσω )
Better, as Rev., accomplish. Not merely bring to an end, but perfect. From
τέλειος , perfect. The verb is characteristic ofJohn, and of the Epistle to the
Hebrews. See John 5:36; John 17:4; John 19:28; 1 John 2:5; 1 John 4:12;
Hebrews 2:10; Hebrews 5:9, etc.

Wesley's ExplanatoryNotes
finish his work.
My meat — That which satisfies the strongestappetite of my soul.
The Fourfold Gospel
accomplishhis work1.
My meat is to do the will of him that sentme, and to accomplishhis work.
Jesus'delight at the woman's conversion, as a part of the work which his
Father had given him to do, overcome for a time his desire for food. Foodhas
severalcharacteristics:(1) enjoyment; (2) satisfactionof desire;(3)
refreshment and strength. God's work had these characteristicsto Jesus,
whose life fulfilled the principle that man shall not live by bread alone
(Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4).
Calvin's Commentary on the Bible
34.Myfood is to do the will of him who sent me. He means not only that he
esteems it very highly, but that there is nothing in which he takes greater
delight, or in which he is more cheerfully or more eagerlyemployed; as David,
in order to magnify the Law of God, says not only that he values it highly, but
that it is sweeterthan honey, (Psalms 19:10.)If, therefore, we would follow
Christ, it is proper not only that we devote ourselves diligently to the service
of God, but that we be so cheerful in complying with its injunctions that the
labor shall not be at all oppressive or disagreeable.

That I may finish his work. By adding these words, Christ fully explains what
is that will of the Father to which he is devoted; namely, to fulfill the
commissionwhich had been given to him. Thus every man ought to consider
his owncalling, that he may not consideras done to God what he has rashly
undertaken at his own suggestion. Whatwas the office of Christ is well
known. It was to advance the kingdom of God, to restore to life lostsouls, to
spread the light of the Gospel, and, in short, to bring salvation to the world.
The excellence ofthese things causedhim, when fatigued and hungry, to
forgetmeat and drink. Yet we derive from this no ordinary consolation, when
we learn that Christ was so anxious about the salvationof men, that it gave
him the highest delight to procure it; for we cannot doubt that he is now
actuatedby similar feelings towards us.
John Trapp Complete Commentary
34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to
finish his work.
Ver. 34. My meat is to do the will] Job, Job 23:12, preferred it before his
necessaryfood, that should keep him alive. So did Christ, when disappointed
of a breakfastat the barren fig tree, and coming hungry into the city, he went
not into an eating house, but into the temple, where he taught the people most
part of that day, Matthew 21:17;Matthew 21:23.
Greek TestamentCriticalExegeticalCommentary
34.]Christ alone could properly say these words. In the believer on Him, they
are partially true,—true as far as he has receivedthe Spirit, and enteredinto
the spiritual life;—but in Him they were absolutely and fully true. His whole

life was the doing of the Father’s will. We can ‘eat and drink, &c. to the glory
of God,’—but in Him the hallowing of the Father’s name, doing His will,
bringing about His Kingdom, was His daily bread, and supersededthe
thoughts and desires for the other, needful as it was for His humanity.
ἵνα is not = ὅτι. The latter would imply what was true (but not here
expressed), that the absolute doing, &c. was His food;—as it now stands, it
implies that it was His food to carry onward to completionthat work: to be
ever, stepafter step, having regardto its being completed. My meat is (not to
do, as E. V., but) that I may do, &c. In the τελειώσω αὐτοῦ τὸ ἔργον, the way
is prepared for the idea introduced in the next verse. These words give an
answerto the questioning in the minds of the disciples, and shew that He had
been employed in the Father’s work during their absence.
Charles Simeon's Horae Homileticae
DISCOURSE:1620
CHRIST’S DILIGENCE IN SERVING GOD
John 4:34. Jesus saithunto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent
me, and to finish his work.
OUR blessedLord, throughout his whole life, was the most illustrious pattern
of condescensionto man and of fidelity to God. Both these dispositions were
eminently displayed in the history before us. Notwithstanding he was already
exhausted with a long and fatiguing journey, he had been labouring for the
salvationof a most abandonedadulteress:and when urged to intermit his
exertions for a little while in order to recruit his strength by some necessary
refreshment, he declared, that food was not so delightful to a famished body,
as the prosecuting of the greatends of his ministry was to his soul.
From his words we shall take occasionto,
I. Considerour Lord’s example—

Jesus, in his human and mediatorial capacity, was the Father’s servant. And
the work assignedhim was, to reveal in a more perfect manner the will of
God, and to save mankind by his own obedience unto death.
In this work he engaged,
1. With fervent affection—
[Nothing could exceedthe delight with which he undertook the arduous task
[Note:Psalms 40:7-8.]: nothing the zeal with which he accomplishedit [Note:
Luke 12:50.]. Whether we view his private addresses to God[Note: Hebrews
5:7.], or his public ministrations among men [Note: He was filled with joy at
the leastprospectof success, ver. 35 and he grieved and wept when he could
not succeed, Mark 3:5. Luke 19:41.], we shall see that in him was that
prophecy accomplished, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up [Note:
John 2:17.].”]
2. With indefatigable diligence—
[From the commencementof his ministry to the end of it not a day was
unemployed. Frequently, after having laboured all the day, he spent the night
in prayer, and resumed his labours with the returning light. Like the sun in
the firmament, he proceededin one steadycourse through all the cities, towns,
and villages;nor ever ceasedfrom his work, till he could say, “It is finished.”]
3. With undaunted resolution—
[What “continualopposition” did he endure! He was truly “a sign spoken
against,” ora butt of contradiction [Note:Luke 2:34.]. There was not any
thing howeverperverse, scandalous, orcontemptuous, but his ears were
assailedwith it from day to day. From the very first discourse he uttered till
the hour of his crucifixion, his enemies never ceasedto seek his life [Note:
John 11:8.]. Yet did he persevere in the face of every danger, and at last
complete his obedience, by surrendering up his life upon the cross.]
That we may profit from this greatexample, we will,
II. Propose it for your imitation—

We also have a work to do for God—
[Our work is great; but O! how different from that which was committed to
our Lord! We have not to satisfythe demands of justice, or to endure the
wrath due to sin: blessedbe God! that was the Redeemer’s, work;and it has
been finished by him on our behalf. The work which we have to do is to
believe in Christ [Note: John 6:29.], and, from a sense ofhis love to us, to
devote ourselves unreservedlyto his service [Note:Romans 12:1.].]
Let us then engage in it,
1. Heartily—
[“Whateverour hand findeth to do, we should do it with all our might [Note:
Ecclesiastes9:10.].” A lukewarm service is unacceptable, yea, hateful to God
[Note:Revelation3:15-16.]. Let us then first labour to know the will of God,
and then endeavourto do it with our whole hearts. Let us be “fervent in spirit,
while we serve the Lord [Note: Romans 12:11.].”]
2. Uniformly—
[It is not an occasionalactof zeal that will please God, but a steady
conscientious, uniform discharge of our duty. Our spirit, alas!is often faint;
and even, when “the spirit is willing, our flesh is weak.” Butwe must
counteractour sloth, and “give all diligence to make our calling and election
sure [Note:2 Peter 1:10.].”]
3. Courageously—
[We shall surely meet with reproach and persecution, if we setourselves in
earnestto serve the Lord [Note:2 Timothy 3:12.]. But let us “remember him
who endured such contradictionof sinners againsthimself [Note:Hebrews
12:3.].” Woe be to us if we draw back through the fear of man [Note:Hebrews
10:38.]. We must hate, not only father and mother, but even our ownlife also,
if we would be Christ’s Disciples [Note:Luke 14:26.]. Let us then “take up our
cross daily” after Christ’s example, and “suffer with him, in order that we
may be also glorified together[Note: Romans 8:17.].”]
Address—

1. Those who are unconcernedabout the work of God—
[Has not God appointed you a work to do; and ought you not to have begun it
long ago? Is it expedient to leave it to a dying hour? What if you should die
before it is finished? O, begin instantly; for the “night cometh, wherein no
man can work.”]
2. Those who do his work deceitfully—
[God has pronounced such persons accursed, no less than if they did nothing
for him [Note: Jeremiah48:10.]. His service must be your “meat” and drink;
the joy of your souls, and the business of your lives. See then that ye “approve
yourselves to God as servants that need not be ashamed[Note: 2 Timothy
2:15.].”]
3. Those who are in a measure conformed to their Saviour’s image—
[Bless your God, who has thus far enabled you to serve him. But O! think how
much you fall short of your heavenly pattern! Forgetthen what is behind, and
press forward for that which is before you [Note: Philippians 3:13-15.]:so
shall you in due season“restfrom your labours,” and be welcomedas good
and faithful servants to the joy of your Lord [Note: Matthew 25:21.].]
Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament
John 4:34. βρώμα, the meat) with which my appetite is satisfied.— τελειώσω,
that I may finish) Not yet had Jesus reachedthe middle of His time of action,
and yet now He is thinking of the end [the finishing work]: so earnestly did He
act throughout. The same verb occurs, ch. John 5:36, “The works which My
Father hath given Me to finish.” Concerning the thing meant, comp. ch. John
6:38-39, at the end: “I came down from heaven not to do Mine own will, but
the will of Him that sent Me; and this is the Father’s will,” etc., “that of all
which He hath given Me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last
day.”— τὸ ἔργον, work)a work, one, great, and which embraces Israelites,
Samaritans, and all nations.

Matthew Poole's EnglishAnnotations on the Holy Bible
Our Lord, without any reproof of them for their dulness in understanding,
and having compassionon their infirmity and ignorance, tells them what he
meant by his former words; telling them, that the doing of his Father’s will,
and the finishing of his work, was that which he more hungered after, and
look more delight in, than in eating and drinking: this is what he sought, John
5:30, that which he came down from heavenfor, John 6:38. As the law of God
was sweeterto David than the honey or the honey comb, so the publishing of
the gospelwas to Jesus Christ, the calling sinners to repentance, and
publishing the glad tidings of the Messiah;that was his work, which he tells
his Fatherhe had finished, John 17:4. Hereby teaching ministers, and people
also, to prefer spiritual things before temporal; and the ministers of the gospel
especially, to prefer the publishing of the gospel(which is their work) to any
other employment whatsoever.
Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament
As food to the hungry, and water to the thirsty, so is the doing of the will of
God to those who love him; and whether engagedin sowing the spiritual seed
of divine truth, or reaping the harvest, their employment is a source of the
most elevatedand refreshing joy.
Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools andColleges
34. ἐμὸν βρ. ἐστιν ἵνα. Ἐμόνis emphatic: My food is that I may do the will of
Him that sent Me and (thus) perfect His work. Christ’s aim and purpose is
His food. See on John 1:8; ἵνα is no mere periphrasis for the infinitive (John
6:29; John 6:40, John 17:3; 1 John 3:11; 1 John 5:3; comp. John 1:27, John
2:25, John 5:40). This verse recalls the reply to the tempter ‘man doth not live
by bread alone,’and to His parents ‘Wist ye not that I must be about My
Father’s business?’Luke 4:4; Luke 2:49. It is the first of many such sayings in

this Gospel, expressing Christ’s complete conformity to His Father’s will in
doing His work (John 5:30, John 6:38, John 11:4, John 12:49-50, John14:31,
John 15:10, John 17:4). Τελειοῦν(not merely τελεῖν) means ‘to bring to a full
end, make perfect;’ frequent in S. John (John 5:36, John 17:4; John 17:23,
John 19:28; 1 John 2:5; 1 John 4:12; 1 John 4:17) and in Hebrews.
Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament
John 4:34. Jesus saithunto them, My meat if that I should do the will of him
that sent me, and accomplishhis work. This is the first of many similar
sayings in this Gospel(John 5:30, John 6:38, John 7:18, John 8:50, John 9:4,
John 12:49-50, John14:31;John 15:10, John 17:4), expressing our Lord’s
perfect loyalty to His Father’s will, and complete devotion to the
accomplishmentof His Father’s work.
The pursuit of this is not His joy, His purpose, His refreshment only, but His
very food, that without which He cannot live. The ‘will’ to be ‘done’ may
perhaps remind us of the actionof the hour or the moment; the ‘work’to be
‘accomplished,’of the complete expressionand fulfilment of the ‘will.’
The Expositor's Greek Testament
John 4:34. Jesus answerstheir question though not put to Him: ἐμὸν βρῶμα
… τὸ ἔργον. Westcottthinks the telic use of ἵνα can be discernedhere; “the
exactform of the expressionemphasises the end and not the process, notthe
doing and finishing, but that I may do and finish”. Lücke acknowledgesthat it
is not always easyto distinguish betweenthe constructionof αὕτη or τοῦτο
with ἵνα and with ὅτι, but that here it is possible to discriminate; and
translates “Meine Speise bestehtin dem Bestreben,”etc. It is much better to
take it as the Greek commentators and Holtzmann and Weiss take it, as
equivalent to τὸ ποιῆσαι. See especially3 John 1:4. [“Sometimes, beyond
doubt, ἵνα is used where the final element in the sense is very much
weakened—sometimes where it is hard to deny that it has altogether
vanished.” Simcox, Grammar, 177.]The idea that mental or spiritual

excitement acts as a physical stimulant is common. Cf. Plato’s λόγων ἑστίασις,
Tim., 27 B Thucydides, i. 70, represents the Corinthian ambassadors as saying
of the Athenians μήτε ἑορτὴνἄλλο τι ἡγεῖσθαι ἢ τὸ τὰ δέοντα πρᾶξαι. See also
Soph., Electra, 363, andthe quotations in Wetstein;also Browning’s Fra
Lippo Lippi, “to find its [the world’s] meaning is my meat and drink”. Jesus
does not saythat His meat is to bring living waterto parched souls, but “to do
the will of Him that sent me, and to accomplishHis work”. First, because
throughout it is His aim to make Himself a transparencythrough which the
Father may be seen;and second, becausethe will of God is the ultimate
stability by fellowship with which all human charity and active compassion
are continually renewed.
George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
My meat is to do the will of him that sentme. Such ought to be the disposition
of every one who, as a minister of Christ and his Church, is to take care of
souls. (Witham)
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes
meat. Put by Figure of speechMetonymy (of Species), App-6, for all kinds of
food. Greek. broma. Not the same word as in John 4:33.
to do = in order to do. Emphasizing the objectand end, not the act. Compare
Luke 2:49; Luke 4:4.
will. App-102.
sent. Greek. pempo. App-174. See note on John 1:22.
finish. Greek. teleioo. Acharacteristic wordof this Gospel;here, John 5:36;
John 17:4, John 17:23;John 19:28. See p. 1511.
work. A characteristic wordof this Gospel, mostfrequently in plural. See p.
1511.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged
finish his work.
Jesus saithunto them, My meat , [ emon (Greek #1700)brooma (Greek
#1033)]. Here, again, the "My" is emphatic, in the same sense.
Is to do [or rather, 'to be doing' hina (G2443)poioo (G4169)]the will of Him
that sent me, and to finish his work , [ teleioosoo(Greek #5048)] - changing
the tense to that of a completed work. 'A Servant here to fulfill a prescribed
work, to do and to finish that work is "meat" to Me; and of this, while ye were
away, I have had my fill.' And of what does He speak thus? Of the
condescension, pity, patience, wisdom, He had been laying out upon one soul-a
very humble woman, and one in some respects repulsive too! But He had
gained her, and through her was going to gainmore, and lay perhaps the
foundation of a greatwork in the country of Samaria; and this filled His
whole soul, and raisedHim above the sense ofnatural hunger. (See the note at
Matthew 4:4.)
The Bible Study New Testament
My food. ["Meat" in old English meant "any kind of solid food."]Jesus says
that obeying God and doing his work is "food" to him!
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(34) My meat.—Better, My food, as before (John 4:8).
To do the will. . . . to finish.—Better, that I may do the will, . . . that I may
finish. These verbs point out the end which He everkept in view. In some of
the bestMSS., and in the receivedtext, the tenses are different. That. I may be
constantly doing the will of Him that sent Me, and may then at last complete
His work. (Comp. John 17:4.)

This work He speaks ofhere, and in John 4:32, as actualfood, as the supply of
the truest needs, and the satisfactionofthe truest desires of His nature.
(Comp. Note on Matthew 4:4.) Analogies to this are within the limits of every
man’s experience, and, faint as they are, help us to learn something of what
this spiritual sustenance was.The command of duty, the cheering power of
hope, the stimulus of success,are forces that supply to weak and wearynerves
and muscles, the vigour of a new life. Under them the soldier canforget his
wounds, the martyr smile at the lion or the flame, the worn-out traveller still
plod onward at the thought of home. We cannot analyse this power, but it
exists. They have food to eat that those without know not of.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
BARCLAY
THE MOST SATISFYING FOOD (John 4:31-34)
4:31-34 Meanwhile his disciples askedhim: "Rabbi! Eatsomething! have
food," he said to them, "of which you do not know." "Surely," his disciples
kept saying to eachother, "someonecan'thave given him something to eat?"
"My food," said Jesus to them, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to
complete his work."
This passagefollows the normal pattern of the conversations ofthe Fourth
Gospel. Jesus says something whichis misunderstood. He says something
which has a spiritual meaning. It is at first taken with an uncomprehending
literalism and then slowly he unfolds the meaning until it is graspedand
realized. It is exactly the same as Jesus did when he talkedto Nicodemus
about being born again, and when he talkedto the woman about the water
which quenched the thirst of the heart for ever.
By this time the disciples had come back with food, and they askedJesus to
eat. They had left him so tired and exhaustedthat they were worried that he

did not seemto want to eatany of the provisions which they had brought
back. It is strange how a greattask canlift a man above and beyond bodily
needs. 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 crowdthe benches wheneverhe 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.There is a picture of John Knox preaching in his old age. He was a
done old man; he was so weak that he had to be half lifted up the pulpit steps
and left supporting himself on the book-board;but before he had long begun
his sermonthe voice had regainedits old trumpet-call and he was like "to
ding the pulpit into blads (to knock the pulpit into splinters) and leap out of
it." The messagefilled the man with a kind of supernatural strength.
Jesus'answerto his disciples was that he had food of which they knew
nothing. In their simplicity they wondered if someone had brought him food
to eat. Then he told them: "My food is to do the will of him who sent me."
The greatkeynote of Jesus'life is submission to the will of God. His
uniqueness lies in the very fact that he was the only person who ever was or
who ever will be perfectly obedient to God's will. It can be truly said that
Jesus is the only personin all the world who never did what he liked but
always what God liked.
He was God-sent. Again and again the Fourth Gospelspeaks ofJesus being
sent by God. There are two Greek words used in the Fourth Gospelfor this
sending. There is apostellein(Greek #649)whichis used seventeentimes and
pempein (Greek #3992)whichis used twenty-seventimes. That is to say, no
fewerthan forty-four times the Fourth Gospelspeaks,orshows us Jesus
speaking, abouthis being sent by God. Jesus was one who was under orders.
He was God's man.
Then once Jesus had come, againand againhe spoke ofthe work that was
given him to do. In John 5:36 he speaks ofthe works which his Fatherhas
given him to do. In John 17:4 his only claim is that he has finished the work

his Fathergave him to do. When he speaks oftaking up and laying down his
life, of living and of dying, he says:"This commandment have I receivedof
my Father" (John 10:18). He speaks continually, as he speaks here, of the will
of God. "I have come down from heaven," he says, "notto do my own will,
but the will of him who sent me" (John 6:38). "I always do," he says, "whatis
pleasing to him" (John 8:29). In John 14:23 he lays it down, out of his
personalexperience and on his personalexample, that the only proof of love
lies in the keeping of the commandments of the one a man claims to love. This
obedience of Jesus was not as it is with us, a spasmodic thing. It was the very
essenceand being, the mainspring and the core, the dynamic and the moving
powerof his life.
It is his greatdesire that we should be as he was.
(i) To do the will of God is the only way to peace. There canbe no peace when
we are at variance with the king of the universe.
(ii) To do the will of God is the only way to happiness. There can be no
happiness when we set our human ignorance againstthe divine wisdom of
God.
(iii) To do the will of God is the only wayto power. When we go our own way,
we have nothing to callon but our own power, and therefore collapse is
inevitable. When we go God's way, we go in his power, and therefore victory
is secure.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR
Mysterious meat
The disciples had gone to buy meat: and for this they cannot be censured. Do
not saythat they were carnalor unspiritual, for most spiritual people must eat
to live. And then I admire their care for their Master. It is right for the

spiritual man to forget his hunger, but it is equally right for his true friends to
remind him that he ought to eat for his health’s sake. Jesus has now gone, but
His mystical body remains. If you know of any of His people in poverty, ask
them to partake of your abundance, lest haply your Lord should say“I was an
hungered,” etc. Having done this justice to the twelve, let us do honour to
Christ. His mind was absorbedin spiritual objects, and He wished to lead
them to that higher field.
I. THERE ARE REFRESHMENTSTHAT ARE LITTLE KNOWN. “Man
shall not live by bread alone.” Our Lord found refreshments that were not
known to His disciples, and the reasonfor this was
1. That this nourishment was enjoyed on a higher plan than they had yet
reached.
2. It implied a greatersinking of self than they as yet knew. In being a servant
obeying the will of another, He feels Himself so much at home, that it revives
Him to think of it. Not in self but in self-surrender is there fulness for the
heart.
3. Christ was in fuller harmony with God than His disciples.
4. Christ was sustainedbecause He understood the art of seeing much in little.
As a wise man sees a forestin an acornso our Lord saw the vast results Of
this little incident.
II. THESE SECRET REFRESHMENTS SATISFIEDOUR LORD.
1. He had so long hungered to be at His work.
2. When He gotat His work He gave Himself wholly to it.
3. He found greatjoy in the work itself.
4. He forgot to eatbread because ofthe enthusiasm which filled Him in the
pursuit of that soul.

5. He was moved greatly by the sympathy of pity.
6. He felt greatjoy in presentsuccess.
7. He saw the prospect of better things.
III. LET US AT ONCE SEEKTHIS REFRESHMENT.
1. Let us remember that we are sent of God
2. Let us find joy at once in God’s work and will.
3. Let us getto work and leap into our place at once.
4. We may also anticipate the wages.(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The hidden support of life
1. In the case ofhuman creatures life is a higher thing than existence. The soul
is superior to the body. The body has its wants, but the supply of these is only
the means of doing the will of God by the soul. When the means are elevated
into the end manhood is sunk into animalism. How often is a young man
tempted into sensualityby the invitation, “Let us see life.” But sensualityis
not life for a man.
2. In the prosecutionof life we must lay our accountwith privations and
conflicts. We do not begin in a paradise of innocence. The very first motions of
real life within often take the form of conflict.
3. Under such experiences the strength of the man comes from hidden
support. He has meat to eat of which others know not. This hidden meat is the
food of heroes and has always nourished those who have “resistedunto blood,
striving againstsin.”
4. When a man has no such secretsupport his life loses all spiritual
importance and becomes a mere grovelling thing of animal enjoyment. The
soul is starved and all true nobleness disappears. Now letus particularize
some of the forms of this hidden support

I. A GOOD CONSCIENCE. This when rectified by the Holy Spirit is God’s
representative in the soul. Its approbation therefore being the reflex of the
approval of God is a greatsource ofsupport, even as its condemnationmust
always be a cause ofweaknessand pain. A goodconscienceis a continual
feast, and they who have that within cando without the banquets of the world.
II. A WORTHY AMBITION. If we are intent on the attainment of some fixed
purpose we shall be sustainedamid trials which would otherwise have
overmasteredus. We see that exemplified on a lowerlevel, in the case of
Warren Hastings, e.g. Let the Christian set his soul on the attainment of some
good, not for Himself, but for his fellow men, then that purpose will bear him
up. Christ, for the joy that was setbefore Him, endured the cross, etc. This is
the secretofthe strength of those who have given their lives for missions,
Livingstone, e.g.
III. FAITH IN THE UNSEEN AND IN THE FUTURE, as in the case of
Moses.Whatthe student is doing for his scholarship, and the merchant for his
wealth, the Christian is doing for his recompense ofeternal reward, Both alike
are walking by faith, but the Christian’s faith takes in eternity.
IV. DIVINE COMPANIONSHIP. “Iam not alone because the Fatheris with
Me,” saidJesus. “The Lord stoodby me and strengthenedme,” said Paul.
God is “a very present help in time of trouble,” not only for great
emergencies, but for the common wearinessofa common day. (W. M. Taylor,
D. D.)
Heavenly nourishment

I. OUR LORD’S ENTIRE DEVOTEDNESSTO HIS FATHER’S WILL. This
is no isolatedinstance. Turn to any part of His life and you see the same
principle.
1. He was profoundly submissive to that will.
2. He manifested His delight in it.
3. He felt the necessityfor His work as Saviour, knowing as He did the
dreadful power of sin.
4. Love was the foundation of His obedience.
II. OUR LORD FOUND NOURISHMENT AND SATISFACTION IN
DOING HIS FATHER’S WILL.
1. There may be entire devotion arising out of a sense of obligation.
2. Our Lord’s devotion sprang from delight in it.
3. It so absorbedHim that He forgotHis hunger, being spiritually fed, “He
saw the travail of His soul,” etc.
III. THE END WHICH OUR LORD KEPT IN VIEW. “To finish His work.”
So at the close He was able to say“It is finished.” His was a perfect life. Every
part was filled in as it went on, no imperfect fragments, nothing left out or to
be done over again.
IV. LESSONS.
1. Every Christian should regard it as his meat to do the Father’s will. “As the
Father hath sentMe even so send I you.”
2. All may learn what a joy it is to save the lost. (G. W. Humphries, B. A.)
My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me.

ConsiderMessiah’s ministry of salvationas
I. A WORK WHICH HE PERFORMED.
1. He speaks here in His capacityof Son and Servant. In His essentialnature
He is one with the Father, but in the actualexecution of the Divine purpose,
He stands in a low place chargedwith a specific mission.
2. The will of the Sender is learned bestby looking at the Sent. The Gift
reveals the Giver’s heart. The Christ sent into the world is fitted to draw men
to God, not to drive them from Him. The will of the Father corresponds with
the Messengersentto execute it. God is love and Christ embodies that love.
3. The desire of God could not be carried into effectwithout Christ sent.
4. This work is not left half done. Creation was completedere God rested. His
next more glorious work will be finished too. The earth was complete as a
habitation for man ere the children were brought to it as their home. So will
heaven be.
II. THE FOOD IN WHICH HE DELIGHTED.
1. It is not enoughto learn what Jesus did and suffered, we must look into the
secretmotives of His heart.
2. Knowing all that redemption would bring upon Himself, He longed for the
work as His daily bread. In this glass we see reflectedthe nature and intensity
of the Saviour’s eagernessto save.
3. Jesus is Lord of all. The stars are His, He values them, but they do not
satisfy His soul. He does not need to redeem bright worlds and unfallen
angels;they cannot, therefore, appease His hunger. To seek the strayed, and
save the lost--this is His meat.
4. “Blessedare they that hunger; for this they shall be filled.” This He felt;
and His joy will be full when all the ransomedshall reign with Him.

5. Over JerusalemHe wept for hunger. His appetite brought Him from
heaven to the cradle and the cross.
6. It is difficult to reconcile Christ’s desire with His omnipotence. Had he not
powerto accomplishHis desire? Could He not have seizeda whole city, as
angels seizedLot, and hurried them to heaven? This would not have satisfied
Him. Materialacquisitions cannotsustain the spirit. Though all poweris given
to Him He will not satisfyHis physical hunger by converting stones into
bread, nor His spiritual by lifting multitudes to heaven by omnipotence.
7. With the limits of our capacityand condition the appetite of the Master
may be shared by the servants. Our spiritual hunger is first a desire to getand
then a desire to give salvation. In the secondpart of the process the disciple
enters into the joy of His Lord. (W. Arnot, D. D.)
Jesus about His Father’s business
It is peculiarly pleasing to observe the interestwhich God the Father takes in
the work of salvation. In our childhood in grace we conceivedGodas an
austere Judge made propitious by Christ. Since then we have learned the
Father through the Son. This interestis three times hinted at in the text.
I. HIS SOUL WAS IN ALL HE DID. The task was not irksome. There are
men who work with such reserve and coldness that you perceive it is but the
shell that acts, not the man’s whole soul. But our Lord’s whole Being was at
work. His Father’s service was His element.
II. HE WAS GLAD WHEN HE SAW HIS WORK SUCCEEDING. An
infallible proof of His devotedness. You know when a man’s heart is in his
work by the joy he feels in it. True ministers call preaching pleasure, not duty.
Let Him see a penitent and the Man of Sorrows wearsa smile on His
sorrowfulface.

III. HE WAS ANGRY WHEN HIS WORK WAS OPPOSED. Whengoodmen
see penitents discouragedorevil rampant they do well to be angry.
IV. HE WEPT WHEN HIS WORK WAS UNSUCCESSFUL. Never
otherwise. He will weepover unpenitent Jerusalem, but not on the cross.
V. HE WAS NOT DISCOURAGED BYOPPOSITION. How often, when our
motives are misconstrued and our efforts hampered, are we tempted to give
up! But Christ went on His way apologizing for nothing, doing His work
whatevermen thought of it or actedagainstit.
VI. HE ALWAYS LABOURED never resting: intruding on sleepfor prayer
and helpfulness. His three years seemedlike three centuries.
VII. WHEN IN FULL LABOUR HE DOES NOT SEEM TO HAVE FELT
FATIGUE as here, and when hungry forgot to eat bread. He seemedto get
refreshedin His work, and instead of getting tired renewedHis strength. This
could not have happened unless His soulhad been in it.
VIII. OUR LORD NEVER SWERVED FROM HIS ONE OBJECT, although
tempted by the devil with the world and by the Galileans with a crown.
IX. HE WAS NOT DAUNTED BY THE THOUGHT OF DEATH. This
thought was not before Him as a possible prospectof momentary heroism, but
a certain prospectall His life through. And to this He hastened as the
crowning point of His work. In conclusion
1. Let the timid soul who thinks that Christ is unwilling to save be encouraged
by all this.

2. Let the mind that was in Christ Jesus be in all Christian men. (C.
H.Spurgeon.)
Sources ofChrist’s satisfaction
I. IN THE FACT OF SERVICE. It is no mean satisfactionto a servantof God
to feel, “I am here of no private choice orpurpose of my own; I have been sent
hither by a Divine hand.” What a freedom from anxiety and discouragement!
The humblest task is made glorious by the authority of the Giver. Many think
there is no glory but in independence. But we are so made that we are not
sufficient to ourselves, andtherefore, the selfishman is wretched. True joy is
the joy of sympathy, but no human love can satisfythe soul’s demands. In
God’s favour alone is life. This favour is accordedonly to His servants,
II. IN THE LAW OF THE SERVICE. God’s will, many persons think there is
no joy but in doing their own will, and to walk in the plain path of duty is
repulsive to them. And merely walking in the path of duty will not bring joy.
There is no acceptable obediencethat does not spring from love. But there is
all joy in that Christ found it so. And this is not wonderful. The will of God is
the outcome of His perfections, and therefore that will must be the perfection
of blessedness.Canyou choose so wellfor yourself as that will which measures
all things. This holds goodboth with regardto the suffering and the doing of
God’s will.
III. IN THE FIELD OF SERVICE.. Everyman has his work Divinely allotted
and adjusted. This work is various, and all of it must be acceptedas given of
God. Then satisfactionwillbe found in
1. Doing the work may not have been successful, but if it has been done, we
have the satisfactionof having fulfilled our task. There are those who will only
work when there is human applause and visible results.

2. The effectual accomplishmentof the work, and receiving the glad, “Well
done.” (J. Riddell.)
Service should be willing service
When the Spartans marched into battle they advanced with cheerful songs,
willing to fight; but when the Persians enteredthe conflict, you could hear, as
the regiments came on, the crack ofwhips by which the officers drove the
cowards to the fray. You need not wonder that a few Spartans were more than
a match for thousands of Persians, thatin factthey were like lions in the midst
of sheep. So let it be with the Church; never should she need to be forced to
reluctant action, but full of irrepressible life, she should long for conflict
againsteverything which is contrary to God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Joyful service
“I wish I could mind God as my little dog minds me,” said a little boy, looking
thoughtfully on his shaggyfriend; “he always lookedso pleasedto mind, and I
don’t.” What a painful truth did this child speak!Shall the poor little dog thus
readily obey his master, and we rebel againstGod, who is our Creator, our
Preserver, our Father, our Saviour, and the bountiful Giver of everything we
love. (Christian Treasury.)
God’s work is our work
The other evening I was spending a few hours with a friend, and a lady who
happened to be present when we were talking about this missionary work,
said, “But, Mr. John, do you not know that we have a greatdeal of our own
work to do?” “Why, madame,” said I, “is not the missionary work your
work? Is it not the work of the Churches?” Thatseemedto be a new light to
her altogether;and there are a greatmany people in these days who seemto
think that this work is the work of the missionaries arid not their own. I go to
China to do your work. If I go into the deep well, it is for you to hold the rope
you must not leave me there. (Griffith John.)
Enthusiasm

When George Moore was deputedto the relief of Paris, afterthe seige, he
hastenedoff to reachthe place as quickly as possible. “I think I should have
died,” he said, “if I had not been the first man in Paris.” (Smiles.)
The powerof concentration
In the eighteenth century, an immense burning glass was constructedin
France, in which all the heat, falling on a great lens, was then concentratedon
a smaller one till at the focus such was the heat that iron, gold, and other
metals ran like melted butter. Another one, made in England by Parker, fused
the most refractorysubstances, anddiamonds were reduced by it to vapour.
(H. O. Mackey.)
The satisfying power of a greataspiration
It was this prospectthat cheeredand refreshed Him. When our 33rd regiment
was nearing Magdala, theyhad marched for hours over burning plains, under
a scorching sky, without wateror rest, and the heat beganto tell upon the
men--many were ready to fall down from exhaustion--when suddenly the
sharp cracking of rifles told our soldiers that the foe was in the front and
fighting had begun. Hunger, thirst, exhaustion, were all forgotten in the
excitement and desire for the fray. If a desire like this could make soldiers
forgetweariness, much more a desire to save a sinner could so fill the loving,
tender heart of Jesus with such delight and satisfaction. (R. H. Lovell.)
Christ’s improvement on common things
I observe our Saviour applying every accidentaloccurrence to His holy
purposes, as it were, by a kind of chemistry, separating the gross matter, and
subliming ordinary affairs to heavenly doctrine; insomuch that there was
scarcelyany common affair of life,… but He spiritualized it, and applied it to
His designs. Now, if we would learn of Him, we might with great ease,and
without all violence, surprise men into religion, and not only at every turn
introduce pious discourse, but render the subjectof it intelligible to the
meanestcapacities;and withal by those sensible-resemblancesgive suchlively
touches upon the minds of men, as that what we delivered upon those
occasions wouldstick and remain with them … As, for instance, when we visit

a sick friend or neighbour, what a fair opportunity have we to discourse ofthe
immorality of the soul! And what an easytransition is it from a physician to a
Saviour! Or, why may we not as well cheerup our afflicted friend with the
comforts of religion, as well as amuse or divert him with impertinent stories?
Or, suppose friends to be togetherand disposedto be merry, why may not
some word come in seasonablyof the everlasting friendship in heaven, or the
continual feastof a goodconscience?Why may not the common chat about
news be elevatedto the considerationof the goodtidings of the Gospel? What
hinders but our dishes of meat may be seasonedwith a gracious word or two
about the food of our souls? When men are talking of old age, it would be no
greatstrain, if thence our thoughts rise up to eternal life; nor is any great
flight of fancy requisite to improve all the accidents of our lives to the
contemplation of Divine Providence, which orders and governs them. In a
word, everything is capable of improvement, if we be not wanting; we shall
never want opportunity, if we embrace it; anything will serve an intent mind
and a devout heart to these purposes (Proverbs 15:23;Lake 8:1, 5). (Dr.
Goodman.)
The superlative value of food
A traveller lost his way in an Easterndesert. His provisions were exhausted,
and he had already wanderedabout for severaldays without food, when he
descriedunder a palm tree on his track the marks of a recentencampment.
He approached the spot tremulous with hope. He found a bag which the
travellers had left behind, filled with something that appearedto be dates. He
opened it eagerly, expecting to satisfyhis hunger, when lo! it containedonly
pearls! He sat down and wept. What are pearls to a man who is dying for
want of bread? (W. Arnott, D. D.)
Love the secretofsuccessfulwork
There is absolutelynothing more absorbing on the one hand, or more
satisfying on the other, than successfuleffort in behalf of a cause orof a
person loved by us. This is alike true from the lowestplane to the highest.
Even a child will forgetto be ready for his meals, if he once gets fairly into a
game with his playmates outside, before lunch-time or supper-time. Many a

hard student is sorry to stop his work in order to eator to sleep. And when
one canhope to finish a piece of work for one whom he loves, by keeping at it
a few hours longer--who wouldn’t rather do that than have a gooddinner? If
the work of the Lord drags in our hands, it is not because that work is not
worth living for, and dying for; but it is because we fail of a fitting interest to
its doing. (H. C.Trumbull, D. D.)
True work
We should aim to be too active to stagnate, too busy to freeze. We should be
like Cromwell, who not only struck when the iron was hot, but made it hot by
striking; like the missionary, who said, “If there be happiness on earth, it is in
labouring in the service of Christ.” (Family Churchman.)
Soul food
Many who have gatheredcrowds about them, who have produced a marked
impression on those crowds, have said truly that such success wasmeatand
drink to them. If it did not feed their vanity, but sustainedthem because it
showedthem that they were doing God’s will and finishing His work, they
may have understood some-thing of Christ’s meaning. But the secretfoodHe
partook of certainly came from no “sudden successthat followedHis words.
First, He met with a woman who had in generalansweredHim with levity;
then a few people of her own rank came at her call. How little would such
honours satisfy the ambition of some eloquent disciple of Christ, who has the
powerof influencing thousands!Could it satisfy Him who came to found a
kingdom of which there was to be no end? Yes; for in their first sheaves He
could see certainpledges of a world’s ingathering. The corn-fields would not
be reaped for four months; these men whom He saw coming showedHim that
the other harvest was nearerstill. (F. D. Maurice.)
The ruling passion
When a man dies his friends often say of him, in praise of his diligence,
energy, and concentration, “He lived simply to carry through that important
line of railway”;or, “His only object was to extort from the Government a
more scientific education for the people”;or, “He devoted himself to the cause

of Free Trade”;or, “He was a martyr to his exertions in favour of
Protection.” It was his one idea; it grew with his growth; he could think of
nothing else;he spared neither time nor money to it; it was his monomania.
He did his work in his day, and did it well, because he was heart and soul in it;
and the world is in debt to him for it. Now, why should it not be said of us,
“Well, he is gone, he was a man of one idea, he caredfor nothing but that
God’s will be done on earth as in heaven. He was eatenup with this; he made
it his hobby; it was meat and drink to him. And whereas the other men left
behind the railway or the cheapbread, our friend has left behind him a better
world.” (Family Churchman.)
END OF PRECEPT AUSTIN RESOURCES
What does John 4:34 mean? [⇑ See verse text ⇑]
Foodis meant to refresh and recharge to body. A body which does not
consume the right kinds of food will be weak, ineffective, and sickly. On the
other hand, eating a good meal provides the body with energy and strength.
Spiritually speaking, the "food" of our spirit is the will of God. Jesus was
tired and wearyfrom a long journey (John 4:6). And yet, simply following the
will of God gave Him a spiritual boost.
This makes sense whenwe considerthe idea of God as the Creator. If we are
createdfor a purpose, and that purpose is the will of God, then it makes sense
that we feel best when we're accomplishing that purpose. Jesus quotedfrom
Deuteronomy 8:3 when being tempted by Satan(Matthew chapter 4). His
comment then was that "Manshall not live by bread alone, but by every word
that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). There is more to our lives
than simply keeping the physical body running; we have a purpose beyond
this world. We can't feel "right" unless we're living out that purpose. We
can't help but feelrefreshed when we've made progress on behalf of the One
who createdus. https://www.bibleref.com/John/4/John-4-34.html

WeeklyHealthScripture: John4:31-34 Food, Nourishment& God’s Will
October27, 2007ByDale Fletcher
1 Comment
Recentlythe idea that blogging onscriptures relatedto health might be
insightful and helpful for me as wellas readers. Withthat in mind, this is my
first entry.
In John4:31-34, Jesus wasurgedby his disciples to eatsome food. Theyfelthe
neededsome foodbecause ithad beena while since he had eaten. Jesus
respondedthat he had foodavailable to him that they did not know about. He
told them, “my nourishment comes from doing the will of Godwho sentme and
from finishing his work.” This “work”wasto spreadthe news to people about
his Father’s love and ofthe joy and everlasting life that people couldhave if
they knew ofthis love in a personal way.
Yes, Jesusneededthe same type of nourishment in traditional food just as we
do today. ButHe knew that His more meaningful nourishment came from
doing whatHe came to earth to do… to bear all ofour sins… past, presentand
future… so thatwe might have everlasting life when we die and so that we
might have a more abundant/full life while we are here, being filled with His
love.
As I readthese verses, itcauses me to reflectonwhat“nourishment” I need.
True, I needcarbohydrates, proteins andfats to fuel and nourish my body. I
needto consume a healthy diet of foods so thatI have the energyto function. I
needthe correctnutrients for my mind to work properly. When I run, I rely on
a certainamount ofglucose floating aroundin my blood to fuel my muscles.
But these are forphysical functions. Whatdoes my spirit needto perform the
spiritual functions God wouldhave for me?

Deepin my spirit I believe I am calledto share the ‘GoodNews’ofwho Jesus is
and about the love of Godwith others. As my heartis setonthis and I am in
this mode, I am nourished in a waythat I cannotbe by eating eventhe
healthiestoffoods. As Psalm81:20 reads, “Openyourmouth wide, and I will
fill it with goodthings.” Godis telling the Psalmist, andme(andus), thatifI
openmy spirit to Him that He will fill me with goodthings deep in my inner
mostbeing. Well, Ithink that Godplacedin me a deep desire to share with
others about His love. To tellothers aboutHis goodness. To provide hope to
others. And whenI do this, deepin my spirit, I am nourished.
So my questions to you are…. whattype ofnourishment do you need? How is
your spirit nourished or fueled? Are there otherscriptures that speak to you on
this topic?
Have anawesome day! https://www.faithandhealthconnection.org/john-431-
34-and-nourishment/
The Foodof Christ Is to Give Eternal Life
Resource by John Piper
Scripture: John 4:27–42 Topic:The Personof Christ
Just then his disciples came back. Theymarveled that he was talking with a
woman, but no one said, “Whatdo you seek?”or, “Why are you talking with
her?” 28 So the womanleft her waterjar and went awayinto town and said to
the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be
the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him. 31
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said
to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples
said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus

said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish
his work. 35 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. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages andgathering
fruit for eternal life, so that sowerand reapermay rejoice together. 37 For
here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’38 I sent you to reap
that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered
into their labor.” 39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because
of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the
Samaritans came to him, they askedhim to stay with them, and he stayed
there two days. 41 And many more believed because ofhis word. 42 They said
to the woman, “It is no longer because ofwhat you said that we believe, for we
have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the
world.”
Before I pray for God’s help, let me show you from the text why prayer is so
needed right now. For the fourth time in this Gospel, Johnshows us the
spiritual blindness that Jesus deals with in us humans almost all the time—
either because we are dead in our sin and unbelieving and need to be born
again, or because as believers our spiritual eyes have grown dim and
unresponsive to the glory of Christ because ofworldliness.
Four Glimpses of Our Blindness
First, in John 2:19, Jesus says, “Destroythis temple, and in three days I will
raise it up.” And the Jews saidto him, “It has takenforty-six years to build
this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” They had no spiritual
sight for what Jesus was talking about, namely, his own death and
resurrection. They were blind to the glory of what he was revealing—thathe
himself is the presence of God more than the temple is, and that when he rises
from the dead, from then on, he will be the place where people meet God.
Second, in John 3:3 Jesus says to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” And Nicodemus
said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Canhe enter a second

time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Nicodemus had no spiritual sight
of what Jesus was talking about, namely, there is a secondbirth that is
spiritual. It brings into being something that did not exist before in you—a
living spirit and the ability to see the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Third, in John 4:10, Jesus says to the woman at the well, “If you knew the gift
of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have
askedhim, and he would have given you living water.” And the woman says to
Jesus, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep.” She
has no spiritual sight of what Jesus is talking about, namely, the supernatural
spiritual life that that comes from receiving Christ himself—indeed, the
supernatural life that he himself is.
And fourth, here in our text, John 4:31, his disciples sayto Jesus, “Rabbi,
eat.” And Jesus says to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”
And the disciples saidto eachother, “Has anyone brought him something to
eat?” Theyhad no spiritual sight of what he was talking about. Verse 34: “My
food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplishhis work.”
I will raise this temple in three days. It took 46 years to build this temple.
You must be born again. How can a man enter into his mother’s womb?
I will give you living water. You don’t have a bucket.
I have food to eat you do not know about. Who brought him something to eat?
We NeedHoly-Spirit Help
Why does John keepshowing us this pathetic response to the glory that Jesus
reveals? He does it, first, to remind us over and over that the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us, so that we might see his glory, glory as of the only
Son from the Father, full of grace and truth . . . and from that fullness, that
we might receive grace upon grace” (John1:14, 16).
And he does it, second, to remind us that without the mighty working of the
Holy Spirit in our lives we are spiritually blind and dull and unresponsive—

just like the Jews, and Nicodemus, and the woman at the well, and the
disciples.
“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know
where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the
Spirit” (John 3:8). We need the mighty, sovereign, life-giving, eye-opening,
heart-wakening work of the Holy Spirit. That’s why we need to pray.
Father, have mercy upon our worldly, deadened, numb, unseeing,
unresponsive, hearts. Breathe spiritual life into our souls. Open the eyes of our
hearts. Shed divine, spiritual light into our minds. Awakenour Spirit-given
ability to see and taste and know and understand and treasure the glory of
Christ in your word. In his merciful and strong name, we pray. Amen.
Three Parts—With Explanation in the Middle
The way John tells the rest of this story about the woman at the well is very
interesting. He deals with what happens to the woman and the town of Sychar
in two parts at the beginning and the end of this text. And in the middle,
betweenthose two parts he gives us the words of Jesus to his disciples that
explains the deeperdimension of what is happening with the womanand the
town. So let’s focus first on what happens with the woman and the town.
Verses 27–30:
Just then his disciples came back. Theymarveled that he was talking with a
woman, but no one said, “Whatdo you seek?”or, “Why are you talking with
her?” So the woman left her water jar and went awayinto town and said to
the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the
Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.
So she leaves her waterjar and goes to the town and tells “the people”—it
appears to be indiscriminate telling of everyone, in spite of how hesitant she
was to talk to Jesus about her sordid life. She says he knew everything about
her and wonders out loud if he might be the Messiah, the Christ. Jesus had
said he was in verse 26. Verse 30 says the people were coming to Jesus.

Jesus Talking to a Woman
Though it’s not the main point of the text, John thought it was important
enough to mention that the disciples were amazedhe was talking to a woman.
Verse 27: “Theymarveled that he was talking with a woman.” Remember in
verse 31 that they call Jesus “Rabbi.” In Jesus’day, men in general, and
rabbis in particular, did not publicly talk to women. And for many of them, it
was not out of seemliness, but out of misogyny—the deep distrust, disrespect,
and dislike of women.
In its worstform, we saw it last Tuesdaywhen George Sodinikilled three
women and injured ten at the LA Fitness gym in the Pittsburg area. He wrote
in his journal:
No girlfriend since 1984 . . . . Who knows why. I am not ugly or too weird. No
sex since July 1990 either(I was 29). . . . Over eighteenyears ago. . . I actually
look good. I dress good, am clean-shaven, bathe, touch of cologne—yet30
million womenrejectedme—over an 18 or 25-yearperiod.
And in his disgustfor all women, he opens fire indiscriminately and then kills
himself. I am not saying that rabbis or men in generalin the first century felt
this way. Sodini was an extreme pathologicalcase. Butwomen were not
taught the Torah. And they were not treated, by and large, with respectand
tenderness and appreciation.
Jesus TreatedWomenDifferently
Jesus treatedwomen differently—his mother, Mary Magdalene,the woman
bent over for 18 years, the Syrophoenicianwoman, Mary and Martha, the
widow with the two coins, and others. The main point that I think flows from
Jesus is that God createdman male and female in his image, with equal value
and dignity and differing, complementary, honorable roles, and Jesus put in
motion a reversalof the effects of the Fall. The Fall of Adam and Eve inclined
women to be helplessly coquettishor brashly domineering, and it inclined men

to be timidly passive or harsh and demanding. Sin could distort God’s design
in either direction.
Wherever Christianity has become deeply rootedin a culture, the treatment
of women has improved. If you saw the horrific film The Stoning of Soraya M,
you gota glimpse of the dismal plight of millions of women today hidden away
in cultures around the world where Jesus is not known and trusted and
followed.
Women RespectedWhere the GospelTakesRoot
But whereverhis word and his gospeltake rootand hold sway, men treat
women with respect, and they take humble, courageousinitiatives to protect
women and create stable, loving families where the covenantfaithfulness of
husband and wife display the mystery of Christ and to his church to the
world.
That’s the way Jesus meant it to be. And that’s one of the reasons that, of all
the people in Samaria he could have sought out, he chose this woman.
Here Come the Townspeople
Verse 30 says, “Theywent out of the town and were coming to him.” Then
comes the interruption. “Meanwhile . . .” and the coming of the townspeople
picks up againin verse 39–42:
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 askedhim 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
longerbecause 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.”
The most important thing to see here, because ofits relationship to what Jesus
says in the part we passedover, is that first the woman’s word leads to faith

and then Jesus’wordleads to more faith. These two witnesses are mentioned
twice. First, the woman’s witness. Verse 39: “ManySamaritans from that
town believed in him because ofthe woman’s testimony.” Then Jesus’witness
in verse 41: “And many more believed because ofhis word.”
Surprising Spiritual Awakening in Sychar
Then they are both mentioned again in verse 42. First, the woman’s
testimony: “It is no longerbecause ofwhat you said that we believe.” Then,
Jesus’testimony: “Forwe have heard for ourselves”—thatis, heard Jesus.
They believe that Jesus is the Saviorof the world. He is the Messiahthat is
coming into the world and will rescue people from their sin and from the
judgment of God (John 3:36).
That’s the amazing upshot of Jesus’trip to Samaria—a surprising spiritual
awakening in the town of Sychar. An unlikely woman becomes the means of
an unlikely people turning to the JewishMessiah, eventhough they were not
even full-blooded Jews. This should encourage us in the pluralistic, religiously
and ethnically diverse world that we live in. God has a people in Samaria, and
he has chosensurprising instruments to reachthem—maybe you.
The DeeperDimension
Now betweenverses 27–30atthe beginning and 39–42 atthe end, some
tremendously important words of Jesus explain to us the deeper dimension of
what is happening with the woman and the townspeople.
What’s happening is that Jesus is acting like God and revealing that the
glorious messianic age—the kingdomof God—has begun.
The disciples tell him to eatin verse 31, “Rabbi, eat.” He says he has food they
don’t know about (verse 32). They are puzzled. And he responds with almost
incomprehensible words in verse 34:“My food is to do the will of him who
sent me and to accomplishhis work.” That’s very strange.

Who Can Talk Like This?
Foodis what you need in order to work. Foodis what gives you strength for
work. So Jesus is saying, “I am strengthenedto do what God has given me to
do by doing what God has given me to do. My source of energy for doing
God’s will is doing God’s will.”
Who can talk like this? God can talk like this. We mere humans need sources
of power from outside ourselves. Godgets his source ofpower from within
himself. As man, Jesus gottired and thirsty and hungry. He needed food like
the restof us. But as God, his powerto act was to act.
Human, Yes, and More Than Human
So Jesus is revealing himself to be no mere mortal. Human, to be sure—but
more than human. The Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us (John 1:1, 14). He revealedhis glory againand again. I am
sustainedto finish God’s work by finishing God’s work.
But there is something more specific implied here that is going to make the
connectionwith verses 35 and 36 make sense. WhenJesus says, “Myfood is to
do the will of him who sentme,” what is the will of him who sent him? God’s
will for Jesus—the work he gave him to accomplish—is to give eternallife.
Listen to John 12:49–50, “The Fatherwho sent me has himself given me a
commandment . . . And I know that his commandment is eternallife.” Or
John 6:39: “This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of
all that he has given me, but raise it up on the lastday.”
“I Am Food, I Am Life”
So when Jesus says in John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of him who sent
me and to accomplishhis work,” he means, “My food is to give eternallife.”
That is, my source of strength to give eternal life is to give eternallife. I give

life because Iam life. I am the way the truth and the life (John 14:6). My food
is to be what I am. And I am life. Living water. Bread from heaven. I don’t
just eatfood. I am food. I don’t get life. I give life.
This helps explain the strange direction his words take in verses 35–36:“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 wages andgathering fruit for eternal life [there’s
the link!], so that sowerand reapermay rejoice together.” Jesusis reaping
eternal life. That’s what he has been doing with this womanand, through her,
is doing even now among the people of Sychar.
Collapsing Sowing and Reaping into One
And he is so free and sovereignhe is not at all dependent on the usual four
months it takes betweensowing and reaping. Jesus is collapsing sowing and
reaping into one event. God can do that sort of thing. Human can’t. And that
is what the messianic age is to be like, according to the prophet Amos:
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “whenthe plowman [the
sower]shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the
seed;the mountains shall drip sweetwine, and all the hills shall flow with it.”
(Amos 9:13)
Jesus is showing his disciples, and us, that these are the beginning of those
days. I am the Messiah. Ibring the messianic age. It has begun. And he says at
the end of verse 36 that he is already reaping fruit for eternallife (with no
natural gap of months) “that sowerand reaper may rejoice together.” What
he is doing here is collapsing sowing and reaping into one event so that the joy
is a foretaste ofwhat Amos saw.
Both Sowerand Reaper

Jesus is both sowerand reaper at the same time. He is orchestrating the entire
event by working as sowerand reaper—speaking the word and reaping its
fruit.
Jesus concludes in verses 37–38by drawing the disciples into his work: “For
here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’I sentyou to reap
that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered
into their labor.” In other words, You are going to share in the reaping. But
others have labored before you. Who are they? I think the answeris Jesus and
the Samaritanwoman. Jesus has been sowing with his word and gathering
fruit for eternal life as the greatreaper. And the woman has been sowing with
her word to the townspeople.
That’s why the story returns in verse 39–42 to the testimony of the woman
and the testimony of Jesus. Remember, the townspeople believe because ofher
word, and then more believe because ofJesus’word. This is the labor of
“others” that the disciples enter into. “Others have labored, and you have
entered into their labor.”
The Upshot for Us
So here is the upshot for us:
Jesus is the glorious Son of God and Saviorof the World whose foodis to
accomplishGod’s purpose, namely, to be food that gives eternal life. He
doesn’t need life-giving food; he is life-giving food. He sows the world, and he
reaps eternal life. May God give you eyes to see his glory and treasure him
over all.
His coming is the beginning of the messianic age. The old patterns of four
months betweensowing and reaping don’t hold. God is full of surprises. Jesus
can collapse anyinterval he pleases.Prayfor wonders in sowing and reaping
in your life and around the world.
All our labor is important. God uses men and women (sinful, forgiven men
and women) to sow and reap. And we are always entering into the labor of

another, especiallyJesus’.His labor is always decisive. Especiallythe labor of
the cross. This was his main food. My food is to accomplishthe work God
gave me to do. And with the cross in view, where he died for our sins, he said,
“Father, I glorified you on earth, having accomplishedthe work that you gave
me to do” (John 17:4).
"It's Harvest Time!"
John 4:31-38
Theme: The Lord Jesus encouragesus to enter into His joyous work of
harvesting souls for His kingdom by teaching what the work of the harvest is
like.
(Delivered Sunday, December7, 2003 at Bethany Bible Church. Unless
otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotes are taken from the New King James
Version.)
INTRODUCTION
Did you ever hear about the letter that a little boy wrote to God? It said,
"DearGod, we had a greattime in church today. Lot's of people came. The
pastor's sermon was realgood; and the music was great. It's too bad You
weren't there; 'cause You would have liked it."
As we begin the Christmas season, I thought of that story. It's so easyto get
caught up in the activity of all our Christmas celebrations that we forgetto
invite the One whose birth it is that we're supposedto be celebrating!
What do you suppose would happen if we invited Jesus to guide and direct
our celebrationof Christmas? What would be important to Him in it all? I
don't believe He would objectto many of the things we traditionally do in our
celebrationof His birth. But whatever else happened on Christmas, I believe
He would want us to prioritize the whole reasonthat He came in the first

place. After all, He didn't leave His heavenly glory and come to this earth
simply to give us another holiday to put on our calendars.
The fact is that, in the Scriptures, He told us very plainly why it is that He
came;"The Sonof man has come to seek andto to save that which was lost"
(Luke 19:10). I'm certain that He would want us to join with Him this
Christmas in that greatwork that He expressedlycame to this earth on that
first Christmas to accomplish:to seek out lostpeople - people who are
alienatedfrom God and separatedfrom Him because ofsin - and to lead them
to the salvationthat Jesus has brought about through His death on the cross.
That's His greatheart's longing. That's why He came. And to ignore this great
concernof His this Christmas would almostbe like celebrating His birthday
without inviting Him!
For that reason, I was particularly drawn to this morning's passage. It's a
part of a story that many of us are alreadyfamiliar with; but it is a part of
that story that doesn't always getthe attention it deserves. It's the part of the
story in which Jesus teachesHis disciples what His greatheart's longing was;
and tells them why He did what He did. As we begin our Christmas
celebrations, its something that we need to give our attention to.
* * * * * * * * * *
This passageis found in the much-loved story of Jesus'encounterwith the
Samaritan womanat the well. It's a story of how Jesus soughtout and saved
someone who was lost - introducing them to salvationin Himself. The apostle
John tells us:
Therefore, whenthe Lord knew that the Phariseeshad heard that Jesus made
and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize,
but His disciples), He left Judea and departed againto Galilee. But He needed
to go through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria which is called
Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacobgave to his sonJoseph. Now
Jacob's wellwas there. Jesus therefore, being weariedfrom His journey, sat
thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to
draw water. Jesus saidto her, "Give Me a drink." For His disciples had gone
awayinto the city to buy food. Then the womanof Samaria said to Him,

"How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?"
For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answeredand said to her,
"If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,'
you would have askedHim, and He would have given you living water." The
woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is
deep. Where then do You getthat living water? Are You greaterthan our
father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his
sons and his livestock?"Jesus answeredand saidto her, "Whoeverdrinks of
this waterwill thirst again, but whoeverdrinks of the waterthat I shall give
him will never thirst. But the waterthat I shall give him will become in him a
fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." The womansaid to Him,
"Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." Jesus
said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." The woman answered
and said, "I have no husband." Jesus saidto her, "You have well said, 'I have
no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now
have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly." The woman said to Him,
"Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this
mountain, and you Jews saythat in Jerusalemis the place where one ought to
worship." Jesus saidto her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when
you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You
worship what you do not know;we know what we worship, for salvationis of
the Jews. Butthe hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will
worship the Fatherin spirit and truth; for the Fatheris seeking suchto
worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in
spirit and truth." The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiahis coming"
(who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things." Jesus said
to her, "I who speak to you am He."
And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talkedwith a
woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?"or, "Why are You talking with
her?" The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said
to the men, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could
this be the Christ?" Then they went out of the city and came to Him (John
4:1-30).

Jesus introduced Himself to her, and she believed on Him. And then, she
herself went out to tell others who were lost and told them about Him. And
look aheadin the story and see what happened as a result:
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because ofthe word
of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did." So when the
Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He
stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word.
Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because ofwhat you said,
for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ,
the Saviorof the world" (vv. 39-42).
Now the passage Iwant to draw your attention to this morning is the one
that's found in the middle of this greatstory. In it, Jesus explains to His
disciples His thoughts on what was happening. Many scholars believe He
spoke these words to them as they could look and see the crowds of people
making their way down the road to come and see Him. What a picture it must
have been! John tells us, in verses 31-38;
In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." But He saidto
them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." Therefore the disciples
said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?" Jesussaidto
them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'?
Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are
already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages,and gathers fruit
for eternallife, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
For in this the saying is true: 'One sows and another reaps.'I sent you to reap
that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have
entered into their labors" (vv. 31-38).
What an appropriate passageforus to consideras we begin celebrating
Christmas! All around us, there are people thinking - albeit imperfectly -
about the One whose birth we're supposedto be celebrating. In spite of all the
efforts that so many put forth to 'secularize'Christmas and keepthe attention
off of Him, the Holy Spirit still draws the attention to Jesus in a remarkable

way this time of year. We can be confident that many around us are being
'ripened' as it were in His greatharvest! And as His followers, it's our
privilege to enter into the work of His harvest with Him! This makes
Christmas a marvelous opportunity for us to join Him in the greatestwork we
could ever enter into - the work that Jesus Himself longs to see completed!
What a greatgift gift to give Jesus onthe celebrationof His coming to this
earth - that is, our own faithfulness to do our part in the work He came to see
accomplishedin the first place! What a privilege to enter into the work of His
harvest with Him!
* * * * * * * * * *
What do we learn about the harvest from this passage?Muchmore, I suggest,
than we could learn anywhere else;because Jesus here opens His own heart to
us regarding the harvest.
First, we learn from Him that ...
1. THE WORK OF THE HARVEST IS FULFILLING (vv. 31-34).
This whole passage,whenyou think about it, has much do with eating and
drinking! Jesus had talked to the womanabout water, because He askedher
for a drink; and meanwhile, His disciples went into town to buy something to
eat. Perhaps when the disciples returned, He appeared to them to be too
preoccupiedwith His conversationwith the womanto eat. Perhaps He was
preoccupiedwith the thought of the crowd that was about to come. In any
case, theyfelt the need to urge Him to eat.
But He told them that He had "food" to eat that they didn't know about.
Indeed they didn't know about it; because they then turned to eachother and
askedwho had brought Him something to eat. He then explained, "My food is
to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work."
Notice the details. He speaks firstof "Him who sentMe". And this, of course,
was a reference to the Father. Later on, speaking to the Jews about the
witness that John the Baptist bore of Him, Jesus will say, "... I have a greater
witness than John's; for the works whichthe Father has given Me to finish -
the very works that I do - bear witness of Me, that the Fatherhas sent Me"

Jesus was eating very special food

Jesus was eating very special food

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